Whirlwind

So this past month has been what one might call...crazy. Some really great things happened, some really not so great things happened. Such is life eh?

First and foremost, congrats must go out to my sister and new brother-in-law on their marriage. I could not be happier for them, and hopefully they will always be happy.

I'm glad that they had their wedding out in Iowa because the way my work schedule shook out I would have been hard pressed to get anywhere else just having the wedding day off. It was great seeing family and friends again, especially when everyone was so obviously happy and having a good time.

P.S. The food? Amazing. The maid of honor and I had a fun little aside about the proper way to eat mashed taters, and my dislike for cooked carrots.

I feel bad that I missed portions of the reception, and I feel bad for the way I presented my gift to the couple. But, from my stand point, I didn't really have a whole lot of options.

Other than the wedding and festivities, things have been plodding along as they seem to always do. We showcased an olde time wedding at work last weekend which went over very well, except for the part where I was the only person out of 12 actually making sure the farm was running. I understand that we're "educators", but this "educator" also had to pick up a lot of slack to make sure that the event got pulled off without a hitch. Or having oxen running around like two year olds.

In about a month I traverse back to the land of Illinois to refferree a volleyball tourney. Something that I've been doing for years it seems now. It is always a good time and every year I know fewer and fewer people there. Which is both fun, but also a bit intimidating. Yes, I know the sport, yes, I know the rules. But, the sport has changed, and it seems parents of the LSA have not. Most don't like my philosophy of reffing which is, "They're kids. Let 'em play." It will be the first tournament of the year and coaches are more worried about setting up line ups and figuring things out that work for their team and against certain opponents. Let them play.

Real coaching starts tomorrow. I am both excited about this, but also a bit on edge. 'S not that I don't know what I'm doing, and I'm a bit more familiar with the people I'm working with and for. But, it is a new year, a new group of kids, new parents. And that right there is the kicker. I had my parents trained last year. Now I have to break in not one new group of parents. I have to break in two. One group I'm not worried about. The other team where I am a co-coach for the only reason that the parents are horrible...I'm not really looking forward to that.

There is a laundry list of things to be in a huff about but nothing is going to change, and this is assuradly not the forum for it. Therefore, we'll let it slide.

That's about all I've got.

Buck