So alot has changed for me since my last post in March. I’m unemployed going on 2 full months now. The quote above from a Pharrell song describes how I feel. For years I wished I had a 2 month vacation. I feel like I’m a junior in high school again, since that was the last summer where I didn’t have anything to do. I’m not sure what I did back then without the internet and a PS3. So I’ve moved to a town called Omaha. I kinda followed my girlfriend. I always thought that nobody should ever do that in college, but I guess things change when your 27 & 11/12ths and unemployed. I should be glad I have somebody to follow, and I am. I couldn’t have found somebody more supportive.
I’m not sure how my parents are handeling all this. I talked to my mom for the first time since Monday, yeah this Monday, 2 days ago, and she acts like she hadn’t talked to me for months. She was telling me stories, that I just heard last week. Oh and my dad, not only is he taking this the hardest, he ruptured his patellar tendon moving me and has had to miss the most work he’s missed in 10 years. Now he’s scared to death that he’ll have to go into surgery which would force him to miss the biggest golf tournament of his career. We are planning on golfing in a 4 person, best-ball, bucket tournament at Westwood on 10/7. Which is also his birthday. So it’s been rough couple weeks for him. We got to the point where we were playing golf atleast once a week and now I haven’t played for 3 or 4 weeks.
So back to how this all started. I moved to Omaha, I’m staying with Amy’s mom, jobless, and frustrated out of my mind. I had to/chose to leave my coaching jobs, which was hardest of all, especially soccer. All of my college football buddies would and do make fun of me about it, but I loved getting to know all the girls and then to coach them and give them memories that hopefully will last the rest of their lives. I know I have high school soccer memories. But I have so many more from coaching. It’s hard to believe that I “influenced” about 250 soccer players, I guess that’s not counting retention of players from year to year, but still five years is a big chunk of our lives. And toughest thing is, no matter when you leave a program like that, there are atleast 3 years of players that were planning on playing for you as long as they played. And probably a few more that are glad I’m gone, but I don’t like to think about that. So I’m dying to get back into coaching and being around sports and young people. Hopefully I can get back into it here, but it’s not going to be the same, so it’ll take some getting used to. I left a great group of girls, sorry if any of you ever read this.
This network of people that I have built of from growing up in Newton and have built in the DesMoines area has been massly depleted now that I’m in Omaha. (I’m not even sure if that’s proper english.) The hundreds of people I have coached, worked with and associated with for years is down to about 10 people in the Omaha area and I couldn’t agree more that getting a job is based on networking. Since I had about 4 on the table before I left not counting the additional 2 I left.
The positives are I can’t wait to meet new people and I’m dying to show them how great of a person I am (or atleast I think I am). I can’t wait to get a job and show everybody else why they should have hired me. Then to eventually start a family and finally grow up. Now I’m rambling, but my parents were married when they were 7 years younger than me and my dad was exactly my age when I was born.
So I’ve gone in so many different directions I don’t know how to close, but I’ll try. Stay close with your family, be adaptive to change, enjoy everything you have, but never be content. I love you Mom, Dad, Jessica and Amy. You mean the world to me. Though it’s hard and I know it’s true, I have to keep tellin myself I’m livin the goodlife.