Out of Touch

I was playing volleyball with a few girls one night. They are in high school. We always have at least two girls with names that are the same.

So as we were playing, there were two girls on the same team with the name of J. Hall and J. Smith. People would call out their first name and confusion would ensue. Which doesn't usually lead to many points or a winning game.

Finally, J. Hall says to J. Smith, "We should come up with some nicknames so we won't get confused." And I in my infinite wisdom, butted in and said, "You (J. Hall) could be Hall, and you (J. Smith) could be Oates."

And they both looked at me expectantly, but cluelessly.

At which point I realized.

I am old.

Ariel is in the House

If you read my last post, you know I enjoyed a seafood extravaganza last night.

One of the highlights of the night:

All of us had to come to my house so I could change. I went down to the basement to kiss my girls goodnight. They were watching a Little Mermaid movie. I think the second one. When I came down, my guests came down, too.

They said hi to the girls, and I always make sure the girls say hi back.

It looked something like this:

Gaby says "Hi!"

I say, "Girls, say hi to Miss Gaby."

Girls, "Hi, Miss Gaby."

Muriel says, "Hi!"

I say, "Girls, say hi to Miss Muriel."

My Littlest Girl looks at her, looks at the TV, looks back at her and says, "Hi, Miss Ariel!"

They had no idea I was so hooked up in the Princess World.

Volleyball

I like volleyball. I've been playing it for well over 30 years now. I may not be as quick or jump as high as I did when I was in high school, but I have gained some wisdom that still makes me a decent player.

My daughters do not recognize this, however.

Last week, they came to one of my games. I play on a women's league. On my team, everyone is younger than me. No problem. That's where the wisdom part is helpful. The girls were sitting with a friend, watching me play. During one of the matches, I dove a couple of times to save the ball. The girls started talking quickly with my friend. She was laughing.

When I had a chance, I asked the girls what they said. E was relatively concerned. She said, "You are too old to play volleyball. You had a birthday, remember?"

I did have a birthday this month, and it was a big one. I didn't think it had affected my game play so quickly, so I said, "Why do you think I"m too old?

She replied, "Because you fall down on the floor when you play!"

I'm so glad she said that, and not, "Because you're slower than the other players," or "You make more mistakes than the other players," or something equally as depressing.

So I told her, "You're supposed to dive on the floor when you play volleyball." And she looked slightly less concerned and a little more confused.

Whew. Dodged a bullet there. Can't wait to see how she critiques me when she gets a little older.