the mom visit dos

thursday night serena picked up Madre from John Wayne while I was slave to fly balls and line drives and backing up my left and my right at Buena Park (softball practice, guys =). we all met up and went out to BJ's Restaurant & Brewery in Brea for some deep dish and pizookie - it was delicsh! I dropped off Serena and Jess at the dorms to provide the opportunity for a decent amount of sleep before their Friday morning classes (the very ones that are absent from my schedule =). Mom and I went on a movie run to Hollywood and the hot item was Just Like Heaven starring, my current favorite, Mark Ruffalo (also in eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, 13 going on 30 and rumor has it)... unfortunately it was on the "Coming Soon" list for Feb 6th-or-other so we compromised with Vanity Fair, also with Reese Witherspoon - definitely a bust.



friday I stepped in for Kim, assitant coach for LM varsity, who was kicked out of the previous game due to a little chat with the ref that he deemed appropiate to reach into his back pocket and pull the red. LM had the school day off and so the games were bumped up to noon and 2 due to the Winter Formal scheduled for that evening. it was horrible soccer to watch, but mom said she got two bible studies done, so I didn't feel too bad.

upon arriving I had to listen to non-stop nonsense from the Varsity coach about this and that and a ton of gossip and defending himself to me about his program that everyone seems to be bashing (he's been receiving handfuls of complaints, and some anonymous)... just know that this has become a regular occurrence over that last couple weeks AND IM SICK OF IT. he is incredibly lazy, and knows little about the game - which is pretty much the standard of any other high school/teacher combo soccer coach. The fact is, if the program does well it has NOTHING to do with him - he just got lucky and happened to have talent on his team that year or the referees must have been generous to him while playing Mayfair the second time around (Mayfair is the ONLY team in the league that is ANY good, and beating this rival insures a League Championship).

He told me that he was not asking my Asst Coach back, which I understand. He said he was going to look at Biola - just down the street from the school - and shop for a coach that had more time and a class schedule that didn't conflict. This comment was directed at me because since my classes started last week I have been absent a couple times. My asst coach was on her own for 2 games (of the thirty or so that we have competed in) and she ran a handful of practices solo.

What is funny to me is that this guy, Coach Dennis Guerra, can't simply come out with it - he has to beat around the bush (there's innumerable instances, one of which is riding the bus). I laughed instantly upon his comment, and right in front of him. While my mind was ever thankful that the season was going to end in a week... I smiled and told him that it would be a wise decision and I added that I wouldn't mind stepping down, even as a trainer for the team that could run practices here and there - which really meant that I didn't want to come back, but I just couldn't say it.

The funny thing is, I was hired upon his knowledge that I wasn't completely available during the holidays and when spring semester classes started. I was hired AFTER I had registered for Spring Semester anyway. I was told that it wouldn't be a problem and that there are four coaches... in the case that myself or my asst coach, Lauren, were unable to make a game or practice, then coach Kim or coach G could take over.

If Coach Dennis Guerra dares to ask me back next year, which is comical that he even has the authority over the matter, he better be prepared to let me hire my own coaching staff. I told mom that I planned to let my JV team know, who are the only reason I got through this season, that I was not coming back next year... but that, of course, I had tons of fun with them and will come to watch them play any time I get the chance. As an athlete I think it is the responsibility of the coach to not withhold information from the team. My mom, though, told me to postpone the plan so that I could keep my options open - I suppose that is wise, but the truth is I don't want to coach under Dennis. As an athlete I've never experience such a dictating role of the Varsity coach over the JV program. I suppose it could be successful, but not when the Varsity coach is incapable of establishing any kind of philosophy to his Varsity program. Fortunately, his game seemed to go by swiftly and now I could focus on MY team.

The JV girls on the opposing team, Norwalk, were never taught that on a kick-off the ball had to move forward on the first touch - yeah, it was that pathetic. our game was called a bit short upon the agreement of myself, the opposing coach and the referrees. I only had 11 girls show (half of them had hair, nail and make-up appointments that conflicted - they will have fun running this week), but they still managed to beat Norwalk 5-0. At the conclusion of the match two of the game balls were missing so I told JV they couldn't leave until both were found. One turned up promptly but the third was never to be found, even after a sweep of the field AND after we looked in the opposing team's ball bag. I finally let the team leave, but I was furious - this wasn't the first time, in fact, this was the third game ball that has turned up missing. A couple of the girls put away the gear and I kicked the med kit across the shed indignantly and locked the door.

Mom could tell I was mad and didn't understand why I was in such a bad mood over a missing game ball... that is, until I told her that they cost about $150 EACH - ohhh and how about the little insignificant detail that I'M RESPONSIBLE for losing it. We had been driving for about 5 minutes when Coach G called and told me, "I know that this is the first time JV has cleaned up the field, but you guys forgot to put the corner flags in the shed." I told him that it was my fault and that I would turn around and put them away - which would be difficult because I was never given a key to the shed. He said he had already done it and that's when I told him about the missing game ball. What's extra funny is that the game balls we used belonged to varsity. I straight up told him I lost it and that was that.


After a couple errands we arrived to HIU around the time the cafeteria opened for dinner. There was home bball games for both the men and the women, but mom was not the least bit interested in watching any more sports - especially since she was to endure my softball game the next day. We returned to my dorm room and proceeded to clean it with the supplies we bought after the soccer game from hell. We spent about an hour vaccuming the room and scrubbing the bathroom - so fresh and so clean clean!! I love it. I bet Shaunna loves it too. Upon the completion of our cleaning efforts we went to Kinkos to make copies of my mission letters - this time we were 100% more successful. I had addressed the envelopes about two weeks ago, which was the most time consuming - so the rest was kind of fun... I cut the slips, mom folded the letters, I filled the envelopes and mom adorned them with stamps. Now they just need to be sealed and sent =).

...also the chair i use at my desk

saturday morning i was scheduled to volunteer for an ASB garage sale at 7am. it was a postponed fundraiser for our trip to Florida for the NCCAA tourney. there was bulk of everything: chairs, desks, books, office supplies and other random things. there was one of those doctor's chairs with stirrups - random - and the guys didn't even know what it was so i told rigo to sit in it. perusing through the garage sale items was only entertaining for the first hour and there was little to nothing for us to do so the a.m. shifters all congregrated in the royal chairs and goofed off. it is such a pet peeve of mine when i am required to volunteer for something when there's no capacity for me to be of any help. my shift was from 7-9, which was convenient since the softball team was meeting at 9:15 to depart for our scrimmage in claremont at noon. the scrim went well and I'm really excited for this season. after 8 innings we called it a day and got a bite to eat at a local diner - it was good times with coach mike and steve littlejohn. did i tell you we have new coaches?? i can't remember... but they are for real.

i returned to my dorm room to find mom on the couch reading the latter novels in the narnia series. she had rode with jessica's madre and beat me back by an hour. we had a little time to kill before she needed to be back at the airport, so i took her to the corner bakery in Brea for some DC chicken salad - and since i had already eaten, i visited the neighboring golden spoon =). on our way to John Wayne I noticed a car crash on the 55 north carpool ramp, and a little further down 55 the state patrol was barracading all the lanes. it seemed that there must have been a fatality, which would take a few hours before the scene would get cleared up and all the time mom was stressing me out about how I was going to get home. she ended up putting one of the guys working the security lines at the airport on the phone with me and he explained a alternate route to the 5 that bypasses the 55. long story short: it worked, I got back to my dorm room shortly, finished Just Like Heaven and passed out gracefully. thanks mom for visiting! it was lots of fun, sorry I was so busy and things were so hectic.

happy birthday Tristen! feb 4th


sunday superbowl XL: seattle seahawks vs pittsburgh steelers. it seemed like everyone wanted the steelers to win - even the guys with the funny looking zebra outfits running up and down the field and throwing yellow handkerchiefs on the ground and blowing loudly on noisemakers - who are these guys and why doesn't security do anything about it? i was only priveleged to see the majority of the first half before I had to clock-in at PJ's - it was enough to see us get robbed a TD in the first handful of minutes.

I am offically the Assistant Manager @ PJs and I received a pay-raise of $1.75 - an all time personal record for a raise... and also my first raise EVER. I will continue to only work on Friday, Saturday and Sunday... but I close each of these nights, which requires that I work well into the evening... sometimes 1ish.

happy birthday BREAU! feb 5th

pray for me this week. its going to be a crazy one - those times where the things that are ending and the things that are beginning over lap - its a little stressful. thank you =)