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.
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