Life is good

Monday. It might snow today!

I had a great weekend and am looking forward to a great week... but I got into the office this morning and opened up an e-mail from my mom with photos photos attached (including some of Puff and Shackleton), and I'm more impatient than ever to go home for Christmas. And it's good to see that a family tradition is still going. Some people put reindeer or sleighs in their front yards. Not the Sproats!


A run-down of the weekend...
Friday. Went to a reception for St. Stephen's (the school in Rome where I taught math) trustees, alums, parents, etc. I didn't know anyone there except Phil (the headmaster), his wife Judy, and Michael (medieval history teacher and director of external affairs). I was the youngest one by far, but I had a pretty good time mingling with people because it meant reminiscing about the school and about Rome - lots of good memories. A '81 alum and I discussed bus routes - the 75, the #3 tram... funny that they hadn't changed in 20+ years. It was just fun saying the place names again. Viale Aventino, Trastevere, Nazionale. It was also really good to catch up with Michael and to hear how everyone is doing over there.

Saturday was nice and lazy. Scott and I had a lovely breakfast at Ben's Chili Bowl, visited the holiday market downtown (I bought a gift but was generally underwhelmed), took a nap at my house, and then baked an apple pie at his house. There was a big party at his house (Streamsage, which was founded by Delafield residents, was just sold to Comcast), so I hung out there and had dinner before heading down to an Ultimate party - the end of the season party for Wonderbred, Jeremy and Jerry's team. They won the C league spirit award this year!!! Great to see everyone.

On Sunday, I got to play in a tournament. Bliss.
It was supposed to be raining/sleeting/snowing, but it turned out to be partly sunny all day long. The fields were pretty wet, but it wasn't hard to stay warm - such a blessing in a December tournament. My team, "Washed Up," included a lot of crafty veterans, and we won our first two games pretty easily (13-0 and 13-2). We lost to the GW team but made them fight for it and had a nice comeback in the 2nd half. Our game against BRDM was the most fun by far. It makes such a big difference to play a spirited team, and if those spirited players happen to be some of your best friends... so much the better! We went out for Chinese afterwards - delicious fresh homemade noodles and dumplings. I don't know the name of the restaurant, but it's on 6th and H, and there are ducks hanging in the front window, all around the guy making the noodles. Shower, nap, and then off to a celebration of Jesseca's DC-versary. Her mom, a wine expert, was in town, so she organized a wine tasting. Pinot grigios and pinot noirs. Very cool.

Such a satisfying day. Such a satisfying weekend, really. As always, I feel fortunate to have Scott and to have so many good friends and to have had the opportunity to play a wonderful sport on such a nice day.


Look at all of those toes!