soccer practice and the good year blimp

Tony had his first soccer practice last evening for his new travel soccer team that he will be playing on here in IL. It wasn't really practice, it was "conditioning" run by some random guy who works for the soccer organization. The only reason I make the distinction here is because if it was practice then I'm sure the coach would have introduced him to the other players and poor Tony would have had a lot less anxiety.

You could see the pain and tension on his face as he tried to "juggle" his ball and edge closer to the other kids. It was painful for me to watch! What's a mom to do?

Grab my camera and take some pictures of his pain....

It didn't work too well....

I'm not gonna blame it all on my camera this time either (but I really, really, really want a new camera)

See, I was also trying to "fit in" there at soccer.

There was a group of soccer moms to my left...in a circle looking amazing similar to this picture....talking and laughing. And there's me nonchalantly trying to edge closer, hoping to just blend into their circle.

I didn't want them to see me taking pictures of soccer conditioning....Who in their right mind takes a picture of their kid at soccer conditioning? eehhmmm....so picture me hiding my little pocket camera...in my pocket....looking over at the group of soccer moms to make sure no one was watching.....and quickly raising it to snap a quick pic before anyone would see me. Yep, that's how sad I am.

But then the most amazing thing happened....well, I thought it was amazing. There above us is the Good Year Blimp! It just circled over the soccer field for about 40 minutes. I was mesmerized....forget fitting in....forget my child's pain and anxiety.....it's the Good Year Blimp! I sat for about 10 minutes trying to decide how to describe the sound it made. See the only time I've ever seen a blimp is at The Big House and there always happens to be 107,501+ screaming fans. I've never actually heard one before. I decided big push lawn mower is the best description.

After my initially wonder and amazement wore off....maybe 20 minutes later....hey what can I say? I realized that none of the other soccer moms were even looking at the Good Year Blimp. So I began to wonder, is it normal for the Good Year Blimp to circle the soccer fields in Chicago? Are they so used to it that it's no big deal?

So I had to do the same "hide the camera in the pocket, make sure no one is looking, quick snap a picture" routine again....hey! I may be spending a lot of time with these women....I don't want them to know how weird I am right off the bat!

So after watching the Good Year Blimp circle, dip, descend, and rise over and over I came to the conclusion that they must be practicing landing. I imagined the new pilot....I'll call her 'Tori'....hey it's my imagination...get your own Good Year Blimp!.....nervously gliding the blimp toward the ground....and the more experience pilot....I'll call him 'Mr Yang' (he was my driver's training teacher in H.S. and he had the most calm voice)....saying "that's right, just bring it down slowly, good job Tori! ok now lets go up again"....excuse my lack of technical blimp terms....I was just daydreaming....

Anyways, I never did get any closer to that group of soccer mom's. Tony did just fine even though I'm not sure he really talked to anyone either. I'll try harder next time, when I'm not so distracted by blimps.