Guest Post: Charlotte of My Pixie Blog, on Shifting with your Relationship

photo credit: “The Empire has a legion of loyal soldiers that are in endless supply.” via photopin (license)

Sometimes, a post comes along at just the right time.

It’ll show up in your feed like a fresh pizza on the buffet the moment you clean your 13th plate. It’s like, divine intervention. And it’s even cooler when this post comes through from a guest writer.

Charlotte writes My Pixie Blog, where she chronicles “love, life and lessons learned.” She writes on love and relationships, in an engaging, poignant way I’ve come to love. You will to, once you read her.

She came to Coach Daddy for a post about snacks – and left hungry. Today, she’s shown up with a post on relationships so incredibly timely and relevant that I can’t even set the scene.

Not a Guest Post, but More Random Smartphone Photos, IV

photo credit: Unboxing iPod touch via photopin (license)

My run of bad luck with smartphones continues.

The Apple phone my friend Tamara sent me all the way from Switzerland represents the asterisk in all this. Before the steady iPhone, my last flip phone found its demise in a vat (okay, a cup) of yogurt.

This one has a mystery illness. Honest.

One day, it just stopped working. Well, part of it did. I can still text, check on the blog and watch the carnage that is my fantasy football team. I just can’t, you know … talk on it.

Guest Post: Tiffany of Sounds Like Life to Me, on Raising a Girl

photo credit: “These aren’t the droids we’re looking for.” via photopin (license)

I’ve believed Tiffany’s words from the start.

“So my first time on your blog,” she commented, “and I’m hooked!” Sometimes you get sweet first comments like this. And then the person never comes back. I won’t find blame in this. You don’t know what life holds.

A year later, and she’s still leaving comments and has moved into that inner circle of bloggers you can rely on to read you if the rest of the world decides not to.

Tiffany, who writes the blog Sounds Like Life to Me, is here today, on my birthday, to talk about raising a girl. You should check out her blog. She writes lovingly of life with teenagers, critters and and amazing husband.

Guest Post: Elizabeth, of Autism Mom, on Tips for the Autism Parent

photo credit: Dude of Lego Stormtrooper via photopin (license)

Elizabeth eats veggie burgers – but we don’t hold it against her around here.

She writes the blog Autism Mom, where she shares “Autism ideas, news, strategies, tools and lessons learned from one mom with one child and one experience on the Autism spectrum.” She chronicles the adventures of her son, known as Navigator. One feature of Elizabeth’s site is the journey told in Navigator’s words. This includes posts and videos.

My favorite? The video, Navigator’s Advice. He’s all kinds of awesome. (“This is not a curse,” he says in my favorite quote. “This is actually a gift.”)

Today, Elizabeth’s here to with a take on parenting tips, but for those with a child on the spectrum. Please give her a warm CD welcome.

Guest Post: 💄 Michelle of Lipstick and Laundry, on Blogstacles

photo credit: OKIMG_3701 via photopin (license)

Michelle Terry and I know the misery of loving awful baseball teams.

Only, hers isn’t so awful lately. The Kansas City Royals are in the MLB playoffs. The only way my Colorado Rockies could make the playoffs? If the commish inverted divisions and declared the last shall be first.

Michelle blogs at Lipstick and Laundry. It’s where she celebrates imperfection, one load at a time. She’s one of those bloggers/readers you can’t figure out why reads your stuff, but you’re glad she does. Gifted as a writer and photographer, Michelle’s post is evocative and call to her readers to share, too.

She’s here today to present a handful of blogging obstacles many of us face. As the soccer coach who has never played soccer, I’ll stand in as a sort of expert on the subject of getting past blogging obstacles.

Guest Post: Elise, My Kid, on Life as a Girl Athlete

photo credit: Sandtrooper via photopin (license)

Racecar driver Michael Andretti says he remembers the day he passes his famous father, Mario, on the racetrack for the first time.

“Adios, dada,” he said.

Today, Elise says “adios, dada,” too.

Elise, the girl you might have read about here and here and most definitely here, has written a guest post for today. I asked her a while ago to write about life as a girl athlete – and she delivered, in a big way.

Guest Post: Rebecca, of Everyday Life, on Being a Boy Mom

photo credit: My secret travelling buddy this evening… via photopin (license)

The boy moms I know love the gig.

I swung and missed three times for boys. Instead, I got three girls who fix their hair and paint their nails. Right after (or before) they ruffle your hair and make you bit your nails, if you’re a boy on the soccer field, at least.

I get the best of both worlds, maybe?

Not exactly. The life of the boy mom fills both with a joy I won’t really truly know, but will always admire. Today’s guest shares her take on the journey of a boy mom with us. Rebecca Bryant blogs at Everyday Life.

Guest Post: Sara Letourneau, on Soccer Coach Dads and Passion Pursuits

Courtesy of Tamara Bowman

You guys have shared stories of your fathers with me, and it often leaves me with a hope – a hope that someday, someone will think of me this way as a dad, too.

Sara Letourneau managed to meld tales of her father the soccer coach with her own realizations as a writer. In molecular science, experts refer to this type of phenomenon as … well, they don’t have a term for it as yet. I love her insight, though.

Sara’s closing in on completion of a YA novel, The Keeper’s Curse (not a tale of Elise’s travails in goal, although that could happen someday.)

Sara writes a remarkable feature called 5 on the Fifth that you just have to check out.

Guest Post: Stephanie of Kickass Problem Solver, on Life as a Designer

photo credit: OKIMG_3906 via photopin (license)

People often ask, “what do you do at Red Ventures?”

That’s easier said than done. I know what I do, it’s just explaining the big picture. We’re all these wads of complexity that defy a simple explanation. Try it: How would you describe what you do?

Stephanie Lewis rounds it up in a description she uses as the name of her website – kickass problem solver.

She’s on the CD today to share her winding path. We all follow the one set out before us.

Guest Post: Ashley of Post-grad Jitters, on the Love of the Game

EP

Today’s post is one of the shortest ever on Coach Daddy.

It’s definitely the shortest guest post. It’s from Ashley Mahoney, a fellow sports writer. She conveys a love of soccer so succinctly, she doesn’t need 600 words.

Ashley and I cover the Carolina Panthers. She for the Charlotte Post, me for the Associated Press. She reminds me of myself, in a lot of ways. Some not-so-obvious ways. See, when I was her age, I was the young reporter on the NFL beat.

You feel like you’re trying to run with the big dogs in the press box and locker room. Your paper might not have the circulation, but you’re trying to make a splash. It’s why you covered volleyball on your college paper and everything.