Springy Projects

We lucked out with a very spring-y third week of February. Even though we tried our best not to get our hopes up for a mild-weather upcoming track season, by the end of a 55-65 degree week with hardly any wind and at least two days of sunshine, our hopes were high. High school track season starts tomorrow (February 26th) and the weather forecast shows four back-to-back days of 15-20mph sustained winds. Classic. Would it even be track season without volatile weather? Also, isn't talking about the weather supposed to be a total conversational snooze button? But I kind of like talking about the weather. It's comfortable and relatable--just like my favorite type of conversation. The weather also affects my existence drastically, so I can't help mentioning it!

Blind Voodoo plus two

Last weekend, Jeff and I went to the Nike Track and Field Coaching Clinic in Portland, Oregon. We rode in a school van with three other Sunnyside track coaches and stayed overnight on the school district's dime, just like last year. This was my second coaching conference and it was eye-opening to see how far I have come in my "coaching journey" in the past year. Last year at this time, I was a freshly hired, slightly overwhelmed, first-time head middle school track coach. I took frenzied notes at every clinic session I could attend at the conference. This year, I was able to think more critically and use my previous track season of experience to filter information from the conference into what would actually help me coach the team I have, in the town we live in. It was nice being less frenzied and more "seasoned," even if my head track and field coaching experience is only one 7 week season long. 

13 Roses

 Rose turned 13 on February 7th! I jokingly told her "now you're a real teenager instead of a fake one!" because Rose has seemed like a teenager for the past two years. She is almost 5'10'' and such a bright intelligent sweet human--she almost seems like more than a mere teenager. We love our Rose girl so much! Usually I ask my kids what they want for their birthday, but this year I artfully avoided talking about birthday gifts because we got Rose one big one: a new bed! She had been sleeping in the same twin sized bed with a footboard for years, and the taller she got, the more her feet pressed against the footboard. So Jeff and I found a queen sized mattress at Costco and a bed frame on Amazon, and even though we got excellent deals on both, this quickly became the most expensive kid-birthday of all time in our family! Rose is worth it. The middle child turning 13 needs an extra boost. Amber wanted to know if she was going to get a queen sized bed when SHE turned 13. I told her to wait and see.

Fog & Fam

The week of January 29th was full of fog so thick I may have strained an eyeball trying to drive. When I went running I could see more clearly without my glasses! One morning while driving Jay to seminary, I could only see two dashed yellow lines at a time on the road. TWO. It was maybe 10 feet of visibility. The fog was like cotton candy, but gray and cold and sad instead of pink and sweet and happy. We soldiered on into February anyways.

A "less-foggy" view during one of my three back-and-forth runs on the paved pathway behind our old house. The fog was too thick for pedestrians on the street, so I resorted to mind-numbing back-and-forth running on the pathway.