skip to main |
skip to sidebar
As I sit here on this beautiful September day I am reflecting on my last blog post and thinking "what fresh hell have the past 6 months been?" It has been rough, but I now know a few things for sure. Here goes...
The last post was regarding my sweet Carly Jo. She had an awesome tournament and got to serve. This was her first time to serve in club. It was a glorious day for sure. She played and she played a lot. Little did I know that the months following would be somewhat less glorious. Ugh! Instead of going on and on about what a challenge those months were I will just say it to you straight.
The first thing I learned and now know for sure is this. It is way harder watching your daughter warm the bench than it ever was for me to personally warm the bench. In fact I think it was one of the harder things I have ever done. But, instead of being frustrated, mad, angry, pissed, I have chosen to help Carly Jo get better in her sport. You see people she isn't done yet. One half season of volleyball will not define her as an athlete. So we both carry on. I have grown up a little as a mom of an athlete and she has grown up a lot as an athlete. This journey isn't over.
The second thing I learned and now know for sure is this. It is way harder to watch your daughter get her first broken heart than it ever was for me to get my first broken heart. In fact I have decided that although her heart felt like it was shattered into a million little pieces, as her mama, I felt like mine was broken into a trillion little pieces, ran over with a truck, set on fire, put out and set on fire again. Ugh! The pain was too much. The first cut really is the deepest. In my book boys will continue to be bad. The next one that shows up over here better be ready. I will make it crystal clear to that punk that:
1. I don't like you.
2. I will never like you.
3. I am not afraid to go back to jail. (Never been, but he doesn't need to know that.)
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. It might just piss the crap out of you though.
The third thing I know for sure is that I love these two girls beyond measure. They are such a blessing. I know they both will come out on top. I know sweet Alex's heart will eventually totally mend. She will find her way. I just know it. She is going to look back on this relationship and go "what was I thinking was I drunk?" (I know I am so thankful for those UNANSWERED prayers from 1987.) I know that Carly Jo has worked her butt off the last 4 months in the gym, on the sand and on the court. She ain't done yet people. The journey begins again tomorrow as she has her first volleyball game of the season. Starting year 5 of volleyball for her. Wow!
All three of us will continue to Show Up And Make It Count! Let the journey continue.
This past weekend was yet another long weekend of volleyball. It was one of those ranking tournaments with Dallas Synergy playing in the open division. In my estimation open division ranking tournament stands for "The Big Dawg Teams Are In Town And They Are Kicking Butt And Taking Names" and it is sink or swim. Well, peeps this weekend we swam. No we didn't win a lot of matches, but we played. We played the entire weekend. We played with intensity. We were competitive. We could have beat most of those teams, no doubt. That is a great feeling.
These other teams have girls on them that already have their jump serve down. Unfortunately, my sweet Carly Jo is on the other end of the court trying to receive those jump serves and her job is to get them up in the air high enough for her setter to get under them and try to make a play. It was intense to say the least. Ugh!
Anywho, another kid got to serve this weekend. That other kid was Carly Jo. It was the highlight of my weekend.
I am sure some people are like big deal your kid served. Well, peeps this is a big deal to me. You see Carly Jo's serve has been a long time coming. She has been playing this sport since she was 9 and she is now almost 13. Her serve has definitely been slow to come. She made some mistakes along the way and we have made corrections. We have gone 2 steps forward and 8 steps back with serving. Lots of tears and frustration. It has been a hard fight. So for this kid to get to serve at the club level in a open division ranking tournament it is a big freaking deal to this girl. I feel so proud for her and of her. She stepped out of her comfort zone and she rocked it. Love her so very much. So yeah I am proud. I have probably talked about it way to much, but I don't really care. I know what it took for her to get to this point. I feel so blessed to be on this journey with her.
Go Dallas Synergy. Keep showing up and playing with all your heart. The wins will come. You will get better and better. I just know it.
Show up and make it count!
This photo says it all for me. That big open smile on Carly Jo's face was the moment they won their first tournament. First place in gold bracket. In volleyball that is a good thing. My Carly Jo is very reserved. She is all business when it comes to volleyball. We call her Spock at home. For her to have an open smile like that is just like heaven to me. Just had to share.
It felt great to win that day. So proud of all of these young ladies. Go Dallas Synergy.
Show up and make it count!
I thought I would take a break from all the Paleo talk and talk some volleyball instead. My Carly Jo plays for the Dallas Synergy National team and participated in her first ranking tournament this past weekend. This peeps was an eye opener. I found myself amazed at the talent at this level. I also found myself feeling really, really, really, really short. Not sure what they are feeding these girls, but they were a tall, tall, tall, tall bunch. I swear I wanted to check a few birth certificates and ask them what type of car they drive. It was crazy how big and fierce some of these children aka beasts were. All I can say is wow! And thank you baby Jesus that my Carly Jo plays libero on the back row.
Although I am thrilled that Carly Jo has this opportunity to play volleyball I can't help but wonder how many of these girls will last in this sport. See peeps, here in Dallas, we take our volleyball very seriously. Some of these clubs have their kids in the gym 2 to 4 times a week. Mind you these are 10, 11, 12 and 13 year old children. The training is intense. Could that be why so many of them turn down college scholarships because they just don't love the sport anymore? I think yes.
Also, I was never so ashamed of some of the behavior of some of the parents and some of the coaches. We had a delay of at least 15 minutes while one of the coaches had an issue with a call. Again, these are 13 year old children competing in the silver bracket NOT the gold bracket (gold being the best teams that tournament). You would have thought it was for the NCAA tournament title the way this guy acted. UGH! My heart was heavy and my child was tired. Long day for all of us.
The best part about this experience is that our girls get better and better. They learn to read one another. They learn the court. Carly Jo comes home with court burns, bruises, and knees pads that are so dirty you would think she played in the mud. She wore the Nike logo off of one of her knee pads this weekend. They learn discipline, respect, and patience. Carly Jo is blessed to play on a team where we train 2 times a week. I have her train with me once a week. I am determined that she keep loving the sport for a long time. Her goal is to play college ball somewhere. My goal is to keep her so busy she doesn't have time to get into any major trouble. We both win!
Although we didn't win the championship this weekend. We showed up and made it count! We made it to the silver A bracket. Pretty good if you ask me. Do they have room to improve? Oh yes they do. Will I have the patience to survive it all? Oh yes I will.
I came away with a pretty good shot with my new camera as well.
Thank you Coach Shawna and Krysta. Thank you Carly Jo, Sydney, Hayden, Ashton, Peyton, Kenna, Sarah, Cami, Erica, Emily, Heather and Megan. This journey is going to be great.
Show up and make it count!
