Love 15 30 40 Duece

I never thought my kid's little tennis club would amount to much. During the summer when we lived in Stansbury, they and their cousins would ride their bikes to the tennis courts by the school and play.

And here we are 6 or 7 years later and Erik is rocking the tennis team.

(the above photos are courtesy of my friend Claudia Jackson -- https://www.flickr.com/photos/perpetualmemories)

He started out basically at the bottom of the totem pole and has worked his way up, challenging players ahead of him, until he's second on junior varsity.

This past weekend his team had an invitational tournament in St. George and look what he came home with.

The basketball team didn't really pan out like he thought it might, so I'm just happy for him that he's found something else to excel at. And it's super nice to see our rebounder at home get some use.

I'm also learning that tennis etiquette is much more different than basketball etiquette. I'm not allowed to hoop and holler when he makes a good hit or aces a serve. Restraining myself to sit proper and clap at appropriate times is going to be quite challenging for a girl who enjoys cheering her team on.

Young Women basketball

Our young women combine with the young women of the other Lake Point ward for basketball, creating a whole new identity -- Big Lake (formed from Big Canyon and Lake Point). I think the other wards in our stake aren't quite sure who we are exactly when we tell them we are Big Lake. We're just a mystery team, an enigma.

Corrie, Brailey, Meredith, Melanie, Naomi, Kiersten, Coach Jamie, Hannah, Kallie

Our little team made it to region this year and boy were they excited (they did last year too). The lady who coaches both wards was going to be out of town and our sports specialist wasn't comfortable enough coaching. So I became the coach for a day.

That was an experience I've never had and found it quite enjoyable. But I had a dilemma. I did not realize region play could take all day and had scheduled an outing with my sisters for the evening. I really wanted them to win, but I didn't want them to win all three games. Maybe just one or two.

They played their hearts out, but without any official practices, there were just too many things that could have been improved on.

They all took heart in that they performed better than last year. Losing 32 to 17 was much better than losing 40 to 5.

Kiersten has taken it upon herself to set up practices in our backyard every Thursday at 7pm for the next year in hopes that they might win region next year.

Take two

Yep. My mixer did it again. I obviously make too much bread and cookies. Instead of freaking out at the price tag of a new one, I ordered the worm gear from Amazon and it showed up a day later and I don't even have prime.

Taking the whole machine apart and replacing the gear was much quicker this go around. HOWEVER . . . 

the last little thing that needed to be put on just wouldn't cooperate. I could not get the holes to line up to put the pin in no matter what I did. Tyler tried. Nephew Scott tried. After consuming several hours of my Friday night, we decided to leave the washer out just so the holes would line up. That photo above was obviously taken before I lost two hours of my life. There was no smiling at the end.

I did a little preemptive buying and purchased a second worm gear for when it fails next March. 'Cause you know it will. We're just that kind of family who loves their dough.

Respect

This last week was NOT a good week for substituting. I don't think I made any friends, but then again I don't really want to be friends with kids who are so disrespectful. Honestly, I don't know how teachers manage. I know if I were a permanent teacher, the one thing I would do it take all their phones hostage to be returned at the end of class. They are such a distraction to learning.

In an 8th grade math class I was asking a student what her teacher meant by MOD problems. She looked at me and in a voice that was so condescending told me they were math problems. Duh.

Oh the steam that came out my ears. We had a little chat about respectfully answering a question and then I sentenced her to the back of the room to work. Ten minutes later she came to apologize. I had to accept her apology, but the next hour (yes, I had her for two straight periods) I took her phone when she wouldn't put it away. And ya know, she sat there so quiet because she simply didn't know what to do without a phone in her hand.

In a high school chemistry class I stood at the front of the class to get started after the tardy bell rang. I waited and waited and waited for them to quiet down and for the TA (teacher's assistant) to take his seat and quit talking to his friends. I finally had to tell them to hush and even after I started class they continued to talk. And then they thought it would be all right to just leave class without my permission. And then they thought they could sit in the back of the classroom at the lab tables and work together. Did they work? Did they even get the books to read? No. One girl sat on the counter with her feet crossed, on her phone, munching her chips. There were two kids in there I knew -- one is in my ward and the other is Kiersten's friend -- and so I asked if their class was typically like this, refusing to work and not shutting up. They said that yes, even their teacher has issues. Well, I put a stop to it when I found that three or four girls had just disappeared together out the door. I made them move back to their seats, get out a book, and start reading. I then lectured them on respect and being responsible for their own education and that just because I was there did not make it a free, social hour.

Okay, done with my rant for the week. I haven't felt the need to state my expectations right up front when I introduce myself to a class, but I think I'm going to start doing so.

Some good news is Kiersten has completed her quilt for one of her projects. It only took her . . . years? We just have to wash it.

Silent auction fundraiser

Our annual young men and young women fundraiser is over and done. I'm just now beginning to realize that this calling is jumping from one big event to another. This next Sunday is our ward conference and a few weeks ago a new stake was created which took several of our wards including our stake young women president. Well, she was scheduled to give the lesson.

Today we sustained a new stake young women president and no counselors and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed for her. I am currently waiting for her to call me back to discuss this upcoming Sunday. And then it's on to youth conference and girls camp. I'm learning to take one day at a time and not let myself get overwhelmed. I do what I can do.

Our fundraiser was a success. The past 4 years they've done a dinner that has progressively gotten worse as far as donations and people coming. When we first moved into the ward, they held an auction that we loved. So we opted for this route again. Low key. Not a lot of overhead. The kids, old and young, enjoyed it.

What Was Successful
Flyers: the youth delivered one to every door TWICE, one asking for donations, another was about the event; Advertise, Advertise
Baked potato bar: didn't cost hardly a thing; we asked for donations of toppings
Kids area: we charged a buck for the hot dog and popcorn and movie

Bake sale: always a huge hit; we didn't offer dessert with the meal so hopefully they would spend their money on treats

Service auction: I almost think people enjoy bidding on services more than stuff; we made it more into a help wanted board

Things To Do Differently
Drinks: I think we could make more money by charging for drinks with the meal
Items donated: limit the amount to maybe two, three, four things tops; we don't need everybody's junk
Carnival: maybe try a kids carnival where they buy tickets for games
Solicit: ask local businesses for items
Bidding: everything must have a minimum bid; bid sheets could be half the size; table for things that could be bought immediately
Service auction items: tear off bottom portion of service flyer to send home with whomever donated the service so they know who won their service