Family and Friends

Okay, first news, Logan didn't make the Wildcats.  This one sort of snuck up on us, though.  I only found out about tryouts or even that the team existed, about 2 weeks prior to the tryouts.

Only a couple of weeks before that, I heard about the Sylvania Celtics, which Logan will be playing for.  So, this year, basketball caught us sort of unaware.  I remember basketball being the first sport that got pretty competitive just to make the team.  Fewer spots to fill.  Lots of good players.

Kids today have a much more competitive atmosphere in sports than I had to deal with.  A lot of kids who made the team back when I was young might have trouble these days.

Now, though, we're forewarned.  I don't think Logan is a basketball prodigy, but he shows remarkably good skills.  If he works at it, I think he could play in middle school and high school.  Basketball, I know a little more than I do about baseball.

So, having a warehouse where I can put up a portable hoop will give me exactly what I need to get the kid ready. 

Today, I set up some chairs and we worked on dribbling with both hands.  Worked on crossover dribble.  Worked a little bit on teaching the proper way to do a layup.  Reinforced squaring up the shoulders for the shot.

If we had been doing this for a few months prior to his tryout, I think he'd have made the team.  We didn't, and that's the way things went.  However, from here on out, we'll be ready.

I played him in a little 1 on 1 game.  He did a great job of shooting.  I still, in my life, have not seen a kid as coachable as my son.  You tell him something and he does it.  He was working on all the fundamentals we drilled on.  I know I'm pretty biased, but coaches who work with him really notice this.  In baseball, his coach will use him as an example of the proper technique to field a ball.  He isn't the best fielder on the team, but he hustles, gets into position and has impeccable form.

At the end, we did a tabata workout where we just jumped into the air (like going for a rebound.)  8 sets of 20 seconds, 10 seconds rest between sets.  We missed one of the sets due to a phone call, but 7 was plenty.  I don't want to wear the kid out.

I told him that doing this will let him jump higher.  Immediately afterwards, he tried jumping to see if it worked.  I had to explain that it'll take a few days for it to show up.

I do love spending time with my son and teaching him things.  I've loved every minute of that kids' life.  I've never understood about parents who think their kids are a pain in the butt or who can't wait for school to get back in session so they'll see less of them. 

It's probably because I had to wait so long for my boy.  I wanted kids pretty much my entire adult life, and was lucky enough to finally have one.  I couldn't have asked for a better one.

I must have had some down-sounding posts because a friend called me today to make sure I was doing okay.  Gotta love good friends.  I am fine.  Just sorta bummed and feeling a bit worn down.  Wistful for the days when I was rich.  Those days will come again.  Right now, this feels like year one in my business.  However, we're poised for much faster growth than we had the first time out.  We've got the equipment and the people. 

It's just hard to think of a time when buying $1,000 worth of baseball bats in a month wasn't even something that I thought twice about.  Plus, belonging to the country club was really nice.  I was only a member for a year and a half.  It was awesome, though.  I'd love to get back to that point.

It also sort of sucks because I want to start other businesses, but that's hard to do without cash.  Right now, I need to make sure this business gets going to fund any future businesses.  I am hopeful for a day in the future when I have multiple sources of income, preferrably ones that may work counter-cyclically to each other.  If I can diversify with several businesses, I won't have to suffer so much when one of them takes a downturn.

Things are still hairy right now.  However, if it were easy, everybody would do it.  Surviving times like these are what will allow me to cash those biggo checks again someday without feeling any guilt over it.

In the mean time, all the Melancon and Gibson guitars are gone.  I just sold a gun and will be whittling down that collection, too. 

We'll also be selling off a lot of stuff at work.  Whatever it takes to survive.  Whatever it takes to be in the game when the tide turns.

I choked on one section of the Arabic test, but I asked another smart girl from the class and she did, too.  Maybe the prof will curve this one.  If not, no biggie.  There are about 1,000 points possible in the class.  We've completed maybe 600 of them and even if I get zero points for that question, I'll have about 580 out of a possible 600 points.  Well on track for an A.  If I get an A or B, I'll be happy.