I know that will come as no surprise to a few of you, but man, I hate being so picky sometimes. I hate being so involved. I hate obsessing over things when I know I should just let go and let things play out more often. Take Max’s first practice last night with his new team. First off its in another town… that has its own league. Its really not that far, Hutto is about 15-18 minutes by car but the other two kids practice in Pville, about 5 minutes away from the house and on the same practice fields. With two practices a week for all 3 players, practices only on weekdays and all coaches avoiding Fridays, you can see how its tough to be in two or three places at once. Anyway, back to my obsessing. Hey, its my blog. ;]
So were was I? ...Practice in another town, and then we get there and it turns out that the coach is coaching two teams in the same fall season, A U8 and a U9 team. I then find out that he is practicing them at the same time as one group. I am thrilled about none of this. The really tough part for me is that he seems to be a good coach. I liked everything I heard and all the emphasis he wants for the players are all things I would have pushed. Everything I heard from him for us parents was spot on as well. The drills he had them run were smart and focused on touch and ball control. All very smart drills. I was just licensed as a U8 coach in Texas only a few weeks ago so all the characteristics of that age player is still fresh in my mind and the guy was spot on. To top it off, I think he was Coach of the Year last year in PAYSL for his U8 team. Most of those kids now make up Max’s U9 team. I am going to Field (prep) Day on Saturday and see if I can speak with the PAYSL U9 boys rep and see what he thinks about it all. I was ready to step in and coach this fall but now I am wondering if Max wouldn’t develop better under someone other than his dad. They have a tendency to tune me out… ;]
I should just let go, let them play and enjoy watching them. I know that, but its just hard to do. Last year I had mini-practices with them a couple of times between their regular ones and they had fun, but I wonder if I didn’t push them into it. So it ends up that it’s a tough thing to try to instill interest for something in someone else. I need to sit back, offer support and quit trying to get them more excited about it. I love the game and always have, I just cannot make them love it until they are ready. They are getting there.
I know they all have drive. Luc can hike and climb with the best of them and he ends up being pretty durable on the kayak as well with little to no complaints on long days. Karah puts her head down and finishes practices that are almost twice as long as the boys are and with a whole lot more running. Max and I go on bike rides and that little fart has tons of endurance, all with no complaint. I think I am on the right path with them, I just need to be patient. I know better and I am not trying to live out another sports experience through them, I just want them to enjoy the ones they are currently in.
OK, other things. I have been on the bike pretty much every weekday for the last few weeks and I could swear I am starting to feel some “firming” up underneath my insulating layer(s). I am starting to feel really good on the bike and the form is coming. I have been mixing it up by riding my regular racing bike some days and my fixed gear on other days. Differences, well my regular race bike has 20 speeds and my fixie has only one. My regular race bike has two brakes while the fixie has one on front. I can coast downhill on the regular bike and I cannot on the fixed gear. It is aptly named a fixed gear because that is all you have, one gear, no freewheel and you are locked to the pedals. Oh it only sounds insane. It ends up that you notice just about every hill in Austin when you only have one gear. You have to suffer up the hills when you cannot shift the bike to an easier gear. The uphills are tough but the real fun begins when you go downhill on a fixed gear. You have to pedal as fast as the wheel carries you. The average guy pedaling around the hood is probably pedaling at about 50 revolutions per minute. In cycling that is his cadence. A decent cyclist usually averages 80-90. The fixed gear rider going downhill can sometimes end up with a cadence of around 150 or so! I tend to start feathering the brake at those speeds. The fixed gear is a bit of a torture machine but it yields lots of fitness if used consistently. It makes you pedal a round circle and you end up taking the “flat” spots out of your pedal stroke. Was that too much information?
Jim and I are planning another kayak outing for September. I think its going to be a guys only trip and we are looking at the Mason area running the Llano river. We were looking at doing Colorado Bend down to the lake but it ends up that the driving part of getting boats to and from was just not worth it. Not enough roads and none in the right directions. It is what you would call “rural” out there. Mason definitely has some possibilities and there are a couple of outfitters that can help us with shuttling of boats and such. This will be a fun trip as I have been on this river in the past. Back when I was a single guy, my roommates and I used to drive out to Mason from San Angelo and rent canoe’s and spend the day on the river. We did that several years. It was always a blast so I cant imagine that it has changed all that much in the last 15+ years. Has it been that long (since I have been single)? Heh. ;]
Friday, August 31, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Insanity began this week...
So lets see... the kids all have soccer practice 5 times collectively each week. There is only 3 of them mind you. Karah practice's for almost 2 hours whereas the boys seem a little closer to an hour. This should be fun with me riding my bike so much lately. I am already packing clothes and leaving them in the car for when I show up (usually late, but thats just my style ;] ). No one wants to be seen standing around with a grown man in lycra, or as I like to call it, technical fabrics.
The kids seemed to like their first day of school. Karah came home and said that this was the "best first day she has ever had". I guess she likes her teacher. Amber knows Ms. Rowe and she said she will crack the whip one day. Karah is in for it then I guess.
Luc's finger ended up with a fracture in it. He was stepped on last week by one of the kids Amber watched this summer and the initial Dr's visit leaned toward a sprain and swelling. He could move his finger so I didnt think it was broken. X'rays came back as minor fracture near the middle phalanx. I think I have that right. Anyway, Luc never complained so I told him I thought he was pretty tough considering. Amber is taking him to a specialist to make sure the brace he is in is adequate. Lucky soccer is played with the lower extremities, huh?
Just got word that Genband made Inc's list for fastest growing private companies. I think we made the top 200 where the list goes to the top 5000. Interesting. Hoping the current power structure remembers us long-timers when they settle on an exit strategy. I would like to think I spent 7 years at a place that made something of itself.
Had lunch with my lovely wife today as a rare treat. We are coming up on 14 years of marriage. Unreal. I joked that we went through the 7 year itch... twice. I always tell her that I am surprised anyone would acknowledge knowing me for that long, much less want to be around me all that time. I am indeed lucky and I know it.
Ambers parents took us out to dinner last night. Always great to see them. They were eager to hear about the kids first days. I love her side of the family. I am glad we both grew up in similar environments and with families that were and are still close. See, I told you I live a charmed life.
Did anyone else see that Hill (I call here SHrillary) and Obama got a ringing endorsement from Castro? He says they would be an unbeatable ticket. Imagine trying to disassociate yourself from your socialist label, and then getting an endorsement from a socialist head of state? You just cant make up stuff this good. Awesome.
Oh well, I am testing phone ringing cadence's today and need to get back to it. You should hear some of the funny cadences used in other countries. Its the same phone, it just rings differently. I think Ireland and Australia are my favorites.
See, I am already posting more. Its just more useless stuff.
bb
The kids seemed to like their first day of school. Karah came home and said that this was the "best first day she has ever had". I guess she likes her teacher. Amber knows Ms. Rowe and she said she will crack the whip one day. Karah is in for it then I guess.
Luc's finger ended up with a fracture in it. He was stepped on last week by one of the kids Amber watched this summer and the initial Dr's visit leaned toward a sprain and swelling. He could move his finger so I didnt think it was broken. X'rays came back as minor fracture near the middle phalanx. I think I have that right. Anyway, Luc never complained so I told him I thought he was pretty tough considering. Amber is taking him to a specialist to make sure the brace he is in is adequate. Lucky soccer is played with the lower extremities, huh?
Just got word that Genband made Inc's list for fastest growing private companies. I think we made the top 200 where the list goes to the top 5000. Interesting. Hoping the current power structure remembers us long-timers when they settle on an exit strategy. I would like to think I spent 7 years at a place that made something of itself.
Had lunch with my lovely wife today as a rare treat. We are coming up on 14 years of marriage. Unreal. I joked that we went through the 7 year itch... twice. I always tell her that I am surprised anyone would acknowledge knowing me for that long, much less want to be around me all that time. I am indeed lucky and I know it.
Ambers parents took us out to dinner last night. Always great to see them. They were eager to hear about the kids first days. I love her side of the family. I am glad we both grew up in similar environments and with families that were and are still close. See, I told you I live a charmed life.
Did anyone else see that Hill (I call here SHrillary) and Obama got a ringing endorsement from Castro? He says they would be an unbeatable ticket. Imagine trying to disassociate yourself from your socialist label, and then getting an endorsement from a socialist head of state? You just cant make up stuff this good. Awesome.
Oh well, I am testing phone ringing cadence's today and need to get back to it. You should hear some of the funny cadences used in other countries. Its the same phone, it just rings differently. I think Ireland and Australia are my favorites.
See, I am already posting more. Its just more useless stuff.
bb
Monday, August 27, 2007
Karah's in...
I could not be more pleased to tell yall that Karah has also decided to come forward. She has been talking about it this week with Amber and we believe she understands what she has decided. The impetus was a little heartwrenching but we are very proud of her.
A few days ago there was an auto accident involving a family from our church. The Hagerman's are people both Amber and I have known for years and they have a pre-teen and a young teenager. The mother, Denetta, did not survive. The accident was senseless and has really impacted our church but it ended up promoting lots of conversation between Karah and Amber. I was not there but Amber tells me she was really concerned with how people go to heaven. She has such a big heart for people, all of our children do. Amber and I are really proud of her.
A few days ago there was an auto accident involving a family from our church. The Hagerman's are people both Amber and I have known for years and they have a pre-teen and a young teenager. The mother, Denetta, did not survive. The accident was senseless and has really impacted our church but it ended up promoting lots of conversation between Karah and Amber. I was not there but Amber tells me she was really concerned with how people go to heaven. She has such a big heart for people, all of our children do. Amber and I are really proud of her.
Where to start...
Well its been a rough couple of weeks lately. I am sorry I have not felt like writing. I vowed to post more but you will have to bear with me.
My grandmother Faye Binion passed away a week and a half ago. I am happy that she doesn’t have to suffer anymore. I am ashamed of the conditions she had to live in during her final days but I am happy in the assurance that she is in a better place now. It was almost a little comical when the minister that did the service described meeting her. She was under Hospice care so the minister was a Hospice employed/appointed minister and was used to seeing people in the late stages of health. He said that when he met Faye he asked her about her relationship with God. He seemed almost a little taken aback with how strong her feelings were on her own faith. As he recounted it to all of us at the graveside service, you could tell that he was unused to meeting people that were absolutely sure that they were going to heaven. He said that she was absolutely certain of where she was going and couldn’t wait to get there. It made me wonder if she had somehow made him question his own role, or made him think about the depth of his own faith. More than likely, I think he was just impressed with her. I don’t think he will forget her for a long time.
That was one of the things about my grandmother, she was a very strong personality. She always spoke her mind and you always knew if you were in trouble or in good with her the minute you saw her. She would let you have it or she would smother you with hugs and kisses. Maybe that was just with me. ;]
I loved and will miss her greatly.
All 3 of my dad’s brothers made it to the service and I was very impressed with that. Bill came in from Dallas and Newell and Hal came in from Austin. This side of my family always seems to have their differences but when it counts, they come together. Nice work boys.
Lots of changes at home. The kids start school this week and Amber has decided that she has had enough of the Day School she was working at. She loved the job but the increasing politics were just not worth dealing with for another year. She is going to substitute teach elementary schools this year. With all the teachers kids she has had over the last couple of years, she has quite a network of teachers that were thrilled to hear about her subbing.
Luc is going into middle school and is warming up to the idea that he will go from having 2 teachers to 8 or so in a single day. Karah’s teacher is the mother of a child that Amber has had at Immanuel so they all know each other already. Max has the same teacher that both Luc and then Karah had in 4th grade. She was teacher of the year last year for their school. Maybe keeping Karah focused deserved an award. She has only taught for 2 years and this is the start of her 3rd year. That is only significant because she has had a Binion in her class every year she has taught school now. Not sure how she will cope next year without one.
The kids are all playing soccer this fall. It is Luc’s first year playing organized sports so I am as pleased as pie. Interestingly enough, he will probably be the one to thrive at it. He has good ball control, a strong kick and good spatial awareness so he should be pretty good at this game. The other two are both still a little timid around the ball. I pushed for baseball with all of them at one point because they can all hit the ball well but no one was buying. Actually the more I learn about the “league’s” here the more pleased I am that we are not involved. The baseball leagues here are very intense and there is a lot of favoritism with coaches/sons/friends of sons/tournament ability/tournament experience, etc. I have heard of shaved bats in use already. Its crazy. It is a little more than I want them to be exposed to at this age. If we were in a smaller town, maybe it would be a different story. Soccer will do for now. Besides, it will lead nicely to the role Amber’s parents want for the boys once in college… place kicker for UT or Texas A&M. Don’t get me started on which school, there isn’t enough server space. ;]
I have been riding my bike a lot lately. I have had to, I sold the R32. I sold it to a cool guy who flew down from Seattle and bought it outright. He said none of the ones he had been looking for were as clean as mine and it was obvious that I had taken care of it. If he only knew. He flew down and then drove it back, true story. I think I recognized the look he had on his face because I had that same look when I first got that car. I gave him tons of extra’s with it which pleased him to no end. I didn’t part with the poster though. There were a limited run of 5000 posters that were only shipped to the original purchasers of the R32. Only new owners got one. He tried but I couldn’t let it go. I loved that car.
It is not entirely accurate that I had to ride my bike (choose to), I now have use of a pickup thanks to my brother. His truck has been sitting since Mueller gave him a work truck and he offered it up to me when he heard we had a transmission issue on the Durango. It was really cool of my brother and I appreciate it. Figures that one week all cars work, sell one, the next week the other one has a major transmission failure. Oh well, I lead a charmed life most of the time.
I got the best letter the other day. It came from one of my aunts and I loved it. Kay sent a sweet letter and lots of pictures of my childhood and pictures of my dad. It was really timely and great fun to show my kids what my father looked like. They are fascinated with the handlebar mustache and are hounding me about growing one. Some of the shots are just so typical and true to my memories of him. I honestly only have two regrets in life. One was not serving my country and the other was not getting to show my father my children. Not being able to show him that I straightened out and turned out ok. I get choked up every time I hear that he would have loved my kids. I am sure he would have.
Kay Kay, it was great to have them and I truly appreciate it. I love you.
There is a ton more I haven’t mentioned but I needed to get something posted and get back to actually acting like I am at work. ;]
PS... feel free to leave me comments. The comment section is not real user friendly but you can mark reply as anonymous, type in the field (leave name if you want to) and then scroll down and enter the optical security code before submitting. You can even yell at me for not keeping everyone in the loop lately.
My grandmother Faye Binion passed away a week and a half ago. I am happy that she doesn’t have to suffer anymore. I am ashamed of the conditions she had to live in during her final days but I am happy in the assurance that she is in a better place now. It was almost a little comical when the minister that did the service described meeting her. She was under Hospice care so the minister was a Hospice employed/appointed minister and was used to seeing people in the late stages of health. He said that when he met Faye he asked her about her relationship with God. He seemed almost a little taken aback with how strong her feelings were on her own faith. As he recounted it to all of us at the graveside service, you could tell that he was unused to meeting people that were absolutely sure that they were going to heaven. He said that she was absolutely certain of where she was going and couldn’t wait to get there. It made me wonder if she had somehow made him question his own role, or made him think about the depth of his own faith. More than likely, I think he was just impressed with her. I don’t think he will forget her for a long time.
That was one of the things about my grandmother, she was a very strong personality. She always spoke her mind and you always knew if you were in trouble or in good with her the minute you saw her. She would let you have it or she would smother you with hugs and kisses. Maybe that was just with me. ;]
I loved and will miss her greatly.
All 3 of my dad’s brothers made it to the service and I was very impressed with that. Bill came in from Dallas and Newell and Hal came in from Austin. This side of my family always seems to have their differences but when it counts, they come together. Nice work boys.
Lots of changes at home. The kids start school this week and Amber has decided that she has had enough of the Day School she was working at. She loved the job but the increasing politics were just not worth dealing with for another year. She is going to substitute teach elementary schools this year. With all the teachers kids she has had over the last couple of years, she has quite a network of teachers that were thrilled to hear about her subbing.
Luc is going into middle school and is warming up to the idea that he will go from having 2 teachers to 8 or so in a single day. Karah’s teacher is the mother of a child that Amber has had at Immanuel so they all know each other already. Max has the same teacher that both Luc and then Karah had in 4th grade. She was teacher of the year last year for their school. Maybe keeping Karah focused deserved an award. She has only taught for 2 years and this is the start of her 3rd year. That is only significant because she has had a Binion in her class every year she has taught school now. Not sure how she will cope next year without one.
The kids are all playing soccer this fall. It is Luc’s first year playing organized sports so I am as pleased as pie. Interestingly enough, he will probably be the one to thrive at it. He has good ball control, a strong kick and good spatial awareness so he should be pretty good at this game. The other two are both still a little timid around the ball. I pushed for baseball with all of them at one point because they can all hit the ball well but no one was buying. Actually the more I learn about the “league’s” here the more pleased I am that we are not involved. The baseball leagues here are very intense and there is a lot of favoritism with coaches/sons/friends of sons/tournament ability/tournament experience, etc. I have heard of shaved bats in use already. Its crazy. It is a little more than I want them to be exposed to at this age. If we were in a smaller town, maybe it would be a different story. Soccer will do for now. Besides, it will lead nicely to the role Amber’s parents want for the boys once in college… place kicker for UT or Texas A&M. Don’t get me started on which school, there isn’t enough server space. ;]
I have been riding my bike a lot lately. I have had to, I sold the R32. I sold it to a cool guy who flew down from Seattle and bought it outright. He said none of the ones he had been looking for were as clean as mine and it was obvious that I had taken care of it. If he only knew. He flew down and then drove it back, true story. I think I recognized the look he had on his face because I had that same look when I first got that car. I gave him tons of extra’s with it which pleased him to no end. I didn’t part with the poster though. There were a limited run of 5000 posters that were only shipped to the original purchasers of the R32. Only new owners got one. He tried but I couldn’t let it go. I loved that car.
It is not entirely accurate that I had to ride my bike (choose to), I now have use of a pickup thanks to my brother. His truck has been sitting since Mueller gave him a work truck and he offered it up to me when he heard we had a transmission issue on the Durango. It was really cool of my brother and I appreciate it. Figures that one week all cars work, sell one, the next week the other one has a major transmission failure. Oh well, I lead a charmed life most of the time.
I got the best letter the other day. It came from one of my aunts and I loved it. Kay sent a sweet letter and lots of pictures of my childhood and pictures of my dad. It was really timely and great fun to show my kids what my father looked like. They are fascinated with the handlebar mustache and are hounding me about growing one. Some of the shots are just so typical and true to my memories of him. I honestly only have two regrets in life. One was not serving my country and the other was not getting to show my father my children. Not being able to show him that I straightened out and turned out ok. I get choked up every time I hear that he would have loved my kids. I am sure he would have.
Kay Kay, it was great to have them and I truly appreciate it. I love you.
There is a ton more I haven’t mentioned but I needed to get something posted and get back to actually acting like I am at work. ;]
PS... feel free to leave me comments. The comment section is not real user friendly but you can mark reply as anonymous, type in the field (leave name if you want to) and then scroll down and enter the optical security code before submitting. You can even yell at me for not keeping everyone in the loop lately.
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