Microblog Monday: And So It Begins

Softball season is upon us! Today is the first day I'm allowed to work with pitchers and catchers. It's still considered pre-season, but new rules (since I was last coaching 5 years ago) allow us to start working with pitchers and catchers 2 weeks before everyone else. It's a good rule, as games start just 2 weeks after tryouts begin. Pitchers need to have more time than that to get game ready and hopefully avoid injury.

I'm excited and nervous. I hope it goes well. The kids seem to be adjusting to things pretty good. They LOVE going to my friend for daycare, so that is good. Time will tell in how they adjust once I am gone a few nights a week at bedtime, when we have away games! It will just have to become our new normal for the next few months.


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Right Now: February Edition

Reading: The kids got three Captain Underpants books for their birthday, and we've been reading them every night for the past few weeks. Our first chapter books with the kids! As for myself, I attended a National Coaches Clinic a few weekends ago that was a little over an hour drive away. I checked out a book on CD to keep myself entertained on the drive, Friction by Sandra Brown. Unfortunately, it has 10 discs! I only got through 4 of the 10 discs driving back and forth to the clinic, so now I only get a few minutes here and there driving around town to finish the book. I'm now on disc 6...

Watching: A Million Little Things. It's getting very interesting! Also can't wait for This is Us and New Amsterdam to come back on.

Listening: Read above. I'm trying to work my way through a book on cd. I drove a round about way home through town this morning just so I could listen to it longer. lol

Drinking: Always water, but not enough. Also drinking sparkling water, and I threw in a couple Sprites this last week when my throat was hurting and I was coughing so bad. 

Eating: We had scrambled eggs and oranges for dinner. Kids choice tonight.

Wearing: Purple plaid pajama bottoms, a black hooded sweatshirt with a pink t-shirt underneath, and socks.

Loving: Rylee's personality these days. She is quite the little poser lately, always wanting to strike a pose for pictures. The girl also LOVES to dance and is frequently showing off her ballet moves. She loves to perform. I will not be shocked if she does drama/theater when she is older.

Anticipating: Little Sis and her family moving to Oregon! They have been actively applying for jobs. Hopefully something will open up for them soon and they will be able to move here by this summer. It will be so fantastic to be able to see them more than just once a year!

Hoping: To get our taxes done by mid-March and that we will get a sizable refund like we did last year. Although, I have heard from a few people that were greatly disappointed this year, so we shall see.

Following: The weather report, but I'm not sure quite why, because it is never accurate. As of yesterday afternoon, my weather app showed a potential for snow 7 out of the next 8 days. Now it shows only 2 days of possible snow. We were supposed to get a substantial snow storm this last Monday/Tuesday, and we got a small dusting that was gone in less than 2 hours. The schools didn't even have a delayed start because the roads were clear. It was anticipated that we would get anywhere from 4-14 inches of snow this weekend. Ummmmm, yeah. That's not happening.

The little bit of snow that we got.

Wondering: When registration will be for kindergarten. I have a few friends (in other states) that have already registered their kids for kindergarten already for next year. I haven't heard anything about it yet for our area. I know I can call, but who has time for that! And OMG. I can't believe my babies will be starting big kid school in September! Hold me.

Trying: To keep my head above water with all the things that need to be done before softball officially season starts in 2 weeks. 

Worrying: I can't say that I really worry about a whole lot exactly; it's more like being anxious. I'm anxious about how our softball season will go. I feel a lot of pressure to come back and be successful right off the bat, for 3 reasons:

1. Because of my previous success and the expectations that people have of me because of that.
2. Because none of these girls have ever played for me before, and they will bring their own expectations of how things should be done. I hope that it won't be difficult for them to buy into my coaching philosophies.
3. Because this group of girls is very talented and we SHOULD make it to the State Playoffs, potentially making a run at the Championship.

It's been 5 years since I've coached though. And I've never coached as a parent. My time was a LOT more flexible prior to having kids. It will be a challenge to balance family and coaching, and meet the needs of both.

Planning: All my planning is for softball right now, practice planning for tryouts. Planning how I will split up the JV and Varsity teams. Planning fundraisers, spirit gear, uniforms, voting for team captains, parent meetings, game strategies, and the list goes on and on and on....

Contemplating: Who I want my doctor to be. Do I go to the same guy I've seen over the past 20 years very sporadically? Seriously, I don't go to the doctor very often. I've been twice since the kids have been born. Do I go to the OBGYN that I went to for years prior to starting infertility treatments, or should I go to the OBGYN that delivered my babies, that I haven't seen since they were born? Or should I find just a gynecologist that might be more focused on the menopause aspect, rather than someone that works so much on the fertility side of things delivering babies? All things I've been contemplating and asking myself.


*Can I tell you how much I HATE that blogger won't let me correct the color discrepancy above? Maybe the blue and the black are close enough in color that people won't notice? Ugh. But I notice, and it is driving me crazy that I can't fix it! End rant.*

2019 Goals

Time to buckle down and put my 2019 goals into writing. I have never been one for New Years Resolutions, but I do enjoy setting goals and having something to work toward. Last year I was inspired to set yearly goals after reading posts from a few of my blogging friends about their goals and end-of-the-year reviews. I have some things I'd like to accomplish this year as well, so I'm going to put it down in writing, so I'll have some accountability behind my goals.

1. Run in four races. I'm already committed to running the Hood to Coast again this year, now I just need to find a few races to participate in before that, to help motivate me and keep me on track training for the big event. I'd also like to do one in the Fall after H2C. I'm looking forward to us having longer days and me being able to run again at night after the kids go to bed.
2. Lose 25 lbs. Really, I need to lose more than that. And all I REALLY want is to feel better in my own skin and have my clothes fit more comfortably.
3. Self care. I need to find a new gynecologist and make an appointment to discuss my perimenopause. I've needed to do this for over a year now, but moving keeps getting in the way and I have procrastinated on it. I also need to visit my regular doctor for a general physical, and get my eyes checked because I have no doubt I need glasses. I actually DO already have an appointment scheduled to get my eyes checked, so that's one step in the right direction!
4. Mail birthday cards to all my nieces and nephews. I set this as a goal last year and it was a big fat fail. I know my own kids LOVE to get mail. Who am I kidding, so do I! So this is something that I really want to do for all the other important littles in my life.
5. Send a love note once a month to a family member and/or friend. I recently read a blog post about sending little love notes to people so they know how special they are to you. I'll pick a different person each month and send them a random surprise note in the mail.
6. Put together a resume and find a job. I did do a resume and got my old coaching job back, but now I need to put more of a professional resume together and need to find a "real" job. With the kids starting kindergarten in the Fall, I am desperately hoping I can find a support staff job within the school district. It's very, very important to Tony that I get back to work so that the financial burden isn't solely on his shoulders anymore.
7. Finish painting the kitchen and dining room, and also get the hallway painted. Bonus points if I can also get our bathroom painted. So. Much. Painting. I also need to paint all the trim.
8. Finish unpacking and organize the garage. We can barely walk through our garage right now because I have all the Christmas totes down (waiting for the Christmas decorations to be put away), boxes yet to be unpacked, and our old couch and love seat are out there. We got a new sectional couch about a month ago, and need to figure out what to do with the old ones! If the weather were nicer, I'd put them at the curb and mark them FREE.
9. Read five books. I managed to read a book while on vacation, so I'm 1/5 of the way done already!
10. Make the State Playoffs in softball. Each of my previous 8 years as the Head Coach, we made it to the playoffs. In my 9 years as assistant coach before that, there was only one season we didn't make it into the post season. This team for sure has the talent to do it again. I feel a lot of pressure to coach our team to another successful season. I'm not just picking up where I left off. It's been 5 years. These girls have never played for me and have their own expectations. I hope they can buy into my coaching philosophies. You never know how things will go with teenage girls.
11. Have a family adventure once per month, May-September. Last year my goal was to go hiking, but we only managed to do it twice because moving and Tony's gout flare ups got in the way. I think planning special family outings will be much more achievable.

Microblog Monday: Behind on Life

I'm feeling pretty behind on life these days. I still have that nasty cough that came home with us from Mexico, which is keeping me from getting a decent night's sleep. Which also keeps me from feeling functional during the day. The sore throat is gone at least, so that's at least a step in the right direction. Now if I can only get over the cough.

Things that need to be done:

• Put the freaking Christmas decorations away! It's February and all the Christmas decor is still up in the living room.
• Not only are the Christmas decorations still up inside, but I still need to take the lights down that are outside.
• Speaking of Christmas.... I still have about half our Christmas cards that still need to be mailed out. Face palm.
• Clean house!!! Seriously, our house is a disaster right now.
• Lots of stuff for softball needing to be done: get coaching shirts ordered for our coaching staff, order necessary gear for the season, get myself somewhat organized and start practice planning for tryouts so I can feel like I know what I'm doing when I step back out on that field again.
• Yard work. Both at home and on the softball field. So much to be done.
• Keep my kids fed, bathed, and entertained.

Oh, and Tony has a business trip this week on top of everything. Counting his trip and him being gone all day yesterday for the Super Bowl with his friends, I will be single parenting for 5 days this week.

End vent and my whine fest.

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