Prochein Amy

I miss this stuff!

I have been neglecting this blog for to long and I need it for my sanity. Woo hoo!

It is hard to believe that I have not posted here in July, but if I think about what I have been up to, then maybe not.

This year I am the President of the Parent Teacher Group at the girls school. It has been fun, but a lot of work. My ultimate goal is to document everything that we do, so it does not feel like we are starting over. I want to set a foundation for the next officer to hit the ground running.

Speaking of running – if you live in the Fort Worth area – register for our Aslan Run/Walk on October 24th. With the funds we make we are going to buy picnic tables for the play ground area.

When we asked the Pastor (the school is based out of a church) what he thought about the picnic table idea, he said they were planning on doing it, but ran out of money. Very cool that we can fill in the gaps!

Hello All!  I have neglected this blog long enough.  And I think I am suffering because it it.  Blogging is a type therapy for me.

Here are my extra curricular activities of late:

PTF President – I was elected this year for our school’s version of PTA.  As a uber-organizer, we have already started our planning and will meet with the Principal this week.

Tea Party Volunteer – My role was quite a bit more for the initial Tea Party Event on April 15th, but due to a  major work project, I have had to pull back.  So now I am helping maintain the website and doing video work.  If anyone has not heared of the Tea Party Movement, it is a grass roots effort started to let our elected officials know we are unhappy with their spending habits of our money and our children’s money.  It has expanded beyond that to our condern of not following the Constitution and the expanding goverenment.   The group I am involved with is non-partisian and very grass roots.  (More blogging on my involvement and going ons in the future.)

Next week I am a VBS volunteer at my parent’s church.  My Dad and I will be “herding”  our group of kids to each activity.  It should be a growing experience for me!

My goal is to blog at least once a week, so please come back!

I am on the edge and need a break without one in sight.  Maybe if I blogging will help put it into perspective for me.

A major project at work is requiring me to travel this week and next.  Not a big deal except that means I have to pack into the weekend what I do on weeknights.  Then the actual trip is going from 5:30am until 10:45pm first day, today 5:30am until 9:14pm.  Down times for a few minutes, but not real quality time.  I have had a headache all day that pain relief is not helping and a few things happended to prepare for tomorrow that pushed me over the edge.  And we still had dinner.  I should have just ordered room service and chilled out. 

Next week might be better, but I am also working in some projects that need to be done for the girl’s school and Parent Teacher Foundation that are hard deadlines. 

Last week my left side went numb, face, shoulder, arm and leg.  Doctor sent me for a CAT scan with no problems, so I am figuring it is probably stress.   With this project I have until the end of May to eliminate that factor, so who knows.

If you are reading this send good karma my way with a sprinkle of restful thoughts.

Facebook has an application where you can vote on who is the nicest person. I updated my status with my thoughts on this contest.

Amy is too nice to enter the nicest person contest. I would hate to make the others feel bad when I win. That is not very nice.

Hubby also had a comment:

Mark isn’t nice enough to enter the nicest person contest to prevent someone else from coming in last. That is too nice.

So, as a whole, I do not mention politics much here, but that may change.  

I have never been active in politics, nor do I plan to on a politician level.  However, I am very concerned about the stimulus bill just passes, the possibility of tax increases for my family, and the amount of spending our government is doing.  My beliefs are we should have a minimalist government and we are not moving in that direction.

I attended the Dallas Tea Party on February 27th and found I agreed with what they were protesting.  They talked about the future of our kids – not being more prospersous than us.  They listed items in the stimulus package that was just plain fluff.  (I am in some of the pictures!)

So, I am putting my efforts towards a Tea Party to be held on April 15th, close to me in Burleson.  I have already helped setup a facebook group, event, and have volunteered for more!

But I do have a fear.  As you may have guessed, I am a people pleaser.  Being vocal about my views may not make everyone happy.  But I will move forward with my stong beliefs and deal with the unhappy ones.

When I took on the coaching gig for my 3rd grade daughter’s team, I figured I would regret it.  But it was for her.  Little did I know how good it would be for me.  So here is a bullet recap and random thoughts.

Our last game was this Saturday and we all dreading it since we would be playing the best team that had already stomped us twice.  I was honest with the girls and we all knew it would be a tough game.  In our practice we went over a few of the basics and worked on our weak points.  

Friday evening I get a call from the league coordinator asking if we would play a double header.  One team had forfieted and he wanted the other team to have a chance.  I asked the girls before the first game and they all enthusastically agreed. I was worried and it seem the only ones who hesitated were the parents.  I think the girls liked the idea of getting to play more.  

First game starts.  We stuggle, but then the girls gel and we are giving them a run for their money.  They beat us by two baskets, but only because they put their talest girl on our shortest to keep her from scoring.  Heh!  Our best game ever!  

It was great to see the girls improve, not just on our team.  

Our shortest girl plays with the most effort and makes up for it with umph.  Her parents were concerned a few times when she was matched up with a taller girl, but I knew she could handle it.

This was the first time my daughter has played.  She has improved 300%!  She can dribble, shoot, defend her dribble with her arm, and play awesome defense.  I know I am biased, but I see stars when she plays.  Not future scholarship stars, but the aura of fun and enjoyment.  She likes to play.

I have never played team sports, so watching the team dynamics and peer pressure was interesting.  I was suprised how the girls expressed their dissatifaction with a teammate who seem to get hurt all the time and gave up easily.  She was told to suck it up and point blank asked why she always got hurt.  Ouch, but it needed to be said.  

I have a new admiration for the sport of basketball.  I don’t think I will ever get into pro, but now that I understand the basics, I can appreciate the game.  I wish I had played in high school.

During our second game, the other team agreed to let my younger daughter play.  We were short 1 girl and had just played a game, so we wanted to give the girls a chance to sit out a period.  I sold it with that and that she was “only” a second grader.  Ended up she made about 3 baskets, defended like she should, and gelled with the team.  She was at our practices and helped out when we needed an extra, so I know that helped.  

There are various coaching styles out there and I was able to observe several examples of what not to do.  

Most of the mothers knew more about the sport than I did (which was nothing) and helped out at the practices.  They were honorary coaches!

I was challenged by many aspects of it (mostly the referring), but I enjoyed it and will coach again next year if I can.

The basketball coaching gig is going better than I expected.  I am getting lots of help from experienced parents and learning as we go.  I like it enough to want to coach again next season.

The refereeing, not so much.  It is a tough job.  I have ref’ed 1 and half games and after each one I am a nervous wreck.  Not to mention the anxiety before.  What is really weird about the whole thing – it’s like I have stage fright.  I get meek and almost shy.  That is not like me. 

I already signed up to ref two more games, but I am not sure I am right for the job.  I want to be good at it, but I don’t want to learn at the expense of the girls I am ref’ing.  This week I will do more reading about how to ref, see what I can find online, and how I feel after that.  I know the league would understand if I back out, but I hate to do that. 

Any tips or suggestions?

It seems the last few months, in all aspects of my life, I have been going with a B game.  The week of Christmas, I was B++, but since then, back to B.  I need my A game back.  

To bad you can’t get it in a can!  I need a six pack of A Game-cola, please!