This old mare just aint what she used to be... aint what she used to be... aint what she used to be...

Let me tell you- working makes you appreciate the weekend so much more. Even more so when the weekend is a 3 day weekend. LOVE.

Not much going on around here these days. Trying to settle into a routine… sort of. I had 30 minutes of bonafide bliss this morning. When I woke up, Nico and Dave were still sleeping. So I got some stuff done: dishes, packed my bag for the day (including lunch), made mine and Nico’s breakfast, ironed a shirt, got Nico’s clothes ready, got his diaper bag ready, got practice clothes ready. It was nice, I didn’t feel like my head was going to pop off and spin around on the floor.

We had practice yesterday. I did PKs with the girls while Dave did ball work. In case you didn’t know, we have been in three PK shootout situations since we have started coaching- and lost all three. One of those may have been my fault (forgot that you put your best shooter at #3, not last- DOH!). Every so often, I make the girls take PKs, just to see where we are at- who is the most consistently good, who is the most consistently bad. The reason is, that I am afraid that Districts might be decided by PKs this year. Given that we don’t score much, and can defend with the best of them for 80 minutes, I am nervous that we’ll be looking at a 0-0 tie at the end of over time and regulation.

Its funny, because the most unexpected kid is actually probably among the best. She’s a senior, she used to be a our backup goalkeeper. She is actually a hell of a defender. I kind of phased her out of GK training because she stresses out about it- about going into a situation and HAVING to make saves. Really, I was mostly afraid that she would have a heart attack and die on the field (she is already competitive enough- she doesn’t need that stress in her life). Turns out, she is one of the most consistent PK shooters. Routinely she is one of our no-miss or one-miss shooters. Statistically, she is one of our better shooters. But I am struggling with the decision… do we let her shoot or no?

And there is another one, one of our softball players- one of the coolest customers you’ll ever see. Steady and calm… we’ve said to her: “you’re marking so and so. Shut her down.” I can pretty much consider it done. Wednesday at practice, she put five of five over the bar. Monday, she put 5 of 6 inside netting- perfectly placed- hard. No goalkeeper is going to make those saves. HOT AND COLD. Of course, if my GK comes up big, with 3 or 4 saves, this may be a moot point. Teenagers. Wow. They are funny.

Even funnier was that yesterday, one of my girls took me out. For real. I finished the practice in goal (our backup GK had to go home)- wearing running shoes. Someone sends the ball through and while I was out of the goal, I called it and leaned over to scoop up the ball. And one of our scrappy little forwards ran into me and knocked me over. Can you believe that? Yeah, I couldn’t… this is how it went:

Jessi (still on ground): WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? I CALLED THE BALL.
Chelsea: laughing
Jessi: WHO TAKES OUT THEIR COACH IN A PRACTICE? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?
Chelsea: (still laughing). You’re always telling me to go hard….
Jessi: YOU’RE NOW GOING TO START LISTENING TO ME? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? I AM OLD! LOOK AT ME! I AM OLD. WHO TAKES OUT THEIR OLD COACH AT PRACTICE?

Obviously, I got the last laugh here… the next ball in, I came out hard and made sure I got her feet. She flew in the air- it was great. Of course, the kids all thought it was hilarious. “Coach B, do you want a glass of “Suck it up?” Cherry flavored.” AWESOME. How the roosters come home to nest… (right? That is how that saying goes, right?)

All for now. Word. Yall have a good day!!