WTF?!

First off, WTF stands for "What the Fudge," not whatever other bad things you were thinking ;-). I found out the other day that Tay's friend can't come over because I live here now. The parents don't like me and think I'm "a bad person." How the heck is that?!? What have I ever done to them? Heck! I've even stopped in front of their house when biking by, and we talked for like 10 minutes! And now I'm the bad guy? If you've followed everything I've blogged about, would you honestly think I was an aweful person?? I mean, does the volunteer work and everything else I do really a bad thing?? I just don't get some people... All I have to say is to heck with the parents that don't like me, but don't punish your kid like that. Just ask anyone around who I am/what I'm like, and they'll tell you...

Why Saying "Good Luck!" Gives You, Well. Good Luck!

Every day since Ben moved in, I've been telling him "Good Luck!" before he leaves for school.Every time I do, Ben tells me that he's afraid somone is going to try to kill him. So far, he's been attacked by a goose, cut off on the way to McDonald's, and other stuff. I can't list them all. Don't tell him, but I hired a kid in my class whose dad is a goose breeder to let the angry goose out in the middle of the road in front of him. Just kidding, heh heh heh..........
So, annyway, this one day Ben had a test. I didn't tell him "good luck" to prove that saying good luck gives you good luck.He hasn't told me his grade yet so.....
Speaking of good luck, I've been on a search at school. I looking for four leafed clovers! :)! So far, no luck. :(! However I found out that some clovers can grow up to the height of my waist. True! I had been looking partly for a ball, partly for a four leafed clover. Suddenly my friend called out "The school really needs too mow this grass! Look how high it is!"
Do you know how when you say something then are reminded of something else? That's what's happened to me!
Speaking of grass, have you seen a flower that looks like this description? It has lots of yellow petals that are shaped like rectangles, with fuzzy stems. If you know what this flower is e-mail me at jordancousineau@gmail.com.
Thank you, and Good Luck!

"Good Luck!"

I've fallen into a new routine each morning at my new home. Back when I lived with my parents, I would wake at 4am, put in my contacts, change into my gym clothes and make toast with peanut butter for breakfast. Then I'd bike down to the gym for a 5am-6am workout. Now that I'm farther away from the gym, I just go for a run at 5am around the lake. Sometimes Mrs Cousineau joins me, sometimes she doesn't. After we get back, I hop in the shower while Mrs Cousineau wakes up Taylor. Tay heads out at 6:35am, and then I go and wake up the rest of the rugrats. If I'm not running late, sometimes I'll make them breakfast (only if it's cold cereal with milk or something else really easy ;-)). Then I finish getting ready for school and head out the door somewhere from 7:10am-7:20am.

Here's where the "Good Luck" title comes in. As I'm ready to head out the door, the kids all give me a hug and tell me "bye," "have a good day," etc.. Jordan, is different. Instead of saying "have a good day," she says "Good luck!"

Every time she's told me "good luck," something unfortunate happens to me either on my way to school or at some point during the day. With my record on the road (riding my bike, cars trying to hit me), when Jordan says good luck I tell her that now I'm afraid I'm going to get hit by a car or something, because I think Jordan has paid someone to run me off the road/take me out.

Yesterday was the most memorable, so far. I left at 7:15am and had to turn around to go back for my lunch, so I was already running a little late. I was flying down the street on my way to school, and at the same time I was holding my mp3 player, searching for a song I wanted to listen to. (Eyes off road and on mp3 player while biking is just as bad as talking on a cell while driving! :-P). I look up and the first thing I see is a large bird walking back and forth right in front of me. I was like "CRAP! A FRIGGIN DUCK!!" I slammed on my brakes with the 1 hand I had still on the handlebars but they didn't work because they brakepads and rims were wet, and I need new brakepads. So I swerved out into the middle of the street and around the crazy animal. As I went around it, it spread its wings and started yelling at me. I guess I really pissed it off! Lol. Everyone at school thought it was really funny when I told them a duck tried to kill me this morning. Though I don't know what kind of bird it was. I said duck because that's the first thing that came to mind when I saw it, but everyone here thinks it was a Canadian goose. Either way, the crazy bird tried to kill me and I put the blame on Jordan for jinxing me ;-).

Now, while riding my bike, I've been attacked by a duck/goose, a rabid racoon, a squirrel, and a turkey. What's next, huh Jordan? :-P

Frustrated

I'm a licensed Grade 8 soccer referee for PVJSL. I first got licensed back in 2006 because no reffs ever showed up to my little brother's games, so I reffed. Since I was always reffing, I figured I may as well get certified and be assigned games and make more money. I got recertified in 2007, but took the 2008 season off because the league owed me money, I was getting irritated with PVJSL, and I couldn't take the parents yelling at me, who didn't even know the game, any longer. I heard that referee pay had been bumped up from $16/game for the youngest age group to $24/game in 2009, so I took the Grade 9 to Grade 8 bridge recertification course.

At the beginning of the season, I was being assigned 2-3 games/day, 3-4 times/week. I was making the good money. Then Lou, President of PVJSL, started assigning me to the older games, like U12, U13. I didn't really mind at first. But then I was being assigned fewer and fewer games. I guess the more you accept the older games, the less you get assigned games, period. And you shouldn't cross Lou's authority, either. I've heard stories that a referee emailed Lou, saying she didn't like one of Lou's ideas. She didn't get assigned to referee any games the rest of the season! My dad is also a Grade 8 PVJSL soccer referee. He turned down 3 games one day a few weeks ago, and went from getting assigned a few games a week to maybe only a single game every few weeks.

Refereeing is one of my 3 current jobs. I am also a tutor at Pathfinder Regional High School, but I only get paid $30/week, for an hour on Tuesday and an hour on Thursday. Plus, this Thursday is the last day for tutoring for the rest of the school year. I manage palmersoccer.org, too. That pays $25/month. Coaching a Palmer Soccer team and being a Tech Teen at the Palmer Public Library is just extra volunteer work, so I need the money I get from reffing to pay for groceries each week!

Lou hasn't assigned me any games in a while. At the beginning of the season, I told him that I could not referee on Saturdays because I coach on Saturdays. This Saturday I have to coach a game at 11:00am in Palmer. I just recieved an email from PVJSL, requesting that I referee games in Ware, beginning at noon. Now, as a licensed referee, I'm required to get to the field a half hour to an hour early to inspect the field's conditions, which means I'd have to be in Ware at 11:00am, the same time that my team is scheduled to play! I can't be in two places at once! And my only source of transportation is my 10-speed, worn-down, Motobecane Mirage road bike! But I can't turn down reffing the games because I NEED the money! And if I turn them down, then I'll be done for the season, reffing! Another reason I have to be at my game is to distribute the candle fundraiser that I just convinced the President of Palmer Soccer to bring to Saturday's game to distribute because I have no car to carry them in! Curses!! What am I supposed to do?!?!

Looks like I'll HAVE to accept the games in Ware on Saturday... Darn you rotten PVJSL! This really frustrates me >_<

The Reds

Nathan and Madison were born only a few weeks apart, and both are trouble! But, we love them anyway! So here is a pictures of "The Reds," Nathan is the red head Ben mentioned in his post.

We started to call them "The Reds" because they were both wearing red shirts, and Nathan's hair color is just a bonus.

Jordan and Christian are shown "throwing gang signs" before the paddle boat ride.

Memorial Day

We took a minute at about 3pm to have a moment of prayer or silence for the those we have lost. It was really nice adn no one wanted to talk afterwards. Not even Madison! Shocker! I have a few pictures I'm going to put up, but I have to get my camera first. We had a picnic at the park, played soccer until ben and I were too sore to play anymore, the kids flew a kite and played in a stream. Pictures coming soon!

Thank You

Yesterday was the BEST day of my life. I joined my new family, going to the Cousineau Family Reunion. I wasn't sure what to expect. The only family reunion I had been to before was for my mom's side of the family. And all they did was sit around the bar with drinks and smoke. Those who didn't sit at the bar walked around, so I could smell that awful cigarette smoke anywhere I went. The food wreaked of smoke too! The only "fun" we had was a game of baseball, and the pitcher had a beer on the mound!! During the game, the sun had begun to go down so I took off my sunglasses and put them on the rock wall above the bench. Then my rotten little cousin chooses to come over, pick them up, and chuck them at the gound. They got all scratched up. They were an expensive pair that I had just gotten about a week ago. What made it worse was I had been babysitting this little brat and was already fed up with him and his parents. So I went and yelled at his mother that I quit and left the reunion while my parents and brother stayed. So yeah, yesterday was MUCH better.

We arrived at Look Park right around noon, I think. Everyone there seemed to be in a great mood. The first thing we did was eat. The food was unbelieveably GOOD! I wish I could eat like I did yesterday, everyday! Next, I think, were the kid-events. First up were the sack-races. I wanted to have a good time, so I joined all the kids. Taylor and her cousin were "too cool" to participate, so they stood as the finish line. I wish they had joined us. It was really fun! Me winning going fowards and backwards didn't count, but I didn't care. I just wanted to be a part of the event. In the first race, the sack was to small for me and I was off balance as soon as I started jumping. I neared the finish line and Taylor was yelling "He's gonna fall! He's gonna fall!" I yelled to Mrs. Cousineau "MOVE! Get outta the way!" but she apparently didn't hear me, and I landed on her toe. She got a swollen toe from this event; I got first place, and a bruised side, which hurts like heck right now. Sorry Mrs. C.! O:-)

The second event was the egg race. Like usual, I won :-D. But I wasn't part of the competition, but I don't care. As I said before, I'm just happy to be a part of the events, part of the family. I've never had the chance to have fun like this. After the race, Tay asked if she could smash my egg against the ground, so I let her. She seemed to have way too much fun doing that lol. But I liked seeing her have a good time.

I think the next event was the 3-legged race. I couldn't get anyone to partner with me, so I had to sit this event out. Mrs. Cousineau and I participated in the next event though, the water balloon toss. We didn't win, but had fun anyways.

The kid events had ended now, so we began a game of wiffleball. I'm not sure who ended up winning the game, or if we were even keeping score :-P. Almost every hit I had, somebody caught. Then towards then end of the game, I hit a line-drive single, and the next batter up hit me home. It was much better than the game at the Smith Family Reunion. There, the pitcher would throw the ball, then take another sip of their beer that they had with them on the mound.

Paddle-boats were up next, and everyone seemed to want me in their boat. First, Jordan and Christian (sp.?) came up and asked me to be in their boat. Then Taylor wanted me to come with her and Melaney (sp.?) in their boat, and Bailey wanted me in her's. (I'm not sure how to spell the names, so I'm sorry if they're mispelled.) I ended up with Christian and Jordan, and they made me do almost all of the work! The lady in a canoe kept yelling at us, first because Tay and Mel splashed us, so I splashed them back. Then Jordan kept getting out of her seat, standing in the back of the boat or leaning over the edge. She said "This is the LAST time I'm gonna ask you guys to stay seated and stop fooling around. Next time I'm going to have to ask you to leave." It was funny. Oh, and I learned not to let Jordan steer the boat. First she crashed us into the rocks, and then wanted to make us go off the little waterfall. In the end, I had to steer and pedal, on my own, because the kids were too lazy. Eh, figures :-P

There were a few more events that day, but I don't feel like listing them all. At the end of the day, after dinner, we headed over to the volleyball court. Mrs C stacked the team against me and put Nathan on my team. The kid is a little jumping bean, and I, along with another adult, thought he was going to get landed on and crushed. I fell over him twice, and knocked the ball out of bounds a few times because if I followed through I would've knocked the kid in the face!

Well, I think that pretty much sums up the day. Thank you, Cousineau Family, for letting me take part in a real family reunion. It sure beats a bunch of old people sitting around drinking and smoking and blowing the smoke in you face :-P. I feel more and more like part of the family each and every day I spend here. Thank you so much. I love you guys :-D

Memorial Day Weekend Reunion

Memorial Day is a day to remember those who have gone before, especially those in the military who have died in the service of their fellow man. What greater gift can you give than to freely give your life to save those you know and love, as well as, those whom you have never met and never will. It is always sad when a solider dies, but it is good to know that their reward in heaven will be great for they sacrificed their greatest gift from God, their own lives.

This Memorial Day I am remembering GrandPepere. He fought in WWII in the pacific theatre. Because of his submarine, and those who served with him, an immanent invasion of California was thwarted.

I am also remembering my Grandmother and Grandfather, my Uncle Bert, Uncle Eli, Grandmemere, and Gram. I'm sure there are other's but I can't think of them now.

I think what we will do is go to the grave site of Grandpepere and Grandmemere and pray and think of them all. Then go to the park and have a picnic to take away any sadness. That way we can be happy and remember the love they gave to us. And also remember that they are with God now and are happily doing His work. What a blessing they have. One I wish for, but will be patient for.

Staying Here

So I guess I forgot to blog about Ben moving in. Here is some background for those of you who don't have a clue about why he is posting to our family blog.

Ben is 17 and living with us. Enough said. Just kidding. He is having trouble getting along with his mother. My mother let me stay with my sister, Brenda, for a year while I was 15 and it did wonders for our relationship. (Props to Brenda for being a great sister! Love you!) So I suggested it to Ben and his mother and they were willing to give it a try.

He has a small space in the basement that he is able to use. It gives him privacy, most of the time. He can do laundry without anyone seeing his whitey tighties. Again, just kidding. We don't know or care about his whitey tighties. He buys his own food, for now anyway. His parents are only going to pay for food for so long then he needs to support himself. He pays rent in the way of chores. Doing dishes occasionally, clearing out the backyard of junk and such. Not much has changed around here. Instead of 5 people waiting in a line outside the bathroom we now have 6. But it's not big of a deal.

In the motivation department he's been great! He gets me up every morning and tries to get me going. Most days I get up. A few days I didn't. And only once did I pretend to be sleeping because I was too tired to bother making a noise. Shhh, don't tell him! ;) I really am trying though.

About Ben: He's a straight A student. He's been inducted into the National Technical Honors Society, he's got several awards from school, he's a soccer player- he plays defense, he thinks only of soccer and Sara- who surprisingly doesn't play soccer. He has a good head on his shoulders and has many values that you just don't seen in teenagers very often. His attitude about his body is great. He won't smoke, drink or do drugs because he wants his body in peek condition and realises that those things don't do anything but ruin lives and bodies.

His parents raised him with no religion at all. We on the other hand attend church regualrly and have callings. (Well, I'm supposed to be called to one soon....we'll see.) So that is a difference that I think we are both struggling to comprehend. He doesn't understand why we go to church and we don't understand why he doesn't.

Over all he's a great kid with an awesome sense of humor. Sometimes we are relentless, and maybe go too far. And so does he. But we are all quick to forgive. We all love having him here. The mornings are filled with laughter, especially when Bailey is beating him up! (read his post about scaring the kids with Obama masks!) The afternoons are quiet because he is either volunteering or working, and the evenings are fun and calm. He's tired, J's getting ready for work and the kids are winding down.

The house is cleaner and I have more energy, until recently. But I'm going to the Dr for that, so that will be another blog for another day.

You Know You're A Soccer Player When....

You Know You're A Soccer Player When...
- Your Jeans Dont Fit Around Your Massive Leg Muscles
- Whenever You Have To Write An Essay On A Hero, You Pick Lionel Messi.
- You Accidentaly Kick The Ball When You're Playing Other Sports
- The Most Important Cross, in your life, Is In Front Of The Goal.
- You Have 3 Bottles of Advil In Your Locker, Bag, And Car.
- During finals you write in Lallis.
- Your neighbors call 911 because you haven't left your house day or night during World Cup
- Your trunk has at least one ball and a pair of cleats
- Something you own is named after a soccer player
- You have soccer posters somewhere in your house
- You bring soccer socks for iceskating
- All your non-school clothing has three stripes or an Umbro brand name
- You can recognize ex-players by the way they move & look
- The only way you pick up a ball for a friend is with your feet
- You've accidently gotten a foul in another sport from kicking the ball
- You can recognize fellow soccer players by their walk, their legs, their clothes and their car.
- You strive to find pickup games
- You can honestly use both feet equally
- You know more than 6 ways to pickup a ball
- You do rainbows with the basketball at the gym
- You stretch even when you aren't working out
- You have year round blisters or shin splints
- You keep an extra Tshirt and shorts in your car just in case
- You judge people's abilities by where they grew up, who they play for, and where they play in HS
- You've had at least 3 bad coaches
- You've traveled somewhere more than 3 hours away for a tournament
- You have every color, style, and size tournament Tshirt from all the years
- You've played goalie, at least once
- When looking at colleges, you checkout the opposite sex soccer team as well
- At least one of your previous relationships has been with a soccer player
- You judge a person's skills by if you like their number or not.
- You have old hotline numbers in your phone
- People know you just as well by your last name
- You get away with having different color shoe laces on your boots
- You have prewrap and tape with you almost always
- You either hate the tuck, or always have it in completley
- Your first instinct when something is coming at you is to trap it or head it back
- All you bring to a pickup game is your cleats and a pair of footies
- You constantly have bad tan lines
- When you drop something, you try to settle it
- Even when someone says football you think soccer.
- You can go hard for 90 minutes, and know 11 differnt positions
- You keep dropping stuff because you think it's a penalty to touch it.
- When your goalie gloves cost more than a laptop.
- 200 bucks on cleats doesnt even phase you
- You cringe when someone rolls their athletic shorts more than once
- On Monday you never fail to have a plethora of new bruises to show off, as well as a story behind each
- You choose your guys based on how good they are at the sport
- If someone says "my knee hurts" you ask where. then correctly diagnose the problem
- Its 65 degrees out and you think its the perfect temperature
- Your favorite feeling in the world is slide tackling on dewey grass
- Hair stops growing on your legs where your guards go
- Your forearms, knees, and face are the only tan parts of your body
- Whenever something, anything is flying towards your face, you try to head it instead of catching it.
- You're immune to the smell of shinguards, boots and gloves.
- A mile run is nothing compared to a game.
- You realize MLS isn't real soccer.
- You've spent your free time thinking of comments critizing a refs call.
- You're closet is filled with spandex.
- All white soccer clothes are stained, but you still wear them.
- You have more soccer shoes than regular shoes.
- You're outside in 30 degree weather, it's snowing and you're pissed becuase there's only 5 minutes left in the game.
- You own at least one ankle brace
- When you're the only person in your class who believes Beckham, Ronaldo, and Ronaldinho aren't the best
- When you hear "predators" you think of the boots not the animal!
- When the first thing you do in a fight is kick and break the legs, or headbutt them in the sternum.
- When you can put the basketball in the hoop quicker with your feet than your hands
- When you realize you have nasty feet, but are even more surprised when you realize that you don't care.
- You know you're a soccer player when you go to play soccer in the snow.......at -25
- When the football team comes after you to make you kick for them
- You buy glow in the dark balls so you can play in the dark
- When you are willing (and almost excited) to play in the freezing rain and hail in March.
- Juggling has a completely different meaning to you
- When diving doesnt mean a sport, it means an unforgiveable sin
- When you saw the display picture for the group and wished you lived there
- When you still have your first pair of gloves/shoes/uniform
- When you can use the smell of your gloves as a weapon
- When you have seen the movie "Big Green" too many times to count, and will never get too old for it
- Showing off your scarred shins or knees in shorts/skirts doesn't even faze you
-(for girls) When you go to get your hair cut, and you tell the lady it has to be long enough for a ponytail.
- When the teacher tells you to get something out to read, and you pull out the latest Eurosport magazine.
- When you get pissed at your mom for washing your gloves after you're 4th consecutive shutout "because they stink"
- When "because they stink" is not an excuse to wash your gloves/shin pads
- When your entire car is littered with water bottles from games.
- When you can name every one of your coaches you've had since you were 5.
- When you have the same pre-game ritual for # of games because you haven't lost.
- When you have more friends from playing than from your own school.
- When you can't walk around your town without someone asking how the game went.
- When at least one of your bags is devoted to your soccer stuff.
- When you have ball marks that are still there the next day.
- When younger kids start talking to you about one of your games even though you don't know their names.
- When you use your boots until you have to tape them to play.
- When after you tape them you play one more game because you scored the game before
- You say "its a nice day," when it's pouring rain
- People constantly compliment you on your perfectly toned "soccer legs!"
- When you go to the beach and your legs are three different shades of tanned.
- When there is no such thing as a "grass-only" ball because you play where ever when ever
- You watched all the Joga Bonito videos at least 3 times.
- You can juggle the ball over 30 times.
- You could be in the middle of the desert, but be fine if you had a soccer ball
- You wear tight shorts and don't mind all the nice legs comments.
- You don't smoke because you need your stamina in a game
- After you pass the goalie, you bend down just to header the ball in.
- You can balance a soccer ball somewhere on your body for over an hour.
- People ask you if you work out, and you say "No, I play soccer"
- You trip people when they walk for no reason.
- You've watched old movies of Pele play.
- You hate it when you talk about futbol and retards think your talking about american football
- Your whole room looks spotless except for that spot where your boots go.
- You know most of your friends from soccer tournaments and competitions.
- Something falls, you pick it up with your feet, even if it's an eraser or an article of clothing.
- You know the name of the player when you see just the their number.
- Your parents didn't worry about you doing drugs because you were probably out all night playing soccer in a lit field.
- You know scoring a goal is almost as good as having sex.
- You know atleast 4 ways to pick up a soccer ball (NO HANDS)
- Your not impressed when watching someone juggle until they passed 500.
- You don't realize your pulling on the other guys shirt until he's on the floor and the ref is holding that yellow card.
- Your team ends up being family
- Your going to teach your kid to be a soccer God, and send videos of him/her to Man. United.
- You've either been to or are dying to go to a World Cup, even if your team didn't make it.
- A soccer game decides what your mood is going to be for the next couple of hours.
- When you dribble the soccer ball around the house all the time
- When you have Febreeze stocked in your bag, car, and room!!!
- When freshly cut grass seems too long
- You try to teach animals to play soccer
- You name your soccer balls after the greatest players of all time
- When you absolutely LOVE the smell of fresh cut grass
- When you hang out with your friends from soccer more than your friends from school
- When you can fluently say corner run and wall ball in three different languages
- When 90' above on the field doesn't phase you, 90' below on the field doesn't phase you and 90 MIN. ON THE FIELD doesn't phase you...OLAY!!!!
- When you don't think a Maradona is hard to pull off in a game like everyone else thinks
- When a half a bottle of febreeze doesn't get rid of the odor coming from your right shoe
- When your fridge is stacked with Gatorade and power bars and your freezer is full of ice packs
- When your mom has to hose you down in the backyard before letting your muddy ass into the house!
- You know you're a soccer player when you yell at the pro's on TV, telling them where to go, even though you know they can't hear you... but you wish they could.
- You know you're soccer player when you come out of a game with scratches all over your legs from sliding but you don't even notice it.
- You know you're a soccer player, when your MySpace, FaceBook, etc., is comprised mostly of short video clips of soccer bloopers from the FIFA World Cup, and other major matches.
-When the reffs know you by name.
- Your coach has to drag you off the field when you're hurt, and you're still saying "I can still play coach."
- When bruises, blisters, and blood are just part of your everyday routine
- If you yell at ESPN because they put poker on instead of the National Team
-When you randomly start trying to juggle/rainbow any object in sight
- When your hair just doesn't feel right if it's not in a ponytail.
- You scout "competition” for tryouts and games MONTHS in advance
- When you pass the neighbor's ball back with your feet, even if it's a basketball
- When you rush in for every loose ball in the box and coming out bleeding doesn't even matter to you.
- When all your toes have been stepped on, causing your toenails to fall out!!!
- You know you're a soccer player when reffs call you by your jersey number even when you aren’t playing
- When your favorite smell is new cleats
- When you can't wear shorts outside of soccer because you always have scrapes.
- When you've played with ten players. And actually won.
- You have disgusting "cleat feet"
- When you won't wash your uniform even though it smells bad becuase you won last game in it
- You will wear your lucky cleats until they literally fall apart on you on the field
- You buy the same pair of cleats just new ones over and over becuase you had a good season with them
- You have no life outside of soccer =))
- Give faints when you're cycling without realizing
- Use soccer tricks when you're in a crowd.. Eg.: wait for the opponent and then decide where to move..
- When you'd rather watch soccer clips than porn!

Yup, I'm DEFINATELY a soccer player 8-)

Lost

Have you ever had a day, where in the morning you're having a great time; the afternoon is pretty good too; but then evening comes and you feel completely lost? That just happened to me today, so that's why I'm writing, er, typing this.

This morning I got up, scared the kids again, but this time with an Obama mask. Jordan and Bailey screamed, but Madison's reaction was a tired, "You look weird." Bailey was ticked off that I scared her again, so they all chased me around the house, beating on me (3v1 when the 1 can't fight back in fear of physically hurting someone is quite challenging!). We all had a fun time this morning. Getting caught behind a train just before school, 5 minutes before the bell rang, didn't even bother me.

The freshmen took the books they had created for the second graders over to Old Mill Pond to read to them. So, our teacher decided that since it's the end of the year and the freshmen are gone so it's FINALLY quiet in the shop, we didn't have to do any work today. I still ended up working right through the end of the day on my portfolio. The portfolios count as our shop final, but I'm on National Technical Honor Society, so I'm exempt from all finals, so I don't know why I'm working so hard on it. Oh yeah. It's because I work extremely hard on everything I do! :-D

After school, I got yelled at by a senior: "HEY! What are you doing out here?! You're not a senior!" But I was in a good mood, so I just said "NTHS," smirked and sped off on my bike. Having senior privelages and being able to leave school early, before I'm even a senior, feels GOOD!

I made it home, had a snack, went searching to find my masks that Jordan and Bailey hid from me, and then got ready for soccer practice. Coach Tyler and I weren't sure exactly what we wanted to work on tonight, so we just kind of made it up as we went along. Then we scrimmaged Orett Williams's team and got our butts kicked! We finally ended practice, and one of my players (who reminds me a lot of Madison) went over to Orett and asked if she could practice with his team. Now I've lost another player. We started off with 10 players. Orett's team took Madison. Julia moved and no one can contact her. Ben is off in his own little world and we haven't seen him since he wouldn't listen to anyone and stand still for team pictures two weeks ago. And now Stella prefers Orett's team over our's.

I'm not sure why I got into coaching; at least why I got into coaching an intermediate team. I just don't work well with kids that young, that shy. I don't know what to do with some of the kids that won't listen to me (which is most of the team!). None of my plans for practice ever work, and now we're down to just winging it each practice. I wish I could coach a travel team. Those kids might have more dedication to the game and I could get them to work harder. I would understand how to deal with those kids better than the young group I have now. Maybe next season...

On my ride home, I became even more depressed. I was listening to songs like "Loser," "It's The Only One You've Got," "Be Like That," "Here Without You," and "Landing In London," all by 3 Doors Down. I started wondering, what's my point in life? I've accomplished so much in my life, but why do I feel so empty inside? I just don't get it. Why do I feel like crap now? I need someone to help me out, boost my spirits a bit. What am I around for?? I wasn't appreciated at home. I've made a kid here mad at me (Bailey). A kid I coach wants to be on another team. Can I do anything right???

Bailey's Birthday

Bailey's birthday was almost forgotten! Or at least it seemed it was. We all woke up and told her happy birthday. And I made a cake and we even had a big group of friends come over! We had Tina and Brian, who are good friends whom we haven't seen in...forever! Their three girls as well. We had the Collier boys, who are just awesome kids from church. (Except they aren't so much kids anymore, one's 19 the other's almost 17.) We had our family of 7 (Bailey & Ben included).

I forgot to get her a gift, so I picked one up later. It was the Pixo's, little gel balls that glue themselves together. They had fun with that. Grandma sent her cash! The lucky duck!

Usually we don't have a real party until June for her. Because we throw one big bash for Bailey and Madison. Madison's birthday is after school gets out and so it's difficult to invite friends a month or more before the party and expect them to show.

This year things are tight, but I'm going to try to have a big bash anyway, but keep it family and close friends only. The school friends probably don't care anyway. That way we can still have a party, but it will cost us alot less.

2 Weeks

It's been a full 2 weeks that I've moved into my new home. I'm loving it here. The only downside is that it's almost the end of the month and I still haven't found another job. At the end of the month, my parents stop giving me money for groceries. I'll be totally on my own earning money for food. Looks like I won't be able to save up for a car or new bike anytime soon. Ah well, at least I have the people who care about me around before I leave for school and when I get home.

This morning was pretty entertaining for me. First, I read on FaceBook that my friends had taken the quiz I had created: "How well do you know Ben Manning?". No one has gotten over 50% yet! I enjoyed reading the comments that people left after taking the quiz. After I got off of FaceBook, I said good-bye to Taylor as she left for school, then went down to my room and put on my soccer ball mask. I crept into the kids' room and woke Jordan up first. I shook her by the shoulder until she opened her eyes. When she saw me wearing the mask her eyes popped wide open and her jaw dropped. She was speechless! It was so funny. She yelled at me for scaring her. Next, I did the same thing to Bailey on the top bunk. She screamed and yelled at me too, but it was all extremely funny... to me anyways. I apologized to both, and Jordan forgave me. Bailey did, eventually, too.

I wish I had more time at home now, to hang out with the kids. Instead, I am pretty much booked solid tutoring, coaching and reffing soccer, and working as a Tech Teen at the Palmer Public Library. And I have to get around to all this on my bike! Taylor and I like to go for walks around the lake; Jordan makes up math problems for me to solve; Bailey likes to sit and watch movies with me; And Madison, well, he likes to irritate me. Rarely ever listening, eating my food without asking (today), touching my stuff. But hey, he's a little kid and I love them all.

Well, it's getting late (10:47pm) and I gotta get some sleep before tomorrow's 5am run with Mrs. C. around the lake. Then hopefully between school ending and soccer practice starting, I can drop by some local businesses and apply for jobs there again. Wish me luck (Jordan ;-) )!

Family

Everyone has a family. And not everyone likes theirs. Like Ben, a person who's living with my family. But that's his problem. I love my family. Though, at times, my little brother can get annoying, my older sister mean, and my younger sister rude. But, like everyone else, we have our good times and our bad times. But even when we are fighting we still love each other.

For example, my sister and I were outside playing on the swings. I was on the swing and my sister was on the rings. Suddenly, my sister kicked my side. I yelled and screamed at her, and she yelled and screamed back. But, five minutes later, we were playing together as if it never happened.

Like I said, I love my family, but some times they can be annoying. About .1% of the time. :).

Why??

Ok, so I'm 17 years old, majoring in Office Technology at Pathfinder Regional. I play for the Varsity soccer team and I've just been inducted into the National Technical Honor Society. I travel everywhere on my bike because it's my only transportation because Palmer Auto School screwed me over so I can't get my license yet. I maintain 3 different paying jobs: Licensed Grade 8 Soccer Referee, Tutor, and I maintain palmersoccer.org. On top of that, I do plenty of volunteer work around town. I'm largely known as a Tech Teen at the Palmer Public Library. I also coach an intermediate Palmer Soccer team. I love helping people.

I do all of this, on my own, with no shown support from my "family." I was always getting in trouble for everything at my house when I had nothing to do with the situation. So, I've finally moved in with the BEST family I've ever met. Well, they're not perfect, but no one is, and they're MUCH better than the people I used to live with. This family shows their care for me and show an interest in my life. I may be much farther from everything now, but I love my new home!

Now that word is getting around that I've moved out of my parents house, people are trying to tell me how to live my life and it's really starting to tick me off! I was thinking about joining the military, and everyone is telling me that it's a bad idea. I move out, and everyone is telling me that it's a huge mistake, but won't say why they think so. Then today I got told to wear my helmet when riding my bike. It's like ok, I've been riding my bike all over the place with no helmet for I don't know how many years. I wear it when I go on long trips on my bike, but that's pretty much it. WHY is everyone trying to tell me how I should live my life?!? I've done well to get this far on my own! No one ever commented negatively on my life before, so why start now?!???

Jordan's First Blog

Hello there! Today, my mom took me to the library. I was really sick when I woke up, so was my older sister, Taylor. My mom needed to pick some books up for book club, and Taylor and I ended up getting books, too. I got a book called The Sorcerer's Companion. It basically tells you the truths about Harry Potter. So far, I have only read the Introduction and The first chapter, Amulets. Speaking of Amulets, I am writing a book about a guy who has to save something called Captain Thyme's Amulet.Completely off topic, do you like poetry? I love poetry and it's all that we're learning about in school, besides math of course. Well, gotta go!

Prom Pictures

See how cute they are?

I took pictures of a kid from church for his prom. He looked so handsome and she is very pretty. I have to do some photo editing though. A few smears of deodorant and a small bit of shmutz on the jacket. Then you add teenage hormones, aka zits. So it will be a bit of work, but only because it's time consuming. On the left is the original, and up top is the new and improved. I took care of the acne, the shmutz on this jacket, whitened her teeth, and brightened the picture. I know I'd have less to do if I had a reflector, but I work with what I've got. If anyone is willing to buy me a reflector then I'd be willing to accept it. ;)