End of an Era

We went 4-0 in our last AAU tournament. Quite a nice weekend to watch my daughter's team (which I coached) win against some pretty good teams. They did so in convincing fashion but it was bittersweet.
Why you ask? It is the last time I will coach her on a team in basketball.
When she was in first grade I started coaching her team. To see her gradually learn the game and enjoy it was quite special. She grew as a player and as a person not to mention in her height. She made good friends, could look at her game with some pride and was part of teams that in the end had fun.
When she started playing at the middle school level, it was the first team she played on that I did not coach. It was hard not to coach from the stands, but I did anyway (Move your feet! Hands up on defense! Don't reach!) It was great to see her apply her skills to a team that I didn't have direct contact with.
We continued to play an abbreviated AAU schedule and extend her basketball season with her friends. We didn't always do well against these all star teams but the girls never got down and they saw how good it could be and how good they could be. I loved it!
Now we are done and she is into softball full steam; basketball camp this summer and onto high school in the fall. High school, ouch. I will miss working on the skills of basketball in a practice session with her but there is still the driveway and the gym possibly.
I know I will pine away for the days of coaching her. I will miss the early days of teaching how to dribble and shoot a basketball. I know I will pine away for the day I could beat her in one on one, whenever she does beat me. Not too far away....

Myrtle on my mind

We are about to make our annual pilgrimage to Myrtle Beach for April vacation. I am very fortunate to have a family that indulges my need for golf and actually plays with me. Friends, family, beach, pool and of course golf are the agenda for April vacation.

We drive the 15 1/2 hour trip to South Carolina. We usually stay overnight on the way down after a day of tracking licence plates from hopefully all 50 states, punch buggies, and water towers (that is my sons interest). It is quite a trip.

Weather for the next 10 days
Today
Apr 14

Scattered T-Storms

71°
54°

Wed
Apr 15

Partly Cloudy

66°
45°

10%

Thu
Apr 16

Partly Cloudy

65°
45°

0%

Fri
Apr 17


Mostly Sunny

67°
49°


Sat
Apr 18


Mostly Sunny

69°
55°

Sun
Apr 19

Partly Cloudy

72°
58°

Mon
Apr 20


Scattered T-Storms

70°
52°

Tue
Apr 21

Sunny

69°
51°

Wed
Apr 22


Mostly Sunny

69°
55°

Thu
Apr 23


Partly Cloudy

70°
54°

Information Overload

To say that the last few weeks have been stressful might be the understatement of the millenium. I have had so much going on that I don't know which end is up.

So then I come to the NELMS Annual Conference to connect with colleagues and get educated on all that is middle level education and the information is overwhelming. I have had a chance to go to new and exiting session with a plethura of information and I have nowhere to store it. How do I make sense of all this?

There are times when you have to slow down and make some sense of the world around you and put everything in its place. I don't mean shut it down but rather make sense of it all. Technology and all its components is just one area I have a small handle on and with emerging tools and applications, I wonder if I have any handle at all.

I am making a list of things to learn and get some control over and when I do, watch out.