Soccer and Sanjaya

So we have joined the legion of merry fools who tramp out to wet fields and cheer on small people who are kicking the ball toward the wrong goal. This is not exactly Mommy's idea of the best time in the world, but Spilly thinks it's fabulous. She is not particularly interested in the soccer ball itself, but she loves hearing people shout, "Go for the ball! You can do it!" This is when she waves beatifically at her fans and runs in slow motion down the field while inspirational music plays.

Today, we're responsible for bringing watermelon for the half-time snack. Basically, there will be fifteen minutes of fierce soccer, followed by a snack, followed by fifteen more minutes of fierce soccer. This is my kind of work schedule.

In other news, Spills has discovered by accident that Sanjaya is back on TV again. Her father and I had actually known for awhile that he was going to be back. We'd even taped the initial show, in order to preview it with a view to possibly showing it to Spillaya. After watching it, though, we felt it might be a tad mature for her--particularly as her general daily scenario with Sanjaya is that he is (a) playing with her by the bus stop (b) singing songs from The Lion King with her in the bath (c) coming over to her birthday party, etc. (Yes, he is still alive and well in our home, and in her babysitter's home.)

How did she find Sanjaya? The other night, when she was supposed to be finding "Martha Speaks" for her post-bath-glimpse-of-TV, she came across Sanjaya's new show. From another part of the house, I seriously thought she had been injured, so piercing were the screams. (I would not be surprised if Sanjaya heard her in the jungle, and shivered.)

Anyway, there was no possibility of turning the channel. So, we all sat together and basically talked through anything that was not Sanjaya. When Sanjaya appeared onscreen, we would all say, "There he is!!!" and Spills would jump around wildly, screaming, "Oh, I'm so embarrassed!!!"

It got worse. At one point, she said, "What's that? Someone's at the front door!" Turns out it was Sanjaya, coming to watch the show with us. We made a space for him on the couch. Then he stayed overnight in the basement bedroom, and joined us for breakfast the following morning. He had Raisin Bran, for what it's worth. He seems to be planning to stay.