Lack of originality leads to malaise

I haven't written in a while, and it was mostly because A) I felt like complaining; or B) I'd already written what I was thinking about; C) my life was taken over by volleyball.

Last week K finished her last volleyball games for the season. Two tournaments occurred. The first, here in town, ended in a five-set thriller against Northridge High School which they lost in the last game, 15-13. It was a sheer three hours of screaming and being obnoxious. They played the best I've seen them play all season. The second, in Huntsville, was a match against Grissom High School which was over when it started. K said it's really hard to be pumped against a team that they had no bone to pick with. Still, K is thinking about not trying out for volleyball next year. She may change her mind. I hope she does. I love watching the girls play.

Before heading to Huntsville, I stopped by Montgomery. Okay, really it wasn't on the way, but it was such a quick trip that I felt like it was a pitstop. I went to see my sister and my niece who flew in to spend time with my parents. My sister threw my mom a 75th birthday party, which is exactly something my sister would do and exactly something I was too self-involved to think about. Sigh. Anyway, I did at least socialize with all of the Indians that my mom invited. A few of them I have known since I was nine. It's a little awkward, actually, since I'm 41 and I'm not the same person I was back then; and I also find their children a little weird too. I'm sure they think the same thing about me. I am a Christian, after all. My niece was in good form, not just for the party but for the entirety of my visit. Every time I tried to talk to her or hold her, I was treated to a look of skepticism or a whimper of pain. She is very mom-clingy right now. I take that back, she was that way in March too, so maybe she just reacts that way to me. Anyway, she's cute as a button, but mainly she shows that when her mom is holding her.

I took two days off when doing all of this. Seriously, you cannot put a price on vacation time when you are feeling burnt out and angry about work. And also when you're looking forward to annual reviews. Do you feel the next blog subject coming on?