Yesterday started at 5am. We got up, got ready, and were out the door around 6am. Then we picked up one of my favorite daughter’s friends and our good friend Martha and headed for Rancho Bernardo. A 40 minute drive later and we were at the volleyball center.

As we drove up there some odd things happened with the navigator on my phone. First it took a while to connect. That was just annoying, but it did finally connect when we were about 10 minutes out. Then it showed me being on the wrong side of the road going in the right direction. Then off in a ditch. Then in a field. Then about a quarter mile away. The driving the wrong direction. Then I lost the GPS signal. The only plus was the map kept showing me where I truly was.

Oh yeah, Solar Flare. I laughed. Thankfully it talked me in once I got off the freeway.

They were the second seed in their pool. That meant Ref, play, off, play, ref, play. We were going to be there for all the games.That was fine.

We watched the 1 and 3 seeds play. It went to three games and the #1 seed won the third game. Barely. Very tight match.

The girls played the #4 seed. It went to three and the girls barely won the third game. Very tight match.

#1 played #4. It went to three games and the #1 seed won the third game. Barely. Very tight match.

We played the #2 seed. It went to three and the girls barely won the third game. Very tight match.

Are you seeing where this is going? All the teams were great and every match went to three games. Each game was high scoring. I think the biggest score gap for our girls was a 25 – 20 game.

By the time it got to the final two games, everyone else had left. It was only our group still playing. The refs split us up onto two courts. Normally one of the teams not playing will ref a game, keep score, things like that. Well, splitting them up meant parents got to volunteer. I got to flip the score and cheer from the floor. More than once I almost got trampled as we played the #1 seed. Because parents were doing things there were some delays.

The #2 vs #3 went two games. I’m not even sure who won. I was watching an epic battle between our girls and the #1 seed.

First game went 25 – 22, we lost. It was tough. The girls played at a level I’ve known they were capable of playing at. So many volleys went on and on and on that when the ball finally feel there was a collective gasp from all parents. Each point was a battle. There were so few mistakes made that losing the first game was draining.

The second game went very much the same except the girls pulled out a win. Again more epic battles, so great spikes, digs, blocks. It was a joy to watch.

I’m not sure what happened on the third match. I think the girls just plain ran out of gas. They’d been playing all day, it was hot, but they still battled it out. At one point the score was 7 – 1. The girls rallied back and soon the score was 10-7. Again each point went on and on. The other two teams had left. You could hear every squeak of shoe, grunt as they jumped or hit a ball, stomping of feet as they ran across the court. In the end, the score was 15 – 10. The girls had lost, but put up a battle to be proud of.

How did my kid do? She played every game. At one point as I sat keeping score she pointed to her her and I could see tears in her eyes. I motioned to the coach and he looked at her and pulled her out. The girl that went in didn’t know the position well and got a little confused, but still played well. After 5 or 6 plays, some water, a little aspirin, my trooper tapped the coach and went back in. It’s one of those moments that brings a tear to your eye. I remember the coach talking to Kasie before the match and I didn’t know what was going on, but apparently she was crying before the match. The coach thought she was upset, but she was really in pain.

This is why I call my kid my favorite daughter. She can be a real trooper. It was tough to see them lose, but it wasn’t due to lack of effort. Over the entire day there were a couple of mistakes, but they’ve really stepped up. Watching my kid block, stuff, RUN! hustle, and make plays was just amazing. I can’t say it enough. I’m proud of her. She even kept playing after taking a ball to the face! I wish I had gotten a picture of that.

As a team, they’re coming together a a unit. I’ve been to nearly all of their practices. I’ve been to all the games. I’ve seen their evolution. Wow. That’s all I can say. Wow.

I did manage a post early in the morning while we waited for the games to start. I accidentally posted it on the Action Pack blog. Whoops. I then deleted it. Thought, oh dang! Managed to get onto the web based version, recover it, copy it, and post it over here. Whew. That was all the writing I got in.

After the games we went back to my best friend’s house to drop off his wife and kid. We stayed there for a bit and finally packed up and went to eat lunch/dinner at T.G.I. Fridays. After a filling meal we went back to his house. We all sat around talking, the girls came and went, came and went. Finally Curt and I decided to watch a movie. Hugo was supposed to be great so we started watching it.

I will say this, the start I LOVED. The mystery, the build up, the automaton. The emotion.

Everyone else nodded off at some point because it had been such a LONG day. I did not. I loved the movie, but was sad to see them include so much about the filmmaker. It was like watching a documentary, not a movie. Yes, and interesting documentary, but it went from movie to documentary and stayed there. Lost were the steampunk elements, in was the reality of the man’s life. Incredible reproductions of the sets, yes, but I wanted more story and less history.

I see why the movie won so many film awards. It was a documentary, disguised as a movie, about film and a famous filmmaker. To be honest, even though I enjoyed the movie, I felt slighted. I felt duped into seeing one thing, and getting another. I would still rate the movie high and a must-see movie, but I would warn viewers before going in what exactly they are getting so they don’t feel tricked by the switch-a-roo in the middle of the movie. #justsaying.

We got home it was about 9:45pm and felt like it was midnight. I watched to write. I tried to write. I nodded off at the keyboard and that was that. Today will be a little different. There will be a little house cleaning, I’ve written my post. Then I’ll pack and be on my way to the airport. Knowing I’ll be doing much waiting I’ll have my netbook with me and knock out as many words as I can. I’ll ignore the person or persons I sit next to and write as much as I can. I should be able to get caught up today if I write as much as I’m able. I’m only a couple thousand words behind. I will let you know tomorrow.

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!