Gettin' My Spring On

So I've tried for nearly 45 minutes to get a stupid video from Youtube to embed into this stupid blog and the stupid thing is not working - STUPID!! [Ohhhhhh....Gabe says stupid is a bad word.] There you go....what I get for saying stupid over and over again.... You know what is stupid? People that think it's all about them. [Some of you are really scratchin' the noggin going, "Where the heck is she going with this one?"] Two words for you: Parents. Sports. Let's just say it's been a tough season so far. I cannot stand to sit in the bleachers and hear people talk about kids that are playing. Seriously? Are you kidding me? There is nothing more redneck [including me using a screw driver as a pointer in my classroom to show the answer to a question on a reflectance graph....Google that one my friends....reflectance graph, not screwdriver] than some IGNORANT fan, in the stands, complaining about a kid that is playing. THEY ARE KIDS!!! These are not professional athletes, getting paid bazillions of stupid [there I go again] dollars to play. They are playing because they want to be out there and they are still learning. And if they are not getting to play then perhaps they [That would include the parents who find it so easy to throw everyone else under the bus except for their kid] should reflect on what they need to be doing to get into the line-up or on the track or in the next series. Stop blaming everyone and excuse the cliche: THERE IS NO "I" IN "TEAM"!!! And here's another hint for you.... You are not entitled [just because you put on the uniform and you're on the team] to ANYTHING!! There is not a coach out there that owes you ANYTHING - you have to earn it. I'm not an athlete - don't even pretend to be one - but I am around them alot. I am simply sick to death of the entitlement that some think they are owed....especially when it's coming from parents. GROW UP and SHUT UP.... [Please excuse me while I put my soapbox neatly back in the closet.....] Now, in other news, it is springtime ladies and gentlemen. I simply cannot wait to see what blooms in my yard. [FYI - even when it blooms this chick ain't got a clue - I leave weeds and pull up flowers for goodness sake. Is there a gardening intervention?] My daddy is coming some time over the next few days to till us a place for a little garden - do you think I even know what to plant? Ummmm - NOOOO!! I was Googling gardening in NC today so that I know what I can plant and when. Emma's really excited so I hope it happens. As always, life at the Short house is most excellent.

Run Missy Run

Long time no type [I am so clever] my friends. Too much going on to 'splain [plus, doubt VERY seriously anyone wants to hear about it anyway]. The Shorties have been up to no good, as usual. If you read Facebook [Ummmm...who doesn't? My dad.] then you already know the conversation between Craig and Gabe, while playing army mans, about a week ago: Gabe: Daddy, I'm gonna whoop your butt. No...I'm gonna whoop your A**. Craig: Gabe, we don't say things like that. Gabe: Yeah, I knew I shouldn't have said it. Then Craig shoots me a look like I strategically placed that word in Gabe's head for him to use in that conversation. [Maybe I should whoop Craig's A**?]. He always blames these situations on me....I just don't get that. Emma had a tooth extracted last week [the tooth fairy, it seems, has no bias towards good teeth or bad teeth] and she was shocked that she only earned two bucks. She figured going through all of that was at least worth a Lincoln. [What she didn't figure was that the tooth fairy was a little low on cash seeing as how payday wasn't until Thursday and the tooth was placed under the pillow on Wednesday night. The tooth fairy really needs a savings account for these times.] My wonderfully awesome little sister and I decided to tackle the Cooper River Bridge Run this past weekend. Let me say, for the record, that I have not actually been on a run [as in outside, feet to the pavement] since Octoberish? I do go to the Y every night and since November I have lifted almost 340,000 pounds on the machines [you do not want to meet these biceps in a dark alley...just sayin'] but I was CRAZY [not breakin' news I know] to think I could run all 6.2 miles. I wanted to [but that and 25 cents would get you a cup of coffee....in 1950] and I really wanted to be one of those super fly chicks with the cute little UA running outfits and matching shoes. But, there I was, struggling to conquer the mighty mammoth, cursing myself under my breath. I wanted to fly over that bridge but instead I felt like a huge failure, crushed under the weight of my own insecurities and lack of preparation. What fool would attempt to run 6.2 miles without preparing? This fool. It's not that I don't want to be a better runner....I want desperately to get better at running. But I am soooooo slow. And I hate running alone [it makes me nervous - not that ANYONE would follow me but it did happen one time and now I'm skeered to go alone]. So I push forward and I come up with a plan. I've accomplised many things in my life - this shouldn't be this hard..... My sister, Summer, rocked the bridge run! I am so proud of her...she went from No K to 10K and ran 4.5 of the 6.2 miles. She happens to be awesome :) Of course, neither of us was too smart when we decided to run/walk 6.2, then put on flip flops [cheap ones at that] to go back into Charleston to LBX for another 4 hours [walking many, many blocks, through the streets of Charleston, looking for hidden boxes with tiny stamps] - we almost didn't make it back to the car. We were going to head back to the Isle of Palms and take a walk on the beach but our legs said, "Ummmmm....hate to tell ya sister but that ain't happening...not tonight." And we gladly obliged. So, as I head into the first full week of April [and counting down the days until Spring Break...actually it is 14,445 minutes from right now, as I type, until the last minute of the day on 4/15 - but who's counting?] I look forward to what God has in store for the Shorties....as always, life is good.