Adventures

This weekend marked the second-last week of coaching for the year for me. My buddy J (one of the other assistants) took our team down to the Fraser Valley for a tournament, and made a repeat in 5th place. The drive out there was splendid, and I'm still convinced that the drive between Cranbrook and Osoyoos, and between Hope and Chilliwack, are two of my favourite drives ever. The scenery was stunning, and I could've been content to simply drive back home after driving into the sunset on Friday night. I also got to meet up with a good friend from the coast for a drink at a pub close to the river, and it reminded me of home on Vancouver Island. I sure miss the coast.

Even though we could've turned around after the drive, we decided to stay for the weekend and the boys finished fifth. Provincials are coming up this coming weekend in North Vancouver, so I'm just excited to have it over and done with. For the first time all season, the entire coaching staff will be attending, which should help our team perform to their best ability. Although I'm happy that we're building toward a positive finish, it is the finish itself that I'm excited about.

School's been challenging lately, as I know my previous posts have related. I'm quite over-tired, and yesterday morning was possibly the most trying day I've faced all semester. It's still the same block that is giving me trouble, and the same girls that are causing me stress. However, it seems like I'll be able to much of the problem tomorrow by creating an independent working environment for one particularly toxic student, and I'm hoping that many of my problems will be solved. I also had to lay down the law on a regularly tardy and drama-filled student, which will hopefully have some productive results.

I explained to my afternoon block that my morning was challenging so I might have a bit of a short fuse, and they were happy to oblige and be as positive as possible. One student even brought me a small slush to brighten up my day. Another student saw the look of frustration in my eyes and said, "Mr. M, don't quit life". His words are now immortalized on the whiteboard I use for putting up inspiring quotations behind my desk.

Yesterday even started off with a mouse fiasco. K called me into the kitchen as I was getting out of the shower because she thought she heard a mouse. Well, this is episode #3 since moving away, and #2 here in the OK Valley. So, I went to investigate, and after realizing that he wasn't hiding in the stove drawer, that he was actually under the sink. It turns out that in the process of rummaging around in our recycling under the stove, the stupid thing managed to knock over a can which overturned on top of him and trapped him. The noise was him trying to get out. I tried to figure out what to do with him, but since I was running a bit late, I didn't have time to sort any action plan out, so I simply put a shoe on top of the can and left him there. When I got home last night, I thought he was dead (no noise in the can when moving it around). I thought I'd flush him but just as I went into the bathroom (with some cardboard over the can which I slid underneath to get him out from under the sink), he started scurrying around. Not wanting to risk letting him loose in the house and not wanting to drown him, I took him out to our patio, stood over the side, and sent him flying out into the parking lot. Don't worry... after a brief tumble, he got up and ran away.

Disaster averted.

Now I just have to battle another busy week and get as much marking done as possible (report card marks due by Friday!). Otherwise, I'm just hanging in there. I can't wait until this week is done. Until again, all...

T