Action Shots

Aly shooting a free throw. Look at that form!



Practice shot.

Basketball

Aly is excited about playing basketball for her daddy, the coach.



It is a church league, so nothing too crazy, but the kiddos are having fun and they seem to be getting better every week.

Yes, again.

Had a decent trip to DC this week, though it was more humid there than it has been at home. Once again, my airport adventure began with the return flight.

Perhaps it was a sign when I saw a business man with a briefcase and an elaborate range of technical devices strapped to his body, including a blue blinky headset, and a giant glob of banana hanging from his chin. Or the sound of a goat bleating from Gate 18. Either way, as I waited for the 7pm flight (again), I watched the folks on the 6pm flight get delayed and delayed again. The 6pm left at 7pm and the 7pm soon announced a mechanical issue. The good news is that the plane died at the gate BEFORE I got on it. So, I asked to just stay in DC since there was no way I was making that Atlanta flight back to Evansville. The gate agent was just happy to get rid of me back to the ticket counter.

I was routed back through Cincinatti on the 6am flight this morning, and was home in time for a haircut (thanks Audrey!) and a doctor's appointment. All's well that ends well, I suppose.

I just listened to the Pioneer football game on WBNL, and they won 40-6. Yay!

Pioneers Win!

What a great football game! And it poured down raining at the end but we all stood there and cheered anyway. I'm pretty happy to be home :)

The best offense is a good defense

Is that how that saying goes? You'd think the coach's wife would know, but I'm not sure if that is the right way to say it. I can tell you that it makes sense to me. When you go on the offensive to try and fix your life, connect with friends and live for God, you had better have an even stronger defensive plan, because Satan sure doesn't like you to be happy.

After many bummers this week, which didn't phase me too much, I was verging on a full blown panic attack this afternoon, not for anything that happened to me, but just my mind filling the unknown with something negative. Within two minutes, I had two random texts from different people asking how my day was going. All I had to say was "not good, pray" and I was covered. Now was that a coincidence? Um, no.

Two lessons here:
1. It ain't all roses and sunshine, this "being a Christian 24/7" thing.
2. God's gotcha covered on offense AND defense. Just let Him call the plays.

Oh, and one more thing ... when someone at work saw I was looking ill, she asked what was going on and I told her that it might sound crazy, but aligning my life with God's plan was making me a target of the enemy. That's called witnessing, folks. She says her sister is "one of those born again people". Hmmm, maybe I was answering a prayer for that sister while two of my friends were on their knees for me.

Offense? Defense? Heck, I'm usually watching the cheerleaders and remembering my own high school years. I don't always follow all the rules or know what the Coach is thinking for the next play, but I know which way the end zone is and I'm going for the extra point.

Paaahahaha. I'll leave the sports analogies to my husband from now on.
But you get it, right?

Congrats Marshall Freshmen!!

and Mike!
They beat Stone Bridge!
Yay!

Sorry, didn't mean to confuse anyone

With a post title like "Victory!", you might have thought that Mike's basketball team won on Friday at their arch-rival's gym. Not so much.

But the kids and I surprised him and fought through the traffic to watch the game.

He did a great job and the boys tried hard, but the refs clearly favored the other team.

Yay Marshall!

We went to the freshman basketball scrimmage today and the boys played great. It was just a scrimmage so there was no winner, but we scored more points heh heh.
The kids looked great and the coach was really hot!!

Hump Day? Already?

I've already lost track of the days, and my brain is confused completely. Up at 6:15 yesterday but slept till 9:15 today. Cleaned out the bottom of my closet. Now I have purses to sell on eBay. Had lunch with Mike. Aly and I just painted a pumpkin and when the batteries in the camera charge, I'll post a picture. It is way cute.

Mike's last football game is tomorrow. The varsity team might have a few more games, and then basketball will start.

Zak's been staying after school to help with the play. He is taking 'tech theater' as a class, building sets for Alice in Wonderland, but stays after school for practice too.

Aly went to the orthodontist yesterday for a consult. They don't usually put braces on until 12 years old, but he said her teeth are as old as an 11.5-12 year old already. Her next appointment is next Wednesday, and she'll probably get her braces on the first week of December.

That's my story today. I'll probably go to bed early so I can get up early for exercise tomorrow. Ugh. I mean, yay!

Sports fan

Yes, I am following the Redskins. I have to have something to talk about at work :)

Back to Reality

Mike and I are both tired of driving. We drove from Springfield VA to Cross Lanes WV to Mt Airy NC to Myrtle Beach SC to Springfield VA to Huntington WV to Boonville IN to Cross Lanes WV to Springfield VA. I don't even have the energy to Mapquest that to see how many miles it was.

I'm back in the office tomorrow and Mike is beginning the coaching season. Basketball and football camps and practices from now till next spring.

That will probably be about the time I post any photos too.

The Flu Times Two

How does that happen?

I am so so sick AGAIN. Maybe I didn't blog it last time, but I missed a week of work before Christmas because I had the flu. The sore throat, snotty nose, hurting ears, diarrhea flu. Now I have the headache, earache, throatache, body ache flu. Definitely a different strain huh? And the whole family has it. Only Mike went to church Sunday, and he kinda has to, being the pastor and all.

Oh, and YES, I did get a flu shot this year. I'm just lucky I guess.

Mike's at the varsity basketball game tonight ... freshman bball is officially over. But he is driving to Indiana for an engagement party. He'll leave tomorrow morning and return Sunday morning, in time to preach. I'll be putting my "missing you" punky back up. Who's going to take care of me while I'm weak as a kitten?!

Volleyball: Win

The boys played well and Zak made some great plays.
He did take a dive and bruise his hip pretty badly.

Tonight we're having a slumber party at our new house. We're watching Harry Potter on the new big screen and the doggies are bedded down on the pillows and blankets. More moving tomorrow.

Football: Loss

They lost to Woodson, BUT they did score. It was 14-14 at the half.
Mike was pretty happy.

Volleyball: Loss

Yikes, a girls team that was not intimidated by the boys.
The guys played pretty well, but they lost all three games.

Football: Loss

We don't want to talk about it.
Lost 31-0

Updates: good news/bad news style

Do you like to hear the good news or the bad news first? I usually ask for the bad news, so the last thing I hear is good. Plus I'd get an ulcer worrying about the bad news while you told me the good news. So, I'll mix it up ....


Good news: I found my iPod. It was in my carry on bag, right where it should have been.
Bad news: I did not find it before we left for the Redskins/Lions game, so I couldn't nap in the car.

Good news: Traffic was practically non-existent, so we had plenty of time to tailgate before the game.
Bad news: The charcoal was wet. We couldn't grill out.

Good news: We had amazing seats at the game -- on the 50 yard line, 12 rows up, on the aisle, behind the Redskins, with our backs to the sun.
Bad news: The Lions stink and lost horribly so Mike was pouty and we left early.

Good news: Monday traffic on the way to the office was a breeze because of Columbus Day. Less than 30 minutes!
Bad news: Traffic on Tuesday was unbearable. An hour to get in the office and three accidents on the way home at 6 pm.

Good news: I was able to download VPN on Monday night, so I could get to my email.
Bad news: I had 1333 unread messages, and no internet access while VPN was running.

Bad news: We kicked of a new project on Tuesday and I found out 3.2 minutes before the call that *i* was going to present.
Good news: The presentation was great; I even got several congratulatory emails.

Good news: My director is back from vacation, so I don't have to be in charge any more.
Bad news: She has jet lag and a European cold so I'm not totally off the hook until she gets back up to speed.

Bad news: We didn't close on the house Tuesday.
Good news: We are set to close tomorrow; just waiting on the final closing amount and the time to meet the seller.

Bad news: The cable, phone and internet was disconnected today, even though we changed the date of our move to next Friday.
Good news: The very helpful customer service representative got a tech out to turn it back on in about two hours.

Good news: I remembered to add money to my Metro card to pay for the train ride the past two days.
Bad news: I did not have enough to pay for parking today and caused a major traffic jam in the garage when I had to back up and use the credit card lane.

Good news: Two days of meetings went well downtown and I accomplished what I needed.
Bad news: The mute button didn't work on my last call and the nation heard my rant against a belligerant participant.

Good news: Aly gets to do a cool collage project for a book report.
Bad news: It is now 8:00 pm and the project is due tomorrow.

Bad news: I haven't had time to update my blog.
Good news: I just did.

Volleyball: Win

I got home in enough time to eat, drive to the match and see the end of the game two and all of game three.
A clean sweep tonight 3-0!! The boys are looking good!
It was our turn to bring snacks - chips, Slim Jims and Capri Sun.

Football: Loss

The kids and I went to the freshman game tonight to see Coach Daddy in action. The opposing team was McLean, which is where I work. Unfortunately, the kids did not play well. We didn't even score.
Lost, 27-0

Volleyball: Win

Our second match and I can see a great improvement!!

The boys won all three games this time, and everyone is getting better! Even "Chuck" got two serves over the net during warmup, and returned two serves during the game!!

I think the boys were somewhat intimidating to the other team. So far, we have played only girls, and a mom from the other team said they hadn't played any other boys' teams at all.

I was a line judge for the first time ever, and did a fine job as well. :)