With a Little Help From My Friends

I love getting long, happy e-mails from buddies. Noelle just sent me one, and it made me smile many times. I also like (by the way) waking up to good songs on the radio. Today a Cher song, the title of which I am not sure, was on as I was getting out of bed, and it kind of got me going.

Today was just a good day overall (we got first at Streator, and I did well personally). Yesterday was nice, too; I had lunch with Sonya, Ellen, April, Gloria, and Candace at the Olive Garden. I had never been there before, but the breadsticks and ravioli were very delicious. Last night I went to Ross' birthday party, and got to hang out with people I usually don't see at school, like Steph and Laura. Somehow we got started playing Bop-It while most everyone else was playing poker or watching Ocean's 11. That game is horribly addictive, and gets me embarrassingly hyper (well, that and the Diet Cokes).

The only dampener on the past few days' contentment has been the absence of Decatur MacArthur from Streator because of the death of a team member's mother. I e-mailed Jeff to express my condolences and find out who it was, but haven't heard back from him. I'll see Donald tomorrow at the Team Illinois tryout, so I'll see if he says anything. I don't know what I could say or do, but since I do know those kids, I'd like to be able to send an e-mail or something. Weird as it sounds, I've kind of had to interact with people who have recently lost loved ones a lot lately, like Chris (Chico) from church, and Laurie at school.

Speaking of the Team Illinois thing, I'm not at all expecting to make the team, although I'll give it my best shot. But I do want to prove myself against people like Donald and Alex Inman, and I think I'll be able to do at least that.