Interesting, interesting

A few things:

Crew this past week was very inspiring. The girls had their best week of practice yet and they came back ready for a new year. "I have been proud to be your coach every day, but I have been most proud to be your coach this week." I try to inspire them.

On another note, Adrian and I had a long talk this week and she will be moving with her sister to Philly in the spring. That is a much more manageable distance for sure. So we'll see where things go with that. She is also visiting next month, so look for another update after that.

Kyle, Nick, and I went to a Chinese buffet on Friday. Not only did we all feel sick afterward, but we felt sick as were eating it. Do not ever try Peter Pan Buffet. Yes, that's the name.

I just wanted to update you since my last post. Look for more interesting things in the next posts.

This week is a crew testing week. Let's see how far we've come.

Updating you with current thoughts

It's been a while since I have posted anything substantial and I apologize.

Continuing off of the last post, I really love the quote.

Something I have to get off my brain...
Important current thoughts:
Today's homily really lead me to ponder the difference between "living like we're dying" and "living and taking life for granted." The priest today was talking about the Mayan calendar, and how some people are too concerned about the end of time or the end of the world. He stated that we cannot live our lives out of fear of death. True. We all die. 10 out of 10 people die as Shaffer would say. I understand that we cannot live thinking about our death - although we should remember that heaven is a goal. If we lived our lives constantly fearing death, we would never take chances and perhaps we would never live a truly examined life.

"An unexamined life is not worth living," my English teacher used to say.

On the other hand, to have no fear at all about death causes us to be reckless and foolish. Maybe we would do things that could be dangerous to ourselves or others.

As Kris Allen would say, "Gotta live like we're dying." I think there's something to be said for this song. Don't take things for granted. That's the message. It is not saying that we should live with death constantly on our mind. If it was saying that specifically, then don't worry. He didn't write all of those lyrics himself.

All in all, I guess that I believe that we shouldn't live constantly fearing death, but we should appreciate the special things - our family, friends, and special moments, etc.

Other things with less depth:

We had lunch today for all of the crew coaches to get together and get to know each other better. We went to Sweetwater for lunch, but their fajitas didn't impress. Note to self - Go with a burger next time. It was good for all of us to be together and to get on the same page.

Crew starts a week from tomorrow.
Wow.
It's that time already. I'm pumped though. As the head coach of the women's team, I have a lot of ideas and the girls asked to be pushed harder. Ask and you shall receive. Let's go.

Another thought, everyone use mint.com. Should've used this earlier like you said, Rob.
It is absolutely the most important website that I use. Even more important than facebook. WHOA?!? Really? Yep. Facebook is good too, though.

My mom had foot surgery last week and that was a complete success. Now if only she stayed off it. That's where my stubbornness comes from. Sorry I'm ending with a preposition, Col.

Didn't watch too much football today. Redskins game tomorrow though. Not only must they win, but my fantasy football team depends upon it. (Opponent has Philly defense and I have Torain as my RB.)

This post is both informative and random.

The next one will be better organized.
Until then though, peace!

NEW POST!

After talking with Hannah O,

I remembered I haven't even posted here in forever.
Literally. Well maybe not forever (Colleen lol), but certainly months.

Hey all, I'm alive and well.

I am now working at a Catholic grade school in Virginia. I started as an aide, and am going to be a counselor-in-training in the Fall. The staff is really supportive and the kids are great, although a handful. I worked the last 2 1/2 weeks of the school year there, so now I am on Summer break for 2 months.

I am also taking classes in July at Trinity to get my certification so that I can teach at this school in the following year. The 2 classes are over the span of 2 weeks.

Not only do I enjoy the job, but it also allows me to continue coaching.
I am now the Head Coach of the Women's Team and the Assistant Head Coach. Very Exciting.
We closed out a beautiful season at National's and am looking forward to another strong year next year. I have big shoes to fill, but I am excited to take this step forward.

I also just put a deposit down on a room I am renting in Virginia, close to where I coach. Sweet.

Looking back on this full year after graduation, it has been a time of ups and downs. Mostly, I was unhappy and dissatisfied with my life as a manager in retail and with my school loans. I was struggling with paying the bills and finding something fulfilling to do. Coaching was exciting, but couldn't pay the bills alone. It took me a while to trust.

Once I started believing everything would come together, it did. Wow.

I will now be able to pay the bills and live my life. Interesting how it all comes about, right?

I know that I could not have gotten out of the rut (unhappy with work, etc), if I did not have good friends. I was blessed to have them in my time of need, and I am blessed to have them (you) now.

I'm currently jamming to "Got Your Back" by T.I. and Keri Hilson and I am looking forward to Robert and Letty's wedding in August.

I will also try to be better at posting here.

Thanks for reading.
Thank you for seeing me through.

See you next time.

Dear Winter

Please note. Note to self and others. Song of the moment = Nothin' on You by B.o.B.
I just heard it yesterday. On my playlist now.

Dear Winter,

Currently, you are my least favorite season. I usually enjoy snow, but I guess that's also because it's rare here. Now I am currently loathing snow. I am looking forward to May weather with warm afternoons and fun practices coaching on the water. Dear Winter, no more snow fool.

The last time I was snowed in was earlier this winter in December. Yikes.

Now after receiving snow from the weekend, snow Tuesday into today (Wed), I am looking forward to sunny days. This weekend I am hopefully flying out to visit Omaha. Even though it's cold and snow is on the ground there, they actually have less snow. Wow.

Also to my readers, sorry that I will not be around this weekend. Most of my readers consist of the people that I lived with last year and thanks for reading btw. I hope you guys still get to meet up for dinner. Boo this snow. Ruining travel plans, get-togethers, and general transportation (metro is closed in the above ground stops).

I really can't wait til we are all re-united again.

On a side note, this weekend is also Valentine's Day. This "holiday" has never been anything special to me or worth noting. I do concur that this holiday mainly has to do with chocolate, jewelry, and flower companies making tons o' money. Although I'm not saying that's bad. Our economy sure could use the boost.
I think this is the first year that I have ever had a real valentine. Usually a friend would ask me because we were both valentine-less and. Never the same person twice mind you. Different friends.
Anyway, I thought it was definitely worth noting. Very cool in my book.

Onto other things...
I really love coaching. I like the difference I'm making and I wish I had a coach young like me when I was rowing in HS. Although, I did have a young coach, just not a mature coach. So yeah. Like me that is, for sure. I would love to coach again, but alas I have still not found a day job that can work around it. With loans and all, I think financially it may come down to me taking a full-time job doing something less enjoyable, but that's life. College grad with no job. Who would've called that?

As I read back over this entry, I want it to be clear that my tone declarative and not morose. I'm actually in quite high spirits.

Harry, if you're reading this, I didn't know that you became captain and could make deals with the UN.

Mike, if you're reading this, I wish we had your weather. Random note. Remember when we almost missed spring break because of snow? Snow sure does inconvenience our travel lol.

Jonathan, if you're reading this, remember that we need to do tortilla coast or something soon.

Until next time all,
~J