Been meaning to post for a while, but haven't gotten around to it. It's not that I don't have stuff to blog about, it's more like I have too much to blog about.
Work is busy these days, which is good. We need quite a few strong months to help us recover from a whole lot of bad ones. Seems like we're turning a corner, but the trouble with disasters is that you can't predict when they'll happen. For the time being, we appear to be crawling out of the hole somewhat.
The more I do this, the more I'm sure that it takes a special kind of person to be an entrepreneur. The level of uncertainty is enough to make you crazy. Especially a business like mine that has seen highs and lows, it can really test your fortitude over time.
When things were running straight up, it was a joy. Not so fun on the way down. Now, though, let's hope we're finally rightsized and have some good times ahead. Both me and my guys could use a little blue sky (economically).
Logan started workouts for the Spring travel season. It feels like he's an old pro at this. Hard to believe last year was his first year of it. I remember when the season started, remarking, "Boy, the difference in these kids after the off-season program is astounding. There's no comparison between this and where they were at the end of rec last year."
Another Dad who had an older son said that by the end of the season, they'd improve just as much, and they really had.
They came to this season's workouts even better than I remember them being. Logan has moved up to a 19 ounce bat, and is swinging it really well. We had a devil of a time finding the right bat for him last year. I bet I spent $1,000 in the quest for exacalibur. One of the bats I bought is the one he's using now, though.
His throwing has improved tremendously. I hope he gets to work out with the pitchers this year. I've mentioned to the coach that he would like to pitch. We'll just see where it goes from there.
His batting has moved up a notch as well. He spent a lot of time with a hitting coach in the off-season and right now, his swing is pretty amazing.
I can't wait for the season to begin.
Logan is crazy about basketball right now because that's what he's playing. In the off-season I will try to sign him up for camps and other activities. He's got a lot of room for improvement in basketball, but he also has a lot of potential.
I don't want to push him into things, but I don't want him to fall short of his potential due to lack of guidance and support, either.
I am thinking a lot about his life after High School. Yes, he's only 9, but I'm his dad. I was looking at tuition and it looks like Ohio State is probably going to be our best bet. He'll have to work to get in. However, it's not unattainable.
He's been in love with the idea of going to OSU for about as long as he could talk. It'd be great if that's where he goes.
He asked me the other day if I thought he could ever play professional sports. Tough question, that. On the one hand, yeah, I know, the adult answer is that it's about like winning the lottery. If you added up the NFL, MLB and NBA players, you'd be talking about less than 2,000 guys. And they're recruited from all over the world.
So, frankly, getting into any of those at the professional level involves, in my opinion, exceptional athletic ability, combined with an exceptional work-ethic and probably a little bit of cheating with whatever performance enhancing drugs are being used at the time.
The reason I don't want to quash that dream, though, is not because I believe he will be a professional athlete, but because I believe that if sports is something he loves, he owes it to himself to be as good as he can possibly be.
If he aims for the NBA, and puts all his effort into basketball, and only plays High School basketball, that's farther than he would have gone without dedication and drive. He'd always have that to look back on fondly.
I think sometimes it doesn't matter so much what, exactly, you steer your kids into, but that the things they do are opportunities for you to teach them life lessons. First, to keep trying, even when things get hard. Second, that it takes hard work to achieve anything worthwhile. Third, that they should do what it takes to do the things they do well.
If Logan loved, say, airplanes, I'd do what I could to steer him that way. If he loved music, he'd have it made because there's almost no extreme I wouldn't go to in order to help him achieve that way.
The kid is just a jock. What can you say? I'm as surprised as you are. Given my (lack of) athletic ability, it's a little surprising that my kid would be athletic. He benefits from being built more like his mother, though. Long limbed and well built. One way or another, he's really got good skills. And any discussion of this would be incomplete if I didn't mention that he's always been absolutely the youngest kid on any team he's ever been on.
So, as long as he does sports, I want him to do them well, and I want to help him in any way I can.
Next year, we'll have tackle football, too. He's really looking forward to that.
Main focus this year, though, will be basketball. I need to get in shape, anyway, and I can do a lot of workouts with him in hoops.
So, the travel season is at hand. There's just nothing like it. It's a phenomenal experience.
Time keeps marching and with every month, my debt drops little by little and I manage to keep my head above water. Granted, I'd like more, but in this economy, I'll take it.
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