If you're a bird, I'm a bird.

My husband decided that the Post XC team should start back up the end-of-year dinner that we used to have when we were on Post XC/TF.  Assistant Coach Tom and Rob decided to set the date and book the venue ("lucky" for us, it was right on campus in the "Top of the Commons." Although it sounds fancy, the "Top of the Commons" is pretty run down).  Since these plans were somewhat last minute, we had slim pickings.  Plus, Rob wanted to book a date that would work for our former coach Andy Young, which also limited us, and he never ended up even coming anyway!


As the date (April 21) approached, I asked Rob what his plans were for the party and was appalled when he explained there was no theme.  A party? with no theme? Not if I could do anything about it.  I gathered up a list of ideas, confirmed some possibilities on Pinterest, researched sale items at Michael's and A.C. Moore, and made a shopping plan of attack.  I could hit at least four Home Goods/Marshall's on my way home from work to pick up supplies on my very limited budget.  


I decided that since "birds" happen to be everywhere for party themes, I could easily incorporate a bird/feather gimmick. (Anyone who knows me knows about my feathers.)  Bird cage centerpieces, bird seed favors, feathers everywhere!  I even found "love bird" stationary to make programs and researched plenty of perfect bird-like quotes to match the decor.


At home, I spent hours making birdseed ornaments (some of which ended up pretty moldy because I wrapped them too soon), printing programs and table numbers, framing awards, writing place cards, and finding old pictures for a slideshow.  Why? I'm actually not too sure.  For my husband? for the team? for the senior? for the parents? for myself? 


The dinner ended up being nice despite a few ridiculous problems.  1. No table clothes on gross tables. 2. No drinks, as in WATER or SODA, which was supposed to come with a buffet order (had to fight a worker to get them) 3. Only 1/2 of the food we ordered showed up.  4. Some of the kids disregarded the speech for another person to obnoxiously/selfishly comment on a picture of them on the slideshow.


On the plus side, my good friend, Toria, and her fiance and a few other alumni came, and the parents seemed pretty grateful.  Also, my husband is an amazing speaker and makes me really proud to be married to such an intelligent man.  He spent a long time giving each athlete a chance to shine as he told the audience about the runner's accomplishments.  And after all was over, Speicher (our men's captain and one of my high school-turned-college athletes) gave a really wonderful and mature speech, thanking Rob and me for who he has turned into.  


I am still misanthropically torn on whether I will ever coach again, despite how pleasant the dinner was.  I tend to let the negative outweigh the positive, because, well, unfortunately, it has weighed me down over the past seven years of coaching.  Nothing ever really goes smoothly. The team as a whole never seems to care as much as I would like them to, as many members of the team have disregarded recruit signings for social affairs, publicly posted how much they hate days that involve running, and made lives of the dedicated athletes fairly miserable. Even as a runner, not a coach, I am usually a loner because of these same typical forms of drama involving other people.


On the other hand, there are several athletes that do show up when there are recruits, post how much they love to run, and remain dedicated despite the bullying.  


And then there is my husband, the real reason I stay. I think sticking with the program means sticking to our own foundations.  Building it gives us a new common goal, although I sure would like to build our own family these days instead, something coaching and our home improvements get in the way of.  Rob glows when he talks about a good workout or a great race.  Leaving would mean leaving his creation, which I am not sure I could do just yet, especially since coaching fills Rob's void from not running.  And we have even worked out a compromise for this year.  I get to work solely behind the scenes, aka paperwork and travel plans, and jump in a workout without coaching concerns whenever I would like.  I'll actually probably spend more time "coaching" in this new role, and although I am sure I will be frustrated, my frustrations will be focused probably on our budget numbers rather than the runners. 


So even though the whole birds of a feather flock together theme worked for the dinner and for the team, I think it more appropriately fits my marriage.  And perhaps, down the road when he is ready, we will fly the coop together.

    (The Notebook's Noah and Allie... One of my favorite parts... And although I can totally be the weirdo making bird noises at the beach, we are not nearly as romantic as these two, but who is anyway?)