a short update on Sandy, soccer, and the wimpy kid

I talked briefly with Ariel on Sunday as she and Chris were looking for water in Manhattan. The power was off all week in New Jersey where they stayed with Chris's aunt and they returned on Friday or Saturday but the towers they live in along the East River are still without power and water and it may be a couple of days before power is restored. They may be among the last buildings on Manhattan to get their power and water back. There are no working elevators, so whatever water they found they will have to carry up many flights of stairs. I couldn't talk long, because she was saving the phone battery.

Jackson had another soccer game Saturday afternoon. He has two more before the season ends. His team, Germany, was well matched against the other, Manchester, and I overheard the coach for Manchester was suggesting the two teams play again during the week for a scrimmage. Nice idea. The coach is very excited about Jackson's play. He says he plays very aggressively and likes to play him at midfield so he plays both defense and offense. Jackson tires out after a while and likes to switch at goalie. It was Jackson's day for snacks, and he wanted what Rylee did for a recent baseball snack: a baggie of pretzels, a maple icing shortbread cookie, and a couple of ginger snaps, with bottles of gatorade. The team needed it at half time. When he's not playing soccer, he's almost always on the computer, doing some tricky stuff. One new "game" he likes is Minecraft.

Rylee often plays on Cyndi's iphone or on an ipod when he's not rollerblading outside (or in the house). On Saturday afternoon, he and I went to the bookstore because he wanted "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." He's read a couple in the series already. It's about a mid schooler, and the books are reserved for 4th and 5th graders in his school's library. By Sunday afternoon, he had finished the book.

We saw Hotel Transylvania at the movies together on Sunday. Fun movie. A beautiful weekend, by the way. Ry and I spent Saturday outside working around the yard, painting some lanterns, after we went to early voting. We went to dinner with Nikki after the soccer game and wandered around ABQ Uptown, where the boys check everything out at the Apple store and I talked to the candidate for congress, whom I knew from school. At dinner, the boys sat by each other, very well mannered, lots of talking between them, oblivious to the rest of us. Ry had a small plate of buttered pasta, which he ate between talking with Jack and reading his new book. Jackson tried the black bean soup and some meatballs, but both were mildly spicy and his palate is still not ready. The clocks changed that night.