Roller coaster of emotions

Last night, Luke had his playoff basketball game.  So far this year, the Bulldogs were 0-8, but were improving every game.  The boys played hard but always seemed to come up a bit short.  Coach Steve played every kid and no kid played the entire game ever.  I am not one of the people who believes that every kid deserves a trophy.  Nor am I am guy who says there are no winners or losers.  Of course there are winners and losers.  The team with the most points at the end of the game wins and the other team lost.  Period.  But you go out there, try your best, give it your all, and aim to win.  Every time.

Well, as of the start of the game, Luke had been held scoreless for the year.  The usual final scores for Freshman Basketball are somewhere in the neighborhood of 18-14, so it is not like the NBA.  Luke had been shooting better, but still having trouble getting his shot off without the defense blocking it.  Well, that changed in the playoff game tonight.  I saw him take a pass, and head straight for the hoop.  Just before the defense arrived, he stopped and popped.  He missed, but great try anyways.  Well, the game got tight at the end, and Luke made a great steal to give his team another chance at tying the game up.  He posted up, then became free.  The point guard saw him, and made the pass.  Instead of driving it this time, Luke jumped and released the ball.  Swish!!!!  The pure joy I saw on his face as he pumped his fist in the air was priceless.  He was determined and it paid off.  His whole team celebrated. 

Well, it turned out that this was not the game winning shot.  The other team managed to score a few more times and took a 3 point lead to what appeared to be the end.  Suddenly, Luke was guarding the opponents best player (the opposing coach's son who was never taken out of the game and was responsible for 80% of the opposing team's points).  That boy was driving when Luke reached out and grabbed the ball, tying him up for a jump ball.  The possession arrow was pointing Bulldogs.  Luke had given his team one last chance to launch a three pointer on a pure hustle play.  Alas, the Bulldogs couldn't get a shot off and the other team won by 3, ending the Bulldogs season.

The tears were shed by many on the team, and Luke couldn't take a compliment for 30 minutes afterwards as he was "decompressing".  But I am very proud of the way my boy competed. 

He loves basketball and his looking forward to playing again in the summer.  Maybe I will have to show him some of my old Globetrotter moves, if I don't pull a muscle or two in the process.

Food porn without a photo

I know, I know, I am committing an error, but I couldn't help but share.

Yesterday, I hit up Tejas BBQ in Tomball after reading about it in a blog shared by Michael Berry.  Actually, the name is Tejas Chocolate Craftory.  Thats right, it is half BBQ joint, and half chocolate factory.  I arrived right after 12:00, lunch time.  I grabbed a menu and waited my turn to order.  I had just about made up my mind when I got to the front and read the daily special:  A house-smoked pastrami ruben on rye, with Shiner Bock sauerkraut, swiss cheese, and Russian dressing.  I couldn't pass it up.

I don't believe I have ever had pastrami made in Texas.  At first, I thought it would be just eating a brisket ruben, but you could definitely tell it was pastrami.  But the star of the show was the Shiner Bock Kraut.  It was more like a compote.  Imagine carmelized onions and cabbage that just melts in your mouth.  I wished they served it as a side dish.

I did not make it to try the chocolate on this journey, but look forward to doing so soon on my next trip back.  Luckily, I have a couple of jobs in the area, so I am in Tomball at least twice a week.

On a separate note, I have an unopened bottle of Rowan's Creek Bourbon. I am not a shooter, but do like a cocktail.  Any suggestions as to what I should make?

Saw this video on YouTube and thought it was awesome.  I love how the girl dotes on her father.

Have a good weekend everyone!!  Carti-gras is happening in our neighborhood.

Push Goal

Push goal....Anyone heard of this?

One of the podcasts that I listen to is Build Your Tribe by Chalene Johnson.  In this podcast, she refers to a "push goal."  The push goal is defined by the one goal that, when you accomplish it, will unleash all your other goals.  Without achieving the push goal, you cannot reach your ultimate goals.
In other words, accomplish the thing that is holding your other goals back.

Well, last week, I determined what my push goal is.  This is exciting for me, because I now know what is holding me back and I get to try to find a way to accomplish this.

Specifically, my goal is to find a replacement for me in my day to day business life.  I am too busy working in the business to work on the business.  I need to find someone to do the things that I am currently doing at my work in order for me to get the time to work on the things that I currently don't have time for.  Does that make sense?  Do you believe in all of this?  Are you following me here?

To summarize, I now have a goal and I know what I must do.  And, as GI Joe says, knowing is half the battle.

Stressed out

After attending a wonderful party for neighbor Bryan on Saturday night, we returned home and slumbered away.  The crawfish pie was to die for, BTW.  Marlina woke the next morning with a pain in her chest. The left side of her chest.  You know, where that one muscle that pumps blood throughout her body is located?  I looked for the aspirin, but of course, we were out.  I high tailed it to Target to get some.  By the time I got back, she said that she was having pain in her left arm as well.  That's it, I yelled, and loaded the kids and wife into the car and streamed straight for the emergency room.

The kids, not really freaking out, but kinda freaking out, asked if Mom was ok.  I said that I didn't know, but that was why we went to the hospital.  After we got her signed in and settled in, I loaded the kids up and headed to drop them off at my parents.  It took me 2 hours round trip because of they had the freaking freeway shut down. Anyways, I got back and Marlina was sleeping. 

I got the chance to talk to the doctors who informed me that they think she was just stressed out, that it doesn't appear that she had a heart attack but that they wanted to observe her a bit more.  She slept for most of the day, and I got the chance to finish my book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Sitting there in the hospital reading about ole Huck and Tom Sawyer's adventures sure had me planning some capers with the nurses and doctors.  But alas, I didn't do it and she got released about 7:00.

The moral of all of this is that when your body is telling you to take some time off to properly process everything, you need to listen.  Dealing with the death of her father the weekend prior, on top of that, dealing with family politics, and on top of that trying to go to work and dealing with kids' schedules, she didn't take the time out to listen to her body.  She barely slept all week and it finally wore her down.  Who knows what would've happened if she would of pushed through this pain?  I don't regret taking her to the hospital.  I just wish I could take away her pain.

Vincent

On Saturday night, Marlina received a call that none of us ever want to get.  Her father had passed away.

She immediately dropped everything and went to the hospital.  When she got there, she was told the very limited details and was left to process everything.  She returned home around midnight, and got about three hours of sleep.  Upon waking up, we both felt like we were still in a fog.  We told the kids and, of course, they cried.  This also happened to be Super Bowl Sunday, and the kids were ready to go to the party.  Needless to say, we stayed home, as we were not in the partying mood. (What an exciting game, BTW).

I will never forget going to Vincent's house the first time.  He was a very creative man with a unique personality.  He made figurines out of things he found on the beach.  He was a professional beach comber.

I am sure I will write more about him in the future. 

He will be missed.