Mr. Coach..

That's my Hubby in the glasses, deciding on a play for flag football. What's funny is that as a kid, he played one year of T-ball where he was picking dandilions in right field. In High school he was a memberof the tennis team. When He married me and I dragged him back to my hometown, he started playing softball. Our oldest son was signed up for YMCA Soccer and Baseball at about 4 years old. He watched and learning. He helped out the coaches as an assistant. I thin his first foray into head coaching was as a co-head coach for the oldest son's 4th grade intramural basketball team.

When our younger son, now 9 turned 4, he played soccer at the Y. Dad decided to sign up to coach. Then Dad signed up to coach t-ball. Then he started helping out with the Wrestling team. Parents frequently came up to me and expressed how much they like him as a coach. His Mom often sat beside me and beamed. Once he was asked by another coach what weight he wrestled in High school. That coach was amazed when he learned Hubby had only learned wrestling when our oldest so started the sport in the first grade. By Son's 6th year, guess who was the head coach. And he loves it!

Action picture of the 9 yo in his first Flag football game.

Be careful what you wish for..

I'd love to elaborate, but I am also not willing to spill my guts right now. There is a tropical storm brewing at work. My employment is not in danger, but my current position is being brought into question. My ego is taking a pounding. However, there could be a good side to this.

So is a hurricane going to develop out of this or will the storm break up. Like the weather, it's hard to tell. There can sometimes be some blustering, however, this same question has been brought up before.

There could be some advantages. A lot of what I do, I would still do. There is a public relations aspect to my job that needs work. Do I still have the competitive spirit and drive to attain the skills, knowlege and abilities? I don't know. Now that I am not the main breadwinner in the family anymore, do I want to fade in the background more?

Sometimes the Almighty Father answers prayers in a way you don't expect. But then again I did not think my occasional fantasies of a less intense career were prayers.

A Post about nothing

Oh how I wish I was full of witty posts that has people rolling in front of their monitors. I'd love to be another BooMama or a Mrs Dryer, But I just don't have it in me. Heck. Shalee is a Mom who works outside the home and she posts more regularly that I do.

I stead I give you pictures of my wind-ravaged home and my boys in their sports. But maybe because my life is pretty confined these days. I sleep, work and drive. I take time out to eat and use the bathroom. Take yesterday, I got up, showered and dresses, referred arguments between Whiney (the 9 YO) and Meanie (the ADHD 13 Yo who's meds had not kicked in yet). The 9 YO has been making things with Legos, He had a cars that was made out of DS13s Legos. the 13 YO demanded him Legos back. Yelling ensued until the bus pulled up. I did spedn 30 minutes on the home computer until it was time to pick up my carpool friend. I did have to stop and get gas. Then we came to work. Then we came home. Just as I am 3 minutes from Carpool friends house, Hubby calls me. he got out of work late. Was I closer to school to pick up the 9 Yo from after school care? Yes. So I go back and pick up the ( YO. In the meantime I call DS13 to tell him to eat before football practice and to be ready because i would probably have enough time to pull into the driveway, jettison DS9 to Dad's care and have DS13 climb in to take to football practice. (Lets do a time check: leave work at 3:45, pick up DS9 about 4:35, pull into the driveway about 5:08).

I drop off DS13, and go find the Kroger. I went to the second closest one because of traffic. I got a package of California rolls - Yum, Dinner) and juice boxes to send in for Ds9's class. I stop at Trader Joe's looking for Flax seed supplements. Then I decide to go to Whole Foods - it's another 2 exits up the expressway (yes a lot of my driving is my own fault..) I find Arnica Gel

I sit waiting for football practice to end for about 30 minutes. It's awful dark, but I guess the two little street lights are enough to do pushups and situps to. DS13 is hungry. Ok, it's 8:15, we've got a 15 minute ride home with a boy who procrastinates on his shower, getting something to eat at home would prolong my agony by 20 minutes at least. So it is a stop at McDonalds. Bu=oy are they busy. So I hand the boy some money. He goes in with $8 and comes back out with $5. Hey, not bad. We drive home. Ah, I can now kick off my shoes and change out of my work clothes.

So am I crazy to be starting a very expensive workout program? I am working with a personal trainer. Hubby is behind me. I have not been able to exercise for about 2 years. I have developed chronic tendonitis in my ankle due to my extremely flat feet. Working with the Podiatrist, I have a rigid brace that I am supposed to wear most of the time. Surgery is the next step. I don't like the idea of surgery so I want to work with a personal trainer to find workouts that won't aggravate my ankle. My goals for exercising are:

1. Stress relief
2. Stave off Diabetes for another 20 years
3. Of course it would be nice to drop some weight. (Goal is about 65 lbs)

So to find the time, I and going to work out at 5 AM Tues and Thurs and 7 AM Saturdays. Wish me luck...

Wind Damage to our roof

This is what the Ohio Hurricane did to our roof.

Third day of school closings

So since the big Ohio Hurricane school is closed for the third day in a row. The local media is billing this as the "Great Blackout".

Anyways, both my boys said yesterday that they were ready to go back to school. They are bored being home watching TV and playing video games. They miss their friends and the structure that the school day brings.

But they have another day to "build Character" and "strenghten their resourcefulness muscles".

A hurricane In Ohio?

So somewhere over Cincinnati, the remenants of hurricane Ike collided with a Cold Front. As a Result, N KY, Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus got sustained winds of 40 MPH (I heard this is Tropical storm definition) and gusts of up to 80 MPH. 90% of Duke Power customers were affected. Of course they had sent many crews down to Houston. They have recalled them.

I feel really lucky. I was outdoors for a good portion of this. Why? I was working the concession stand at the Football game before my Son's. Our power was out once we got home. We were lucky that it came back up about 8:20 PM. Down the street, the traffic lights and the Gas stations are still out of power.

So at this point, my boys are off school again tomorrow. The newspaper said that school officials for thebig public school are not only considering the power out, but even if they had power back, the food they have is spoiled. they need to restock. How can they feed intercity kids, a portion who eat breakfast and lunch at school, until they get new shipments.

Gas is also getting scarce. Some of the Gas depots int he area are without power so they cannot pump gas into the tankers. I admit being a bit cavalier abotu emergency preparations. Most emergencies around here affect small area, like tornados. You can drive 10 miles or so and finds an area with power and such. Floods are usually confined to the area close to the rivers. A Blizzard would be the biggest disaster would would get.

So I need to do a better job of keeping batteries around, maybe several days of canned food, etc...

The Politics test -

Link to the test: http://www.okcupid.com/politics

You are a Social Liberal (60% permissive) and an... Economic Conservative (63% permissive) You are best described as a: Centrist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Smells Like Pre-teen spirit?

So I wrote about my 13 Yo not being consistent about using deodorant. Yesterday I picked up the 8 YO from his afterschool program. He tells me "Mom, I need deodorant. The hair on my arms is getting long."

As I chocked back (1) laughter and (2) "You're too young". I decided I would take advantage of his enthusiasm. If he wants to use Deordorant, I should nto stop him. Then he will be in the habit by the time "big boy stink" strikes. And 'Oh boy, there/s a Walgrrens right there.

He picked out Old Spice "Mountain Rush".

Strawberry Jam anyone?

A couple of Weeks ago, the Man I pledged to stick to for better or Worse, called me. We are out of Strawberry Jam. I looked in the corner cupboard and there aren't anymore jars on the shelf.

Oh no! I did not get around to making a batch. I figured I still had plenty. So the local Mega -mart had an end of season sale on Strawberries. I stopped Friday night. They had been well-picked over, but my family deserves homemade strawberry jam. (I find it quite easy to make). I had to buy twice as much as I usually do because of all the unseable peices. I get home and start to pull out my empty jars. Hey, what's this? At the bottom of the cupboard are 7, yes Seven! jars of strawberry jam.

The Man is out on the lawn tractor, moving the weeds. I go out, Hold up the jar, then I tuck it under my arm and hold up 7 fingers. Then I turn around and walk back intot he house.

Yeah, he's right, it won't go to waste. But still, out of season strawberries. The Man cannot find things right in front of his face. I don't get it. After 15 years, I know he has a problem finding stuff.

Any my son wonders why last night, when he tells me he can't find his School Unifoprm Shirt, the I start diggind in his drawers. Yes, we found all 5.

I don't even eat strawberry jam.