As I told you in "A Lil Bit about Arizona;" Luis and I had moved here sight unseen. Neither of us had ever been to Arizona before; but an opportunity presented itself; so we packed up, and moved. We knew that it would be hot; but since we were moving FROM Florida; and Luis had lived most of his life in Puerto Vallarta; we thought that we'd be able to endure the high temps. Interestingly enough, because we moved here in January; it wasn't hot at all. In fact, it was downright chilly; and it rained almost every day for the first few weeks; which had me quite confused.
Once it started to warm up; the weather was ideal. The skies were blue (like EVERY day;) and I couldn't imagine a better place to live. I remember asking people about this "dry heat," because I had no idea what they were talking about. But then that first spring, Luis and I went to Puerto Vallarta and as we stepped off the plane; the humidity smacked me in the face; and it was right then and there that I knew what was meant by dry heat; and I was grateful for it. The summer temps didn't bother us; because we'd had an opportunity to ease into them; and just when you thought that it couldn't get any hotter; fall rolled around the weather got cooler; and again Arizona seemed ideal.
The past few days have been particularly cold for Phoenix; so on Tuesday night we nearly froze our butts off at soccer practice. OK, my Northeast friends and readers from colder regions; I can hear your grumblings now; and I can assure you that I know what COLD is; AND I know that no matter how cold it is in Phoenix, it's nothing compared to what you guys go through. HOWEVER, you must consider that when we're used to 120 degree weather and the temperature drops in half; OR LOWER; that IS cold for us. Just like you're used to having your summers in the 80's, but when the temperature drops to the 40's, you've got your winter gear on; right??
ANYWAY, Tuesday night I was curled up in my sweatshirt as far as I could get and I was dreading the thought of being on the soccer field by 730 Saturday morning; but then tonight, it was gorgeous. It was chilly but not windy; and sitting at the field while Lyndzi practiced was not nearly as difficult as it was the other night. I was having a great time chatting away with my friends; when all of a sudden we all heard a loud SMACK! It was the sound of a soccer ball hitting Lyndzi right in the face. I held my breath for a second and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion; and then Lyndzi let out a cry; and I went running. YES, I said running! I don't think my girlfriends had ever seen me move so fast, but when you think that your child is hurt, your adrenaline kicks in and nothing can stop you from getting to them as quickly as possible; even if you're Wii thinks that you're an obese 65 year old in a 43 year old body. As I was running to her, Lyndzi immediately turned toward me and started moving in my direction. I had feared that the ball had hit her nose; but in all actuality it was her cheek. The ball had been VERY cold and the boy that had kicked it, had an extremely powerful foot; but Lyndzi was fine. I'm sure that it stung quite a bit, given the cold and the impact; but I think she just had a little scare more than an injury. I held her and assured her that she was fine and that everything was going to be OK. The coach and another dad came over to make sure that she was alright and check her out; and then once again my tough little girl got right back out there and continued playing goalie for the rest of the drill. When the going gets tough, Lyndzi gets going and she always does so with a smile on her face.
Once again I am so proud of Lyndzi's never say die attitude; her resilience and her dedication. I think that in fact we BOTH had a little scare; and I am so thankful that Lyndzi wasn't injured tonight. She just never ceases to amaze me; and I am in absolute awe of her.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING
