i forget sometimes that young kids don't know how to treat others. in coaching 9-11 year old girls, i am remembering real quick what it's like when a kid gets jealous. they do everything in their power to turn their jealousy into anger and hate. kids are so mean to one another. on the flip side, i also forget when you're 11, it's not so easy to just suck it up and work harder.

example: Sally is jealous Jane is a better basketball player. Sally says mean things about Jane to everyone else around them. Instead of Sally working harder to become better, she spends her time getting worse and not paying attention. And Jane spends her time holding back and trying to not stand out by being good, thus letting Sally win.

I am trying to teach the "Jane" on my team to work even harder and get even better and in the long run, nothing "Sally" can say or do can change who she is. i hate to see kids struggle in social settings. i hate kids like "sally" always getting to win. but how do you teach an 11 year old the ole 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me' isn't just some ridiculous saying, but in fact somewhat true. they can only hurt you if you let them.

i don't want to be 11 again...

now my problem as a coach is i know this is going on but how do i solve it? do i involve parents? there are three girls that have mentioned the said "sally"'s behavior and i thought it was getting better until a tearfilly breakdown after practice. i confronted a girl for not trying in practice and she told me it was due to "sally's" comments to her friends. i feel this problem is getting out of control and i don't want to make "jane's" life miserable outside of practice, which i am thinking involving parents might do, but i also thing said parents are blind to their daughters attitude and lack of social skills.

I JUST WANT TO TEACH THE GAME OF BASKETBALL!!

it's snowing... but i think the snow is going up, not down. weird.

i have a burning desire right now to do nothing. nothing. tonight i have to coach a basketball game and i'm excited for it but it i didn't leave this chair then the real world can't happen to me so i think doing nothing is the best option.

no possibility of losing the game
no accidents on the way home
no dirty dishes waiting
no dirty laundry
no cold air burning my lungs

but also, no chance to win, no chance to hear my favorite song on the radio, no chance to eat something homemade and yummy, no warm clothes, no playing in the snow.

i don't want to face all the bad but without facing the bad, i'll never feel the good. hmm is the trade off worth it? like that saying, it's better to have loved and lost to have never loved at all. is it really better? i don't know anymore...

i hate seeing people i care about hurt. expecially when it's my fault.

savanah banana

this is the only baby i'll probably ever have. love her

pretty bored today. i don't mind my job but my attention span is non existent. it's jumping all over the place. where it should be is seldom somewhere it stops. my mind is on dr.mario cuddling root beer hugs rice krispie treats road trips pringles toll booths. ha ha ha that makes me smile.

do you think we are supposed to stand by and watch our life happen or do you think we're really active participants? i mean how many times do people say life isn't fair. is it supposed to be fair? let's be honest, i don't like life sometimes. i bet you don't either. but since people aren't honest usually, just keep doing what you're doing. watch life pass. but then in the end get ready to be miserable. sure it's not always miserable there are times you'll laugh and be happy but in the back of your mind you'll be waiting for it to end because you know it won't last.

i want dr mario and cuddling today. worry about the rest later.

the things that run through my head aren't always healthy or normal but then again... i've never pretended to be either.

well, this weekend was full of ups and downs.

downs first...
my great aunt passed away after living 92 years. she was old but she was extremely healthy and she wouldn't give up. she caught pneumonia and it was just too much for her. my mom and her were VERY close and it'll be very hard on my mom, but we also understand she lived a good life and was suffering the last month of her life. it's for the better in the long run.

lost our basketball game... more to come on that in the ups

thursday (sort of the weekend) we were headed to the hospital to see my aunt and my dog ran away while i was waiting for my parents to come pick me up. a deer scared her in the woods and she came running home. it was funny but made me late. then we hit a deer while driving to the hospital and my mom's van is wrecked pretty bad.

ups...
i learned how to curl! yea, i know, i'm not 50 i shouldn't be curling yet but there were a lot of young people there... in face we almost lost to a team of 12 year olds. no lie. we had a ton of fun though and i only took one big fall. it was a great way to spend the weekend with chris, which i don't get to do very often

another up is part of the down. while spending 16 hours at the hospital after curling all day, i got to spend time with my sisters and parents. the 5 of us don't really do all that much together. there are times jenn and her family is around but hardly at the same time jamie is around and vice versa. we're all just very busy so it was nice to slow life down a bit and spend time together as a family. it meant a lot to my parents too, i know it did.

another monday isn't really a "weekend" last night my 5th grade girls basketball team had their first game. we lost 4-22 but that wasn't the point. we learned a lot and the girls had fun and they can't wait until their next game. i can't wait until our next practice so we can talk about the stuff that happened last night. there are a lot of naturally athletic kids in this group, i hope i can give them the tools to build their confidence.

my dad is closing on the sale of my grandpa's house today. my grandpa died a year ago in Aug and his house has been for sale since Feb with my dad footing the bill. he's been paying the mortgage, insurance, all the upkeep, utilities, etc on the house for over a year and finally it's sold. the stress that will lift off my parents shoulders is incredible. absolutely incredible.

that's my life in a nut shell these days.

This is my house!

This is the "office"

Living Room

The Den

The Kitchen

these pictures are before we were completely unpacked but you get the idea, right?

i finally have some updated pictures i wanna post and blogger hates me. please understand.