I have thought about getting back to this page almost everyday. I really need to keep up with posting as I am missing out on documenting certain things in the kids lives.
The most recent has been the cheer competition from this past weekend. My stepdaughter cheers on the Junior squad (it generally goes by age). Due to a rough season and lots of injuries, she was called up to the Senior team this past Wednesday. She was given two days to learn as much as she could about the older girls' routine before she had to perform it. She was nervous and scared that she would not have the strength and stamina to perform a second routine so closely to performing the first one. About 20 minutes prior to their performance time, she was given the information that another girl was injured on the team and that she was going to have to fill in. I'm sure she was sick with anticipation and nervousness. (We didn't know any of this information since she was with her team in the warm-up area. We actually didn't know this information until half-way through their routine when she was basing a stunt!). I will never forget her searching for us in the stands seconds before her team was to take the mat, she looked right at us and I gave her a double thumbs up. I'm hoping this let her know that we had full confidence in her abilities. Once they took the mat, about 5 counts into the song/routine, their music cut out. They had to keep going, using counts. The entire gymnasium was counting for them and, I'm not going to lie, it brought a tear to my eye. It wasn't just "our" parents that were counting...it was everyone, even the competition! I wish I could say the routine was flawless, rarely can I say that, but it was jaw dropping. They went on to take first place in their bracket and won grand champions of their level. The class the showed by smiling even when they weren't sure they would be able to complete their task and the courage to push through was not something I would have expected from a group of teenagers.
We have something with car-selfies...I'm not sure how to explain it. We usually take a photo in the car before going anywhere (and sometimes if we forget to snap one before pulling out of the driveway, one of the girls will take one while I am driving and pretending to look at the camera). The one in the picture below is my 12 year old. She is dancing this year...ballet, jazz, and modern/lyrical. This is her first year dancing, and she earned a solo in her jazz dance. She had to prepare a short routine and perform it in front of her class against anyone else who thought they might want to perform a solo. She won and we were FLOORED (since one of the girls she was up against has been dancing since she could walk). This talented dancer has also been playing the cello for almost 3 years now and just moved up to a full size cello...those things are huge!
One more (well two but they go hand in hand) thing that has kept me super busy lately has been work. I was nominated to be the captain of our Relay for Life team at work. So I have been racking my brain to come up with fundraisers, conducting fundraisers, attending meetings, etc. for our team. Our most recent fundraiser was a Sip & Paint. Anyone ever do one of those? They are sooo fun! There is a teacher of the class and everyone paints the same general picture, but in the end everyone's picture is different....Oh, and you do all of this while sipping wine or beer. What could be better than that?!?!? Right along side the Relay for Life group, I accepted a new position at work! They still have not filled my old position so I am helping them out until they can get a new employee in and trained. So, when I am in the office, I am swamped and when I am not in the office I am out visiting accounts and trying to create some more sales! Some days I don't know which way is up! I have to keep telling myself "This won't last forever" and hoping that is true. One more major trip to take for my old job and then I will be only in Pennsylvania for work. The last trip was Florida (I think it was like 20-30 degrees while we were there) and the next and last trip will be Las Vegas. I'm hoping to get some pictures of some knitting with some clouds in the background...that would be great.
Hopefully I will be back on Wednesday to show off the book I am currently reading and my latest knitting project.
