Hot Chocolate

I am sitting at Panera Bread...just finished some cocoa. I rarely drink hot beverages... don't find them refreshing, which is what I usually go for when I want something to drink. But it was snowy...is snowy...wet and cold. I did not have to go to work today because of the storm...but we are having practice tonight. I have mixed feelings about that. I don't want to drive there...and would rather be home watching the new Survivor show, but... going is the responsible thing to do I suppose. A day like today usually means staying put, wrapping up in a quilt, and snuggling with the cats. I had already scheduled an appointment to have my taxes done today, so I kept it... and figured that it made little sense to go home, then come out again... so I stopped at Panera for some cocoa...and tried to finish my paper. Not sure why this paper is causing me so much angst. I usually have no problem writing papers... but I am not sure of this professor's expectations and am not sure if the way I am writin gmy paper is the style he has envisioned. He has mentioned keeping things simple...brief... but that doesn't suit me. Right now it is 600 words... which means I need to get rid of 100... eek. We'll see. I may rebel and keep all of its words and see what happens. I get the impression that with this professor there is no right or wrong... which is good...and bad. Sometimes it is easier to know, for sure, what the expectations are. Then again, what do you really learn if you are just spitting out information? Anyway... Like I said, I got my taxes done... and as always, felt relieved to know I don't owe the government any money. I am not getting as much back as I have before... mostly because I made less money this year... which is great given our economy... I didn't work much collecting tolls and was unable to coach last spring... so that made a difference. So even my taxes were affected by my knee.

Did you ever send an email and wonder if you should send it or not? I did that last night... and the person read it this morning... so there is no taking it back. As a coach I have to communicate with a lot of people. One of whom is an administrative assistant. this person does a lot for sports in our community and I appreciate her time and efforts. One thing that has frustrated me is that I email her questions and she does not respond... so I end up sending repetitive emails and often still not getting my questions answered.... she sent me an email yesterday about our tentative roster for our middle school team. I had sent her a copy of it, as she had asked me to do...so that she could check to see if those students already had completed an emergency card... I also gave the list to our school nurse, as has been past practice, to check to see who was in need of having a physical before participating... this woman emailed me telling me that she did not appreciate me wasting her time by expecting her to check on the status of the physicals while aslso asking the same nurse. She said something along the lines of...we are all busy. Well... this person has taken over the role of the middle school athletic director... and once i found that out I immediately emailed her asking her specifically what she would need from me... she said collect information about the kids and to hole onto emergency cards as they came in. I figured getting the nurse to check on physicals would save this other person time.... anyway.. the phrase... we are all busy... pushed a button. I too am busy... and too busy to send multiple emails about the same topics without getting answers... so I emailed her telling her that I was sorry for the frustration, that I was under the impression that asking the nurse would save her time, not cost her time... and also told her that it would be great if she could extend the same courtesy to me... of saving me time, but responding to my emails.... I think there will be backlash from this... but... time will tell.

Speaking of emails... I emailed the guy I mentioned... the sci fi guy... that we would not be each other's Valentine's.... he seems to understand...I hope. I did say that a friendship would be fun... and I mean that, but that there is not going to be any romantic connection. He seemed to take it well. Email is not the ideal way to say such things, but... given that much of our communication has been through email or chatting... I feel it was ok.

Anyway... I should stop rambling...and maybe start making my way to practice to account for the messy roads.

Oh... one last thing.. I heard from the woman who recently had the same surgery I did. She is doing ok... I didn't get many details, but she had her staples out. (I didn't have staples.) Her doc was pleased with how she was healing... and said she can start trying to lift and bend her knee. I am keeping my fingers crossed for her.