I'd been noticing that I've been spending a lot of time thinking about times past. In particular, there's a moment I remember, the last time I saw Terry, that gives me a lot of trouble. He was sitting down and I was standing, and I must have said hi to him or something. "Weren't you just here?" he asked, which was nonsense because I hadn't come back to town for a fairly long time. I think it was spring. He'd clearly been drinking. Anyway, he said, "I could tell you something, but it would make you mad."
Why, oh why did I not make him say it? I don't think I even asked! Maybe I didn't feel like being mad at him. Maybe I just didn't care anymore.
But boy has it been fuel for my imagination! What was it? Bad breath? Too intense? One month it was the back brace and everyone laughing behind my back. For some reason it sent me back to my yearbook, and reading his entry actually made me feel guilty! Like the guy really liked me! It was almost there in print! But then I cycled through memories after that entry, ending with me seeing that it probably worked out fine. I mean, he wasn't even a big deal in my life! But what did he mean by that?
Anyway, I decided that I was DONE with the past and would try to stay put in the present. So much for deciding something. Somehow I think that made it worse!
The thing about thinking back on things is that I can see so clearly now things that at the time I couldn't see at all! I know there's no point in feeling badly about something you can't change, but boy I woujld like to go back and do a few things differently.
Anyway, I was on FB and I saw a posting from an old friend from HS. He looks good in his camouflage and seems like a good person. Whenever I think of him, I remember a time when we first got to college and I had just had a foreshadow of a big breakup, and suddenly Tim showed up at my side. I can't remember if I was in tears or if I'd recovered by then, but I remember he was there, trying to be nice, and I just couldn't talk to him right then.
I only recently really thought about this.
I just really wished I could have seen him right then, and realized that I possibly had a friend at that school. Maybe more. Maybe if I hadn't been so wrapped up in myself I would have seen someone that needed a friend too. I focused so much on my feelings that I didn't notice that maybe I was being rude. Maybe my first year of college didn't have to be so tough.
I really wish I could go back and change that.
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Monday, November 14, 2011
Hostile Takeover, Part II
I just couldn't understand this. I thought these people were my friends, I thought we were united in wanting to put together a team for the future, that would stay together and play together this year and get ready for next year, when things start to count. Just 2 weeks ago we had put together a huge gift basket for the Coach's daughter's wedding present!
People talked openly about some of the things the coach would say, but from the beginning they said he's a nice man and it wasn't that bad. It's funny that the two people who stuck behind the coach the most were the ones that were most bothered by things he'd say (including me). But I just thought about talking to him about it, not try to oust the guy! He was a great coach!
Although on Sunday the Head Coach, Troy, had said there would be a compromise, I figured the Crazy Czech would turn it down, as they kept saying he was resisting having an assistant. So I didn't go to the parent meeting they had at the next Tuesday practice, because I had decided I wasn't going to anymore "meetings" with these people.
Some friends on the team called me to say that on Monday these other parents had gone to the Club President and succeeded in getting the Coach fired. They announced at the "meeting" that Troy would be co-coaching with this other coach that everyone liked, named Eddie. I called the Crazy Czech and he said yes, he'd been prepared to have an assistant coach, but instead they called him in and fired him - not only from our team, but from his younger U12 team, that I know he really loved. That team loved him too, and I think that team pretty much broke up after that.
I just couldn't believe it. Why would these parents go about things this way? Why would they not "reach out" to everyone on the team and try to get more of a buy-in? Why did they just railroad over all of us? Why were divided by emails into people who knew (last year's team) and those who didn't (all the new players)? Why go over everyone's head to get their way?
I really liked most of those people too, thinking they were nice and even letting my daughter stay at their house so she could stay and help her team.
A little ticked, I replied to an email asking who could attend the Thanksgiving tournament, saying nicely that I wasn't sure we'd be around. I got a nice email back from the team Admin (wife) that said she knew it's a tough time of year, so please let her know because they have 3 girls willing to guest for us at the tournament. What? Really? My daughter is that dispensable?
It turns out they've targeted 3 girls from another team that broke up (Coach got fired and 2 players quit with him). That team is not as good and was not having a good season before the split.
So anyway, I was rocked. I really thought that they realized my daughter is a good player and were glad to have her on the team. The same with the girl we brought from our old team. All of us are not really that important? I just couldn't believe this. It really upset me and was on my mind for a good two weeks.
After the first week, I called the other parent that had spoken up in defense of the Coach, Laura, and she gave me the skinny on everything. She said all this talk about the Coach saying bad things and not wanting an assistant was all just a big smokescreen. What it really was about was these parents having their way with the coach.
She was actually copied on the emails, and that's how she knew, and that's why her husband called them selfish whiners. Basically this one mother complained that the Crazy Czech had promised that her daughter could play as striker once the defense was set, and was livid that he still asked her to play on defense sometimes. And I already mentioned about the goalie's family and the team admin's daughter. I don't know what the guy who thinks he's in charge (The Guz) had a beef about, other than the coach finally said something HE didn't like. I know the Coach was not blameless in this, but it does explain why he was getting so negative. It's too bad he played into their hands by saying the last few things about the Guz. After all, the Guz is such a PROUD family!
And somehow there was money involved, and that part I don't understand. I don't think it was the coach, but the club. Anyway, even though most of these people have a lot of money and still somehow got scholarships, these parents evidently had some financial reason for thinking that they coach should do what they said. That's why they were so angry and did what they did. And I suspect that The Guz, who thinks this is his team, was behind most of it. He has always seemed somehow covert to me.
And this made everything understandable. These people think their daughters are so good that it doesn't matter who plays with them. That's why they kept saying how good the team was last year, even though we added so many good players to the team. Last year they were short players, so their daughters got to play all the time. That's why they thought the team was so good last year, even though they only won one game and were scheduled to be relegated to a lower division. Don't they realize that next year is the year scouts will be looking for girls? All they seem to care about is RIGHT NOW.
So I was angry and disappointed in these people. It occurred to me that if enough of us banded together and quit the team, we could sink them to the bottom of our division and most of those parents would leave, but I really rose above myself this time. At first it was hard for me to look at any of them or say hi, but one of the other disenfranchised mothers who I hadn't really gotten to know came over and talked to me at the first game after the mutiny. She told me not to worry about these people, someday they will learn that this is not the way to do things. I had a really good talk with her while we lost that game.
So I got to the point where I could actually look these people in the eye and be cordial, but after that I think everyone was harder on each other. I know I was. I got to saying things like, "Come ON, strikers,let's SCORE." because that was really the team's biggest problem. These girls that want to be strikers used to be on defense, so they don't really know how to turn with the ball and push it forward. This one player that supposedly one of the fastest girls in the nation appears to be afraid of the ball, and somehow manages to always lose it. Before I used to applaud every effort, but I got to wanting results from these players who just had to have their way.
But then my friends daughter's went to very little playing time, and of course they didn't like that or think it was right. But one friend said that the Crazy Czech even told her that only her daughter and one other girl really knew how to play soccer. Really? My daughter doesn't know how to play? And then she said that all they do is push and get penalties, and I admitted that the Girl had a few from her slide-tackles, and she said, "That's because no one ever taught her how to do it right!" Really? She never does it right? And then, because she was so unhappy about her daughter not playing, one of them turned to me during a game and said (with a smile), "Well, this worked out well for you, didn't it? Your daughter gets to play." And I said, "Well, that's because she's on defense! Someone has to play defense so their daughters can 'play up'!"
So this hasn't been easy, even with the people on my side. K always pushes me to "do the right thing" which often means different things to both of us, but mostly we want to be supportive of our daughter and try to do whatever's best for her. And she had no problem finishing the season with this team, although she has grown to dislike a few of them. I tried to stay positive and always encourage her to do well.
And I sort of realized that we're the same in some ways. We all think our daughters are so good, but not all of us are right.
When all this happened we had 6 games left. We lost the first 3 games, and then won the last 3. So I guess the team ended up happy and stayed in their division. I personally feel a bit sad that my favorite friends on the team are gone now, and I don't know if I'll see them again. I'm stuck with these crazy soccer parents (backstabbing fuckwits) until after the Thanksgiving tournament. I used to like these people; now I wonder who they are.
Now we need to get through High School Soccer, which will hopefully be fun and drama-free for my daughter. Her school team's kick-off dinner was this weekend, and I didn't even want to go. I feel a bit burned by getting to know soccer parents.
Hopefully she will have fun.
People talked openly about some of the things the coach would say, but from the beginning they said he's a nice man and it wasn't that bad. It's funny that the two people who stuck behind the coach the most were the ones that were most bothered by things he'd say (including me). But I just thought about talking to him about it, not try to oust the guy! He was a great coach!
Although on Sunday the Head Coach, Troy, had said there would be a compromise, I figured the Crazy Czech would turn it down, as they kept saying he was resisting having an assistant. So I didn't go to the parent meeting they had at the next Tuesday practice, because I had decided I wasn't going to anymore "meetings" with these people.
Some friends on the team called me to say that on Monday these other parents had gone to the Club President and succeeded in getting the Coach fired. They announced at the "meeting" that Troy would be co-coaching with this other coach that everyone liked, named Eddie. I called the Crazy Czech and he said yes, he'd been prepared to have an assistant coach, but instead they called him in and fired him - not only from our team, but from his younger U12 team, that I know he really loved. That team loved him too, and I think that team pretty much broke up after that.
I just couldn't believe it. Why would these parents go about things this way? Why would they not "reach out" to everyone on the team and try to get more of a buy-in? Why did they just railroad over all of us? Why were divided by emails into people who knew (last year's team) and those who didn't (all the new players)? Why go over everyone's head to get their way?
I really liked most of those people too, thinking they were nice and even letting my daughter stay at their house so she could stay and help her team.
A little ticked, I replied to an email asking who could attend the Thanksgiving tournament, saying nicely that I wasn't sure we'd be around. I got a nice email back from the team Admin (wife) that said she knew it's a tough time of year, so please let her know because they have 3 girls willing to guest for us at the tournament. What? Really? My daughter is that dispensable?
It turns out they've targeted 3 girls from another team that broke up (Coach got fired and 2 players quit with him). That team is not as good and was not having a good season before the split.
So anyway, I was rocked. I really thought that they realized my daughter is a good player and were glad to have her on the team. The same with the girl we brought from our old team. All of us are not really that important? I just couldn't believe this. It really upset me and was on my mind for a good two weeks.
After the first week, I called the other parent that had spoken up in defense of the Coach, Laura, and she gave me the skinny on everything. She said all this talk about the Coach saying bad things and not wanting an assistant was all just a big smokescreen. What it really was about was these parents having their way with the coach.
She was actually copied on the emails, and that's how she knew, and that's why her husband called them selfish whiners. Basically this one mother complained that the Crazy Czech had promised that her daughter could play as striker once the defense was set, and was livid that he still asked her to play on defense sometimes. And I already mentioned about the goalie's family and the team admin's daughter. I don't know what the guy who thinks he's in charge (The Guz) had a beef about, other than the coach finally said something HE didn't like. I know the Coach was not blameless in this, but it does explain why he was getting so negative. It's too bad he played into their hands by saying the last few things about the Guz. After all, the Guz is such a PROUD family!
And somehow there was money involved, and that part I don't understand. I don't think it was the coach, but the club. Anyway, even though most of these people have a lot of money and still somehow got scholarships, these parents evidently had some financial reason for thinking that they coach should do what they said. That's why they were so angry and did what they did. And I suspect that The Guz, who thinks this is his team, was behind most of it. He has always seemed somehow covert to me.
And this made everything understandable. These people think their daughters are so good that it doesn't matter who plays with them. That's why they kept saying how good the team was last year, even though we added so many good players to the team. Last year they were short players, so their daughters got to play all the time. That's why they thought the team was so good last year, even though they only won one game and were scheduled to be relegated to a lower division. Don't they realize that next year is the year scouts will be looking for girls? All they seem to care about is RIGHT NOW.
So I was angry and disappointed in these people. It occurred to me that if enough of us banded together and quit the team, we could sink them to the bottom of our division and most of those parents would leave, but I really rose above myself this time. At first it was hard for me to look at any of them or say hi, but one of the other disenfranchised mothers who I hadn't really gotten to know came over and talked to me at the first game after the mutiny. She told me not to worry about these people, someday they will learn that this is not the way to do things. I had a really good talk with her while we lost that game.
So I got to the point where I could actually look these people in the eye and be cordial, but after that I think everyone was harder on each other. I know I was. I got to saying things like, "Come ON, strikers,let's SCORE." because that was really the team's biggest problem. These girls that want to be strikers used to be on defense, so they don't really know how to turn with the ball and push it forward. This one player that supposedly one of the fastest girls in the nation appears to be afraid of the ball, and somehow manages to always lose it. Before I used to applaud every effort, but I got to wanting results from these players who just had to have their way.
But then my friends daughter's went to very little playing time, and of course they didn't like that or think it was right. But one friend said that the Crazy Czech even told her that only her daughter and one other girl really knew how to play soccer. Really? My daughter doesn't know how to play? And then she said that all they do is push and get penalties, and I admitted that the Girl had a few from her slide-tackles, and she said, "That's because no one ever taught her how to do it right!" Really? She never does it right? And then, because she was so unhappy about her daughter not playing, one of them turned to me during a game and said (with a smile), "Well, this worked out well for you, didn't it? Your daughter gets to play." And I said, "Well, that's because she's on defense! Someone has to play defense so their daughters can 'play up'!"
So this hasn't been easy, even with the people on my side. K always pushes me to "do the right thing" which often means different things to both of us, but mostly we want to be supportive of our daughter and try to do whatever's best for her. And she had no problem finishing the season with this team, although she has grown to dislike a few of them. I tried to stay positive and always encourage her to do well.
And I sort of realized that we're the same in some ways. We all think our daughters are so good, but not all of us are right.
When all this happened we had 6 games left. We lost the first 3 games, and then won the last 3. So I guess the team ended up happy and stayed in their division. I personally feel a bit sad that my favorite friends on the team are gone now, and I don't know if I'll see them again. I'm stuck with these crazy soccer parents (backstabbing fuckwits) until after the Thanksgiving tournament. I used to like these people; now I wonder who they are.
Now we need to get through High School Soccer, which will hopefully be fun and drama-free for my daughter. Her school team's kick-off dinner was this weekend, and I didn't even want to go. I feel a bit burned by getting to know soccer parents.
Hopefully she will have fun.
Monday, November 07, 2011
Hostile Takeover - Part I
I've already told about leaving our last team and going with the new coach to a new club, and doing pretty well in the tournaments we attended.
Then in the summer the coach (I liked to call him the crazy Czech) was pushing for the girls to attend a soccer camp in Santa Barbara (instead of the fun Y camp she'd already signed up for). The Girl changed her mind and attended the soccer camp, but it turned into a clash of personalities and wills that made some of the girls dislike each other instead of bonding like we'd hoped.
K and I went on a fabulous cruise for a few weeks, and even left The Girl here, staying with the team Administrator, so she could play with them.
After the season started, the Coach seemed to be getting more and more negative. He'd always had a reputation for being frank to the point of being harsh, and this also seemed to be getting worse. He stared talking about retirement more and more, like he was leaving after this year, and even complained one time that the Club wasn't paying him enough.
Then, halfway into the season, the Administrator, Ron, called a parent meeting after practice. A few parents had been with the Coach for many years (4-6), and seemed to act like they were in charge. They said they wanted the coach to have an official assistant coach, to stop saying things he shouldn't, and wanted to see how many families would be around for a Thanksgiving tournament. K went down to tell the coach he was running a great practice, and he said, "The parents are trying to get me fired." K thought he was just joking or being negative.
That Sunday we had a game, and and email went out that we were having ANOTHER parent meeting afterward! When we showed up, the coach wasn't there! But half the Club's coaching staff was. That was my first clue that something was up. My friend V said, "Look what these parents are doing." We immediately suspected who was behind it.
We also got another surprise - some of the parents had decided to take the girls out for ice cream after the game, as one of the dads had a friend who owned a limo company and it was left over from the night before and was therefore free.
I called the Crazy Czech during the game and he repeated that the parents were trying to get him fired. He said the goalie's dad had tried to fight him on the field after the last game, when a 2nd goalie had played half the game. The reason we have a second goalie is because last year this goalie's trainer told her she shouldn't play halfway through the season! Not even her doctor, just her trainer, and the team was left without a goalie for half the season. But now that we have two, the second goalie should never play unless their daughter is hurt?
He also said the team admin had hung up on him after a phone call where he screamed at the coach about why his daughter wasn't playing the whole game. The coach was especially hurt because he'd been with some of those girls for years, being a father figure to a few of them.
So after the game the girls were whisked off in a limo for ice cream, and we parents had a sham of a meeting where we were supposedly airing our views to the head of coaching for the Club, Half the team had no idea, and the other half was prepared, saying the coach was too negative, he didn't want an assistant etc. I complained about the blind-siding and one of them, M, said, "How can you be surprised? But there were all those emails...." seeing that half the team was as surprised as I was, I told her, "Not everyone got those emails."
Only I and one other family stuck up for the Coach. I told the Head Coach, "But no, we're here because of the coach! We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him!" We broke up a nice little team to come there, and now I was feeling even worse about that.
One father told them that they were just a bunch of whiners and complainers that were upset because they weren't getting their way, and that they were being really selfish. That was my favorite part.
In the end the head coach said that he would compromise, and that he (the Club Head Coach) would be the assistant coach and the Crazy Czech would still be coach. I thought that was a good compromise. The girls returned from ice cream, and everyone went home.
Then in the summer the coach (I liked to call him the crazy Czech) was pushing for the girls to attend a soccer camp in Santa Barbara (instead of the fun Y camp she'd already signed up for). The Girl changed her mind and attended the soccer camp, but it turned into a clash of personalities and wills that made some of the girls dislike each other instead of bonding like we'd hoped.
K and I went on a fabulous cruise for a few weeks, and even left The Girl here, staying with the team Administrator, so she could play with them.
After the season started, the Coach seemed to be getting more and more negative. He'd always had a reputation for being frank to the point of being harsh, and this also seemed to be getting worse. He stared talking about retirement more and more, like he was leaving after this year, and even complained one time that the Club wasn't paying him enough.
Then, halfway into the season, the Administrator, Ron, called a parent meeting after practice. A few parents had been with the Coach for many years (4-6), and seemed to act like they were in charge. They said they wanted the coach to have an official assistant coach, to stop saying things he shouldn't, and wanted to see how many families would be around for a Thanksgiving tournament. K went down to tell the coach he was running a great practice, and he said, "The parents are trying to get me fired." K thought he was just joking or being negative.
That Sunday we had a game, and and email went out that we were having ANOTHER parent meeting afterward! When we showed up, the coach wasn't there! But half the Club's coaching staff was. That was my first clue that something was up. My friend V said, "Look what these parents are doing." We immediately suspected who was behind it.
We also got another surprise - some of the parents had decided to take the girls out for ice cream after the game, as one of the dads had a friend who owned a limo company and it was left over from the night before and was therefore free.
I called the Crazy Czech during the game and he repeated that the parents were trying to get him fired. He said the goalie's dad had tried to fight him on the field after the last game, when a 2nd goalie had played half the game. The reason we have a second goalie is because last year this goalie's trainer told her she shouldn't play halfway through the season! Not even her doctor, just her trainer, and the team was left without a goalie for half the season. But now that we have two, the second goalie should never play unless their daughter is hurt?
He also said the team admin had hung up on him after a phone call where he screamed at the coach about why his daughter wasn't playing the whole game. The coach was especially hurt because he'd been with some of those girls for years, being a father figure to a few of them.
So after the game the girls were whisked off in a limo for ice cream, and we parents had a sham of a meeting where we were supposedly airing our views to the head of coaching for the Club, Half the team had no idea, and the other half was prepared, saying the coach was too negative, he didn't want an assistant etc. I complained about the blind-siding and one of them, M, said, "How can you be surprised? But there were all those emails...." seeing that half the team was as surprised as I was, I told her, "Not everyone got those emails."
Only I and one other family stuck up for the Coach. I told the Head Coach, "But no, we're here because of the coach! We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him!" We broke up a nice little team to come there, and now I was feeling even worse about that.
One father told them that they were just a bunch of whiners and complainers that were upset because they weren't getting their way, and that they were being really selfish. That was my favorite part.
In the end the head coach said that he would compromise, and that he (the Club Head Coach) would be the assistant coach and the Crazy Czech would still be coach. I thought that was a good compromise. The girls returned from ice cream, and everyone went home.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Ticket trouble
Last Sunday, K was driving home from church and he got pulled over by a policeman. The cop asked K if he knew why he'd stopped him, and K guessed, "Did I roll through the stop sign?"
And the policeman asked, "Oh, do you do that?"
K said, "Well I'm trying to get better."
The policeman asked, "Do you know what the speed limit is here?"
K guessed again, "30? 35?"
The policeman said, "It's 35 and you were going 45."
So K pulled out his badge and showed it to the policeman and asked for some "professional courtesy" as he is a probation officer.
The officer agreed and told K that now that he knows him, he'll never pull him over. But he advised him to be more careful in the future.
K told him he would try to get better.
lol, I thought that was funny.
And the policeman asked, "Oh, do you do that?"
K said, "Well I'm trying to get better."
The policeman asked, "Do you know what the speed limit is here?"
K guessed again, "30? 35?"
The policeman said, "It's 35 and you were going 45."
So K pulled out his badge and showed it to the policeman and asked for some "professional courtesy" as he is a probation officer.
The officer agreed and told K that now that he knows him, he'll never pull him over. But he advised him to be more careful in the future.
K told him he would try to get better.
lol, I thought that was funny.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Rockstar Tournament
I felt a bit guilty about that, but who am I to decide not to pass on an invitation?
A few weeks ago, the new coach called and said we'd been offered an opportunity to join a relatively new club (still nearby) that was willing to give us scholarships, uniforms, trainers - a much better deal than the local club.
We asked The Girl what she thought, and she thought cheaper is better as long as the team is still together and good. Partly because the basketball program was (IMHO) messing with my daughter, I said "to heck with loyalty to the local club." K joked that we'd been on the same team for 6 years, and now we'd been on 3 teams in a month!
Last weekend the team went to their first tournament with the new players. At this age, there are some girls on the team playing in HS, and therefore can't play with us until their season is over. So we got 3 guest players to join us in the tournament.
I was a bit stressed on Thursday night and Friday, when I realized that the first game was at 7:45am (why do they always do this to the team farthest away?) and it was at least an hour's drive. K had a game himself on Friday night, and would be getting back late. So I decided to drive down on Friday night, which meant making reservations Friday morning and packing, planning, etc. We were also taking Camillia.
We got on the road without much problem, but when I looked for my directions I found that they hadn't printed out. I'd only printed out the map, which was too big! So when we got to the right area, I gave The Girl my phone and asked her to find my navigation program and put in the address of our hotel.
Bless her heart, she figured it out. When the voice came on, it said, "Take the first legal U turn." Guess that meant I was going the wrong way! lol
The next day we got up early, and the girls played two good games, shutting out the other teams 2-0, and 3-0. Yay! Camillia scored 2 goals and the new Goalie kept the other teams from scoring.
On the way home, the Girl found out she could still make it to her basketball game! We had told them she wouldn't be there, assuming that we'd be gone.
The Boy was coming home to visit, so I told him to meet us at the game. The Girl had a great game and didn't even foul out! She scored 11 of her team's 19 points. And her brother got to see her! She won 3 games in one day.
The next day she was tired and kept falling over the ball during the first game. One of the substitutes didn't come to that game, as she had a prior church-related obligation. One of our players hit heads with the other team, and had to come out. So they played nearly half the game one player short. That team was tough, but rather thuggish, so I was glad when we beat them 1-0 (we'd only needed a tie.)
The second game was around 4pm, so we drove home and ate lunch and I put a roast in the crock pot and tried to take a nap. We convinced the Boy and his GFF to come to the game, and we all drove back to the tournament.
When we got there, we discovered that the tournament was behind schedule, and they were saying that we might not get to play the championship game! (toss a coin?) Finally they decided that the game would be more than an hour late, and they would find some lights.
The Boy was most unhappy to hear he'd be sitting around for another hour, but they managed to eat hot dogs and bear with it. There was a tent giving away Rockstar Energy drinks (with parental permission). I drank one and it made my stomach hurt!
The sun went down and finally the girls got to play. One player who was out with the flu came to try to play, and we got our substitute player back from church. The first 5-10 minutes were intense, as the other team was extremely fast and good. But after awhile the team relaxed and although the other team got some shots off, our team seemed to have more control of the ball. But neither side scored.
The other team had 6 substitutes, and we had a girl with the flu on our bench. She had to go in for another player once, but only lasted a few minutes. We had a few opportunities to score near the end of the game, but the shots were off. One girl was so disappointed in her kick that she almost started crying.
So we headed into two sudden-death overtimes, to be followed by a penalty kick shoot out (which is hard on a parent). The first OT came and went quickly. At almost the end of the second OT, the ref called pushing on the other team.
So they had a free kick about 30 ft and to the right of the goal, and the teams lined up in front. At the last minute, the coach told The Girl to take the kick. I thought she was going to kick it into the crowd so that someone could kick it in. When she kicked it, I thought, "Oh no! It's too high!" and it looked like it would go over the goal. At the last second it dropped and hit the back of the net.
There was a second of silence, and then all the girls (and parents) started screaming.The Girl fell to the ground and the team ran and jumped on top of her, and when she got up she said she had dirt in her mouth.
The boy jumped up off the ground and said, "That was The Girl, right?"
It was so great. We didn't have to go into penalty kicks! We won the tournament! Her brother got to see it! The goal made it worth the wait! All the new girls had a great tournament, and proved they were worthy to be on the team. One of the substitutes is now thinking about joining us!
It was dramatic. It was wonderful. I'm sure we'll be talking about it for years.
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Bottoms Up
The other day the Girl said her friend asked her what "Bottoms up" means, like the song on the radio.The Girl demonstrated, "You have a bottle of beer, and then 'bottoms up.'" and tilted it upwards.
Her friend said, "Oh, (pause) I thought it meant something else."
lol I don't even want to know what she was thinking!
Oh, and I finally bought another camera! I know you are happy for me.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Picture problems
My picture problems persist. Now I can't find my camera. It was full of pictures from the Girl's last games, plus a picture that K took when he went to see a former "caseload" of his play a game.
It was the same weekend as my SI picture problems, and I haven't seen it since. So I can't take any pictures, plus my cellphone seems to have stopped "mobile uploading" to Facebook. I can send pictures, but they never show up.
I lost my hairbrush around the same time, so I kept saying that the maids must have put them somewhere, and they were probably together.
I finally found my hairbrush in the medicine cabinet, but still no sign of my camera.
It was the same weekend as my SI picture problems, and I haven't seen it since. So I can't take any pictures, plus my cellphone seems to have stopped "mobile uploading" to Facebook. I can send pictures, but they never show up.
I lost my hairbrush around the same time, so I kept saying that the maids must have put them somewhere, and they were probably together.
I finally found my hairbrush in the medicine cabinet, but still no sign of my camera.
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