Irma Sunday 11:15 (Jacob)

Watching church videos. Rain picking up some. Only occasionally do winds pick up. Currently, it feels like any rain storm we have had hundreds of times.

Irma Sunday 8:25 am (Jacob)

So far Irma is light rain and occasional wind. I went out side to take this picture and saw a woman go jogging by. I may have to do that too, just to say I did.

Focast

Radar

Actual

Irma (Jacob)

I think we need to live blog Hurricane Irma. I am sick of all the news so a real life report on actual events are needed.

It started last Monday (Labor day 9/4) when the track of the storm looked like it might actually hit Florida.  Jessica texted me and we were some of first to fill up on gas. We had just done our grocery shopping for a few weeks so we had plenty of food. We got the generator out to make sure it still ran and finally opened the propane tanks in the shed. I picked up a free grill from the side of the road (we were currently without one because we never used our old ones and threw them out, but because the power might go out I thought I should pick one up. Being free on the side of the road was just a perk.)

We cleaned everything out of the yard and took down the tramp.  We think we are good to go.

So while the news has you believe that it's mass hysteria. Here is what we are up to today.

Jessica has been doing yoga. This was what she was doing. 

This is what she did after she learned I was taking pictures.

Cindy has spent the time in the bathroom.

Okay she has spent the time on her phone

Luke has been playing Overwatch and Roblox

Me, I replaced the leaking parts toilet in master bath. Reading my latest book - What Drives Winning, eating way too much food, and catching up on season 7 of Walking Dead.  Speaking of which, it's time for a walk right now.

On a serious note, we are so grateful for the family and friends who have reached out to us and offered safe places to stay. We are so blessed!  We feel prepared and pray for the Lords protection.

Welcome Stella Nugget Ling Ling del Bosque

Yep, we got another cat.  I honestly don't even know how this happened.  Somehow we wound up in a discussion with Cindy that ended with the ultimatum, kitten or bunnies. Choose one.  She chose the kitten! (And there was much rejoicing! Yay.)  We found the kitten in North Lakeland on Craigslist and she is itty bitty- probably 5 weeks old at most.  Underfed and a bit of a runt, but she doesn't make a sound, AND she is 100% completely and totally adorable.  Just look at that face!!

Zing!

Call the Doctor, I Have Eclipse Fever

After reading about this upcoming event on the Internet for what has seemed like forever, the eclipse finally happened!  I'm so happy we can move on as a nation and return back to our normal internet obsession of everything in the whole wide world museum that remotely connects in any possible way to "Game of Thrones." 

Our county did not cancel school, though after they announced to everyone that all absences on Monday would be excused, they definitely should have, if for no other reason than to save everyone the time and hassle of having to go through the motions.  Jacob texted me updates throughout the morning.  His first period class had 6 out of 23 kids and another of his classes had ONE kid show up.  My school had about 5 kids absent per class that morning and then the mass exodus check-outs began at about 11am.  By the end of the day it was a ghost town.  Luke did get to go outside and use his projection box and use some glasses to view it as well.  Glasses seemed to be in abundance at our school, so pretty much everyone who wanted to view it got to take a peak.  I had plenty of time to head outside and check it out. I had my own glasses, so no need for me to share.  

Your head is a giant red blur, but otherwise my eyes are fine

Since we were not in the path of totality, the overall effect for us here was basically like that of cloud cover, but I will say that I did notice the temperature drop, if only for just a moment.  That part was pretty cool. Pun intended.  Oh wait, Florida doesn't get cool.  Never mind, that pun doesn't work.  And we got to see the crescent leaf shadows in the parking lot as well...

Beyond beleaf

My brother Dave was in Rexburg, Idaho and Brian was in Nashville- BOTH in the path of totality.  I told them it was a battle for who could send me the best pictures.

Dave:

His report:  "This is how dark it got.  No roosters or werewoofs, but the streetlights came on and you could see stars.  The temperature dropped from 84 to 61 degrees."  (Not bad, 850 bonus points for the use of the word "werewoof.")

Brian:

 He was eating a Moon Pie AND watching the eclipse with all his uppity doctory friends.  His report:  "NO stars, but you could hear crickets for two minutes."  (Minus 19 points for mentioning crickets, but 1000 bonus points for actually eating a Moon Pie AT eclipse time.)

I think we all know who won this battle.  (Probably because I told you the score.)

When Luke and I got home from school, Cindy was laying in the yard as so:

Wait, are you frying your retinas?

Checking out the last of it before it disappeared

  

Here are a few photos Cindy took of the eclipse.  I will admit, I was a bah humbug nay-sayer and did not think her idea of putting the eclipse glasses in front of the camera lens would do anything. Apparently, I was totally wrong.  Her bus let her off at 2:47 and our maximum coverage was at 2:49 so she got to walk home under the eclipsing sky.   She brought her camera to school and was able to take a few there as well.  I'm impressed!

Money shot

To be honest, if we weren't told about the eclipse, I wouldn't have noticed anything different.  Good thing Krispy Kreme is always there to let you know what random holiday is happening, though!  Seriously, if you didn't go get some of those Eclipse chocolate glazed donuts they were selling yesterday, I have secondhand disappointment for you.  They were amazing.  They changed their classic glaze to chocolate for the day.  Our half dozen was so hot and melty we could barely pick them up.  But somehow we dug deep and found a way to win.

This picture illustrates my desire to not be "that guy"
taking a picture of food at KK on a holiday. I mean, I was.
But it was a secret. 

Thank goodness it wasn't dark chocolate :)

Watermelon Series

I have competed in all of the classic Lakeland running events, except for one.  The Watermelon Series was the missing piece of my racing resume.  It is a series of three 5ks over the summer and the goal is to try and beat your time each time you race.  Hard to do as the summer just gets hotter and hotter and hotter.  There is watermelon at the finish line to give you at least one reason to sign up for this hideous thing, but it is definitely a tough sell.  I ran the final race yesterday morning and here is how my series went:

Race 1-  27:57

Race 2- 27:32

Race 3- 26:09  

Hot dang!  I did it!  I actually improved my time and I have no idea how in the world I ran as fast as I did on race 3.  I can only attribute my success to Orange Theory and all of the treadmill work.  The last time I ran a 5k that fast was probably 8 years ago.  I am still on cloud nine for finishing that fast as a 38 year old Bingham.  The odds are never in my favor, you know?

AND, just to show you how much running has changed since I started running in 2008, here is a video of the start of race 3, courtesy of your friendly neighborhood drone.  And if you wait and watch when the drone turns to the left, you will see the completely empty site where the Lakeland Yacht and Country Club used to be.  It was completely demolished and will be rebuilt sometime soon.  Crazy to see the giant empty space.

If you want to know where I am in this video, I am wearing a violent yellow highlighter shirt and I am running at a phenomenal rate of speed.  Probably too fast for you to even see me.  Never mind.

The Latest (Jacob)

It's that time of year when we wrap up summer and start the new school year. Here is what we have been up to.

First, there was Grandpa Bingham's birthday. The kids were having a blast.

Then there was Jogo Bonito Soccer camp, of which I was an official sponsor. Okay, it was free, but I have never seen my logo on a shirt like this before. It was cool to share a space with 2infinity which is run by my friend Ty (the shadowy figure below). Luke got to hang out with his buddy Ryan also.

Then there was the beginning my second year at Polk State as an assistant coach. 

Next, was some back to school prep! Just what the kids wanted, a few extra days at school.

Another regional dance. I believe I have been doing this dance for nearly 10 years.

My current favorite dance the youth do.

As you can see, it's about how things usually go.  I am a lucky man.

ODP Weekend (Jacob)

Two years ago I joined the staff of Flordia Youth Soccer Association (FYSA) a state organization associated with US Youth Soccer. The FYSA runs coaching education, the Olympic development program, and various state leagues. It's actually pretty well run in Florida. I work as a staff coach with ODP. Every year we scout the state for the best players and invite them to be part of our state team and then compete at a Regional camp held at the University of Alabama. At this camp, they get to train in front of regional coaches and be selected for a regional team to play in front of national coaches. In a way, I am looking for national team players in Florida. Last year I skipped the regional camp because it was the same time as my parent's homecoming in Utah, but this year I went.

After a nearly sleepless night and a 3:30 am alarm I was off to the airport. Why do we always sleep to poorly the night before an early morning flight?

Mocking Cindy

Coolest room/hall at the Atlanta airport

The first flight, the plane was packed but the start of the art with touch screen personal monitors. To Atlanta.  Second ⅔ full, but not as nice. But it gave me time to read This is your brain on sports.

Birmingham airport is nice and I got Breakfast... again Chick-fil-A. Sat around for a few hours waiting for our bags to take us to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

After arriving we headed to the 7th floor of the President's dorm where we got keys to our dorms and lunch bands for the cafeteria. Dorms are half apartment half hotel, I actually never stayed in dorms in college, so this was my first time. We were provided furniture but not TV's or bed sheets, but the accommodations were pretty good. The coaches of each team room together, so we share an apartment but not a bedroom, thank goodness! I had forgotten what living with other guys is like … we are gross, but the other guys were polite and cleaned up as well as expected.   

 So, who're my roommates? Coach Zoz and Coach Gram we're all pretty different, but I think we got along pretty well.

Zoz, single, no kids and loves his soda and drinks it like it is life giving water. Gram, quite, married, 2 kids and is the definition of chill.  Both coaches are very smart.

Dinner (and all meals) was in the cafeteria at UA.

The first day you arrive and after check in, we have a training session run by the state coaches.  The first training session was run by state coaches but we were given the topic, build out of the back. Future sessions are run by regional coaches. I was very curious to see how different they are from what I usually do in a session, not much. The field is so far from the dorms we ride buses to the fields. Got to sayk, camp feels like a glorified summer camp and I am a camp counselor. But it's also pretty legit as kids here really do get looked at for national team stuff.

Next, it was opening ceremonies.

10:30 Coaches meeting, then bed. The dorm walls are paper thin, so I figured out how to listen to a fan noise on my phone to help drown out the sounds. The dorms made me appreciate the home I have and worked hard for. I am never going back to apartment life. 

Day 2

Breakfast was typical cafeteria fair but the staff is quite friendly.

Now the state games. The state games are the regional coaches first opportunity to scout out players and decide who is going to play in the pool games. Winning doesn't mean much, but everyone still likes to win and we did 3-2. 

This is the Oklahoma state team. My secret hope was that they did really well as Oklahoma is just not known for soccer like its southern neighbor Texas. 

Lunch and more food, then off to a player meeting/lecture. This is the player's opportunity to listen and learn. It's just too hot to be out side training anyway.

Player meeting about possession. Specifically, 10 principal of possession, it was a good presentation, I took notes... on my phone, which I hated.

Next was a coaches meeting where we discussed the future of USYS and ODP. 

More food, dinner…

Training day 2 was by the regional coaches. I'm always surprised that the supposed experts never seem to coach anything different than what I know. They are just way more confident in their delivery in front of others than I usually am. Building out of the back was the theme.

Then pool games.  These games are supposed to be the main event. If a region coach sees you play well in a state game and likes you, you get invited to play in a pool game that night and receive extra observation and a possible invite to the region team. These games made me most excited for Friday night lights.

4th meal. I had my first 4th meal at ODP. Basically, the idea is after pool games go back to the cafeteria and eat more. Keeps the guys occupied and “fueled.”  Oh, my there has been so much food!

Day 3

Breakfast, more food and it's beginning to take it's toll, so I ate way less.

Game 2 big win 6-1 I can definitely see some improvement in the team and I am really impressed by a few of them. Way better than I was at the same age.

Time to eat again, lunch. And a free afternoon. Before dinner, training and pool games.  Finally some downtime but it does make you wonder why have downtime at all just make camp shorter or give something to do, lectures maybe. I spent time on Netflix and resting, sleep has been hard to come by. Today we had 3 make the pool team it's a big deal to make the team and really get looked at. Guess it helps to win, big.

Nature is not easy to work with. I always breathe a sigh of relief when the season ends because I can stop thinking about it. Rain ended our games last night. All practices and games canceled. Our three pool players didn't get their game. So we ended up watching the men's national team play in the gold cup. 3-0 win to win the group. Then it was a late night snack and bed.

Day 4

Breakfast and games against a south Texas 5 team. It's a slotter. 10-0 we should not be playing such a team. Fields are super wet from last night's rain.

Lunch and nap time. Which brings me to the internet here on campus. It sucked. I couldn't keep connected and ended up using my data. After naps, it was individual meetings with regional coaches. I noticed this coach used his interviews to teach more than anything. Again I am struck by how type-A so many coaches are. A laid back coach is rare. My surprise mostly stems from how unimportant a game can be, I think to type-A personalities would be attracted to more important things.

Pool list is out, this time we had 4 make the team, fortunately, the players who missed their chance last time made the list again. No rain so games are a go. Again I volunteered to go with the pool players who have a separate schedule than those who don't make the pool game.

Dinner again, but this time with the pool players, and wouldn't you know it the best meal of the cafe all week is the same night that Florida ODP special orders ribs from a local joint. Why not on spaghetti night?

Training for those who didn't make the pool game. Pool games in the women's soccer stadium! What a cool facility! Ribs from Dreamland. The weather was amazing, perfect night. What an awesome way to finish the week.

Day 5

Final games. Started with an earlier rise, 5:45. Breakfast at 6 games at 7. It was a big win for us as we beat a higher ranked Georgia team.

Closing ceremony and the regional pool player were announced, we had one From our team make the pool Mossimo I doubt he will make the actual regional team.

It's time for clean up.

In reflection, this was not exactly the experience I thought it would be. I felt more like a camp counselor than a coach and I didn't learn as much as I thought I would on the topics I thought I would. But, I did learn. First Florida ODP is pretty successful and a good program to be apart of. Which goes to what I have always said, if it ain't broke don't fix it. 

My assumption is USYS is going to have to make some big changes over the next few years to keep up with the changes taking place in the world of youth soccer. Clubs all over the nation are doing more and trying to be a one stop shop. Specializing is a bigger and bigger thing, but I also believe it will cycle and people will learn that a variety is better. So give it a few years and ODP will be cutting edge, again.