Another Day at The Beach

Today was busy beyond busy. We went to the Riverside Arts Market, which is a fancy word for swap meet, this morning. It was fun, and a friend who lives in Valdosta, TF, was in town with her two daughters. There were arts and crafts, fruits and vegetables vendors, a grandmother belly dancing, and some ethnic food vendors – basically boring, boring, ahhhh make it stop, and I’m in. I’ve been on a trying new food kick and there was a British food booth. They were giving away free samples of shepherd’s pie, which I had no use for. I grew up on it. I wanted the food that conquered the world by way of dysentery. I paid $6 for a steak and kidney pie because it was the only thing they were serving that included an organ meat. They sold it cold so I had to wait until we got home to heat it up in the toaster oven. I was expecting some strong flavors, something metallic, something harsh, something that would let me know I was eating a cow’s poison filter. I even bought some beer to specifically wash down the shock and awe. I got a boring pot pie. I took huge mouthfuls from the center and the only part that was remarkable was the halfway decent pastry. While I was expanding my food experience LMJ was taking a three hour nap, and as soon as she woke up we went to the beach and hung out with TF. It was a little bit cooler today than it was yesterday, but everyone was a trooper. LMJ had a blast playing with TF’s older daughters; one is eight, MF, the other is five, LF. They dug in the sand and played with some paddle things, which I think is a law, and the highlight of the day, they played soccer. I was so impressed with how LMJ dove right into everything. She’s not intimidated by bigger kids at all, which I always forget. She kicked the ball with everyone, until she saw the huge hole in the sand left by some other people – big beach no, no. I wouldn’t let her jump into it, so she decided she would pick up the ball and throw it in the hole. I didn’t necessarily want to steer her towards soccer because everyone does that, but I think she might be a natural goalie. Today was jam packed from beginning to end, but seeing friends from out of town and spending time at the beach is worth it.

Soccer Fan May Never Make Fun of Professional Wrestling.

I’m sitting here listening to some chick read PowerPoint slides to me. Lincoln Financial Group is not immune from the woes of the economy. People have been laid off and now I have to do more of my own official record keeping. This isn’t going to work out. I know my compliance officer is curled up in the fetal position with a bottle of peppermint schnapps somewhere because she knows every one of the 150 or so of us that she’s responsible for are going to blow this off and ask her how to do it personally as soon as we need it. This could be avoided by not reading PowerPoint slides to me over the telephone while I’m supposed to be following along on my computer. I’d also be more inclined to pay attention if I didn’t know for an absolute certainty that these procedures are going to change by the end of the week at the latest. I’m watching soccer players fake injuries on YouTube. I hate soccer. It’s the worst sport ever. Other than faking an injury to get a free kick, what strategy is there? If all the goals from free kicks, including corner kicks, were taken away, there would be fewer than ten goals scored a year in the entirety of the world’s most popular sport. Aren’t these guys embarrassed that for all their hard work and “skill” the sport is reduced to rolling around on the ground like you’ve been shot. Seriously, these guys get carted off on stretchers only to reenter the game a minute later. They make two paramedics run out onto the field, pick their Susan Lucci wannabe asses up off the ground, and carry them to the sideline. And the very worst part is that it works – a lot. Referees award free kicks, hand out cards, and kick people out of the game if the “injured” players performance is good enough. I’m surprised they haven’t figured out a way to work in some fake blood.