Quick Bits

I am entering the third full week of the 09-10 school and so far, so good...except that I haven't had a whole lot of time to sit around and surf the internet, thus the slow blog posts. So here are some quick bits about what has been going on and what is coming up:

- We took our engagement pictures a week ago and it was a very interesting time. We started off at our school gym in capris/shorts and Aggie/UT shirts with volleyballs and basketballs...just kind of hanging out. I think we got some good shots in the bleachers and stuff, but I was so nervous the whole time - it's weird to not be able to check the picture immediately afterwards and then decide whether a "redo" is necessary. Angie behaved very well with Craig's mom and sister (who came along to baby-sit) and she even got in the bleachers and sat patiently to have her picture made. After that we moved onto the Riverwalk at Los Colinas where we wore nicer stuff and shot the more lovey-dovey pictures which were REALLY awkward. I don't think I've ever been that close to Craig's face...ever. All I did was giggle. I'm not sure how they'll turn out and we should be getting the pictures by the end of the week. Fingers crossed.

- My volleyball teams had their first games last week with 7th grade DII and DIII winning but my DI lost due to the other teams great serving and our terrible passing. Both 8th grade teams won in two games each which is exciting...until I talked to another coach and he said that the team we played wasn't that good. Oh. Well. Next week's game is against a much more solid team so that should give us a better picture of where we are at skill wise. I have been doing lots of boring passing drills with the 8th graders, which they HATE, but totally paid off last week because their passing looked stupendous. I promised them that this week we would start working on all the fun stuff - the net play, the hitting and the blocking. I have to pump myself up everyday to work with the 7th graders though. I have some great talent and potential on my team, but the girls tend to refuse to work hard or correct anything I tell them. Maybe it's just me, but after two weeks of telling someone to step with their left foot when serving...they shouldn't be surprised when I tell them again to step with their left foot. As well as battling their stubborness to change their form, we are also battling the attitude issue - when the buzzer sounds or you hear my voice, all talking should stop. I'm not being a Nazi in the gym...but that's the way it goes. We don't have much time to practice during the week and if we're wasting time transitition from drill to drill because we can't get quiet...there will be many push-ups done until the point is made. Good thing is...they're making the connection between sore arms and closing their mouth so that's good.

- Angie is doing okay with the change from summertime to the school year. Craig and I have gotten in a routine where he takes care of feeding her and putting her outside in the morning and letting her inside in the afternoon. She does stay outside all day with her water bowl and the gate to the pool closed. I think she's happier this way because she can potty when she needs to, she has space to stretch out and she can play along the fence with the neighbor dog. The only bad thing is that she gets upset when Craig is about to put her outside and she is still "leaking" out of defiance. Unfortunately, we can't make her do push-ups for that.

- We have a couple big thigs coming up that I'm looking forward to...the Kings of Leon concert on October 7th with Jennifer and Zach and then the big U2 concert the following Monday, October 12th. I loved U2 way before I started dating Craig, and I am totally excited about seeing them in concert (I can cross it off my bucket list) but I'm even more excited about watching CRAIG watch the concert. Craig is to U2 like I am to the Beatles. He isn't a guy that really "emotes" very often, but you can tell when he is singing along in the car to a U2 song that it means something to him...something more than just a great song.

- I will be taking my bridals on Septemer 27th in Deep Ellum. An odd choice for pictures of me in a stunningly beautiful dress, but there are some great bright walls and fantastically unique architecture out there that I think will make for great pieces of artwork. I have scheduled my hair and make-up with my old hairdresser out of Euless and if I like it, I might commission her to do my wedding hair and make-up as well as my bridal party stuff. The rest of the wedding planning is coming along. Right now it's just making sure we're paying stuff off every month (mainly the photographer and the honeymoon). I'm trying to get the Save-the-Date cards sent out but I had a hitch in my plans when my computer completely DIED the first week of school! Now that Craig has finished his list we are back on track and my goal is to have them sent out by Saturday, September 19th.

I think that's everything that's been going on lately. Craig and I have really enjoyed NOT working together - it's amazing the stuff we have to talk about at the dinner table each night!