Peepers

Peepers is a little kitty cat that has been in our family for over four years. She was a stray when she adopted us. She has lived at the Columbia Lakes Tennis Shop for the past couple of years now.

Peepers is just one of four cats in our family. All four are very unique and have distinctly different personalities. Isn't it interesting how pets have different personalities?

I've heard it said that pets often take on the personality of their owners but I don't know if that is necessarily true. -I wish that I cold sleep for just one fourth of the amount of time that my cats sleep...!

Coach Sam's Life -Back to Blogging

Sadly, I have let too much time slip by since my last post... I'm trying to ease back into blogging. It's my sanity, You know... I feel much more grounded when I blog.



The world can rage around me but I have to blog a little every day or I'll go insane.



The photo above is of me helping Elijah blow out the candles on his birthday cake. He just turned two years old this past Saturday. Isn't that amazing...?



Well, I don't have too much time this morning to spend blogging. But at least this is a start.

More again Soon... (I promise...!)

Back in the BLOG WORLD

OK ... It's been nearly two months since I last blogged. But I'm back now....

I'm about to start the busiest time of my season. But I'm going into the summer with the best assistant tennis staff I've ever had. This should be a good and productive summer...!

I've got a lot of news to report on from the past two months. Story to be continued...!

Post Easter Stuff...

Well, the Easter weekend is just about over. I do feel a little more rested. Friday I enjoyed a nice afternoon with Connor. Saturday I smoked ribs and made a delicious lunch for the family. We just hung out Saturday night and watched TV. Today we went to church and then enjoyed an excellent lunch at the country club.

Right now Monica and Elijah are napping. Connor was feeling 'bad' so he's resting in his room, too. I just put on a brisket to smoke, and thought I'd catch up on blogging a bit. I think Monica and I are going to go for a walk a little later.

Elijah went on his first Easter Egg Hunt today after church. Connor hid some eggs all around the house. It was so much fun to watch Elijah collect his eggs and put them in his basket. That is truly a priceless memory that I'll never forget...! Monica took a bunch of photos, too and we'll be posting them soon.

All in all it's been a good weekend. Bye for now... SC

Easter Weekend 2007

OK... I'm getting my first weekend 'off' in I don't know how long. Honestly, it's been years since I didn't have one single event scheduled over a weekend.

Ahhh.... It feels good just to sit in front of the lap top and catch up on blogging. I'm normally rushing from one event, lesson, meeting, or appointment to another. It's just been insane.

But yesterday (Friday, April 6) I slept in until about 7 AM, was mowing the yard by 9 AM and by 11:30 AM Connor and I were headed out to Houston for a fun day of watching a professional tennis tournament.

Yesterday evening the family relaxed watching television together. Today, I got up at 6 AM to start my favorite holiday past time... That's right... Texas Bar B Que...!

On the menu for lunch today is... Smoked Pork Ribs... Then I'm going to put on a Brisket a little later this morning... The brisket will be ready in the evening...

Unfortunately, the weather is not too nice today. It's cold and breezy. That's kinda strange for this time of year. Not the breezy part, but the 'cool' part....! Also, not surprisingly, it's supposed to rain today as well. I'm just glad I'm not running the coke open tennis tournament this year.

So, getting back to my bar b que... The ribs have been on for over an hour, but the grill temperature has only been optimum for about 30 minutes. So in another 15 minutes or so I'll flip the ribs and try to maintain a consistent grill temp of about 225 degrees for another 4 hours or so...

I was going to use my favorite 3-2-1 method... 3 hours of smoking on a low heat, two hours of cooking the ribs wrapped tightly in foil, and then one more hour of smoking out of the foil to dry the ribs out a bit. This method usually produces excellent, tender, fall off the bone ribs.

However, these particular ribs were not as fatty as I would have liked. I'm afraid that if I cook them for the full six hours that I will dry them out too much... Plus, I want to accelerate the process so we'll be eating between 12 noon and 1 PM. Mmmmm..... I love ribs...!

So, I plan to cook and blog most of the morning. Sometime this afternoon I want to thoroughly clean out my closet. There's a mountain of clothes laying on the floor. Monica's given up on trying to figure out what's going on in there...

I need to just get rid of a bunch of stuff. I'm going to be relentless. Yes, before the end of the day you will be able to see the floor of my closet!

If it doesn't start to rain, I'll try to work in the back yard a little too. We are in dire need of some picking up and landscaping... Of course, I'm looking forward to hanging out with the family, playing with Elijah, and sipping a cool refreshing beverage...!

Well, that's my morning update... I'd better go check those ribs... more later... SC

Getting it figured out...

Here's a photo of the 'three amigos'... Daddy, Elijah, and Rylee....!

OK... Something's about to get done... I'm making some serious decisions in the next few days... Some major organization is about to take place in Coach Sam's life.

I've got two excellent staffers working with me now and it's time to really get them plugged in helping me get caught up on stuff.

My life has been insane lately. And it's my own doing. I don't want to live this way any longer.

Just wait. You'll see.

Story to be continued....

Taking a break from blogging for awhile...

OK... I'm admitting defeat for the moment. I simply can't keep up the pace of my schedule. I'm going to suspend blogging for awhile until I have a more managable schedule. And hopefully that will be sooner rather than later.... I'm thinking perhaps to take the month of March off and then see how things look in April...

thanks for reading my blog. This is Coach Sam signing off for now.

The Family Dog: Rylee Chadwell

Rylee joined our family just after Christmas 2006. We adopted her from the Houston Humane Society. She's a chihuahua - terrier mix. She reminds me of a beloved family pet my family had when I was a boy. Her name was "Fancy".

I have many fond memories of 'Fancy'. And she lived to a ripe old age of 22 years old (in people years). I remember mom told me that we adopted Fancy right before I was born. And she lived until I graduated from college. That's a pretty significant span.

I want Elijah and Connor to know the joys of a having a family dog and I think Riley is just right to fill the bill.

Of course, we still have our kitties and love them, but there's just something special about a family dog. I mean, it is pretty much an American tradition, isn't it?

Alexander and Rocky

Here's a photo of two of my neighbors: Alexander and Rocky... Alexander is the taller of the two. He's an exchange student from Germany. His interests include tennis and soccer. Rocky is the Klement's family dog. He has lots of energy and likes to chase anything furry.

Normally my blog photos are of family members, and Coach Sam's Life has been pretty much about 'Family for the last 582 posts'. But I've been thinking about taking a little different tact to my journal for a while and have decided to begin posting a series of photos and commentary of various aspects of my life, especially the community around me...

I think it will be fun to be able to come back to this post five, ten, maybe even twenty years from now and relive this moment and recall people, places, and events that might not necessarily stay in the memory banks as age starts to creep in.... And not only for myself, but for Elijah, Connor, and possibly their children as well. This and my other journals are a legacy to them. -Here I am in my early 40's and I can't really remember much of my early childhood, or even my junior high and high school years. -And sadly there's not much that's been preserved from my childhood years. My parents have both been gone for some time now and there are hardly any photos or mementos of those precious moments in time.

I want my family to know and remember that community was/ is very important to me. I love the little community that we live in. West Columbia is so different and refreshing after years of traveling and living in the city. The people down here in the country are different... -In the best ways possible...!

We've got wonderful friends and neighbors all around us who keep an eye on us and are really tuned in to what's happening around them. We care about them and they care about us. There's a feel that we're all extended family here. This is what home feels like. It's warm and comfortable. You can take your shoes off and be yourself.

It feels good to be 'home'....!

Valentine's Day

Before I met Monica I figured I'd probably marry another tennis pro one day because I felt like only another tennis pro would understand and put up with the crazy teaching hours my profession demands...

Well I married a professional alright, but not a tennis professional. I married a professional artist. However, she does understand and appreciate my schedule.

I definitely do not have a '9 to 5' job and never will...

My sweetheart not only understands and appreciates my profession, she even pitches in and helps out on the court if I need it. -Now that's true love and devotion....! Monica helps me all the time. What ever I need, when ever I need it, I can count on my beloved bride...!

I know many tennis pros whose marriages are unhappy or have crumbled because of the rigors and demands of the profession. I thank God daily that my sweet wife is such a loving, kind, and supportive inspiration to me.

Recently I was honored in my profession with an award for 'Industry Excellence'. I received a nice token personalized with my name on it. Although the award was inscribed to 'Sam Chadwell', I absolutely must give credit here to Monica as well, because she enabled me to excel in my industry, and I would not have achieved the results I have achieved if not for my sweet wife...!

I can't say enough good things about Monica. She's smart, she's beautiful, she's an awesome mom.... Well, she's just plain awesome, period! And I love her very, very much...

She's my perfect valentine...!.

Lots to do today...

My day is jam packed... I hardly know where to start. I have some very good photos to publish but that will probably need to wait until this afternoon... My main task right this morning is prioritizing all the things I need to do...

This weekend was full and busy. We enjoyed a nice family day yesterday. I went to bed kinda late and awakened early because apparently Connor go too hot in his room last night so he turned off our heat. It was 61 degrees in the house when I awakened at 5 AM...

And I awakened to find a giant raccoon in our kitchen. That was exciting... This Raccoon was BIG...! Our Kitty door just can not keep the raccoons out. This is an ongoing problem...

Well, the sun is out at the moment but it's supposed to start raining again tonight.

I'm ready for some sustained sunshine...!

OK, I need to dive in to my day... after i get a few projects completed I'll try to log back in again and post some photos....

Bye for now.... sc

Sunshine....!

The Sun is out...! Yesss....! I've been propped up on the couch with a heating pad on my knee blogging most of the morning. I was going to go over to the tennis shop in a few minutes and work the remainder of the morning but Elijah just got up so I'm going to watch him until lunch time and then just work at the shop this afternoon. It seems really strange to have so much sunshine... Honestly, I've forgotten what sunshine was like. I sure hope it stays for a while...!

This morning Elijah and I are watching Cailou, a sweet Kid's Show. Rylee our new puppy was just chasing her tail. It was very funny and Elijah and I laughed and laughed.

My mother in law has recently started blogging again.

http://judyohlemacher.blogspot.com

She's been writing about her childhood memories. I like that. I used to write about my childhood. I need to start doing that again.

I also need to go in my computer and organize my photos... I've got photos scattered out all over in several places, in several folders...

But sadly, work beckons this morning, so I need to close here....

Bye for now....

Coach Sam

Monica's Rainbow

Monica took this photo way back when we had just started dating years ago. I thought this would be a good photo for today because it's the first morning it hasn't rained in some time.

My knee is doing a little better but I can still tell I'm not 100%. According to my doctor I still have at least a month to recover.

Things are going fairly well, though. And I'm eager to get back on the court teaching and playing.

I've got a busy day ahead of me so I need to close here... More later....

Coach Sam

Some Cozy Kitties

Things are starting to get a little more back to normal for our kitties. It's taken nearly a month but Rylee (our new dog) is finally doing better around the cats, and they are starting to get used to her, too.

I believe this is our first photo of 'Lucy'. She's the black and white kitty on the cushion. The big orange tabby next to her is Hobbes, of course. I'm not sure where Gabriel was at the time of our photo opportunity. It's difficult to separate Gabriel and Hobbes....

I feel like I'll be staying up late tonight and catching up on my blogging. It's been a fairly productive day. I got a little work done, spent a lot of time with Elijah, and cooked lunch and dinner.

Monica had a good day. She got the bulk of her tax work done today. We're way ahead of schedule from last year... Yea...!

My knee is doing better. Of course, since the weather's been so bad lately I haven't had much of a chance to test it, but still... Rest is Good. And no Pain is better...!

So, this has been the worst January I've ever had in my career lessons -wise. I've only been able to teach one day so far this entire month.... It's either been cold, wet, or both...! but I've used this down time to spruce up my websites and work on my address book distribution lists.

That's about it... I've been enjoying watching the Australian Open on TV... Not much else to report...

I'll try to publish the photos of our recent house repair soon. -We had the foundation of our house leveled... -Now the adventure of renovating begins...!

Bye for now... -Coach Sam

Our Trip to Austin

This building may not look like much but it is the home of one of Austin's most famous restaurants and a hot-spot in the local music scene. It's called Threadgills and we enjoyed a delicious Sunday Brunch with live Gospel Music there this morning before we headed home. The food was very good and the music was great. Elijah was really Groovin' to the beat...! We were enjoying it so much we stayed for a little while listening even after we had finished our brunch.

We were in Austin this weekend for a Tennis Conference hosted by the United States Tennis Association Texas Section. I had hope for the family to enjoy some great Texas Hill Country outdoor activities, but the weather was horrible... (Cold and Rainy). But Monica, Connor, and Elijah managed to amuse themselves with indoor activities by visiting the Austin Children's Museum and taking in a movie will I attended various tennis seminars.

All in all, it was a nice trip and our visit to Threadgills was very memorable.

It's still warm at moment here at home but the Austin weather is supposed to follow us down here some time this evening and the next few days are supposed to be very cold...

I'll probably post some more tomorrow from the couch in front of our fire place...!

Bye for now...

Coach Sam

Teddi and Peepers

Here's a photo from my recent Christmas Break Holiday Tennis Camp. Teddi DiBlasi relaxes on the couch with pro shop manager Peepers the Cat during lunch break on the final day of camp. In spite of rainy conditions through out the week camp went very well.

Teddi did a fantastic job assisting with the camp and we had over 20 different participants through out the week. I have posted photos from my camp on my tennis photo blog.

Check them out at http://tennisphotos.blogspot.com


Yesterday was a pretty busy tennis day. I had a good turn out for lessons and league. And my knee didn't hurt too bad afterwards... YEA...!

Today I have an online training on my websites at 10 AM... The rest of the morning and early afternoon I'll be working at the tennis shop. Then tonight is choir and praise team practice...

That's it for now... Check you later... -Coach Sam

Elijah's Car Ran Out of Gas....

Elijah Loves his new car, but unfortunately in this photo he had just ran out of gas. He was trying to push it to the next gas station when I came along with my camera...

Today I stayed at home most of the day and worked on web pages via my laptop from the comfort of my living room couch. Elijah hung out with me and watched kids shows on television until about Noon. It was a nice morning. I enjoy spending my mornings with my little boy.

It's a big help for Monica, too because when I keep an eye on Elijah in the mornings she can get caught up on her work... We've really got a good routine down, I think...

I spent most of the morning marketing tennis programs and updating my new website:

http://www.brazoriacountytennis.org

Tonight I'm working at the tennis shop... We're actually pretty busy for a chilly January night... There's three courts in use at 7:30 PM.

A couple of racquets came in to be strung this afternoon... I need to start them before I leave this evening.

Not much else to report except that today was the first time in about a month that my knee hasn't ached very much... That's a really good sign...! YESS...! -And if I can get enough pain free days under my belt I might even be able to exercise a little more and get in better shape.

Watching the TV show the Biggest Loser really inspired me...

I forgot to mention that I'm also enjoying some quality Peepers time this evening... (Peepers is my kitty that lives at the Columbia Lakes tennis shop) She's a very sweet kitty...!

Well that's about it for now... I'll be back tomorrow... Thanks for reading my blog...!

-Coach Sam

Our New Family Member

Rylee Chadwell, Christmas, 2006

Here's the newest addition to our family. She's a two years old Chihuahua / Terrier mix.

Rylee hasn't exactly gotten along well with out kitties... But we're working on that...

Elijah's Cow Costume

I just came across this cute photo of Elijah and Monica at our Church's Fall Festival this past October. He was the cutest little cow I've ever seen...! He spent a good deal of his time during the Fall Festival at the duck pond. As you can see, in this photo he's holding a couple of blue ducks, one in each hand...

I've got over 200 photos from 2006 sill left to publish so be prepared for random photos the next few months until I get caught up...

Today we are having the foundation of our house repaired. There are about 15 workers buzzing all around our property at the moment. We've got jack hammers, shovels, and wheel barrows all going at the same time... I've taken a few photos and will publish them tomorrow.

The rest of the day is a work day and baby sitting day for me. At the moment I'm propped up on the couch with a heating pad on my knee. Throughout the day I alternate heat, ice, stretching, and strengthening exercises. The doctor told me it would be sometime in March before I could expect a full recovery. (sigh...)

Well, that's about it. Until next time, bye for now....

Coach Sam

Hanging Out with Elijah

Today is a rainy, cold day. I'm in a familiar position laying on the couch with my leg propped up on a heating pad. I'm watching kids shows and playing with Elijah and catching up on blogging and email correspondence. I'll be busy all day. I'm working on publishing some newsletters.

Earlier today the TV remote control fell into my cup of coffee. Don't ask me to explain... Honestly, it was a freak accident... It didn't work well for awhile after that but Monica cleaned it up and got it working again...

That has pretty much been the excitement so far today...

I may post a little more again later, but I've got to check my email and update some websites...

Thanks for reading my journal...

Bye for now....

Coach Sam