Did I mention he loves football?

I offer this as proof that I am not always sarcastic or cynical.

Actually, I woke up this morning intending not to post. I was just kind of empty. We've had sick kids, Jeff was gone almost forever yesterday, and it's just Thursday.... blah.

Then I got an e-mail from Jensen's football coach. Jensen's in a pediatric flag-football league, and I had e-mailed his coach about tonight's practice. (By the way, the thought of coaching that smelly writhing mass of six- and seven-year-old boyness is enough to make me want to consume large amounts of hard liquor.) And the nice man sent me a message back simply to tell me how much he loves having Jensen on his team. That my son works so hard and is so enthusiastic that he is "inspiring."

[My mommy heart melts.]

Yep, he loves football, my kid. So much so that during his First Official Game, he got so caught up in watching the plays that he forgot to actually participate. The rest of the kids started running around, doing whatever it is they call "football." And Jensen got so excited that he just jumped up and down in place, cheering them all on. So much so that he has become the neighborhood football mascot. He's always in the yard playing ball with somebody: us, other kids, other dads, whoever.... So much so that on Sunday, he played football alone outside in the rain for three hours. He unabashedly loves it. I guess his coach noticed.

This isn't much of a post. But that e-mail made my day. And that's not sarcastic at all.