Changes

So I'm on week two of the new position. I'm absolutely loving it (well as much as you can love work!). I'm constantly busy and the days go by really fast and there is pretty much zero stress! Yes there is pressure to do things quickly and efficiently, but that is stress that is expected. There is no added stress, no unnecessary drama, no negativity!!!! I've been at work about 5 minutes early every day. For those of you that know me well, this is a HUGE accomplishment. But I haven't even had to work at it to get here on time. I no longer dread going to work so I find it easier to get out of bed and get ready in the morning. I also come home after work in a good mood and still have motivation to do things around the house and am much more pleasant to Michael (I was quite grouchy from the last job). So all of that is going great. This saturday my roommate Maxeen is moving out and Michael and I are moving in together in to the apartment that is currently occupied by myself and Maxeen. I am definitely looking forward to the move! I absolutely love him and look forward to waking up together every morning in OUR bed. =) So all is good in my world.

Weekend Getaway

I took a last minute road trip to Collinsville, IL last weekend (it's near St Louis). My great uncle George passed away last Thursday. He will definitely be missed. But we all know that now he is no longer suffering and is with is wife again. Michael and I took off on friday to head to IL so we could attend the funeral. My dad and stepmom drove up on Saturday. This was also the same weekend as the kids' visitation. Since Collinsville is only one town away from where they live, we just had our visitation out there. It was nice to see both girls. We went to the Science museum in St Louis, that was pretty cool. Other than that I spent the rest of the time with my family. Michael and the kids attended a city festival and had a good time doing that. So I was glad they were able to spend some time together without it just being a drag of a weekend for the kids, they didn't know George and I didn't want to make them go to the funeral and such. Michael was able to go to the funeral with me on Sunday and I thought that was really nice of him, he had never met George either but wanted to be there for me and my dad. Even though the circumstances for the trip were not the best, it was still a nice weekend.

Camping

Last weekend Michael and I did a little camping. Of course, I camp in the spoiled fashion. I no longer pitch a tent and sleep on the ground. We have a camper, so only partially roughing it. Either way, it was still a great weekend. We didn't get out to the site until about 11:00 friday night, but that was enough time to set up the camper and sit outside for a moment or two and then crawled in to bed. I love waking up and sitting outside listening to the sounds of nature, it's very peaceful. Friday was my dad's birthday, but we had a softball game (which we lost in the 8th inning - bummer!). So, I didn't get to spend his actual birthday with him, but I did invite him and my stepmom Beth out to the campsite on Saturday evening instead. So we put some ribs on the grill, which were AWESOME!! I love BBQ. Then we went for a walk around one of the lakes, played a game and then sat around the fire. Roasting marshmallows was fun. I haven't roasted marshmallows in quite a few years. My dad thoroughly enjoyed it and I believe Beth had a good time as well. It was a fun way to celebrate his birthday. So that was my weekend, hope yours was good as well!

Good, good, good

Ok, so I like this whole new positive outlook I've had on life lately. I don't know if it's that more good things are happening around me than normal or if I've just learned to shake the bad off and focus on the good. Either way, I'm liking it! So here's what's new. Every day now I am reassured that I have made the right decision at work. Things happen every day to show me just how unhappy I currently am and am definitely looking forward to some new scenery. Tryouts were held last weekend. I was thrilled with the turnout! We had 8 new girls come to try out last weekend and we have 3 more this weekend and 1 more next weekend that couldn't make it to the official day. So that's 12 new girls! There were many talented girls and the others are definitely on their way, just need someone to work with them and they'll be good ball players. I'm very optimistic about next year, I think we're going to have a fun, hard working group of girls. I'm picking up some new pitchers for pitching lessons, that's always a good thing. And my current students continue to make progress. Coaching (both the teams and pitchers) has really been a great positive influence in my life. It really makes me feel good, I get so proud of these girls for what they accomplish and it makes me feel good to know I had a part in it. It's really made me start to think about going back to school and getting a teaching certificate. That's something I wanted to do in the past and changed my mind due to various reasons that are unnecessary to bring up now. I just don't know if I would get the same satisfaction out of teaching kids in a classroom as I do coaching. It is definitely something that will need some serious thinking before making any kind of a decision. I'm looking forward to this weekend, Michael and I are hooking up the camper and going to a close by campground. We're staying close so that we can still do our planned weekend events, but yet still be able to relax at the campfire at night. I'm definitely looking forward to that! Well, that's the latest with me.