Goodbye Present

The Wams and Jimama (along with Bob and Fernando) kept a secret from me for these past few weeks.

When we went out to the grassy middle of Mike Long Track this evening, The Wams mentioned something about burning a hole through her bag. I wasn't paying attention...I was slightly worried about the pesticide warning sign I saw before I stepped onto the grass. When we got to the bench, The Wams set her bag down and pulled out, to my surprise, a replica +Teamgeist Ball from the 2006 World Cup. I thought it would be marvelous for the weekly soccer match to have a new ball, until The Wams said:

"So now that you have a ball and your own portable grassy field, you have no reason to NOT play soccer when you're in Melbourne."

The Wams and Jimama split the cost of the Official FIFA World Cup 2006 Replica Ball, and on top of that, The Wams made me a whole new set of field goals to put on the grass. She made them out of strips of carpet wrapped in bright orange vinyl tape, sealed with duct tapes and topped it off with two pieces of cable ties with pink vinyl streamers. All this while having Bob guarding my activities to ensure that I do not walk in on her while she worked on the goals.

I don't know why people do this for me...I offer so little. This is one of the best presents I have ever received. Other than the pair of cleats and shin guards that I bought a couple of months ago, I never owned sports equipment until now.

Thank you guys...the ball is not going to be packed. This baby is staying by my side for every impromptu games out at the Love Building parking lot, Landis Green, Bob's office... ;)