Saturday, December 21, 2019

December 21 – “The New Coach and T.B.T.”


We are into the twenties.  That means Christmas is just a few days away.  And then comes the New Year.  That’s when we get to see all of our kiddos in one place at one time.  No small accomplishment, I might add.  What’s with this growing up and having families of their own and traditions of their own?  Oh, wait.  That’s the whole point, isn’t it?  Go for it, guys.  Have a great little Christmas.  See you next week.

We heard a bit about Josh’s new-found career.  No, not his going back to school.  That doesn’t officially start until sometime in February, I think.  I’m talking about his basketball coaching career that has been on hold since back when they lived in Houston.  Seems he has gently inserted himself into the coaching ranks of Zakary’s Junior High team.  The boys had been having considerable trouble breaking a press against this one rival team.  Their last game had been a disaster with the good guys losing by over thirty points.  Enter the sleeper coach from the sidelines.  Josh volunteered to run practice when the regular coach had to be gone.  And the first thing he taught them was our old press breaker play called Utah.  Named it after the university of the same name.  Fitting, since I learned it by watching them run it on TV.  Well, the boys picked it up in that practice and unveiled against the disaster team.  It worked like a charm.  They good guys scored about 30 points just off running Utah.  The other team was quite discombobulated.  As it turned out, the good guys lost by just three points in a real nail-biter.  Even had a few chances to tie at game’s end, but the shots just didn’t fall.  Nice job, good guys.  And nice job, Coach Josh.

Last night we went to the Christmas party for the administration team of the Galveston Fire Department.  It was a really good turnout, too.  Twenty-eight officials and their wives.  Well, twenty-six plus Chris and me.  It was held at Landry’s Restaurant here on the Island.  Pretty ritzy establishment.  Chris told me I would have to use a knife and fork to eat my fried shrimp.  Yeah … that didn’t happen.  Fried shrimp with tails on demand grabbing by said tail and giving it a good dunking in some ketchup before depositing it in the waiting receptacle that is my mouth.  That’s what happened.  The entertainment was a group of FD officers singing a rewrite of the Twelve Days of Christmas, reflecting what a typical day in the admin office looks like.  Funny stuff.  The highlight of the day, other than the chatter between the guys and wives, was the white elephant exchange.  It started with everyone holding a gift.  Then the Administrative Assistant, TBT (Read here, True Boss Trish), called out some commands.  “Pass the gifts three times to the left.  Trade with the person across from you.  Answer this trivia question correctly and trade with anyone in the room.”  That went on for a while, until the gifts were thoroughly shaken up.  Then we opened what remained in front of us.  I got a cool hammock.  Chris, however, was not quite so lucky, although she did get two gifts in one.  Taped to the side of her package of adult diapers was a box of hemorrhoidal suppositories.  Wow.  Fortunately the one who brought it tracked her down and pointed out that the receipt was taped to the bottom so she could return it.  So I guess Chris did OK as well.  It was a pretty fun night.  Kudos to Trish for putting it all together.  Jenna, you have some big shoes to fill when Trish REALLY retires in a few weeks …

Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call his name Immanuel.”

Father, thank you for the fire department team - at all levels.  Keep them safe through the holidays and give them some precious family time.  Amen.

No comments: