How the season will start

It'll be a bizarre start to the year.

After a couple of false-start emails, I finally got hooked up on our assignors' site. I didn't get a chance to put in my availability right away...I didn't even log on. Next thing you know, I've received emails for four different days of assignments. I guess the program's default is that I'm available! Well, it's not a good first impression to make, but I had to ship back a bunch of the assignments because they weren't nights I could work.

His response: "You haven't yet told me what level you work!"

I had, but I chose not to insist on me being right. I just told him again: varsity girls for four years, never done a boys' game, but willing to learn.

I got in and set availability for the next three weeks, through 12/21. "Lay it on me," I said.

I then got some assignments.

For January.

OK...fortunately, they were days I'm available, so I accepted them all. Easily done.

I later got some games for next week as well.

Net result: I'm opening my season on Tuesday, doing a tiny little varsity girls game followed by a tiny little varsity boys' game.

I haven't even thought about officiating in 9.5 months, and I'm leading off my season with my first-ever boys game. And it's varsity.

Adventures to be recounted here...