Hourray - the long weekend is here and it couldn't have come at a better time. Things at work are incredibly buys and it has gotten to the point where holidays and personal time off is needed just to recover rather than to recharge. A sad state of affairs...

So things that have happened since the last update. My not-so-little "V" was in a cheerleading exhibition show, which I recorded on video. I'll be freezing a frame and will post it. They did pretty well...

Last weekend, we threw a surprise (very late) birthday party for "A" and she was absolutely thrilled. It was a Masquerade Ball and everything worked out really well - no one let it slip. I was very pleased with how it all turned out.

This weekend, I head off to Kingston to be part of another CSL game. I am assigned as 4th official, so the physical stresses will be a little less, although I'm sure the mental stresses will still be there... and then afterwards, I head off further into Ontario to have a visit with the boys. There is talk that we may head up to Canada's Wonderland so that will be really exciting. As it's the long weekend, I'm guessing it's going to be really busy, though - that will be unfortunate...

And something to look forward to, I'll be teaching a Referee Course next weekend, which is an Entry level course - that will be fun!

So, we're now in May - yikes, where does the time go? LLO is all done, although we're still in the "business-side" mode getting reports and numbers ready for the Annual General Meeting that will happen in a couple of weeks. So the "fun" part of performing and singing is all complete.

Refereeing is well under way with a couple of the leagues having started already (the AAA league and the Premiere League). I don't a few games already in some no-so-hospitable conditions but that will only get better as we get deeper into spring and summer. Last weekend, I went on a road trip to Trois-Rivières with a couple guys from my region to ref a game. I was in the middle and the two guys were on the line and we worked well as a team. The game went extremely well with no incidents of any kind and no yellow or red cards - pretty impressive for a Senior Division-2 game.

This past weekend was a Senior Division-1 game that, I also felt, went really well. In this game there were a couple of cautions but they were all valid and deserved.

Tonight, I have my final Indoor games and then I can only look forward to running outside. This is a strange period since Indoor and outdoor games overlap. So in one case I need to wear the layers of Under-Armour to stay warm and then in the other case I don't need to worry about the elements.

As mentioned in previous posts, this summer will be very busy with some very top level games coming my way. I'm really looking forward to them but I have to make sure I stay in shape and healthy (knock-on-wood!!!)

This coming weekend, I've been invited to a conference given by a former Canadian FIFA referee. These are always top-notch opportunities to learn from the best and I know it will be no exception. Following that, it's another road trip but this time it will be to my first pro game out in Kingston, Ontario. I will have my first opportunity (and actually THE first opportunity since the game number is number 1) to see the CSL caliber. Can't wait!!