Back to the Grind

Morning everyone. Normally, I'd write before crashing for the night after work on Sundays, but today I felt like getting that out of the way as I watched the 2nd half of the Chelsea vs Nott Forest match. So far so good! We had a great New Years Eve after I got home from work clinking glasses of sparkling juice, tossing our recycled confetti from the last 3-4 years (which is just cut up paper). I wanted to hit the bed early so I could watch Chelsea vs Brighton early in the morning. The game resulted in a draw sadly. Boo.

New Years Day, we had just enough snow to snowboard, like we did last year. The only exception was that Mia was in a far better mood last year on NYD when she first started snowboarding. We made a few laps on Orchard Lane's little hill just to warm up Mia to see if she still remembers it. I also busted out my board I acquired over the Summer. The thing rides well so I'm happy. Mia did really well and even rode switch (goofy stance) a few times and looked quite comfortable. She got upset because I didn't have a shovel to build any little jumps for her and after getting some snow in her pants, she wanted to head home. It was a frustrating morning to say the least.

She went back to school Thursday and had a short week. Friday, she was happy to see her amazing friend Scarlett again who's family had to put their dog down. I'm going to make my best attempt to draw a memorial sketch of their beloved dog. Friday night after work, I made tried hard to fall asleep, but I was too excited for our first indoor game.

Mia and I arrived around 9:30am. Jill stayed home due to a bit of an illness that had her down and out for the day. Her teammates arrived soon after. Vida's Dad Jorge helped out today which was great. He was a vital part to Vida, Angie and Scarlett's team in the Fall so I was happy to have him since Coach Kevin was traveling back from Florida with the fam. They gave us ZERO time to do any warm ups before the game so we had to stretch in the hall right before the previous game ended.

1st half started out great. Jessica was the first Dragon to put in a goal off an assist from Olivia. She got the 2nd goal as well. A thumping blast from center. The girls looked solid. Things started to slowly fall apart throughout the game and in the end, we lost 2-13. Mia made her first attempt at defense AND goalie. She shocked me when she went in goal but with the major goal difference, putting her in didn't make a huge difference. She actually did well and even made a great save. We have a lot to work and it kills me we can't do a weekly practice. The kids would benefit greatly but I can't keep asking for $75 from the parents to secure that time. PLUS the Sportsplex doesn't always have openings for practice. Ugh. There were some positives. First,  Jess blew me away as a forward. Always strong touches on the ball and has a great shot. Averi is a shy little defender and would shut them down in the corners by the boards. I look forward to seeing how she does as a forward next week. Alice, like always was good but just needs to stick with her position up front. Lastly, Olivia hustled her butt off on the field and I need to get her to understand the importance of playing defense. She really wants to score, but I know I can count on her in defense if she'd try. Vida started the 1st half strong but got confused the 2nd and never wanted to go back in again. I feel like her and Olivia could be rock stars in the back if they allowed themselves.

Mia and I picked up Panera for Jill and ourselves before heading home. We played some Luigi's Mansion 3 for a few hours, later went to Trader's and Mia made us tacos for dinner. Today, Mia's been hanging out with BFF Cecilia while Jill relaxes and tries to knock her illness out of her. Cici has been in Florida since the 21st of December so Mia was stoked to come over and hang out.

This week Mia has the Jumpstart Your Career thing where she gets to see different professionals which includes HAWS this year so she's super excited. We play at 6:30pm Saturday as well. That's all for now, thanks for reading!