From September into October

September ended with the monthly referee clinic (26 Sept.), in which we reviewed changes in the Laws of the Game for this season. (Mostly in administrative areas.) I ran the IPMS/Gateway business meeting the next night, and attended a business meeting of the Missouri Aviation Historical Society in Clayton on the 29th.

I was up bright and early on Sat., 1 October to be at the Thornhill Branch Library. They were reserving meeting room dates for the first half of 2012 and I wanted to make sure IPMS/St. Louis had its first Tuesdays lined up. Sure enough, I was the first person there and when the library opened at 9:00 am, I got our regular meeting dates. Back home and with a change out outfit, I went to the Soccer Park to referee three girls' soccer matches that afternoon and early evening. They were all Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) matches. I had the middle on the first one, a under-15 match, and then ran lines on the under-17 and under-14 matches that followed. They went well--my middle went with no real incident--and I was happy with my performance.

The next morning, I was at St. Louis U. High to run line on a under-18 Midwest Regional League (MRL) match. That went well, if rather one-sided. Back home after that, I co-hosted the October edition of Writer's Block, from Naturally Autistic Radio. The show went quite well. You can find out more on that program and others at www.naturallyautistic.com/radio-show.

The week started off with me getting my hair--which was cut at the hair salon the week before--colored to cover the gray. Expect some new photos of me soon. Tuesday (4 October), I ran the IPMS/St. Louis meeting, where I gave the good news about our meeting dates and welcomed a first-time visitor to our group. I was at a dermatologist the next afternoon to have someone check out the rash on my chest, back and upper arms. He told me it was eczema and recommended some treatment, including a prescribed creme, which I obtained from the pharmacy later that day. I'm starting to show signs of improvement, and hopefully that will continue in the coming weeks.

I have MRL soccer refereeing assignments coming up tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday in Columbia, Illinois. Hopefully, they should go real well.

Later.