At least it wasn't a red!!!

I got a yellow card last night. My first one of the season. What to say that it will be the last one this year but it probably will not. Just glad it was not a red (in reality it should not have been a yellow, it was a lame call by the ref-I barely said anything) because then we get fined $250 and how will I explain that to the parents...

***side note*** I do not allow my players to yell at the ref. I tell them that it is their job to play soccer and if they disagree with a call to keep their mouths shut. They know that I will back them up. It is my job and not theirs and apparently I take it seriously enough that I have been told to hush in just about every game that we have played.

***side note #2*** We were only winning 2-1 with about 12 min to go in the game when I got my card. We ended up winning 4-1. Yellow cards are looking more appealing by the min...just kidding...

I am becoming a prude...

Yep, I said it. I think that it is true. The older I get the more I am offended with things. For instance, I am coaching a high school girls soccer team. They are fun and keep me young, but not from becoming a prude. They do exactly what I did when I was in high school... they act like they are in high school. Some recent examples of my prudish behavior have become apparent...

1. The songs that are played in our warm-up tape before our games should not have curse words in them. To be fair, it was not our warm-up tape that we were listening to the other day, but all the same I caught myself saying, "Did that song just say the B-word." The funniest part is that I occasionally curse myself. I know, I know that I really should not, but I am known to let one slip every now and then. I just don't think that having it played loudly over a loud speaker where there are high school (I am aware that they are not babies, but...) students, and younger siblings running around is really all that appropriate.

2. High school girls should not practice in their sports bras. Period. This concept, we will call it, of mine has not gone over all that well with my high school girls. For those of you that do not live in Knoxville, let me just tell you that in the summer I gets hot around here (read that as it gets to be over 90 degrees on a regular basis and it is always humid) and on a soccer field there is no shade. Now I understand that other schools may allow this behavior to happen, but under my watchful eye they will not be removing their shirts to practice soccer. You don't get to play in just a sports bra do you? Nope, I do think so. Plus you are not an adult so therefore I get to tell you what you can and cannot do while your parents entrust you into my care. (Those are some of my responses, and I am not backing down from them.) Mostly I just want these girls to respect themselves. I want them to value their bodies and their hearts. I hope that as I coach these girls that they will learn that I am here to help them grow into healthy, strong, independent young women. So on this issue, I am sorry but I will not back down and they will always be fully clothed at my practices.

3. Girls should dress appropriately at all times. I really hope that you don't read this as me being judgmental, but I know that it might come off this way. I just think that girls today are trying to dress like they are older than they are. They tend to wear shorts, skirts and dresses that are too short and shirts that are too tight. I know that I am not a parent, but I know that some of the items that I have seen some girls in lately will not be a part of my future daughters closet. As in point number 2 I think that girls should just dress more modestly. I have seen girls walk into church in tight and short jean skirts ( read barely covering their bottoms) and sit with their parents. When I was their age I had to wear a dress that came past my knees and with lace fringed socks. Now I am all of everyone coming to church just how they are and I am glad that they are there and I really don't want this to come off and a huge judgement at all, but I just want girls to dress like the YOUNG girls that they are. They will have plenty of time to be grown ups and do whatever they want. I just think that their parents should be keeping them young and protecting their innocence as long as they can. It is just scary to see middle school girls in belly shirts...

So those are some examples of my prudeness (not sure if this is a word)... and I am kind of proud of it. Scary I know. Part of the reason that I wanted to coach (can I just say that none of the above examples are of MY high school girls. They have all come from other sources that shall remain nameless and not just because I don't know the names of any of the people mentioned.) was because I wanted to make an impact. I know that I fail everyday at showing the girls who I want them to be and those failures are as a result of me being human. I just hope that they walk away from their time with me and realize that I care about each one individually and I want them to be better people when they leave. I want to impact their lives and try to teach them along the way from experiences that I have had both positive and negative. We will see if it happens...

Will you come pick me up?

I guess this post should start with a BIG, HUGE, ENORMOUS thank you to Beth. Beth is a dear friend and mother of one of Andy's oldest buddies. She has the most amazing house in Hilton Head (same place that Andy took me when we got engaged, but that story is for another post) that we have now been to a lucky 3 times. I think that each time we go it just gets better, and Beth is so nice to let us stay. This time we went with some really good friends of ours and their beautiful baby Reece. Reece is also our goddaughter so it made it extra special that we got to hang out with her. Her parents, Tori and Doc, met us over there and we had a great time. This was Reece's first time in the sand and she L-O-V-E-D it. Unlike most babies she did not cry or try to eat the sand. She just wanted to crawl all over it.

I mean, check out that face. She was serious about "beach time"!!!

Then she would crash!

She was so fun and happy. Here she is dancing. What you can't tell is that I am singing some strange song that I made up spur of the moment and she loved it. Not sure that other people on the beach did...

Here is Reece petting Laney. It makes your heart melt doesn't it.

We spent 5 days and 5 nights at Hilton Head. Laney was worn out the entire time. She got to go running two days in the morning, and the days that we did not run I think that she was happy to sleep in. She would stay in the house while we went to the beach in the morning and when we would come home at lunch she would jump in the pool for a quick dip. At night, after 5pm, we could take her down to the beach to play. If you know our Laney there was not way that she was not happy with just some dinky tennis ball. She found the largest log (notice it was not a stick) on the beach and would chase it into the waves. It was so cute!! She would jump like a deer over the waves so she could keep an eye on the log. Here are some pics of her on the last day of the trip when we took her out to play one last time.

This is Laney anticipating that Andy would throw the log. She would get so excited and run circles around you. I just made me so happy to know that she was so excited.

Check out that face on Laney!

Andy made this look so easy. When I threw it, I could barely get it 15 feet away from me. It was pretty sad.

Then once she would retrieve the log she would not just bring it to one of us to throw again. She would prance around the beach showing off to everyone that was watching what she "found" in the ocean. Again, very cute.

We had a wonderful time and it was a much needed vacation for the both of us. There is just something about a vacation at the beach where you sit on the beach and read and have no agenda that makes life so sweet. We left on Tuesday, which meant that we were back at work on Wednesday. Boo! Andy called me Wednesday about 9am and said...

Andy: You want to go back to Hilton Head?

Me: Will you come pick me up?

Do you know about the Egg Campus?

Okay, I know that I need to post some pictures from the beach trip that I will just tell you now was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I have a funny story first. Yesterday at practice this is the conversation that I had with one of my players.

Me: So Suzie (I have changed her name since she is underage and even though I got her permission to write this, I have not asked her parents!), did you ever find out what your Dad does for a living?

Suzie: No, I never asked.

Me: So do you know what your Mom does?

Suzie: No, not really, but I do know that she works at the Egg Campus at UT.

Me: Excuse me, what did you just say?

Suzie: She works at the Egg Campus.

Me: Did you just say Egg Campus?

Suzie: Yeah, why?

Me: Don't you mean the Ag Campus?

Suzie: No, the EGG Campus. That is what it is called.

Me: Oh my gosh that is the funniest thing that I have ever heard. It is not the Egg Campus it is the Ag Campus. Ag as in Agriculture Campus. Suzie that is the funniest thing that I have hear all day. The Egg Campus.

Suzie was a great sport. She let me tell the whole team what she said and did not even get embarrassed a little bit. I laughed and laughed. She is a great kid. The Egg Campus is still making me laugh out loud. This is one of the many reasons that I love coaching my high school kids. They make me laugh all the time.