Mention, mention, mention...the word has lost all meaning.

Have I mentioned Redheaded Snippet plays field hockey? I suspect I may have. It's true, she does. And she doesn't just play it, she plays it. In blistering heat, driving rain, cheek-chapping cold, with sprains, strains or snot running down her lip, she plays hockey. She has actually played in all those conditions, by the way. Don't tell her I told you about the snot.

So, I may have mentioned we have a field hockey player in the family. But have I mentioned she's been fortunate to be a part of USA Field Hockey's Futures training program these past 5 months? I may have mentioned that, too. She tried out in September, was accepted, and has been training hard every other Sunday (sometimes at infernal hours of the morning) since January.


So, did I mentioned that this past Sunday was the Regional Tournament? Every player enrolled in the Futures program gets to participate in the Regional Tournament. Each team plays four games and there are 10 "judges" that simply sit in the center of the field and watch the players. No one keeps score. They just watch you play. Each girl is judged according to her individual performance. And at the end of the Tournament, a select few players are chosen to represent the region in the National Tournament in June.

I don't think I mentioned that Mom and Dad went with The Viking, Man-Cub and me to take in the goings-on at the Regional Tournament. It was ridiculously (or redonkulously-as Man-Cub would say) cold. We were cold, starving and more than a little bored most of the time because there was at least an hour between each of Redheaded Snippet's games. And the place was crawling with field hockey players, and coaches and moms and dads and it was all very intimidating. Most of these people are like professional hockey parents. At least they seem like it. They have exactly the right layers of clothing, the hats and windbreakers with field hockey logos on them. They have comfy captains chairs or stadium seats and stadium blankets and many had coolers and thermoses and some even brought enough food to feed an army.


I probably don't have to mention that we had three captains chairs, two of which are falling apart and one of which we found somewhere and whose owner we could not locate (it's got some Nascar emblem on it so it embarrasses me a little to use it, but it was free), a tote bag with only a jacket, umbrella and towel in it (in case it rained) and a grocery store bag with a few measly food items in it. Clearly, we had never done this before. Amateurs.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I haven't mentioned that we found out yesterday that only 22 girls were selected to represent the region (which is our entire state) down at Nationals. And guess what else we found out?


It certainly bears mentioning...you could see this coming, right? Redheaded Snippet is one of them! I was so excited when I found out I'm afraid I started hootin' and hollerin' and I'm not even a hootin' and hollerin' kind of girl.

Need I mention that it seems she must be really good and it's not just me saying it because I'm her mother? We're just so proud of her and she's so very excited!


Just wanted to make sure I mentioned it.