$5,000 for Counter Tops!

The wife and I have been saving up to get new counter tops for the kitchen. So we took our measurements and headed down over to Home Depot to get a quote. After waiting for 30-minutes and still not getting anyone to help us, we left and went to Lowes. At Lowes, we met Jerry in the Kitchen department and he was very helpful. He took our measurements and submitted them to the "main" counter top area.

It took almost a week to get the quote back from Lowes and they want approximately $5,000 for the installation and counter tops. I might agree that this would be a fair quote if we had an 1,000 square foot kitchen, but we have a small kitchen. Jerry even commented that the quote seemed way out of line for the size of our kitchen.

I am going to go over there later and see what the heck happened...

Coach Dad?

I have found it difficult sometimes to be the Coach and Dad to my 10-year old daughter, Genesis. I treat all my players equally and I have tried to keep "the game" and "the home" separate from each other. But it is really difficult. As a Coach, I can see all the potential she has for the game. She is quick to the ball, an excellent defender, and is starting to mature into a team leader. However, she is also lazy. The lazy part is what gives me fits as her Dad. During practice, she will just hang back and not pursue the ball. I, as the Coach, tell her to play up, but she still hangs back. When I tell her to listen and react to the situation, she takes it as an attack by her Dad and not the Coach just trying to make her a better player.

Soccer Starts Today

We start Soccer practice today for the Spring 2006 season. This is our fourth season together and my fourth season coaching soccer. I have learned a lot over the last two years about soccer and coaching girls. I have coached football before and boys are far easier to coach then girls. Boys can be motivated through intimidation and motivation encouragement at a high volume (yelling). For example, Jacob has just missed his blocking assignment and the QB gets sacked. When Jacob comes to the sideline I would attempt to motivate him by yelling at him and letting him know that he need to bring his "A" game. Jacob would respond by getting mad and going back in the game and using this anger to complete his blocking assignment.

Girls, on the other hand, do NOT respond to these tactics at all. For example, Genesis just stood by and watched the ball carrier dribble past her to shoot at the goal. As a Defender she knows that she is supposed to attack and keep the ball carrier from taking the shot. If I were to yell at her and tell her to bring her "A" game, she would just "roll her eyes" or if she is feeling extremely emotional that day, she would probably cry.

That is the fundamental difference, in my opinion and experience, between male and female youth athletes. Now as female athletes get older, they do get more aggressive. A lot more aggressive. You can start to see this aggressive behavior around 11- or 12-years of age. Most of the girls on our team are just now turning 11, but we do have a few that are almost 12. The older girls appear to have more aggressive tendencies during the game and even in practice.

I wonder if there is any "science" on this topic....

Finished

We spent the weekend putting away the final bit of Christmas decorations both indoors and outdoors. It took pretty much all day Saturday and Sunday to get everything packed and stored. The yard looks pretty bare now.

As part of the clean up process, I was raking up the rocks around the front of the house and I discovered a hidden portal into the earth. Nothing magical, just a buried PVC (around 4" in diameter) pipe filled with dirt. I cleaned it out and discovered a water valve down at the bottom. I am not sure where this valve goes, but I think that it may be a water cutoff to the kid's bathroom. Anyway, I need to go by lowes today and get a cap for it.