The Years Are Short

Time to play catch-up. Katie had her spring ballet recital in the middle of May. About a week before the recital she informed me that she didn't want to do ballet next Fall. My heart broke. She is so good at it and that is not just the bias opinion of her mother but also of her ballet teachers. Katie's reasoning is that she wants to try something that will stretch her muscles and she is getting bored with ballet. I explained to her that in the Fall she will move up to a new age division, but she wants to try gymnastics and she is well aware she cannot do three activities at one time. After the recital she started wavering when she saw the dance that the 7-8 year olds did. There were leaps and spins and extra fancy footwork. Her boredom with ballet has to do with the fact that she wants to be dancing like the "big girls". She wants the dramatic, but doesn't realize that she needs to work up to that. I really want her to stick with ballet for at least one or two more years because ballet is the basis of all dance. I might have found a solution. The local gymnastic clubs offers six-week summer courses that will allow Katie to try out gymnastics. I don't want to say "no" to it just for the sake of ballet. Who knows, she may be very good at it. But enough of the ballet drama, here are a few pictures.

This picture is actually from the dress rehearsal, the night before the recital. We were in the first floor ladies lounge at the Paramount.

This is from underneath the stage the night of the recital. The dancers cannot put their costumes on until they are backstage where there are no photo-op friendly backgrounds.

 Flash photography is not allowed during the performances so we got very few photos of Katie dancing that are not blurry messes. The above is one that is only partially blurry.

 Curtain call. Katie is the tallest ballerina in the front row with the aqua blue skirt.

 With her bouquet of flowers from her Momma and Daddy.

Being silly with "Uncle" Don and "Aunt" Gerri, our neighbors and good friends, who came to watch Katie perform.

 Katie outside the Paramount. Each year I have taken this picture with the marquee in the background.

 Another traditional picture, Katie on her Daddy's knee.

Family picture.

This week is the last week of school, so it has been busy. Tuesday was Katie's Field Day at school. Field Day is comprised of different stations of games on the football field in which each class partakes. We have been in the 90s and 100s with blazing sun but the day the kids have an outdoor event, it was overcast with gray thunderheads. Figures. Since pictures show what takes hundreds of words to explain, I'll go with pictures.

 Hula hooping

 Tug-of-war. Girls against boys. The boys won two out of three. They then mixed the teams up and Katie was in the front position. She dug her feet in and won't budge. Her team won.

 Sack race. She got some serious air and was pretty fast.

 This game involved a can with holes in the side that the kids had to pass to one another, over their heads and, oh, it was filled with water. Then the last person had to race to the forward coffee can and empty the water, if any was left, and start all over.

 The final event was a race where seven kids in the same grade race against each other. I wasn't at the finish line but I thought Katie came in third. She thought she came in second. Regardless they all got the same ribbon.

Wednesday morning was the Awards Ceremony for the Elementary School. Katie made the "A" Honor Roll with an all "A" average for the entire year and was in the 15 mile club, which means she walk/ran 15 miles on Wellness Wednesdays throughout the year. We are pretty proud of her. Of course pictures are included. 

 Sitting next to one of her best friends.

 Blowing kisses to Daddy

 Receiving her awards from her teacher Mrs. Henrich.

 Examining the awards

"Wait! I'm on a stage!" Kiss, kiss, pose, pose. I wanted to crawl under my seat with embarrassment. Only Katie. If she doesn't spend her life on stage, she will surely shrivel and dry up.

Which brings us to today, the last day of first grade.

I measured Katie the other day. She is 49.5" tall. Yes, she has broken the 4' mark. She is 4' 1.5" tall, thanks to Rick. And she is all legs, thanks to Rick. She has my tone and shape (shameless bragging), which I got from my mother, so the girl has gorgeous gams.

That's the picture news for the last month or so. Since I started this post, I mailed in the check for gymnastics, so she'll be doing a gynmnastics this summer. Next Saturday she will be testing for her 2nd degree red belt in Tae Kwon Do. They had sign-up for Anson Youth Cheerleading and I was relieved that Katie didn't want to participate. It really was a bad experience and made me appreciate the outstanding coaching and instruction that she receives at Team Chip and Ballet Abilene. So as you see life moves along at Corinth West. A school year ends, new adventures begin. And all the time in the back of my mind I hear, "The days are long, but the years are short." How true, how true.

"You're once, twice, three times a lady."

When I was in Target today I was checking out the Valentine's Day cards. There was a mother and her grown son also looking through the cards. Mom was in her 70's and son was in his 50's. The son found a hilarious card and showed it to me. It was pretty funny. So the next card that he found funny he showed it to me. About seven cards later, I needed to check out and trek across town to my doctor's appointment. I left mom and son, who was chuckling about a new card, in the card aisle

My doctor's office is with other doctors' offices in a huge building. I was waiting for the elevator and glanced over at the lady who was also waiting. Son of a gun, if it wasn't the mom from the card aisle in Target! Pretty soon the son comes into the lobby and we laughed about the whole small world concept.

My doctor got tied up with another patient so I had to wait in an exam room clad with that cute paper gown. (Actually it was not a gown, it was a bolero. You don't want to move around too much in that.) After 45 minutes, my doctor came in and said everything was fine with my mammogram. She also asked if I was interested in genetic testing to see if I have the "breast cancer gene." (I'll blog about that some other time.)

Anyway, I was merrily on my way to the first floor via the elevator and guess who was in the lobby? Yes, that's right, mom and son from Target's card aisle! I joked that they were now my best friends. Isn't that weird? Now if I run into them again . . . .

TCR Rodeo

Last night we went to the TCR Rodeo. We met our friends and fellow missile site owners Bruce and Dona for dinner before heading over to the rodeo grounds. Below are the pictures from the evening. I did not bring my long lens, so I didn't take that many pictures.

Katie watching the action

The pick up men gathering up a bronc after he threw his rider.

Dona and Bruce. For Breast Cancer Awareness, the night's theme was "Tough Enough To Wear Pink." They handed out pink feathers for those who hadn't worn pink.

Rick and Katie absorbed in the action in the ring. Well Rick was absorbed; Katie's attention was on the kids in front of us.

Waiting for a bull rider to exit the pen. Notice all of the pink shirts on the cowboys.

Katie wanted a closer look so Rick took her over to the rail. Like a true cowgirl, she climbed the fence and hung there.

March For Babies

Today Katie and I walked in the March of Dimes Walk in Abilene called the March For Babies. A fellow MOP and her husband created a team called Team Jeffrey M in honor of their son whom died last December in the 18th week of pregnancy. It was important to me to show support via the walk because of Sarah and Chris' loss, but also because walking today was my personal thank you to the March of Dimes.

I started walking when I was 10 months old; however, my brother David noted, "Something's wrong with Brenda-Ann. She constantly falls on her face." The something wrong was that I was severely pigeon-toed. The only way to correct this condition was to put me in full leg braces that would slowly rotate both my femurs in the hip joints, as well as align my knee joints and ankle joints.

The braces were comprised of a thick belt that encircled my waist. From the belt and down each side of my leg was a flat metal bar. The bar was attached to little burgundy leather lace-up shoes. I recall wearing the braces, but don't remember feeling weird or different. I definitely wasn't traumatized by the year that I wore them 24/7. Actually I think my sister Maryel suffered worse than I. Maryel and I shared a bed at the time and I was required to wear the braces even at night. While I slept I would thrash around and for a year Maryel had permanently bruised shins from my hard little shoes. Also, there was one neighborhood bully that made fun of me, but my sister Maryel set him straight--she didn't punch him but annihilated him with words.

Anyway, the March of Dimes was the organization that supplied the very expensive braces and helped with the visits to the specialist 2 1/2 hours from my childhood home. It is because of the March of Dimes that I was finally able to walk without falling on my face and was able to go on to become a gymnast and a cheerleader. And it is because of the March of Dimes that I was able to walk three miles today with my daughter. Today, with each step I took around Red Bud Park, I said to myself "I am grateful." So thank you March of Dimes.

I was a bit concerned that the walk would be a little too long for Katie, as well as for me. However, surprisingly the walk went quickly and easily--a sure result of good company. The only hiccup was when one of the tires on Katie's stroller came off of its rim, but it was easily repaired. After the walk we had a picnic lunch with the food provided free of charge for all walkers. I choose a hamburger for Katie and I, but it wasn't long before she removed the beef patty from the bun and proceeded to eat the bun with just her beloved tomatoes on it.

On second thought there actually was a second hiccup. When I got home I looked in the mirror and realized that I had my tank top on backwards. I was wondering why the neck opening seemed too high in the front. Oh well....

Here are a few pictures that took today at the walk.

Katie holding on to her stroller before the start of the walk. Katie actually rode in her stroller for the majority of the walk. The last 100' we let our children out of their rides and so they could cross the finish line on foot.

Katie waiting while we stopped at Jeffrey's memorial placard along the walk route. I took a few pictures of the placard, but I found the little placard personal and precious and posting them on this blog would seem to violate that preciousness. I did email them to Sarah.

Katie didn't want her picture taken---a true first--and I was taking pictures which explains both of our absences from this photo of Team Jeffrey M.

A Dinner, A Sunset and A Storm Walk Into A Bar......

Yesterday I attended a dinner at a fellow MOPS' home with a few other MOPS. She and her husband recently purchased their house--three weeks ago--and I was amazed at how pulled together her house was. We have been back here in Texas for three years and still have unpacked boxes in the Quonset hut. Heck Rick moved here from California 12 years ago and there are still unpacked boxes in the Quonset hut from that move! Anyway, her house is absolutely beautiful and gave me some ideas for decorating here and in the Launch Control Center.

After dinner we hopped in their hot tub. Before doing so I managed to get this picture of the sunset. If you look closely you can see the giant wind mills in the distance in the yellow part of the sunset.

We vacated the hot tub when we saw lightening on the horizon. I left her house after 9 pm. When I was almost home, Rick called to say a severe thunderstorm was heading right for Corinth West. Just when I pulled into my parking spot, the rain started. I ran for the house all the while terrified that lightening was going to strike me down. The storm didn't last long and Rick said there was hail. Thankfully the SRT8 did not get damaged.

One big question on my mind is this, "Why in the heck did I think that flowers would last through a West Texas Spring storm?" One petunia planter got blown off of the pedestal on the north patio and got separated from the planter. Luckily I was able to replace the ball of dirt and most of flowers back into the planter. I need to bring them in during the next storm.

So all in all I had a great evening and sincerely enjoyed the good food, good company and the much needed rain.

As for the title of this post, I was originally going to call it "A Dinner, A Sunset and A Storm" but for some reason it sounded like a start of a joke to me. Hence the added phrase "walked into a bar..." (Just nod your head and smile. Thank you!)

Random Thoughts On A Cold Morning

Brad Pitbull is still a member of our household. The guy who supposedly wants him did not come by yesterday. Maybe today.

Rick has leash-trained Brad, so Rick takes him for walks up the driveway. Actually Brad really likes Rick and in general is happy as a clam when we come out of the house. Rick admitted that he is getting attached to Brad, but Rick assures we won't keep him. Katie is afraid of Brad because compared to old Eric, Brad is very exuberant and she is not used to that.

Thank goodness the Great Moms Walk was yesterday. Even though the sun is out today, there is a cold wind blowing through the trees.

We are invited to dinner today at our neighbors. By neighbors, I mean a couple that lives about a mile from us. Here in the boonies, that is a neighbor. Which has me thinking, even though our distance to our neighbors is a lot greater here at Corinth West, we are closer to them than the ones that we lived 50' away from in Lansing. Perhaps this is because of Texas hospitality or country folk do not suffer from jadedness like those from a big city. Also, in a city you tend to distrust everyone. Whatever the reason, out in the country we look out for each other and depend on each other more. After a bad storm, the first thing phone call is to the neighbors to make sure they are okay. Perhaps