The family came out to cheer me on today as my team played in the semi-final round of our division’s playoffs. With a decisive 3-1 win we will play for first place honors next weekend. I scored one of my prettier goals of the season when I sprinted laterally across the field to win a header from their center midfielder which I placed to the feet of one of our strikers. Continuing my run and cutting to the goal, he fed the ball back to me. I beat the sweeper and unleashed a rocket which found the lower left corner of the net despite the keeper’s attempt to deflect it. Unfortunately, I did not finish the game after I injured the top of my quadriceps in a stupid attempt to save a ball from going out of bounds. My status for the finals next week is now highly questionable. Today is also Maya’s actual birthday and we had our family celebration which included a special dinner in which both father and daughter got to request foods for a special dinner. Maya received an envelope containing clues to her birthday present from Jeanine and I. The contents included a strip of fiberglass and a Popsicle stick. After some guessing she correctly deduced that her gift was a kayak. The kit will arrive this week and we will construct the wooden 14.5 footer over the summer. Maya was a daily helper as I constructed my kayak and she has always wanted to build her own.