Steady Climb Up

Well, I guess Stephanie was right, my week could only get better. Yesterday at work I tried something new with soccer, and we ended up having a lot of fun. I like how this new direction is going to provide fun for the guys (and girls), but it kind of stinks that it won't make them better. If they're gonna lose, might as well lose while having fun right? I think there's still a lesson to be learned for them in the future. However, the day ended on a sucky note with a little girl all by herself. She came up to me and asked me (very shy) if I wanted to play volleyball with her. I looked at my large amount of paperwork, looked at her, then looked back at my paperwork, then back at her, and set it down to go play with her. It pains me because I always see this girl alone, and she doesn't speak much English, and the rest of the staff rarely reach out to her (even the Spanish speaking ones). My best memories of Boys and Girls club from when I was a kid were not the activities, but the one-on-one quality time the staff spent with me, teaching me things about life and showing they cared. I've forgotten this a lot recently, and I'm on a mission to set things right again. So I know you're wondering, why is that ending on a bad note? Well, no offense, but I was told to stop what I was doing and that paperwork was more important. I disagreed because this girl had no one else there for her, and it was better to give her quality time than to watch her sit there and waste her time waiting for her ride. I was mad because I'd rather do paperwork on my own time than to sacrifice the kids. I wish the job was less about paperwork and numbers and more about quality time like we tell ourselves, but that's just not the reality with the world we live in and the vast amounts of rules we burden ourselves with. Talking to Stephanie on the phone though brought up my spirits. She's a trooper with her huge load, and I love her confidence; it's really amazing.

Today was better though. My powerhour was AMAZING, quiet, and the teacher gave me the biggest compliment and complimented my class too. I was SUPER-proud. "That's the feeling I want everyday," I thought to myself. Soccer ended up being a lot of fun too and I'm excited for our game tomorrow.

I got to spend time with my good friend Julisa today. Man, we haven't seen each other since early December, what a trip. We had so much to catch up on and sat there talking for nearly two and a half hours (and we didn't even know it). She's one of my good friends, and I hope she'll be around for a long time. She and I have grown a lot this past year and are much more mature than when we first met at Mike's Confirmation class and I was making fun of her =P (Friendaversary coming someday..."how sad..." =P)

Got to finish the day playing old Nintendo 64 and PS2 games with Scuba. Thanks for the well-wishes guys; I'm feeling a lot better from my sickness, and I'm ready to get back in the groove this weekend. Let's make it last! Last weekend before school for me =)