Expectations

I was not excited about going to volleyball last night, and I wasn't excited about staying up late to make shirts for our team.  I was praying for lightning, thunder, hail, anything so that we didn't have to play the game and could go back to our house sooner, eat, do shirts, and have me in bed by 8:30pm.  Fortunately none of that happened.

It was sprinkling when we started the volleyball game, but the weather stayed calm while we played.  It was chilly- I had to wear jeans, a sweatshirt, and shoes again- but actually a pretty nice night.  And it was my best game ever.  I served over the net about 50% of the time, thanks to a teammate's suggestion that I "serve it to the side like they tell you in elementary school".  I actually had one ace because I think the other team was so stunned my serve actually went over the net that no one went for it.  And I successfully passed a few times.  So much more fun to feel like a part of the team and not helpless dead weight just out there to fill a "girl" spot.

Then we came back for t-shirt time.  We had Target brand self-rising crust frozen pizza (cheap and tasty- highly recommended), green salads from lettuce from the garden, watermelon, an chocolate chip cookies.

No pictures of the whole spread, but these guys will have their own post as Getting My MS in Baking Part 2.

Here's my shirt, decorated by my much more artistically inclined teammate.  BTW- Our team name is My Arms Hurt Real Bad and the group we play with is from our church.  I'm planning to write "ouch" on each sleeve once the puffy paint on the back dries.

There was much "had to be there" hilarity, including our team captain decorating the inside of his shirt with fake abs and chest hair, which he promised he would wear inside out if we ever won a game.  There's nothing like good food and good times with good friends.

Which brings me to a little impromptu New Year's Resolution Review.  Two of my goals were to push myself to try new things and to have more get-togethers.  I'm pretty bad at volleyball, but I'm getting better, and I'm definitely enjoying it in a way I wouldn't have expected.  I know I love hosting others, but sometimes I convince myself it's too much work, no one will come, etc.  Obviously that's not true, and this is another data point that I should do it more often.  The point is, I'm not where I want to be with either of these goals, but I'm realizing more and more why they are important to me.

On that note, I'm off to run my last 6-miler before I do a mini-taper for my 10k on Saturday.

A little preview of upcoming posts I have planned:
1. Tackling phyllo dough and other kitchen adventures.
2. MS in Baking Part 2- Chocolate Chip Cookie #10
3. Bellin Run Race Goals/Recap
4. Marathon training plan/goals/etc