Fastest Move in the World!

Since I have been AWOL from blogging for almost a month, I thought that I would give a brief update.

So two Saturdays ago our condo flooded. The landlord hadn't done anything for the mold and mildew that began to grow by Wednesday so my roommates and I decided to get out. We terminated our contract Wednesday, found a house Thursday, signed the lease Friday and then packed AND moved on Saturday. I have never moved things so quickly and so unorganized. We have amazing friends who helped us get this all done and I felt like a jerk because I had to leave for five hours to be a coach. Our new place is awesome though, and is by far the nicest house I have ever lived in. I love change and I think this will be a good one.

Other things going on include today being our last soccer game of the season as well as the possibility of me getting sued by one of my athletes...that is a long, sad story.

I got to spend last Thursday in the temple with our stake for our temple day. I took the day off and did baptisms, confirmations, initiatory and a session for some family names that I found a while ago. I was also scheduled to do sealings, but my roommate and I had to go look at our new house. It was a great time to be in the temple. One of my friends from UT, who moved out here the same time I did, got endowed and sealed that day and I got to be there for it! I love the temple!

Friday found me on a field trip with one of my colleagues and about seven students. We decided that it would be cool to go hike Mount Rose for a PE/anyone field trip since I had to cancel PE on Wednesday and Thursday because of picture day (which I was in charge of). It was great to get paid to hike that day, I needed the time in the mountains. Most of the hike was in snow, and of course some students wore converse all stars for their 'hiking' boots. Good thing we had some extra socks. ( :

Life is so busy, but I am enjoying the ride!

The New Notch

We had a good game last night. I realize that my girls were too nervous to have any sort of attack, rather we just defended whatever the other team did. I have a whole list of things to improve on... ( :

We scored in the first twenty minutes of the first half but then we didn't do much else after that. The referrees weren't protecting my goalie at all-she got hit almost every time she gained possession of the ball, which should be some sort of card. In the last minute of the game the other team took advantage of the fact that the refs weren't protecting my keeper and ended up scoring because they kicked her into the goal and then, after she was already down, they kicked her in the back of the head. She couldn't even stand up or keep her eyes in one spot. The refs counted the goal and then didn't call anything on the other team-no card, no free kick, nothing. I was a livid. We tied, which is good because it takes us down a notch, but it still isn't a loss.

My keeper went to the hospital and got a CAT scan with the result of a severe concussion. Poor girl! It is frustrating to me that the refs would allow the game to get so out of control.

Here is the story on the web.

Nerves

Bear with me...

Well, today my team plays their biggest rival. I guess this is a huge event here and most of my girls are extremely nervous. I think it's a good thing for them to be nervous. Even though I don't play with them, I get so nervous. I never realized how much pressure is put on a coach, and it comes from everywhere. The girls don't want to be scored on, or lose. The parents want their daughters to continue to win as well as to have 'equal' playing time. (Side note: I have had a parent screaming in my face for not playing her daughter who tends to be hurt when we condition and sick most of the rest of the time.) The head varsity coach always talks about our record, as do the principal and the athletic director. I never knew how much a coach goes through-but I love it. ( :

Sometimes I think that I am too critical of the girls. A few parents complimented us after what I thought was a particularly poor game. I started to ask myself if rather than looking at our progress, I am focusing on the little mistakes we continually make. What does a good coach do? The same thing happened on Saturday. I thought we were playing lazy soccer and one of the other coaches said that we were playing well. How do I see the success while at the same time correct the errors?

We have played fairly well the entire season so far and haven't even been scored on yet. My girls are pretty cocky and tend not to go in to each game with the focus and perspective they should. Is it a bad thing to wish for them to be taken down a notch? Not that I don't want to win as well, but I think our practices and games would be more focused if we knew we had something to work on.

Oops!

The other day I was heading out for some errands and asked one of my roommates if she wanted anything. She said I could get her a slurpee, so on the way home I stopped by a gas station to get her one. I walked in to the station and started filling the cup when one of my students came up behind me and said, "Hey, Miss Bushman!" It happened to be that student's birthday so we chatted for a while. (Side note: this is the student that I kicked out of summer school. I was worried we would lose all ground because of what happened, but we are cool, which I am very happy about.) As I was almost home I realized that I hadn't paid for my slurpee because I got distracted by my student. I felt like a jerk and a bad example to my student because I thought the clerk may have mentioned something about me walking out without paying. I went back a while later and paid for my slurpee. The clerk had a few interesting words to say about honesty and almost wouldn't accept my payment. I made him take it. What is this world coming to?

First things First

Where to start? ( : Life has been so good and busy lately; I love being busy most of the time.

My 'girls' (the team) are doing well. We just played our fifth game today and we are still undefeated. We haven't even been scored on once! I have a solid defense and we mix it up a lot on offense. We are slowly learning to play as a team and making awesome improvements each game. For practice a few days ago we decided to go on a street run. I tweaked my ankle a few weeks ago and finally saw a doc about it-he told me I couldn't practice with my girls any more so I couldn't run with them. They started and didn't know I was going to follow. I got in my car after a few minutes to make sure everything was okay. From a distance, I watched them take care of each other and I felt just an overpowering love for them. It's almost like I have gained 19 little sisters to look out for. I love being their coach! We have a lot of fun together.

I took some time on Labor Day to go kayaking with my friend Matt. We found a rocky shore to stop on but it was such a cold day I was grateful for the sunshine, even though I am WHITE. I thought I had everything under control because Matt brought some super-strong sun screen that he let me borrow. Too bad it was expired by two years! My knees are still peeling!

I had a former roommate come spend the night last weekend. It is nice to be around people who know me and love me. We just caught up with each other-it was great.

The bike has had a little use lately. Two weeks ago I put a passenger on for the first time and was floored by how everything changed. The girl said she had ridden before but she was like a rag doll which made things difficult. It was a good experience though. I gave someone else a ride last weekend, but this person knew to lean and be pro-active. What a difference experience makes!

As promised, here is a pic of me in my leather gear! ( :

Makin' Momma Proud

This one's for you mom. Remember when I first bought my motorcycle you were very concerned with my riding attire because all I had was a cordura jacket with armor inserted? Well, I bought a leather jacket after talking with you because you demonstrated so much concern. Then you told me that I should probably not ride in just jeans, but rather have some protection on my lower body as well. I just thought that I would alleviate some of your fears and let you know that I finally broke down and bought some black leather chaps last night. Safety first! (Pictures to come)

One Down, Many to Go

Last night my girls had their first game. We played so well that our goalie only touched the ball when the defense dropped it back to her. Not a single shot was taken on goal! Woo hoo! We are solid when it comes to defense, but our offense needs some help. We had about 30 shots on goal but only made 6. Needless to say we will be working on our finishing this week!