Busy, Busy, Busy...& Sick

Time is flying this year! I have not been prepared for anything in both my work and personal lives all year. It just seems like as soon as I start to think it is time to begin planning for something I get busy doing other things and before I know it the even is upon me.

I am not ready for Christmas. I am not ready for Christmas shopping. I am not ready for The Queen's Christmas party which takes place this Saturday at our house. We are not done with our Christmas decorations yet. I have a plant on the front porch that died a month or so ago and I have not replaced it yet. The plants along the front walkway have decided that they are not going to come back yet this year so the flower beds are pretty bare. I have not had a chance to mow the front and back lawns because of the rain pattern we have had. And to top it all off, I am starting to feel sick. I am just not ready.

I was outside the last two nights building a fence and gate on the side of the house to keep Cocoa under control. It is taking me a little longer than I thought because I decided at the last minute to add another post and make the gate smaller than I planned. It is not a big deal, but now I need to wait for the concrete to set before I can hang the gate, which I finished building last night.

Meg has a playoff soccer game tonight, so I won't be able to get that much done tonight. I am just planning on getting the indoor Christmas decorations done tonight so I can move outdoors tomorrow night. I still need to finish the fence and gate, wash the windows, mow the lawns, pull weeds and plant something in the bare spots near the front door. I hope I can get everything except the windows and planting done tomorrow night. We are expecting rain again at the end of this week, so I need to work fast.

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Proud to be an American?

Meg had a school performance tonight and the theme was America and a solute to our veterans. The school was divided up into four groups that each performed three songs. One of the songs was a hymn of one of the branches of the military. They finished with two songs that the entire school sang together.

With all of the patriotic songs being sung, I could not help but think about their meaning. The songs all saluted the "men who died for our freedom." There have been many heroes that have died defending this great country. But there have also been many men who have died for no reason at all. I am ashamed that we treat these men the same as the men who fought to defend our country. I am ashamed because our government sent these men into battle for misguided reasons.

Vietnam was a disaster of a war. The government fabricated reasons for us to fight that war and the public was up in arms. It was horrible for everyone. The Gulf War is another horrible situation that our government put us in. Their were fabricated reasons that justified sending our troops to that region and many men and women have sacrificed their lives for no valid reason.

Every Veteran's Day we should think about the heroes who died to give us our freedom. We should also think about the mistakes our government has made and make sure we don't repeat them. We can change the future!

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The Politics of Youth Soccer

I have been participating in one way or another in AYSO soccer for more than ten years. I have coached, been a team referee and volunteered for numerous team duties. I saw the politics of the sport ten years ago and I have seen the new politics this season.

I never thought much about how being a coach or assistant coach was a political move, but it dawned on me a few days ago. If you as a coach can get the parent of another really good soccer player to be your assistant, your chances of being successful are that much greater. Having two or three good players on your team is enough to move you to the top tier of your league. That means moving on to the playoffs.

Ten years ago the coach of a team would recommend two or three players to be considered for the all-star team. The coaches of the all-star team would then select the players they wanted on the team. This was a very political process since there was no formal tryout. There was also no way that the all-star coaches could get around to see all of the players that were recommended play in their league games. It was a who you are and who you know system. Chels was almost always recommended for the all-star team, but she was never selected.

With the effort of appearing to be more fair, our local AYSO has changed things us a bit. The coaches still recommend two or three players from their team for the All-star team, but now there is a three hour tryout. It turns out that Meg as recommended for the team and attended the tryout. There were more than sixty girls at the tryout and only twenty-seven girls would make the all-star team. Meg did not play her best at the tryout, which was disappointing, but I was not overly impressed by many of the girls there. I think Meg was a middle of the pack player. This, in my mind, would mean that she should make a team. We are still waiting to find out.

I was talking to Meg's assistant coach for a lot of the tryout and the first thing out of his mouth was that this looked to only be a formality. In other words, he was implying that most of the selections have already been made. For instance, all of the all-star team coaches' daughters have already made the team. That means that there were only twenty-three or twenty-four slots open for the girls trying out.

I watched the tryout pretty closely and I told The Queen that I don't know how the coaches can make a decision in just three hours, especially with so many girls trying out. There were only five coaches watching all of the girls, so there was no way that they could really watch each girl to see what there skill level was.

I read a book recently that looked at hockey all star teams. An economist studied the make up of the teams and found that the older kids usually made the teams over the younger kids. The older kids were usually bigger, which meant they looked the part of an all-star. They did not find that the bigger kids necessarily had better skills, they were just bigger. Over time these kids do end up becoming the better players because they get more practice time with better coaches. It turns out to be a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The thinking goes something like this, "you are bigger, so you must be better" and eventually the kids are better.

I really hope that the selection process for this AYSO all-star team was more fair than that. Meg is not one of the bigger kids and she is one of the younger kids, but she has some natural instinct that makes her a good player. I think with some more coaching she could develop into a great player. If she does not make the all-star team, I have already told her that we will work on her skills in the off season to make her a better player next year. She has already identified the skills she wants to work on, so I know she is serious.

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Play Like an All-Star

Two weeks ago I told Meg that she was being recommended to try out for the AYSO all-star team. I told her that the coaches would be watching her and that she needed to play her best, she needed to play like an all-star.

I missed her game that week while I was in Chicago, but she did indeed play like an all-star. She scored two goals in the first quarter of her first game that day. She did not score anymore goals that game or any in the second game of the day, but The Queen told me that she played really well. I was proud of that because she has not been playing like herself this season.

I reminded her when I got home that this past weekend was the start of the playoffs and that she needed to play as hard as she could. All of the teams had three games and if she wanted to keep playing she needed to play like an all-star again. I guess she was listening to me.

Her team had to be at the sports park by seven in the morning on Saturday to check-in for the games. That was early and cold, so I did not expect very much from the team in the first game. They played a solid game like they usually do and ended up with a one to one tie. That was not a bad performance, but I knew they could do better.

They started out sluggish in their second game and let the other team get a lead. But in the second half they dominated the other team. They held them scoreless and cut into the lead. It was too little too late though and they ended up losing the game. That second half was the best I had seen them play all season up to that point. They had one game left on Sunday to try to keep their season alive.

On Sunday they came out playing hard, but gave up a goal early. They did not let that hurt them though. Meg came back and scored two goals in the first half and her team took the lead. In the second half she had a great assist which ended up putting the game away. They ended up winning the game five to four. We did not know if that was going to be enough for them to continue their season or not.

We got a call last night that they squeaked into the playoffs and that they would continue practicing for the next two weeks. The girls ended the season strong and get another chance to play like a team and continue their playoff run. I hope they can keep it up.

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Ch Ch Ch Changes

I don't know why that song line popped into my head when I was thinking about this post. I really don't even know what song it is.

My family has gone through some changes this last month and a half...and the changes continued yesterday. As you may know, we added some foster kids to our family in September. Today we had to drop them off with their new family.

I can't give all the details about why this happened, but I can say it was a sad day for all of us. We hope that B and K will be able to grow with their new family. We also hope that Meg will be able to go back to being the old Meg we love so much.

Foster care is a big decision. It is not to be taken lightly. We all thought we were prepared, but there really was no way for us to be. We were all taken by surprise.

I hate to call it an experiment because it affected so many lives, but it was definitely a learning experience for us. I hope that B and K will take the things we taught them with them for the rest of their lives. We hope we did our little part to make their lives better.

If "stuff" is a measure of happiness, then they are much happier now then when they first arrived in our home. When The Queen picked them up they only had the clothes they were wearing and the shoes on their feet. The county gave them each a sweater, but that was it. We bought them a lot of clothes and some toys to help them be kids. I just hope they took more than "stuff" with them. I hope they learned some things from our family.

It was somewhat funny. When we told them that they were going to live with a new family, K just asked what she was taking with her. She asked if she was going to be able to take a couple of items with her, like her Halloween costume. She also told us she wanted to leave a picture she drew recently with us.

She told us she missed us, but she was OK with the change as far as we could tell. B shed some tears, but she was her same outwardly strong self. I know she was disappointed that they were moving, but she tried not to let it show.

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Choices

We all make choices everyday. Some of us make choices based on doing the right thing. Others make selfish choices.

I am a selfish person by nature. I don't know if it is a product of my upbringing or something else. Even though I am selfish, I try to always make decisions that positively affect my family.

I put my family first and take it very personally if they are not treated properly. I don't spoil them and do not expect anyone else to either, but I want them to get what they deserve.

Some people make other things more important than family. Some choose their friends over their immediate family. That is one thing I do not believe in. My family is everything to me.

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