Not the Best Soccer Coach Ever

[przed]

Had my second game as coach tonight. Good news: we scored two goals! Bad news: the other team scored seven. :( Still, the kids had fun, and I think I've now figured out who our strong players are so I can tweak our lineup a bit. (I went with a mostly random order tonight, which led to all the strongest/biggest players being on one rotation, and all the smallest/weakest players on another. Shall definitely work at balancing it a bit.)

In other news, it's been a long, looooong day. It went a little something like this:

3 a.m., woken by surprise chronic pain flare

5 a.m., give up on sleep completely, get up and check email/LJ

5:30 a.m., start getting ready for Tae Kwan Do

6 to 7 a.m., Tae Kwan Do, in deference to the already brutal heat the instructor doesn't start with our usual jogging warm up, but the half hour of doing walking and horse stance punches and blocks across the dojo he settles on instead is actually more exhausting

7 to 7:30 a.m., run home and get ready for the day

8 a.m., work on not terribly exciting documentation

10 a.m. to 4 p.m., back to back meetings, with a break for lunch

5 to 6:30 p.m., dinner, prep for game

7:30 to 8:30 p.m., game

8:30 to 9 p.m., drop off nets at soccer club office, hightail it back home to drop off Ros and the Sweetie

9:30 to 11 p.m., acupuncture appointment (moved back from the usual 8:30 to accommodate soccer)

11:30 p.m., arrive back home, collapse

Apart from the chronic pain flare, which I hope I can knock back in the next day or so, this is pretty much what my Tuesdays are going to look like for the remainder of the summer. Oh. My.

In other news, I've made a generic footie icon from not-really-generic picture of a certain member of Take That. (Do try and look shocked.)

Comments

[soundofthesurf.livejournal.com]

Urghhh-yikes! I don't like your Tuesdays and there is absolutely no excuse for that pain flare to show up on a Tuesday and at that time of the night! I'd like to pay it a visit and talk some sense into it, and if that doesn't work beat the hell out of it!

And no one is a born master, let alone a born coach! (Well, to be honest, I've spent quite some time in various stadiums surrounded by ten-thousands of coaches, and all of them were experts, but even they needed a couple of years until they knew everything better, you know? *g*) You'll get there, I just KNOW it! Love for the game is one of the most important things. Love for the players another. And you've got LOTS for both AND are a generally all-round-awesome human being, so... :)

And the new icon is...ALL SORTS OF FLIPPING PERFECT!!! (How sick is it that I knew immediately these were Mark's legs and feet?? Worryingly sick? Do I need help??)

Hope you have a quieter and lovely Wednesday!

::BIG BUILD-YOU-UP HUGS::

[przed.livejournal.com]

Well, I actually slept last night, so here's hoping the pain flare was a brief one. (The last one went on for two bleeding months, so I'm a hoping I don't have another one of those.)

Thanks for the coaching pep talk. You're right that no one's born a coach. I just need to keep trying and have fun! Which I am. It's hectic and frazzling, but ultimately fun.

It's not sick that you knew those were Mark's feet, it's awesome! (I'm in the same boat.)

Have had a not-so-bad Wednesday. I took the morning off and helped Ros' class out with a field trip to a fire hall. It was fun, though there were tears from Ros when I had to leave to go back to work.

::BIG HUGS BACK::

[soundofthesurf.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping with you, dear! Fingers crossed! That's the last thing you need now! :/

It's good to hear it's still fun, because it'll take a lot of your time and energy, so it bloody better be whole lots of fun! :) And you know I'm willing to swing my pom poms for you whenever necessary. I'd even be willing to dress up in shorts and a Owen-jersey for you!

First I thought it was he's knees, or his lovely tiny drumsticks, but then I got it! It's the jump, the way he places his foot - famously seen in oh-so-many Shine-performances! That's why I didn't get it in the first place - he's not wearing somethng sparkly-glittery! Or red boots! Hah, Mark Owen, you can try and disguise yourself, but you'll always get found out! *g*

Awww, poor Ros! But you see, ten years on and she won't cry because you have to leave, but because she has to leave the pretty firemen behind...*g*

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

Hope you sort the pain flare out soon. The rest seems to be something you sort of volunteered for *g* so maybe it's just a pity it all happens on one day instead of being spread out. Good luck with the coaching - you'll get them tweaked/coached into shape and winning in no time!!

[przed.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping the pain has subsided. (It's a sneaky chronic pain thing that's worst at night, and it usually take a few days for me to realize I'm in the middle of a bad one.)

As for the rest, it is all voluntary and fun--well, except for the acupuncture, which is just necessary to keep my back and neck in shape--I think I was just astonished to realize last night how crazy that one day of the week is going to be.

Fingers crossed we win at least a few games. I'm just hoping I can figure out how to do some real skills development with 5 and 6 year olds.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

Holy hell, woman, how do you survive? I'm exhausted reading this! LOL! But you're young and tough. *bg*

I missed you this weekend! But we forged on and had fun. Next year, I hope, if not sooner!

[przed.livejournal.com]

Sheer cussedness, I think. And we'll see if I do survive the summer. (I might be younger, but I'm not young!)

I missed seeing y'all. I'm definitely hoping the stars will align properly and I'll get back next year. Though I have to say I'm a bit sad at how much the con has shrunk over the years.

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

Hah, I bet you just lazed around the house from 11:30pm to midnight, when you could have been doing something. *whistles*

It all sounds exhausting and interesting and exhausting...

[przed.livejournal.com]

You got me! Just lazing about in that spare half hour I had. ;-)

On the positive side, I've only got one day a week like this. Your schedule puts mine to shame. (Did I see you did 11 Spanish tests in a day?)

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes you did. Summer school is a bit of a bastard.

[przed.livejournal.com]

Whenever I have one of those "some day I'll go back and finish my Film Studies Ph.D., just for fun" moments, I'm going to go back and read one of your posts about this Master's and I'm sure the moment will pass. Quickly.

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

I like to think this would be different IF I wasn't working full time... and studying something that actually interests me as an area of study. Basically, skip the professional degrees. *g*

[przed.livejournal.com]

I would love to have the leisure to study Mandarin and a few other Asian languages. But I think I've lost my stomach for both Film Studies and its critical pomposity, and professional degrees in my field. (I may in the next year or so finally do my professional designation, more to stay marketable than anything, but at least I've been assured that as long as you're reasonably sharp you can get through it in a few months and with minimal swatting up.)

Can I stop being an adult now? Pleeeeeze?

[saintvic.livejournal.com]

Damn that is one busy busy busy schedule.

Really hope you feel better soon luv.

[przed.livejournal.com]

It's all voluntary and mostly fun, but I think I'll have to be careful it doesn't grind me down to a nub by the end of the summer.

Here's hoping my stupid body decides to right itself soonish. ::sigh::