Put me In Coach...I'm Ready to Play

Back when I was a junior in high school I picked up volleyball and managed to get myself on the junior varsity team. I spent the summer before my junior year at a volleyball camp learning the sport and was surprised how easily it came to me. I was a natural. Or so I thought.

Our team wasn’t great, but we didn’t suck either. We won some and we lost some.

Our last game of the season is the ONLY game that really sticks out for me. I was one of our starters and, at the time, had a pretty decent serve, so generally started in that position. We sided out and then rotated so that I was in the back left of the court for our team. Receiving serves from the other team.

The first serve was wicked and I totally shanked it.

The second serve was much like the first.

The third serve…shocker was like the first two.

The coach took a time out and I BEGGED him to substitute someone in for me.

He wouldn’t. Instead he said, “You’ve got this.”

Back on the court the next serve, thankfully did not go to me. But the one after that was. Somehow I managed to focus myself and return it enough for us to get a side out.

The point to this story is that I was ready to give up and my coach had more faith in me than I did. He stood behind me and gave me the encouragement he thought I needed.

Meanwhile, I had zero confidence and was only concerned that everyone would blame me if we lost. Forgetting, of course, that volleyball is a team sport. But when you’re in high school that doesn’t matter.

And I suppose a subpoint would be, sometimes things just suck.

I tell you this story because this week at work I had an encounter with a client that threw me under the bus. In true Best Company in the World fashion, my boss asked me what went on instead of believing the client’s rant immediately. In addition, my colleague, Queen Bee, was right by my side reiterating all the stuff I was telling the boss.

The boss, much like the coach, kept me in the game. And for that I’m pretty grateful. He trusts that I know what I’m doing and that, perhaps, the client might be a bit nuts.

But at the end of the date, Queen Bee and I decided that to keep the distraction out of the project, that maybe I should just be the PM on the back end and not have any contact with the client. Hoping that by removing me the client can focus on the work at hand and not worry about what we’re doing. We shall see.

In other news, Memorial day is quickly approaching. For two years in a row we spent it in Odessalet saying good bye to first Dad and the BigBro. I can’t tell you how THRILLED I am to not be going to Odessalet this weekend. Though I have this thought that if the weather is nice, Sparky and I might spend the 6 hours driving over and back to just say hi to BigBro and Dad. We’ll see. 

And last Sunday was Sunday dinner. We had a small group this month, which meant only one thing...RIBS.  This rib recipe is quickly becoming a favorite for everyone...and there's a good reason why. It's delicious. 

I also bought some props for the photo since I feel like I need to spice it up some.  Turned out everyone liked them...mostly. The cats are still no fan of the "being held by humans for a photo" thing.