Since I blogged about Thing Two yesterday...

Yes, I don't want to show favoritism, as both my daughters are cool, talented, beautiful and annoying. So today I'm writing about my older daughter, Mary. Mary isn't "classically" cool. She's funny, fun, friendly, goofy, a little on the airheaded side (sometimes I wonder if it's real of fake). This makes her incredibly likable. I can't say I appreciate her taste in music, but I'm sure a lot of people do. 

Her talent lies in soccer. At one point, I didn't think she'd excel in the sport. She was shy and lackedconfidence. She was a defender at first, and she got better. When she expressed a desire to play up front, I told her, "You have to prove to your coach that you can do it. You have to be aggressive and fight for the ball." The next practice, she did just that. She moved from defense to forward and in the next years she became one of the team's top scorers.

Now she's an excellent team player. Put her up front, she can score. She weaves in and out of players so smoothly she makes it look easy. I think her real talent lies in the midfield. She has a strong foot and can move the ball forward. Her passes are spot on. Plus, she can shoot for the goal from that position if she's open. I love watching her play. She's dedicated too. She eats fairly well, never misses practice, and exercises outside of practice. At her last physical, her doctor told her she was "pure muscle."





Let's talk about beauty. Mary is beautiful, there is no question. She has a confidence that I wish all teenage girls possessed. Her hair is always done when she goes out, unless she's going to work out. She dresses impeccably, when she's not in soccer shorts. And like I said, she's fit.





 There 's more though. You may not know it by looking at her, because she looks like any other popular girl, but she's as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. She's sweet, kind and thoughtful.

Now for the annoying part. She usually doesn't complain when I ask her to do chores, but it sometimes may take a day...or two...or three...or a week. She constantly has friends over and I can never enjoy my TV room when she's home (because she's bingewatching Gossip Girl or Vampire Diaries, or something similar). She is an exhibitionist to a fault. That's all I'll say about that.

She's really a loving person. She visits her grandparents. She misses me when we've not seen each other in a couple days and tells me so. She also tells me she loves me every day. She helps me when she knows I'm struggling. We talk to each other about everything. 

There you are Mary. No need to be jealous of your sister now. Love you girl.

Blog me

"What should I blog about today?"

I posed this question to my daughter as she walked out the door for school today. She said, "Blog about me."

"What should I talk about?"

"How cool I am. How talented I am. How beautiful I am. How annoying I can be. How humble I am." Okay, I made up that last one.

She told me about Childish Gambino. I'd never heard of him. If you haven't, apparently he is a comedic rapper/singer. I watched a couple videos and...it's funny. He raps silly shit, but it makes sense, in a way, I mean, hard to explain. Here's some lyrics.

This one is from Sweatpants:

Hip deep in the Pepto, I got five on her like Ben Folds
I got more tail than that PetCo, you faker than some Sweet'N Low
Yeah, you got some silverware, but really are you eating though?

Here is some from Freaks and Geeks (warning, nasty nasty lyrics):

 Gambino is a mastermind, fuck a bitch to pass the time
Mass Appeal, orange rind, smoke your green, I'm spendin' mine
The beat is witches brew, but beware this shit is potent
E.E. cummin' on her face, now that's poetry in motion.

In his songs you can tell, or at least I can, or maybe I'm imagining it, what rappers he's making a parody of. But he does it so subtly, it's genius. He got his name from the Wu Tang Clan name generator. By the way, mine is Mad Scientist and Rachel's is Master Destroyer.

So, my daughter, Rachel, she introduces me to new things. New music, videos, interesting people. She's cool like that. She has great taste in music. I remember her first favorite band was the Beatles (she still likes them). She listens to many different genres, hip hop, rap, rock, alternative, indie...She plays songs that she's discovered for me all the time. She keeps a poetry notebook. She likes to draw.  She loves photography. She has many unique and different likes in this world.

Rachel is uber talented. Her talents began with sports. She could probably have played any sport she
wanted, but we put her in soccer and basketball. I don't know basketball very well, but I think her position was guard? She brought the ball down the court, great at passing. She was also a great shooter, but she was short. Get her at the free throw line though...golden.

She was an awesome keeper in soccer. I've seen that girl stop goals that looked impossible. From the time she was in about 3rd grade on, that girl was a menace on the field. Also, she could play any position on the field. The last year she played, she was reluctant. But I was coaching so I talked her into it. Her usual position, if not keeper, was defense. She had a great foot and could clear that ball with no problem. Same at midfield. Her passes were so accurate!! And she could score. She'd
sometimes get frustrated on the field and say she didn't want to go back in. I gave her a pep talk and told her exactly what I wanted her to do. Sometimes it was to  pass it up to the forwards. Other times, I would tell her to take it as close to the goal as possible and shoot. Other times (depending on team and keeper we were playing) I'd tell her to shoot when she got close to the 18. She had a strong foot, her shots were great and she wasn't afraid to shoot. I think she was my 3rd highest scorer that last year.

Her interests turned to music however. I was sad to see her quit soccer, but her musical talents rivaled her athletic ability. I put her in lessons for guitar and voice. Very soon, her teacher had her playing keyboards/piano and drums. One day she came home and said, "I need a bass."

Um...huh? "I'm in a band now. I'm the bass player."

"Do you know how to play bass?"

"I'm learning."

I think you could stick any instrument in that girl's hand and she could figure out how to play it. She even played the cello at an acoustic performance.

So, in this band she played mostly bass and  a little rhythm guitar. She also has a beautiful voice. She sang on some of their songs. And she writes originals. She fucking rocks.

At her high school, she's in both Jazz Choir and Concert Choir. Her Jazz Choir just took a gold medal at a competition in Seattle last month.

Okay, let's talk about her beauty. Yes, I think she's beautiful. Obviously the boys do too as she usually has a string of them waiting to be her next boyfriend.

 

 And she just recently went from long  hair to short. I was worried, but when she came home, it really did suit  her.

And yes, she's annoying. She's about the worst cleaner in the world (but the best mess maker). She doesn't always get her homework in on time. She's not found a job. She rolls her eyes when I ask her to do chores. But this is only a small part of who she is.

My daughter is cool and talented and beautiful. She walks to the beat of her own drum. She doesn't care about trends when it

comes to music, clothes. She doesn't care how people view her as long as she has friends and is happy. In many ways, she is my mini me.

So here you go Rachel. Here's your blog. You know I'm going to have to write about your sister tomorrow now.

Love you girl.