Just Checking In

Today went well, I guess.  Of course, it depends who you ask.  We started the day looking for softball pants.  Yes, they wear pants to play softball when it's 105 degrees outside.  Crazy right?  The coach was telling us how the field is so much rougher than the fields in PA.  Kirsten says the field is actually softer than most of the fields that she has played on.  Of course, these girls also use yoga mats for conditioning.  We haven't figured that out yet!  So, poor Kirsten was the only girl on the team the first night that was wearing shorts.  She didn't care.  She just had to demonstrate how you slide in shorts since they couldn't believe she slid in shorts.  Anyway....

After our search for softball pants we needed to stop by the high school to iron out some scheduling issues for Lauren.  Unfortunately, that didn't go to well and we left with a very unhappy Lauren.  I am hoping I don't need to drop the sweet Sharon thing I have going on and straighten things out.  There are very few electives at this school and of course all the good ones are taken.  So they want to put her in an Economics class and a weight lifting class.  Sounds like fun right?  Let's put the new kid in whatever we have left and make her feel like a total idiot.  So we shall see how this goes.  Lauren is not happy with things the way they are.  Tomorrow they are supposed to go on a tour of the school and maybe meet their teachers.  Zach also gets to go on a tour of his school tomorrow.  They are all less than excited about starting school so soon.  This summer has not been relaxing at all!

This afternoon we went to the pool in our new neighborhood.  The pool is beautiful and as you can see the boys had a wonderful time.  I think the water slide will be a big hit for awhile.  Zach seemed to hit it off pretty good with the kid from his football team.  Zach says, "He's no Dave or Ty but he was ok."  The girls were able to meet up with a couple girls from the neighborhood too.  It was pretty awkward for them but they did all exchange numbers before we left so I think that is a good sign.  The moms seemed pretty nice.  It's kinda hard to tell because everyone is on their best behavior right now.  They invited me to mimosa morning which is something they do the first day of the school year.  I assured them that if I'm in the neighborhood I will definitely be ready for a little drink by that time!  Perhaps several drinks, no I didn't tell them that!  I'm on my good behavior remember!  How could I possibly tell them to forget the mimosa's and bring out the keg?  So don't worry dear PA friends no one is taking your places any time soon.  That is what I miss most...people that I can just be myself with.  My friends are like comfy jeans. Well broken in and able to be relaxed in.  The new people are like those jeans that you keep in your closet for the day you lose all that baby weight.  You know, the ones you take out and try on and you have to suck in your stomach.  They are only able to be worn for a little while until you start to feel uncomfortable.  Now ya get the picture?

Softball is going great for Kirsten.  She is practicing with the varsity team.  Tonight a different coach approached Bill and asked if Kirsten was with a travel team yet.  It was so nice for someone to recognize her talent.  Small town politics seem to have prevented Kirsten from moving forward with softball in Etown.  I'm not sure what happened but evidently we didn't know the right people or kiss up to the right people.  That is one thing that we are loving about this area.  It's just not full of politics because most people did not grow up here and they definitely didn't attend the high school because the school is only 3 years old.  The coach Kirsten worked with in Etown with rec ball was wonderful and we loved her.  She was patient and really taught Kirsten alot.  The varsity coach down here seems good so far.  He is constantly teaching someone something so that's great.  He's very much of the mindset that there is always something you can be taught.  I think it is a good thing because it keeps their heads from getting too big.  We're reserving judgement on him but so far he seems pretty good with the girls.  He's got some pretty big shoes to fill.

Zach's football is going ok too.  He is still a little lost on the plays because he hasn't seen a playbook yet.  Apparently they are the holy grail and no one actually sees one of those.  You just learn by repetition.  Again, these football coaches have some pretty big shoes to fill.  We loved all the coaches that worked with the kids in Etown.