Monica snapped this photo during our recent trip to Corpus Christi. She and Elijah were watching themselves in the side mirror... Elijah is fascinated by mirrors...!
Today I have lessons in Nassau Bay and Seabrook... This morning I have lots of blogging to do, websites to update and emails to send and receive... Tomorrow I have lessons until 2 PM then I'll be taking the afternoon off...! Yea..!
Today I'm trying to get caught uo on data entry for my tournaments. One day I'll have a good part time helper for this but that day is not today...!
Until then, I have precious little time to blog here. I did blog extensively about my time management issues in my prayer blog this morning if you care to take a read go to http://coachsamsprayerjournal.blogspot.com
I'm going to post some connor and Elijah photos this morning to... Their blogs are:
http://Elijahchadwell.blogspot.com and http://connorcopeland.blogspot.com
Sorry that's it for now... No time for chit chat today...! SC
I'm making a run into Houston first thing this morning to pick up some supplies for my tennis shop... Then I've got to string some racquets, and spend a good portion of my afternoon online answering email messages and returning phone calls.
I have lessons today from 3 to 8:30 PM, then I can allow myself an hour and a half to relax with the family before bed...!
That's it. This is one of those days where I just have to get stuff done. I'm going to have Elijah with me today for my road trip. Hopefully that will free up Monica to get some work done in the office.
Well, I gotta run... As I said it's a very tight schedule today.
Coach Sam
The weather is not good today...! And we've discovered that when we get a ton of rain in 15-20 minutes that our cul de sac floods really bad. Of course water wasn't even close to coming in our house, but our street was impassable for about 45 minutes to an hour.
Monica came to rescue Elijah and I from the tennis shop because we had walked up there earlier this morning. We had to leave her car parked at the mail center and walk across the street because of the high water on the Inverness Lane cul de sac...
But we're home now, safe and sound and dry! I'm going to hang here at the house the rest of the day and work on my websites. This is a great day for that kind of work...!
I may post some more photos later today...
Bye for now... SC
I haven't published a kitty photo in a while... In case anyone was wondering, Hobbes and Gabriel are doing fine... They are big snake hunters now....! Here's a photo of them resting on Connor's bed...
I promised Monica that tonight was the last night I'd work on tennis stuff after I got home in the evening. (It's so easy to just get caught up in an endless cycle of work...) From now on when I get home in the evening, that time is strictly family time. I mean after all, I'm working hard to provide a certain quality of life for my family, right...? And if I spend all my time working or thinking about work I'm sort of defeating that purpose, aren't I...? I want a quality of life for myself, too...!
It's already way past midnight so it's officially Tuesday. I'm going to blog for about another 30 minutes or so... Then get some sleep so I can get right back in to work about 5 AM... I want to get all my work done early so I can help Monica out by watching Elijah most of the day... That's going to be our pattern for awhile until Elijah gets older and can play by himself for longer periods of time.
Monica is probably more behind on office stuff than I am. My plan is to really start doing a better job of preparing work for my part time help to assist me with. That will free me up to watch Elijah more and allow Monica to get caught up on her stuff. And it all starts with me cranking up my productivity tonight.
Coke Zero's have got me caffeinated awake right now, but I shouldn't have any trouble dropping off to sleep after my head hits the pillow a few minutes from now... My eyes are burning so I need to go to bed soon...
I've spent the past two hours working on my summer tennis program brochure. It's looking very good. It will be ready for the printer tomorrow morning...!
I'm trying to get my blogging out of the way now so I can just do my devotional when I awaken and then dive right back in to work....
There are a couple of important items to note regarding today:
That's about it for now... Thanks for reading my journal...
Until next time, Bye for now.
Coach Sam
Here's a photo of a recent road trip to Corpus Christi. This photo was taken in the parking lot of the HEB Tennis Center in Corpus during a college tournament. Elijah is a big Texas Tech fan...!
This photo documents Elijah's first experience with the wind in Corpus Christi...!
Today... I'm working out of my house today. I'm going to blog alot, work on my websites, and complete some flyers for summer programs... I'm only on the court this afternoon and evening from 5:30 to 8:30 PM and that suits me fine because I've been nursing a sore throat for days now...
This past Weekend... The Raveneaux Junior Gran Prix Toiurnament went well. The weather was spectacular... I had an event at the Columbia Lakes Country Club Sunday afternoon that was well attended and very successful....
Tomorrow... I really can't think that far ahead yet....!
This post comes to you late in the evening, almost early in the morning... I'm waiting for Monica and Elijah to get home from their trip to Tennessee... Monica's flight was delayed on departure but I just spoke to her on the phone and she's enroute home now and should be here in about 20-30 minutes... Her trip was successful...! That is a blessing. And all I need now to make the day complete is their safe arrival home!
I was uncomfortable letting them travel without me. I do not intend to let this family be split up like that again...!
The day here pretty much flew by very quickly... This morning Connor and I cleaned up the house for Monica and Elijah's return and then we went to Clear Lake for lessons this afternoon... We didn't get home ourselves tonight until about 9:30 PM...
Right now I'm pretty wiped out physically and am ready for bed. That's about it.... I'll post more tomorrow!
Coach Sam
Dear Heavenly Father,
I just lift up my sweet wife today as she goes before a judge in Tennessee to deal with some legal matters regarding Connor's estate. Season her words, dear Lord I pray.
I pray Your Will be done in this situation, Father. And bless her trip home with Elijah this afternoon. I pray that she is able to take an early flight home and that she and Elijah make it home safely and quickly.
Oh Lord, this is utmost on my prayer list today. I Thank You for being the Great Big God You are. I love You and Praise You my King. I give this day to You, Jesus. And in Your sweet, holy name I pray,
Amen.
I was awakened at 12:01 AM by a phone call to my cell phone. It rang only one time and there was no voicemail. The caller ID said it was the security person for the tennis club I work for... I tried to call the security person back and got voicemail so I put my clothes on and drove over to the tennis shop fearing the worst...
But everything was fine at the tennis shop, so I went to the front desk and they hadn't heard anything from security. I left another voice mail and then came home... It's 1:24 AM and I'm fully awake pondering the mystery call... Oh well, I guess I'll find out sooner or later...
Probably later....
So, this evening I had to stop lessons an hour early. It was so cold with the wind chill that I couldn't feel my toes or fingers... That was not good...
I came home and took Connor to dinner and then went to bed before 10 PM, looking forward to catching up on some much needed sleep... Anyway, that didn't work out due to the mystery phone call. But I'm about to call it a night/morning and try to go to sleep again.
More later....
Coach Sam
I've been up since 3:30 AM.... Monica and Elijah just left for the airport for their trip to Tennessee... Monica has to deal with some legal matters regarding Connor's Father's estate. She and Elijah won't be back until tomorrow evening very late....
They've been gone only 5 minutes and I already miss them terribly. This is the first time we haven't been together since Elijah was born.... Monica promised to call me alot... That's good. I'll need that!
But I've got a very full day today and tomorrow, myself.
I'm really out of control with all my work... I've got to get an assistant pro fast...! My life is just work, work work... And that's got to change.
Sigh...
Well, I have to work on the Gran Prix tournament this morning, and then I have to send a bunch of emails out for lessons and program correspondence. Then I have to string a few racquets. Then I travel to League City this afternoon for lessons from 2 to 8 PM... Then I have an hour's drive home. How's that for a day...?
Tomorrow might be even more busy and crazy.... We'll see... Sadly, I don't have time to compose any more this morning... I want to make a quick post on Elijah's Blog and the HPTA Blog before I head up to the club...
More tonight or first thing in the morning...!
Coach Sam
I've got no time today for writing blogs... Sorry... I'm doing double duty with work and watching Elijah. I can't compose at this keyboard very quickly with only one hand. (The other hand is holding the baby...)
This morning I'm working on the Raveneaux tournament, trying to get it completed by 8 PM so Monica can take it with her to deliver it after a meeing she has later this morning...
Perhaps I'll have some time this afternoon to post if the baby takes a nap... Otherwise I'll try it again tomorrow....
Bye for now.... Coach Sam
I gave myself the morning off from lessons this morning to rest up a bit from last week's spring break festivities. All in all the camps went well and the spring open tournament was successful, too.
There's not much else to report. I've been completey consumed with the tournament the past 72 hours. Today I've got stuff to do but over all I'm taking it easy today. As I type this, Elijah and I are watching Sesame Street...
Oh, the kitties killed a little grass snake in the house this morning... That was some excitement... Elijah is crawling very well now and is starting to get strong enough to pull himself up. We think he'll be walking before long...
I'm probably going to post a bunch of photos from the tournament very soon... Stay tuned...
More later... Bye for now.... Coach Sam
Here's a nice photo of daddy and son... Although he's seated here, Elijah is now in full crawl mode. He's very wiggly and mobile. If you want to more photos of Elijah, he's got his own photo blog...
Check out: http://elijahchadwell.blogspot.com
Yesterday was a blur... Today will be busy... And the forecast for tomorrow...?
More Busy....!
Yesterday, March 15... Was busier than I thought it would be... One of my Camp counsler's couldn't make it to help me with Spring Break Camp and I had to improvise... It went well, but was just a little stressful for me... I spent the afternoon working on my tournament this weekend and the Raveneaux tournament next weekend. I took Monica and Connor and Elijah to dinner and we got some components for my camcorder so I can video the tennis camp today.
Today, March 16... I'm up early as usual. After blogging I'll spend the rest of the morning working on the tournaments right up until the camp starts. I also need to string two racquets before camp starts. There is a chance of rain today. Normally I don't hope for rain on camp days but I could make up the camp tomorrow so I'm cool if it rains this morning.
Tomorrow March 17... I'm sleeping in.... No matter what happens, I'm sleeping in... No alarm clock, no nothing... Expect a later post than usual tomorrow.
That's the report.... Bye for now... Coach Sam
Remember how I said this was going to be a tough, busy week...?
Remember how I said that sometimes my journal would only be a sentence or two due to time restraints...?
Well, this is definitely one of those days...
Take care... See you tomorrow...!
Coach Sam
Remember how I said this was going to be a tough, busy week...?
Remember how I said that sometimes my journal would only be a sentence or two due to time restraints...?
Well, this is definitely one of those days...
Take care... See you tomorrow...!
Coach Sam
Yep, today is the day... It's the deadline for two tournaments I have coming up this weekend and next weekend. Hopefully I'll have many entries in the mail and online today because early registration has not been as big as I had hoped for...
Still, it will all go well... All I can do is do the best that I can... Give it my best effort... And I can honestly say that I have done that...! Six PM is the deadline... I'll bet I have a ton of calls emails and phone calls today pleading for grace and mercy...!
I'm starting my day on court at 10 AM with my Spring Break Camp... That runs until 2 PM then I'll spend the rest of the day working on tournaments and the club singles league I've started.
Yesterday was strange... We had the most bizarre weather pattern I've ever seen. The morning started off warm and muggy, and a little foggy at 8 AM... By 9:30 it was drizzling rain and we had to stop the ladies drill a few minutes early because the courts were too slick.
I had to go in the tennis shop to get some flyers for camp registration and when I went inside I noticed that the shop was a little warm and stuffy so I turned on the air conditioning. When I stepped back outside, (and this entire effort took less than 60 seconds...) A cold north wind was whipping through the tennis center and everyone was shivering at the gazebo... The temperature had dropped about 20-25 degrees...! Then it tried to rain some more... Then by Noon the sun came out and it was calm again and beautiful the rest of the afternoon...
All I can say it was AMAZING....
Tomorrow it will all start getting a bit easier for me... I'll have to get the bulk of my work done today... Tomorrow will be finishing up the draws and following up with people...
That's about it. Thursday and Friday should be the calm before the STORM...!
More later... Coach Sam
This is one of those days where I won't have a spare moment... I'm on the court straight through today with lessons from 8:15 AM until 2 PM... Then I'll have a few hours of office time, and then Monica and I are heading to Houston to pick up some supplies and go to a tennis meeting...
I have lots to work on regarding my upcoming tournaments. Lots of phone calls to make, lots of email messages to compose and return... It will be a mad dash to the finish line...
Yesterday was a very nice day for the Chadwell Family... Praise the Lord...! We sure needed one of those...!
Tomorrow will really be a key day as I pull two tournaments together. I have my own Spring Open March 18-19 and then I have an HPTA Junior Gran Prix at Raveneaux Country Club the following weekend, March 25-26. Both deadlines are Tuesday afternoon at 6 PM....!
More tomorrow morning.... Bye for now....! Coach Sam
I've been up awhile writing in my prayer journal. I just want to make a quick post here this morning. I'm looking forward to an awesome day today.
Yesterday, Saturday March 11... I had a full day of lessons, stringing racquets, and working on making calls and sending email messages for my upcoming events. It was a busy, full day...!
Today, Sunday March 12...I'm up early and am going to get caught up on data entry for some upcoming tournaments. I'm very much looking forward to listening to Dr Charles Stanley's Sunday morning sermon broadcast at 8 AM. We're attending church this morning at 10:45 AM and have invited our good friends the Davidson's to join us. Afterwards I have a tennis social for juniors this afternoon, then we're taking the Davidson's out to dinner tonight. It should be a good and fun, relaxing family day... This is what I live for...!
Tomorrow, Monday March 13... I have a big day of lessons and a camp. There's a pretty good sign up so far and my assistant from last year, Vanessa is on spring Break and she's going to help me. Afterwards Monica and I are going to Houston in the evening for a meeting.
That's the update... Bye for now...! -Coach Sam
Early Morning for Coach Sam:
OK... Wow... I did it... I'm finally up early and will spend the next 4 hours marketing for my upcoming tennis events. I've been meaning to do this for the past week but I've had such a difficult schedule and been so tired I simply haven't been able to get up early and crank it out.
I love the early morning hours. I used to always get up at 4 AM and do my bible study and devotional, but this past year has been such a blur I've been getting to bed later and later and just haven't been able to keep up physically with the demands of my schedule. But today I'm in 'the Zone'. Today I'll get an amazing amount of correnspondence sent off.
Later Today:
I have lessons this morning from 9 AM to Noon, then 1 to 2 PM. After that I may hit a little bit with some members and try to work on my own tennis game. (boy do I need it...) Then the rest of the afternoon I'll be making follow up phone calls for my camp and tournaments next week.
Well, it's almost 4 AM and I need to get on with my prayer journal so I'd better close here...
If you have a chance, check out my new website: http://chadwelltennis.com
I've recently added some new content....
Bye for now... Coach Sam
I can't remember when I took this photo I think it was during spring break one year ago. But I've always liked this photo. And it signifies how I feel about today. Today I'm taking off from lessons to get caught up, to rest, and reorganize. A rainbow often forms after a bad storm. I feel like my life has been a thuderstorm much the past two weeks. I'm looking forward to a good productive day here at home.
Today: Friday, March 10:
I'm staying home today and will get caught up on marketing, returning phone calls and answering email correspondence. Believe me, it will take all day to wade through the pile up...!
Yesterday: Tournament Day:
I spent the entire day at the tennis shop with a high school tournament. I strung seven racquets and visited with a lot of people about spring break activities. I practiced tennis with my wife late last night around 8:30 PM. I went to bed not feeling very well. I've been fighting a stiff neck and flu-like symtoms for over a week now. It was a long day. I was at the tennis shop for about 12 hours.
This weekend:
I've got lessons Saturday morning and early afternoon and a junior tennis social Sunday aftermoon. We're going to try to go to church at FBC West Columbia this Sunday.
That's about it for now... I need to update a Elijah's and Connor's blogs and then get to work on my own stuff.
I'll probably take tomorrow morning off from blogging. I'll check in again on Sunday. Thanks for reading Coach Sam's Journal!
Today: Thursday, March 9
I'll be at the Tennis Proshop all day. My Club is a site for the West Columbia High School tennis tournament. I always get excited when there's a high school tournament at my courts. The High Schoolers are always so enthusiastic. I love making new contacts. I usually string a bunch of racquets during these events. And now that I have actual merchandise in my shop perhaps it will be a good day for sales...
When I'm not working with the tournament participants I'll be spending my spare time marketing for upcoming events at Columbia Lakes. All in all, I'm looking forward to a good productive day.
Yesterday, Wednesday, March 8
Boy was it windy here yesterday. And the fact that our club does not have wind screens made it almost impossible to play tennis at our courts yesterday. Well, it wasn't impossible to play, but it was nearly impossible to enjoy playing. I did actually have one lesson cancel because of the wind... But other than that it was a good day. I still had a great turn out for my group lessons. I was on the court yesterday from 4 to 8:30 PM without a break and I was worn out at the end of that teaching segment. Before I went to bed last night I watched the TV show American Idol. I've really enjoyed that show this season and that's unusual for me because I hardly ever watch anything on TV. But I enjoy singing so much I guess that's why the show interests me.
Anyway, I went to bed by 10 PM and got up early at 4 AM to start my new day... And here I am...!
Tomorrow and the weekend... Hopefully if the weather holds out and we don't get rain today and the tournament here today gets completed then I'll be teaching in Nassau Bay with my home school programs all Friday afternoon. We'll see.... If it does get rained out today then I'll have to cancel Friday lessons to be here while they make up today's tournament tomorrow. Then I have a full weekend of lessons and hitting at Columbia Lakes this weekend.
While I'm out there on a daily basis working my tail off to provide a nice life for my family, these kitties are totally living in the lap of luxory. Here they are during an afternoon nap laying on the chaise lounge atop a number of soft pillows... I think these cats have it too good. They don't even have to pay rent or taxes...!
Wednesday, March 8: My day is off to a good start. I awakened early and had my devotional time. That's a key activity to setting the stage for a good day. Now I'm trying to update my blogs... That's another key a good day and it really gets my creative juices flowing. Later this morning I'm going to update my web pages. I didn't get to that yesterday. But I really need to update them so they can help my bisiness. I want to add links to my blog pages to so more people can get a glimpse at the life of Sam Chadwell. I have lessons all afternoon from 3 PM to 8:30 PM but in the mean time I'll be burning up these computer keys...!
Yesterday... It wasn't as productive a day as I had hoped for, and I did have one major setback which I don't want to elaborate on... But It was a good day in that I did get some HPTA entries processed and we had a good league night for the second night of our new club singles league... And I got a good workout, myself! My Weight is down to 222.2. I should be down below 220 in no time especially if I continue to work out like I'm doing...! I want to get down to below 200 lbs for a tournament I'm competing in the first weekend of May. 22 lbs in two months is very possible if I eat right...
Looking Ahead... Tomorrow my club is hosting a High School Tournament. And next week is my Spring Break Camp, then next weekend is my Spring Open Tournament then the weekend after that is the HPTA Gran Prix... Yep... My plate is FULL...!
This might be the last 'lengthy' post for a while... Bye for now... SC
Here's a photo of Baby Elijah and our kitty Gabriel. Once Elijah starts crawling and walking I doubt Gabriel will get as much rest as they do now...!
Today I only have a few lessons and I'll spend the bulk of my day doing marketing for all of my upcoming programs... I'm going to try to spend a good chunk of time working on my websites, too! More later... Coach Sam
I've been unable to blog in days due to the demands of work and fatherhood. Monica's been busy, too. And although it's been an incredible pace we're keeping, I feel pretty good about everything. I just wish I could carve out more time to blog. But it's a delicate balance. And I must continue to get enough sleep or my immune system goes on vacation and I get sick.
Things are getting better, though. I've bitten the bullet and hired some part time high school help to assist me with data entry and work in the tennis shop. This week they should prove especially helpful...!
I have a spring break camp coming up next week and an open tournament here at Columbia Lakes next weekend and then a Gran Prix tournament after that... So it will be a busy month for Coach Sam...
But inspite of the busy-ness, I'll still try to post a little every day... Even if it's just a sentence or two.. But that's it for now. So until next time...
Have an awesome day!
Coach Sam...
