Spring Update

I'm at work this morning, but I have nothing to do... so I thought I would update my blog for once. The last few months have been a whirlwind of activity - mostly just lots and lots of basketball games! All three Bishop Kelley girls teams - varsity, jv, and sophomore - had great seasons. I was very impressed with how hard the girls worked this year and how much they improved. The varsity finished with a 19-8 record and a trip to the Oklahoma State 5-A Basketball Tournament. We lost in the state quarterfinals by 6 points, but it was a close game throughout. This is the first time the Bishop Kelley girls basketball team has qualified for state in 4 years. We have already set our sights on winning that State Championship next year!

We had spring break last week, and I went to Boston to visit my brother Jordan and his fiancee Jen. I had never been to Boston before, so it was a great new experience - not to mention the quality time I had with Jordan and Jen! Jordan and Jen live just a few walking minutes from the Prudential Center in downtown Boston, so everything was within easy walking or subway distance. Jordan works at the Top of the Hub on the 52nd floor of the Prudential Center, so we had dinner up there one night (while Jordan worked). We also walked around the 50th-floor Skywalk Observatory, so I could see all the sights in Boston. Boston has a Tall Girls Shop!!! so I forced Jordan to go there with me, so I could pick out some new pants for work. Jordan does a fabulous job of giving his opinion on clothes! We ate sushi one night, and we also had a great Italian dinner at Lucia on the North End. I had such a fun time and was so thankful that I got a chance to know Jen better and spend time with my bro. I was very sad that I had to come back to Tulsa. :(

Now, its back into the swing of things here at work. I don't have a lot going on right now in the business office, but I'm sure things will pick up as we start to wind down the school year and start to prepare for next fall. I'm pretty sure I'm going to help coach BK volleyball next year, so I will have additional camps and responsibilities this summer. I'm already trying to get everything scheduled and mapped out for the summer. I'm really sad that I won't be lifeguarding this summer (for the first time in 9 years!), but there's just not enough time.

The kitties are living large! They still like to snuggle with me and sleep on my lap and play, play, play! They are quite the jumpers - they like to hang out on top of my kitchen cabinets. I am soooooooooo glad I have them. They aren't too much trouble, and I love coming home to them. They have gotten to be scardy-cats around other people though, which is a habit I'm going to have to break. Maybe an Easter trip to see the "grandparents" (haha Mom and Dad) will help.

Well, I guess that's about it as far as updates go... I hope you're enjoying this year's March Madness! I'll be cheering on my Jayhawks tonight and hoping that my bracket picks win. On a side note, I think the UConn women are pretty much unstoppable - if you want to watch good basketball, you should watch them play on Sunday and Tuesday.

TGIF!!!

Happy New Year!

Hellooooooooooooo!

Well, I have successfully put off blogging for almost 3 months! Boo! But now, its a new year, and I am determined to be a more regular blogger. I have tried numerous times over the years to start a journal to record my daily life events (just like my Mom) :), but that never seems to last longer than a week or 2. So, here's another attempt... I'm sure my posts will still be sporadic, but I am going to try!

The biggest change in my life over the past several months is that I no longer live alone! That's right, I have 2 furry roommates. They are 2 adorable male kitties, who go by the names of Mowgli and Mayan. Mowgli - from the Jungle Book - because the Jungle Book took place in India (where I traveled with Athletes in Action) and I love the name. Mayan - after the Riviera Maya in Mexico (my all-time favorite vacay place) - because Maya sounded too feminine for a male cat. Here's a picture of my cuddily roommates; Mowgli is the grey tabby and Mayan is the orange tabby.

Cats are perfect apartment companions - especially for someone like me who isn't around most of the day. Every day, I look forward to getting home to play with them and to let them sleep on my lap. I took them with me to Kansas for a week over Christmas, and my parents loved them. They are very playful and funny, but they also don't mind being held and loved on. I think I have officially become a cat lover!

I hope your 2009 has gotten off to a great start, and I hope you will be reading more on my blog this year!!

ST. LOUIS

I spent this past weekend in St. Louis with the Malones: Rodney, Gina, Will, EJ, Michael, and Yuri! I had a great time seeing everyone (dogs included), playing with the kids (of course!), eating fabulous Thai food (for the first time), getting smoked at Tiger Woods wii golf (thanks, EJ and Michael), watching Mexican league futbol (Rodney tried to hurt people, lol), and drinking tea from Paraguay. I did not so much enjoy watching football - as both the Sooners and Broncos lost - even though the corned beef hash was yummy and meeting new people was fun.

Here are some pics of the ADORABLE children - I don't think I took very many pictures of anyone else. ;)

I think that pretty much sums up my weekend. I'm already planning my next visit and wishing I just lived in St. Louis!!

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Blocked! and Sushi!!

Well, they have blocked blogspot at work (because it is a "social network"), so now I have to keep up with everyone's activities (including blogging about my own) at home. Boo!! I never have free time at home! Reading other people's blogs gave me a quick break from the mundate, and now I have one less thing to look forward to at work. :( I am not happy about this!

Anyway, on a happier note: I went out for sushi last Friday night with my friend Alicia! Now, I'm sure you have an opinion about sushi - I used to think sushi sounded disgusting. However, after I started to like seafood a lot more (remember, I'm from Kansas - no oceans), I was willing to try sushi. It turns out that it is REALLY GOOD and I LOVE IT. Of course, its kind of expensive, so I've only been out for sushi about 4 times. In Tulsa, the best place to eat sushi is In the Raw, and my favorite thing to get is the Keaton Roll with shrimp, cream cheese, avocado, and spicy sauce, in soy paper (its green). I also like the Tempura Roll with deep-fried shrimp, avocado, and cucumber. This visit I also ordered the Candy Roll with shrimp, snow crab, avocado, and spicy sauce rolled in sesame seeds. YUM! Alicia and I shared the sushi on the left and couldn't finish it all.

To finish this post, I'll leave you with a recent picture of me and my friend Jessica. I mentioned Jess a few weeks ago because I went to Kansas City for her baby shower. She and her husband, Luke, had their little baby girl, Ella Grace, on September 12. She is an adorable, healthy baby, and I can't wait to meet her in person!

Have a great week everybody!

And eat some sushi!!!

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

Yep, that's me! Always busy trying to juggle all of my jobs and responsibilities! It has been several weeks since I've posted, so I thought I would update you on my life. The most exciting news is that I have another job! In addition to my full time job at Bishop Kelley (working in the business office and coaching basketball), I am teaching a GRAD accounting class at ORU! This class meets every Monday night for 2.5 hours, and we have had 4 weeks of classes already. I am absolutely LOVING it! While I definitely knew that teaching would be in my future, I never dreamed I would be teaching this year, especially at the college level, and a grad class at that. I have definitely had my anxious moments, but mostly it has been a great experience. I have a small class of 14 students which allows for lots of open discussion and group learning. I also have a great "mentor" teacher who is teaching the same class at the same time. Normally, he would be teaching all of the grad accounting students, but the enrollment was too high for one class, so ORU brought me on board literally at the last minute. I thank God for this awesome opportunity and for giving me the courage to pursue it. :)


Let's see... what else is going on? Well, I'm currently driving my parents' car. My car had been acting weird on sudden stops, so I left it in McPherson last weekend to get checked out. It is getting fixed and should be fine in a few days. Also, while home in Mac, my parents and I went to the Kansas State Fair, which is a long-standing Fithian family tradition. The weather was cool and damp, but we had fun anyway. We saw the butter sculpture, bought honey sticks, ate at Krehbel's, watched Ron Diamond the hypnotist, and rode on the Ye Olde Mill ride. All in all, a very fun day!

On a final note, I am really enjoying the cooler fall weather! This whole week is supposed to be super nice and I am looking forward to spending some evenings outside... or inside with my patio door open. Another reason I'm glad to see the start of fall: FOOTBALL SEASON!!! GO BRONCOS!!!

What are you looking forward to in the months to come?

Recent Events

WARNING: BORING POST AHEAD


Okay, my only reason for writing this post is so that I can remember the highlights of what I did during the past week or so.

Tuesday, July 29: Guest Free Day at the MeadowBrook Pool - complete with a blow-up water slide, clowns, temporary tattoos, and games. Basically, madness for 5 hours.

Sunday, August 3: Trip to Kansas City to see Jessica (a former ORU basketball teammate) and Luke Spencer-Gardner and attend Jessica's baby shower. They're expecting their first baby - Ella Grace - on September 7.

Monday, August 4: Shopping in KC and lunch at Spin Neapolitan Pizza with Jessica before driving back to Tulsa. Jessica tipped me off to the deliciousness of Blue Chip Cookies! Fabulous!! We also had our "end-of-summer" MeadowBrook lifeguard dinner at Hideaway Pizza, which is probably my favorite restaurant. I LOVE pizza!

Friday, August 8: My first official work day at Bishop Kelley. I sold parking permits and yearbooks to all the students - hectic, hectic morning!

I think that's pretty much it. Other than that I just worked at the pool, took care of a golden retriever puppy, babysat, and taught swim lessons. Exciting stuff I know! School starts at Bishop Kelley on Monday and my parents are coming to visit next weekend, so good times are in the future.

Weekend in Omaha

I spent this past weekend in Omaha, Nebraska at Creighton University. We (that is, the head coach, the other assitant coach, and I) took our Bishop Kelley varsity basketball team to team camp. We left at 4 am on Friday (yes, that is EARLY) and drove the school's big bus north to Omaha. It took about 8 hours, but we stopped numerous times for breakfast, lunch, and bathroom breaks. Really it wasn't a bad drive, and we got to the campus in plenty of time for our first game.

The fun started as soon as we arrived on campus! The first eventful situation occurred when our bus stalled out while we were going uphill towards our dorm. It just stopped and wouldn't go forward. Every time our coach took his foot off the brake, we just slid backwards! Not a good situation! If we kept going backwards we would eventually slide into a busy intersection. We had no idea what to do. So our coach did the only thing possible: he turned off the bus and restarted it and wouldn't you know it, as soon as he pushed the accelerator, we made it up the hill! Thank God!!

We played 3 games on Friday afternoon/evening and played fairly well, especially since we have only had 3 short practices with the girls since taking over the program. On Saturday, we played 6 games, including a game against one of the top teams in Nebraska and one of the top teams in Iowa. We lost both those games, but only by a little. We also found out that the bus had an electrical short or something and had reverted to "limp" mode, which is why it stopped working! The repair shop would not be able to repair it over the weekend, so we had to find alternate return plans. Oh the joys of traveling on a school bus!

Finally, Saturday afternoon brought about one of the scariest incidents that has occurred in all the years I have been a lifeguard. I received a voicemail from the lifeguard I had left in charge while I was gone. All she said was, "Jamie, please call me as soon as possible," and I could definitely tell she was crying. After getting a hold of her and talking to both her and my boss at the country club, I learned that a 2-year old boy had slipped into the pool unnoticed by his parents and my lifeguards. They (the boy's father and my lifeguards) pulled him out approximately 20 seconds later, and he was not breathing. One of my lifeguards grabbed the breathing mask and was going to start rescue breathing, but his mother started in first. After his mother (a nurse) tried to give him 3 breaths, he started coughing, and began breathing on his own. In the meantime, my other lifeguard called 9-1-1 and alerted the general manager. I don't know the details of what happened next, but I do know that the boy ended up being fine. Of course my lifeguards were very shaken (especially the one I left in charge because she reacts to bad situations much in the same way I do - blaming herself and constantly thinking how it could have been prevented), and I felt bad that I wasn't there to at least offer comfort and counseling. I did have several conversations with both lifeguards throughout the evening to make sure they were okay, to assure them that they did what they were supposed to do, and that regardless of what happened before, they DID save a life. Wow, the things I have learned to do on this job! I'm glad God was watching over this situation!

So, back to basketball... we played 2 more games on Sunday morning and the girls were exhausted! We rented a 15-passenger van and a Chrysler Pacifica to drive back to Tulsa. I got to drive the Pacifica all the way home! Wahoo! I love driving long distances, but I found out that driving is way more fun when you're actually with other people (that's a rarity for me). We ended up with a record of 8-3 during the weekend and all of our losses were close. We came from behind to win one of the Sunday games, which showed me that the girls have a never-say-die attitude. I also got to know the girls and the other assistant coach a lot better. We assigned the girls' roommates and told them to interview each other and learn 10 new facts about the other person. On the way home we stopped at Chili's for "linner" (lunch-dinner), and all of the girls shared what they had learned about their roommate. I also got to spend a great deal of time listening to the girls in my car talk (we had 2 different groups of 3) and learned some more things about those girls and the school. We finally got back to Tulsa at 8:15 Sunday night.

Overall, it was a fast-paced and super-fun weekend (except for the pool incident)! I had been looking forward to this weekend for several weeks, and it was as much fun as I expected it would be! Now, it is back to the real world (i.e. swim lessons, pool managing, and no basketball :( ) for a few weeks. Now more than ever I can't wait for the pool season to be over, but alas, it doesn't close for over a month yet.

Thanks for reading about my long and eventful weekend! I'll try to keep it shorter next time...