Chips Ahoy vs Bacon

We have three bug lights outside that come on at night. The lights attracts bugs and when they land on the interior wire grids, they get electrocuted. Because we are buggy here in West Texas, Rick has to daily clean the dead bugs from the lights or we risk a fire starting in a light and spreading to the tree from which the light hangs. Rick uses one of his air compressors to blow the dead bugs out. The compressor is loud, so his hearing can be compromised afterward. Here is a typical conversation because of this compromised hearing.

Set up: I found a bag of Chips Ahoy in the pantry when Rick thought we were all out. I walk into the bedroom with the bag of Chips of Ahoy.

Me:  I had another bag hidden.
Rick: (Excited) You have a bag of bacon?
Me: (I hold up the bag of Chips Ahoy.) No, I said 'I had another bag hidden.'
Rick: (Disappointed) Aah, I wish you had a bag of bacon.

This is what we have to look forward to as we grow old and lose our hearing. At least we will laugh.

"There he goooooooooooooes!"

My camera has a pre-set for sporting events, which means when you press the button it snaps a quick succession of pictures. This feature came in handy at the rodeo especially during the saddle bronc riding. When I downloaded the pictures to my computer, I was laughing like all get out because there would be numerous photos of the rider hanging on for dear life with the last picture being the rider flying off of the horse. I have several sets of these pictures of different riders all ending with a "There he goes!" frame. Here for your enjoyment are those frames. Please note no animal or man was injured; however, I cannot attest to the men's pride.

 The popular bronc trick of "I'll stop short and you'll fly over my head."

 "Hey! You! Get off of my back!" (It's a lot more amusing if you sing this a la Rolling Stone's "Get Off of My Cloud."

 He spent such a short time on the horse he was like a red flash.

 Here is where this cowboy starts to lose control. . . 

. . .this is where he kisses the dirt.

 I really thought this cowboy was going to make it. . . 

. . .I was wrong.

TCR Parade and Rodeo Night 1

It's TCR (Texas Cowboy Reunion) time, the big event for this area. This year it is the 83rd TCR. Yesterday we attended the parade and the first of four nights of the rodeo portion of the reunion. Like we have in previous years, we purchased our box, so we are right on the rail of the ring. Because the box seats eight and we are a family of three we invite friends to fill the box. It's always a good time and the one time a year I get to eat funnel cake! Here's the pictures.

 Hardin-Simmons Six White Horses

 Hardin-Simmons Cowboy Band doing a cowboy, kicky thing.

 This little dude was, well . . . so little. I was hoping he'd turn to face me because his little eyes were just peeping underneath the brim of his too big cowboy hat.

 Hardin-Simmons Six White Horses charging into the rodeo grounds.

 The U.S. and Texas flags galloping onto the grounds.

 This young cowboy had such a pretty little paint.

 I am partial to palomino horses, so the reason for this shot and the next.

 Isn't this palomino horse gorgeous?

 This barrel racer is only 7 years old. Her horse went astray at first, but she got him back on track.

When the horses round barrel number three they are often at an unbelievable angle. Unfortunately, this horse was way over the point of recovery. After I clicked this picture, down he went down on his side and the rider got caught. She got up, but painfully limped the length of the rodeo ring back to the starting gate. She is hurting today, I am sure.

 I didn't realize this lady was older until I saw this picture. You'd never know her age with how agile she was in the ring.

 This barrel racer has won quite a bit over the years. What I find intriguing in this picture is how calm she and her horse are rounding number three barrel.

 This crazy lady is Ginger Duke. She is a professional trick rider. She hangs off side of the horse, dragging her hand in the dirt, vaults around the horse, stands on the horse all the while the horse is racing around the ring. The shocker is she just started riding at the age of 21. I don't think she has been performing that long because she still performs on her first horse TeeJay. She got a second horse named Dollar who was a wild mustang and never saw a human until the age of 4. He performed for the first time in front of an audience last night. 

Ginger and TeeJay.

I didn't get any decent pictures of the bronc riding because I left my long lens at home. But hey, we have three more nights to go, so more pictures will follow. And before I forget, Happy 4th of July!

Katie Update

I have been blogging so infrequently that I have to read the previous posts to see what I have already shared.  Bad blogger, bad blogger.

Katie tested for her 2nd degree red belt June 8 and passed. The belt presentation ceremony was June 15, so the next belt to achieve is 3rd degree red then black! But like Master Chip says, black is not the end, it is a new beginning. When you first receive your black belt you are a recommend black belt. Then you start working on your degrees of black belt. With each degree you get a gold stripe on your belt. For example, Master Chip has seven stripes, so he is a 7th degree black belt. It is a life long commitment and process. During the belt ceremonies Master Chip usually speaks for a bit and during this last one he brought up a few facts with one being that in the college application process, Harvard's for example, if you have the achievement of a Black Belt in tae kwon do or karate or another martial art listed on your application your application  automatically gets booted up to the next review board. Being a Black Belt in a martial art also works in your favor in the job market. Two people can have the exact same education and work history, but the black belt will get the job. The reason for this is that achieving a black belt is not just an indication of your physical capabilities, but also attests to your dedication, loyalty, determination,  high moral standards among other inner strengths. Martial arts strengthen the mind, the soul and the body and truly make you a better person.

It's not easy to get your black belt and it gets harder with each belt, but I have faith Katie can do it as long as we support her, encourage her and don't let her slack. She will thank us one day, maybe not tomorrow or even 10 or 15 years from now, but one day.

 The 1st and 2nd degree red belts showing their from during testing.

Belt ceremony. Removing her old belt.

Last Thursday Katie joined a very elite club in tae kwon do. It is called the "I Kick So High, I Hit Myself in the Face" Club. She was doing a front stretch kick and she smashed her knee right into her mouth. At first she looked stunned and then the tears came. She doesn't like crying in public, especially tae kwon do. A couple of instructors came over and checked her out. When she went to get a drink of water I checked her mouth out. Her two front, baby teeth have been loose forever, but the knee knocker didn't dislodge them. It only made them bleed. After that quick break, she got back on the mat and carried on. Another parent commented how Katie managed to pull it together so quickly and how she didn't lower her subsequent kicks. However, I did notice that she was tilting her head back. She's a tough cookie, that Doodlebug.

Katie loves gymnastics and is rather good at it. During the first class it was apparent that her training in tae kwon do serves her well in gymnastics. One aspect of tae kwon do that she applies to gymnastics is controlling her body. Sometimes when kids do cartwheels they look all gangly and defenseless against gravity. Katie has learned to work with gravity and doesn't have that out-of-control look. She is also fearless and willing to try anything. Today she was on the beam and she walked on it gracefully and without wobbling.

That's about it on the Katie front. Of course the weather is hot, hot, hot. And I have been busy, busy, busy, but I have not done anything earth shattering, just the day-to-day activities. Til later.

The Path to a Kindle

When the original Kindle Fire came out I quickly jumped on the wagon and purchased one. Of course when Amazon came out with the new and improved Kindle Fire HD 8.9" I had to upgrade. Katie used my old Kindle Fire and really enjoyed it. This past March we were in the Wal-Mart on I-20 and had to stop in the restroom before the ride home. We got to the Hummer and realized that Katie left the Kindle in the restroom. We turned around and went back to the ladies room, it was gone. A total of maybe ten minutes had elapsed. We immediately went to Customer Service and no one had turned it in. Katie was sobbing. The lady at the customer service desk and another lady behind us in line felt so bad for Katie. We left our name and number. I then called Amazon and had the Kindle removed from my account. The moment the Kindle was removed from my account--deregistered--the Kindle became a doorstop. Kindle's have to be registered to work. You have to have the ESN to register a Kindle. The ESN is not on the outside of the Kindle and you get it when you purchase the Kindle. Therefore, the only one who can register that Kindle is myself.  In addition to the ESN, to register my lost Kindle you also need my user name, name, address and password. I have checked several times with that Wal-Mart and no one has turned in the Kindle. I have also checked the local pawn shops and they did inform me they do not take Kindles without all of the paperwork and ESN numbers. I also check eBay and I noticed on eBay there are oodles of Kindles that are "not in working condition" going for $40. I take it "not in working condition" means no ESN. Anyway....

To encourage Katie to continue to read during the summer, I created a Summer Reading Path chart.

Katie's summer reading goal is 75 points. The easier books are worth one point/one square. The chapter books like Junie B Jones and Magical Treehouse are worth 3-4 points. By the time school starts she needs to have 75 points. Also, she needs to save $80 over the summer by doing her chores; therefore, getting her allowance. If she does both, Rick and I will pay for half of a Kindle Fire HD 7". She is pretty pumped about her challenge and has $21.57. She is reading a chapter book right now, so she should be at 10 books here shortly. At times it seems like a daunting task but I remind her that her birthday is coming up, so perhaps she will get money for her birthday and in one day she can easily read 6-7 one point books. Wish her luck!

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.

Belt Ceremony

This past Saturday was the belt ceremony for tae kwon do. I had to share the picture that is below. I took it right after the Black Belt had tied Katie's new 1st degree red belt around her waist and Katie turned to where Rick was standing. I was fortunate enough to click the shutter just at that moment and got a great picture.