I'm Still Here

It's been awhile since I posted. Lots has been happening, but I just haven't felt the urge to write about anything. Since Google forced me to the newer account, I'm finding it difficult to locate my blog and it's one of the things that falls to the side. Paige and Allie were in their Karate tournament a couple of weeks ago. Last January, the tournament was held in a high school gymnasium. There was enough space for the various groups to have their skills tested. The entire tournament area was visible from the stadium seating. This time, the tournament was held in a large hall. There was enough room for the tournament and adequate seating space, but all the seats were on the same level. The tournament was not visible to the audience. By the second group of testing, all the parents were kneeling or standing in the aisle trying to take pictures. Allie did exceptionally well, winning 3 first place trophies and one second place trophy. She also was in a very small group of competitors. There were 5 other little girls in her group. Paige was in a huge group of 14 other children. There were 3 girls (one who must have topped 200 pounds) and 11 boys. She was by far the smallest child in her group. She won a third place trophy. I was really proud of her tenacity during the tournament. After each disappointment, she went back a tried her best. There were five children in her group who didn't win anything. I was also very proud that she continued to be supportive and happy for Allie, who continued to return with trophies. It was a tough day for Paige, but she has the heart of a lion and has been practicing everyday for "next year's tournament." When I enrolled the girls in karate in October, I asked if I needed to purchase ghees or could they use the plain white ones that they already owned. The coach said that as long as they did not have any other dojo listed, the plain white ghees were fine. The girls competed in these uniforms in January. There were several other children wearing white ghees as well. At the recent tournament, my children were the only competitors in white. After Allie walked up on stage to collect her first trophy, the new head of the karate organization told the coach that my girls would be disqualified at each event, unless they were wearing black ghees. The coach approached me and explained what was happening and said that she had it under control. She ran out to her car and loaned my children black ghees so they could compete in the rest of the tournament. I didn't have a problem purchasing new karate uniforms. I was upset that there was a change in policy shared that information. During the tournament, I observed that two of the judges were wearing exactly what my girls were disqualified for wearing. It kind of sent a mixed message. We were so thankful for the girls' wonderful coach who saved the day. It would have been a sad trip home without her. Madelyn has had multiple extra practices and clinics for cheer-leading. We have competitions next weekend and then have a small break until the state meet. I'm tired of all the driving and killing so much time in small towns with no where to go. My Kindle has been getting a ton of use while I waste full days while Madelyn practices. Steve has been working a lot at Dairy Queen and having lots of extra practices and performances for choir. He's running into some scheduling problems between his job and choir performances. The choir director has changed times of performances a few days in advance and the boss at Dairy Queen won't give him time off at the last minute. I understand both people's opinions, but what is Steve supposed to do. His director will fail him in choir if he misses a performance and the Dairy Queen boss will fire him if he asks for days off or needs a schedule change. I feel sorry for Steve, but this is something that he has to handle on his own. Joe is running really well in track. He's moved up to the third best distance runner on the team. The two faster runners are seniors and have been running for several years. It's been fun to watch him build strategies to move up on the team. Joe is now less than 5 seconds behind the second fastest runner. It won't surprise me if Joe passes him before the end of the season.