Our Second Day in Venice - Day Trip to Florence

Our second day in Venice, we planned a day trip to Florence.  We woke up early, as we usually do, and made the walk to our train.  We stopped by San Marcos square first and it was our first time getting to see the city during the day.  We got lost on a different part of the city.

We really got a chance to see the canals and alleys, and each turn offers its own unique views of the city.  We grabbed a quick sandwich at the train station and then took the 2-hour train ride to Florence.  

We spent the next few hours literally walking all around the city.  We like history, but we aren't the biggest history buffs.  Seeing the monuments, cathedrals, statues, and museums from the outside were good enough for us - especially with the lines that is required to get in most.

We enjoyed seeing all of the cool views.  One of the toughest but most rewarding things we did was travel up to the top of the hill across the river to get a good view of the entire city.  When we got to the top, there was a group of women running together and having some kind of celebration at the top.

On our walk down, we tried to walk through as many streets and alleys as we could, and we felt like we saw the entire city before getting on the train to head back.  When we got to Florence, we ate a really cool sandwich spot that was highly recommended and when we left we got a quick bite from McDonald's.

When we got back to Venice, we changed and went to go eat and get lost in the city again.  We were tired from all of the walking, so it was an early night for us.

First Day in Venice

We are just getting back from our Spring Break trip to Venice, Italy.  It was too much fun!  Walking in and out of the back alleys of Venice, finding cool local spots, the wine, and our side trips to Florence and Turin for a Champion's League Juventus game against Atletico Madrid was a bucket list type trip.  

We flew in on a Saturday, and after taking a boat taxi from the airport to the main island, we had our first 25-minute walk through the streets, getting lost with each turn!  We arrived at our hotel right off of a canal not far from San Marco's square.  

We quickly changed and made another 25-minute walk to our first spot to eat - Al Timon.  This was a place frequented by the locals (one of our favorite things to do is experience cities like the locals do.)  It had a really cool atmosphere and many of the customers bought smaller appetizers and wine and enjoyed them on the boat right on the canal.

We got a large t-bone steak that sat right on a big wood-board.  It came with sides like fried potato chips, grilled zucchini, pineapples, and broccoli.  They also brought out these AMAZING sauces to go with it.

This place also introduced us to two new drinks.  We knew we would get more than our share of wine, but two favorite drinks of the locals are an orange spritz and a yellow limoncello.

We finished the night exploring the city while walking back to our hotel.  Great way to start the trip.

Day 27 of 365

Lex had her basketball game.  It was a good day.  She played well and they won.  Over the last week, she has really started to practice a lot more and really work on her game.  She has been watching these 'No Days Off Videos' that have really motivated her to work on her game.  

There are a series of them that cover different kids who are excelling at different sports.

We capped off the day with an early dinner with Alyssa's parents at Blue Goose.

Day 25 and 26. 100 Day of School and Super Saturdays

 Day 25 of 365.  100 Day of School.  London-Mila getting out of the car for school with her 100th day of school poster.

Day 26 of 365.  Soccer games and indoor pool parties.

Day 24: Change is Inevitable; The Dots Connect; Beat-Downs Work

I am a week away from embarking on my second journey into educational administration.  This time, I will be an assistant principal at an intermediate school that is home to 5th and 6th graders.  

This is the second time that I am stepping away from coaching, and the first time that this change was initiated by me, so this time carries a little more pressure.

Pressure to be successful.  Pressure to find joy and happiness.  Pressure to find purpose.  Pressure to belong.  Pressure to make it work.

I am nervous.  I am nervous in the way that all people get when they experience change.  But I am also nervous about what this means for my family; especially my 3 little girls.

Last night as I was tucking London-Mila in bed, the last thing she asked me was when my next basketball game was.  I am used to Lex asking questions like this, but this made me realize how much my little one’s love coming to my games.  I would LOVE if my kids grew up in the gym watching daddy coach and cheering on daddy’s team.  For time and mental health reasons, I just can’t keep doing it right now. 

I hope that I am making the right decision.  I am holding onto faith that my dots are connecting like they are supposed to.  One thing that popped into my mind is that while I feel that I am a ‘good’ coach and basketball has been my entire life, for my entire life, what if I am trading ‘good’ for ‘great.’ 

I am not saying that I am expecting to be a great administrator.  What I am saying is that maybe I am trading a ‘good’ life for a great one.  One in which I will have more time and freedom (and mental freedom) to do more and live more and experience more personally, professionally, and with the fam-bam.

I have been doing these ‘posts a day’ all year, and today (yesterday) I posted this video of Diddy talking about how life and your purpose is ever changing.  You have to be willing and able to redesign and clarify your purpose in a changing world.

That is what I am doing.  Wish me luck!

Day 15, 16, and 17 of 365. Basketball game, Black Panther and Soccer Practice!

During basketball season, the days run together and my schedule doesn't always allow me to find the time to post.  Well, what I have to continue to do is learn how to prioritize and organize and live my life in a way that does allow me to do so.

Day 15, I had a game against Sachse.  It was tough.  We got beat, but it walking into these two in the hallway makes it a little better:

Day 16, was a chill day.  Wednesdays are the ONLY night that we don't have anything to do.  No basketball games, no basketball practice, and no soccer practices.  So, its usually family time.  Lex started feeling restless, and she kept walking in and out of the living room, each time she had another layer of her Black Panther costume on.  Of course, it culminated in her attacking me with her nerf gun:

Day 17 was simple.  Thursday nights are one of my favorite nights of the week.  I love being able to take Lex to soccer practice and be able to just sit back and watch her play and not coach.  She works hard, she plays with passion, and you can easily see how much she loves being with her friends at practice:

Day 14 of 365: Rufus at Home Video Solutions is THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS!

Day 14 of 365.

Last night, downtown Dallas, walking out of the Dallas Mavericks game, I thought, 'I really dont want to wake up and go to work in the morning,' then I realized that I don't have too.

I capped a great Sunday with a day off Monday.  What's even better is that I get to back door this 4 day week with one next week by having Monday off.

After relaxing, I re-re-re--re-started my favorite show, Entourage.  I'm on episode 3 which has one of my favorite scenes ever:

Finished the day with basketball practice with my young shooters.  We are bouncing back from the first of very few losses and we responded well.  We even had some old school, Chicago Bulls vs Bostob Cektics match-ups.  

I told Kyrie and MJ that I had to get a picture of them together and of course the teammates wanted to jump in too.  

Lex had a good practice.  We were working on beating your girl, not stopping and getting all the way to the basket.  She had one really good finish on a layup with contact.  Her reaction to finishing was priceless lol.

Back to the grind tomorrow. 

Day 13 of 365 - Mavs vs GSW Game

Last night took an L, but tonight we bounced back could describe our day.  Lex lost a tough basketball game last night.  We don’t lose a lot of basketball games.  We don’t lose any basketball games.  But, we lost last night.

We are a true sports family.  We have basketball goals in our house, balls everywhere, and the stains on the wall for decoration.  We love it, but the downside are the losses, and we take them hard.

Lex lost her basketball game, and then the Cowboys lost their playoff game, so that was 2 tough losses back to back.

We all woke up in a funk, Lex included, and needed to get out and get some retail therapy.  We got some things from Kirkland’s and ended up at the Mavs game that night!

We had GREAT seats and it was a GREAT game.  Luka did his thing, but so did Steph going for 48 and getting the win.

Not a bad way to bounce back from a rough night.

Day 12 of 365 - Wins and Losses

This was posted on 1/14/2k19 but was written on Saturday night 2 days earlier.

2k19 Day 12 of 265.  Today, we lost a basketball game.  We don’t lose a lot of games, and we definitely don't lose a lot of basketball games.

This is Lex’s 4th season playing basketball, and she has played in one other tournament.  Tonight was only our 2nd career loss and the first since our first season 2 years ago. So losing is not something that we are used too.  But losing can be one of the best things that happens to a kid.

Character is built through adversity.  Losing keeps you hungry and humble. Of course I would love for you to never lose and to always be happy and successful and win, but that's just not how the world (and sports) works.  

You will lose.  

You will face adversity.  

You will be disappointed.  

You will experience fear, and you will be tested more than you can imagine.

You will be cheated, and you will be out worked (don’t let it happen too often).  You will be unlucky and you will be outplayed. When it happens, don't get your head down.  Just keep working. Keep punching the clock. Every day.

The more you work and the harder the work, the more you limits the disappointments.  The more you work and the harder you work, the more success you will have. The best are the hardest workers.  The best love the game, love getting better, love growing, and love competing.

You fell in love with the game.  You fell in love with winning. Now, you have to fall in love with competing.  You have to fall in love with the process - the process of working hard to get better, handling success with humility and losing with pride.

Losing hurts, but it is part of the game.  The next part of the game is working hard at improving your deficiencies so that you can come back stronger, better and ready.

Daddy loves you.

And it didn't help that our Cowboys lost too ....

And your soccer game is really coming along!!!