This post will get me into a lot of trouble on the home-front if it gets out. Thank god the girl child does not read. My daughter, bless her prudish heart, is a very private person, I (obviously) am not. There is a line between what is mine, as the mom, to share, and what is hers, as the beginning adolescent daughter, to keep private. I think I am about to cross that line.
She is making me CRAZY.
It has to be hormones. I decided to track it on my calendar.
We had 5 days this week that was so completely foreign to what I know about my child that it was surreal. Tuesday she had a great practice - top of the world everything going super-fine. Wednesday she had a horrible practice, couldn't do anything, forgot how to do her giants, couldn't feel her tap - it was JUST like yesterday!
She has one coach that she does not have the best relationship with. It is coaching style, sometimes problematic for my kid. I'm not sure what the deal is - my kid will talk to anyone, if necessary, not matter how difficult or painful it may be. She will not talk to this women, or allow me to. And frankly, it is a personality problem, not a "cross-the line" step in sort of thing. For 5 days my daughter was in hell, and I decided that after her meet, regardless of the consequences, I would step in. Except that it magically went away. The stories of things said and done by this coach did not change - Gym Girl is just back to her "whatever - I do the best I can, and I'm not letting this get me" attitude.
She was also excessively clumsy, came in with what looked like road rash on her thighs and butt. Not beam or bar - both. 3 falls in one practice. Ouch. I'm glad I wasn't there.
And forgetfull. OMG. I wanted to kill her. My very organized, everything in its place, note writing, homework doing, wunderkind, was completely awol. Forgot homework at school. Forgot research books at home. Water-bottles, lunch-boxes, cell phone. Remember the velcro suit of SNL fame in the '80's? I wanted to get her one.
For 2 years now, I have been able to track some minor cyclical changes. About once a month, she spends a day of forgetfulness, a day of being extra sensitive, and a day where everything is my fault. I am aware that this is normal. The receptor cells that will some day receive the onslaught of pubescent hormones have to get ready, and as that is happening, aware parents will get glimpses of the future hell they must share with their daughters. I had lulled myself into thinking that she had my genes and she's a gymnast, so I had 3 or 4 years to prepare. Oh, NO. Prep-time is OVER. Let the roller coaster begin.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Catching up
Atlanta was Awesome! Gym girl nailed her back handspring on the beam, as part of her best ever beam routine. We were floored when the score came up 7.7 - WHAT?!?!?!? apparently Georgia prep-op rules are different than Florida. We do a walk over series OR a back handspring. In Georgia, you can do the handspring, but the walk over is required. So her start value was almost 2 points lower than she thought. Her coach accepted "coaching error" responsibility (love our coaches), and the gym girl was just delighted to have landed the skill. Today would have been her 1st level 7 meet, but she decided to stay prep-op and fine tune. Have to admire her maturity, I was very surprised at the decision.
The World of Coke was a trip highlight - weird. I would never have thought to take a factory trip for fun. It was very cool, more like a Coke museum, with video of all the old commercials, samples of all the coke products around the world. Plus - there was SNOW. Don't have pics to upload, but photo girl made a snowman when we got there, she named it Fred, and checked on him conscientiously all weekend.
This Friday one of the other moms and I took 5 of the school friends to the new Tampa Museum of Art to see the new Matisse exhibit. Had no idea that Matisse did so many nudes. Not sure I would have noticed if I hadn't had 5 rather embarrassed pre-teens with me. Love the new building. The kids loved the new play ground. The museum seems smaller, and the permanent ancient artifact exhibit seems all crammed in a tiny room. But it was way fun, and good to get the girls out, get them some culture. Of course - they spent most of the time texting the friends that had not been able to make it.
Saturday I spent most of the day being reminded that the normally perfect child is, in fact, almost a teen-ager. This includes hormones, attitude, and sketchy social skills. Combined with my crazy, hyperventilating, anxiety state when I think I'm going to be late - or egads! actually am late. My poor husband is a saint, and deserves holy exhaltation. I am very impressed with myself. I did not actually yell at anyone. I did not cry. I did not throw up. Then we drank wine and ate amazing food at a charity event all night. Life is good - once again.
Wish us luck at the meet - off to make cookies.
This Friday one of the other moms and I took 5 of the school friends to the new Tampa Museum of Art to see the new Matisse exhibit. Had no idea that Matisse did so many nudes. Not sure I would have noticed if I hadn't had 5 rather embarrassed pre-teens with me. Love the new building. The kids loved the new play ground. The museum seems smaller, and the permanent ancient artifact exhibit seems all crammed in a tiny room. But it was way fun, and good to get the girls out, get them some culture. Of course - they spent most of the time texting the friends that had not been able to make it.
Saturday I spent most of the day being reminded that the normally perfect child is, in fact, almost a teen-ager. This includes hormones, attitude, and sketchy social skills. Combined with my crazy, hyperventilating, anxiety state when I think I'm going to be late - or egads! actually am late. My poor husband is a saint, and deserves holy exhaltation. I am very impressed with myself. I did not actually yell at anyone. I did not cry. I did not throw up. Then we drank wine and ate amazing food at a charity event all night. Life is good - once again.
Wish us luck at the meet - off to make cookies.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Bridge to NoWhere
Remeber Sarah Palin's bridge to nowhere? Pork Bellie Politics, lots of federal money handed out for a project that did not seem to benefit anyone except the companies with the contract and the people that had jobs for the duration of the project? Well Florida is getting its own sweet little project handed to us. Ours has the bonus of being wrapped up in green packaging - we are saving the earth and our economy all at once.
High Speed Rail train. Whoooooo Hooooo. Tampa to Orlando in like 30+ minutes. Remove the majority of traffic along I-4, increase business and commuter opportunities between the 2 cities. I know a surprising number of people that do the commute already. If I had to have a job in Orlando, I would rip my family out of their comfortable little zone and move them. If my husband and I had split jobs, we would move to Lakeland - but I digress. The green hippie, progressive side of me should be thrilled. But, I have been opposed to this project every time it has come up for the last 15 years - and it comes up alot. Now we have federal funding, so it looks like my internal whining is being ignored once again by those who have never heard my opinion.
What's my problem with this wonderful, money making, gas saving, public transit project that we all crave? Infra structure. We have none. I'm not sure about Orlando, but I've never seen a "visit our city and the public transit will take you everywhere you want to go, quickly, easily and comfortably" ads. I do know that Once you get to Tampa, you will hire a cab, call a friend or be pretty much stuck. I have attempted designing routes on Tampa's public transit system that gets me from point A to point B. But it is confusing, difficult and would leave me hanging out on very uncomfortable street corners for an uncomfortable length of time. People don't ride the bus in Tampa. At least not middle class gainfully employed people. The busses here may not be dangerous, or dirty, but the reputation of them being so prevails. There has been talk about building a light rail system to get people from the major 'burbs of Tampa to downtown for years. Same problem - you get people to a hub - then what?
It always cracks me up when the promoters of these projects point to Portland, Oregon as the model to follow when trying to seek funding. We have sent delegations to Portland to see the light rail, they always come back with glowing reports. As they should. Portland public transit is amazing, and easy, and user friendly. Everybody rides the bus in Portland. Our city areas are similar in size and construct, here in Tampa we do not have to deal with Ice, uneven terrain, potential (although unlikely) earthquakes and cross-state politics. We do worry about sinkholes, floods and the occassional hurricane. So what's the dif? Culture!
I lived in Portland while they were putting in the light rail. They tore up downtown. Portland is a very walkable city, and the city put out a massive effort to keep it so during all of the construction, and they did an excellent job of keeping access to local business open, I think they lost very few. Also, the traffic in Portland is significantly worse than in Tampa. Hard to believe, but it is soooo much easier to ride a bus than to try to drive around during rush hour. When the subject of light-rail came up, it was not a bunch of politics and special interest groups going "this will be good for our city," it was a bunch of citizens going "do something now, we can't get to work or move around comfortably on a daily basis." The street level infrastructure was established before the light rail system went in. People were already riding buses - light rail just made it all easier. The High school and middle school students have bus passes, and get to and from after school activities on the bus, rumor has it that the politics in Tampa with transit and school board would make that almost impossible, and frankly, I won't let my kid ride the school bus, pretty sure they'd have to fix a lot of things before I stuck her on a public bus. As for safety - my brother worked law enforcement in Multnomah county for a long time. Every LEO (law enforcement officer) in Portland or Multnomah county is required to inform the driver when they get on the bus. That is a lot of off-duty and plain clothes cops offering back-up. You don't know they are there, but the drivers do.
So - the answer for Tampa is to change the culture, educate the people, and make them feel like transit is safe and convenient - no, make it BE safe and convenient. Work on the infrastructure first. On another note, a friend of mine, a geologist tossed out another argument the other day that I hadn't really thought about. Did I mention sink holes? Huge areas of Tampa have been closed down this winter because large chunks of road fell into the ground. These are random, unpredictable and common throughout Florida. Small ones damages houses, large ones swallow them up. Travelling 180 miles an hour above ground hoping a sink hole doesn't open on the track may be a fun little thrill ride, get y'all warm-ed up for Universal Studios.
High Speed Rail train. Whoooooo Hooooo. Tampa to Orlando in like 30+ minutes. Remove the majority of traffic along I-4, increase business and commuter opportunities between the 2 cities. I know a surprising number of people that do the commute already. If I had to have a job in Orlando, I would rip my family out of their comfortable little zone and move them. If my husband and I had split jobs, we would move to Lakeland - but I digress. The green hippie, progressive side of me should be thrilled. But, I have been opposed to this project every time it has come up for the last 15 years - and it comes up alot. Now we have federal funding, so it looks like my internal whining is being ignored once again by those who have never heard my opinion.
What's my problem with this wonderful, money making, gas saving, public transit project that we all crave? Infra structure. We have none. I'm not sure about Orlando, but I've never seen a "visit our city and the public transit will take you everywhere you want to go, quickly, easily and comfortably" ads. I do know that Once you get to Tampa, you will hire a cab, call a friend or be pretty much stuck. I have attempted designing routes on Tampa's public transit system that gets me from point A to point B. But it is confusing, difficult and would leave me hanging out on very uncomfortable street corners for an uncomfortable length of time. People don't ride the bus in Tampa. At least not middle class gainfully employed people. The busses here may not be dangerous, or dirty, but the reputation of them being so prevails. There has been talk about building a light rail system to get people from the major 'burbs of Tampa to downtown for years. Same problem - you get people to a hub - then what?
It always cracks me up when the promoters of these projects point to Portland, Oregon as the model to follow when trying to seek funding. We have sent delegations to Portland to see the light rail, they always come back with glowing reports. As they should. Portland public transit is amazing, and easy, and user friendly. Everybody rides the bus in Portland. Our city areas are similar in size and construct, here in Tampa we do not have to deal with Ice, uneven terrain, potential (although unlikely) earthquakes and cross-state politics. We do worry about sinkholes, floods and the occassional hurricane. So what's the dif? Culture!
I lived in Portland while they were putting in the light rail. They tore up downtown. Portland is a very walkable city, and the city put out a massive effort to keep it so during all of the construction, and they did an excellent job of keeping access to local business open, I think they lost very few. Also, the traffic in Portland is significantly worse than in Tampa. Hard to believe, but it is soooo much easier to ride a bus than to try to drive around during rush hour. When the subject of light-rail came up, it was not a bunch of politics and special interest groups going "this will be good for our city," it was a bunch of citizens going "do something now, we can't get to work or move around comfortably on a daily basis." The street level infrastructure was established before the light rail system went in. People were already riding buses - light rail just made it all easier. The High school and middle school students have bus passes, and get to and from after school activities on the bus, rumor has it that the politics in Tampa with transit and school board would make that almost impossible, and frankly, I won't let my kid ride the school bus, pretty sure they'd have to fix a lot of things before I stuck her on a public bus. As for safety - my brother worked law enforcement in Multnomah county for a long time. Every LEO (law enforcement officer) in Portland or Multnomah county is required to inform the driver when they get on the bus. That is a lot of off-duty and plain clothes cops offering back-up. You don't know they are there, but the drivers do.
So - the answer for Tampa is to change the culture, educate the people, and make them feel like transit is safe and convenient - no, make it BE safe and convenient. Work on the infrastructure first. On another note, a friend of mine, a geologist tossed out another argument the other day that I hadn't really thought about. Did I mention sink holes? Huge areas of Tampa have been closed down this winter because large chunks of road fell into the ground. These are random, unpredictable and common throughout Florida. Small ones damages houses, large ones swallow them up. Travelling 180 miles an hour above ground hoping a sink hole doesn't open on the track may be a fun little thrill ride, get y'all warm-ed up for Universal Studios.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Tired and Torn
The "torn" reference in this post is literal. My arms and legs are all scratched up. Taking the dead vegetation out of the yard has resulted in as much injury to my limbs as the hedges. Florida is NOT intended to withstand frost. My little area of Tampa never freezes. Last year I opted to not bring any plants in on the one day we were threatened with a freeze, and we got a little frost. I lost a few things, but it did not even effect the orchids, which is pretty amazing, as they are a distinctly tropical plant, and in my yard they are more exposed than is recommended. This year, when they said "freeze" I went through the yadda-yadda, whatever, not in my neighborhood, head in the sand trip; and was thoroughly amazed at the white blanket of frost in the park the next morning. And the next. And the next. By day 5 I had pretty much figured out that this is a "cleansing" year for the garden.
Everything needs to be replaced. But first it needs to be removed. A tropical garden, with large sections that are allowed to run wild, is a very sad thing after a big freeze. When I first moved to Tampa, the south had been hit with record breaking freezes, all of the out-lying areas were filled with row upon row of orange tree skeletons, eerie, sad, and incomprehensible to a farm girl used to the ebb and flow of northern life. I don't think my Caramobola (Star -Fruit tree) will make it. It could surprise me, it is 7 years old, good solid trunk and has had two years of prolific fruit bearing. Surprisingly, my cinnamon tree looks fine. It is not supposed to handle any freeze, Tampa is actually a little too far north for recommended growing.
I doubt that I will have it all cleared this weekend, but we are moving toward a goal.
I would be farther along on the yard, but yesterday was a wash. I would blame it on the rain, but I was beat, and only managed about 2 hours of actual work. Friday night I picked up my daughter, 3 other girls and one of the gym moms for a field trip to Gainesville. We watched our first college gym meet. 4th ranked UF (go Gator's) against 13th ranked LSU. LSU has the nation's top-ranked All Around gymnast, and she rocked it, but UF has an amazing group of specialty gymnasts, and some really great all-around contenders. TGD had a huge turn out, and we sat mostly together, just above the uneven bars. Fun, Fun, Fun! And I think the Wild Child could actually become a sports photographer, with a little practice, and some bigger lenses. Anyway - Traffic was horrible - and it took us forever to get out of the garage, forever to find a spot at Ben and Jerry's, forever to order, forever to get on the road, etc. etc. We ended up not getting back to Tampa until 1:30 am. It took lots and lots of caffeine to get me home. The other mom had to work at 6:00am, so she slept, as did the girls. I had a coffee/toffee ice-cream and 2 shots of espresso float at Ben & Jerry's - so I was good for the trip. But that amount of coffee can backfire on a girl after midnight. Restless sleep, then wide awake at 5:00am - UGH!!!!! sooo - not much got done, but the girl made it to practice at 9:00 am. The whole trip was a flashback to "away games" when I was in high school. Fun, exhausted, useless the next day. Ready to do it again, just not for several weeks.
Everything needs to be replaced. But first it needs to be removed. A tropical garden, with large sections that are allowed to run wild, is a very sad thing after a big freeze. When I first moved to Tampa, the south had been hit with record breaking freezes, all of the out-lying areas were filled with row upon row of orange tree skeletons, eerie, sad, and incomprehensible to a farm girl used to the ebb and flow of northern life. I don't think my Caramobola (Star -Fruit tree) will make it. It could surprise me, it is 7 years old, good solid trunk and has had two years of prolific fruit bearing. Surprisingly, my cinnamon tree looks fine. It is not supposed to handle any freeze, Tampa is actually a little too far north for recommended growing.
I doubt that I will have it all cleared this weekend, but we are moving toward a goal.
I would be farther along on the yard, but yesterday was a wash. I would blame it on the rain, but I was beat, and only managed about 2 hours of actual work. Friday night I picked up my daughter, 3 other girls and one of the gym moms for a field trip to Gainesville. We watched our first college gym meet. 4th ranked UF (go Gator's) against 13th ranked LSU. LSU has the nation's top-ranked All Around gymnast, and she rocked it, but UF has an amazing group of specialty gymnasts, and some really great all-around contenders. TGD had a huge turn out, and we sat mostly together, just above the uneven bars. Fun, Fun, Fun! And I think the Wild Child could actually become a sports photographer, with a little practice, and some bigger lenses. Anyway - Traffic was horrible - and it took us forever to get out of the garage, forever to find a spot at Ben and Jerry's, forever to order, forever to get on the road, etc. etc. We ended up not getting back to Tampa until 1:30 am. It took lots and lots of caffeine to get me home. The other mom had to work at 6:00am, so she slept, as did the girls. I had a coffee/toffee ice-cream and 2 shots of espresso float at Ben & Jerry's - so I was good for the trip. But that amount of coffee can backfire on a girl after midnight. Restless sleep, then wide awake at 5:00am - UGH!!!!! sooo - not much got done, but the girl made it to practice at 9:00 am. The whole trip was a flashback to "away games" when I was in high school. Fun, exhausted, useless the next day. Ready to do it again, just not for several weeks.Sunday, January 17, 2010
Fitting in the Friendlies
I compartmentalize my life. Probably not as much as some, but I am acutely aware that I do this, and I typically do it on purpose. I have a very large circle of friends and acquaintances; people that are different, fun, intriguing. We are told to "be ourselves," that no matter the situation, we should be the "ourselves,' and I believe that. I am that.
The thing is, I'm a lot of different people, and my friendships reflect that. Some of my very closest friends, the people I love most in the world, my "go to" friendships when I am hurt, down, and confused, are not the people I spend most of my time with. Not that they live far way, or I don't love and want to spend time with them; they just live a different daily path than I do, and those paths seldom cross. I have friends that I feel very comfortable discussing deeply spiritual aspects of life. I have friends (conservative and liberal) with whom I have rousing political discussion. I have friends that get the full on bitch about my job on a daily basis (sorry, Alina). I have friends to whom I brag endlessly about my child - wait, that is everybody, does not really apply to this post. I have people that I bitch about my ex too, and I have people that know how deeply hurt I am that we were not able to maintain a cohesive parenting relationship for our daughter. I have friends with whom I discuss medical and political topics deeply and intellectually, and friends that I advise on their personal pain syndromes. I have friends that I call when I want a fight, and friends that I call when I need someone to knock me over the head. I have friends that call me when they need help, I have friends that call me when they know that not hearing from me in weeks is a sign of trouble. Friends who I tell to go to their doctor, ask for a steroid injection and try to take it easy. Friends with the same injury that I advise to have an energy healing session, take calendula and arnica, rest and ice for several days, and let me look at it when the energetic blockage is cleared. People that see me as personally liberal. People that know me as politically conservative. For the record, I consider myself moderate.
Easter is the one time that all of my worlds come together. The thing is, I am so busy at Easter that I get to observe all of these different people interact, and get to know each other. And it is fun, and very gratifying to me. These are people I love, people that would probably never meet or speak if it was not for this one holiday a year when we drag all of our friends to a very casual get together. I enjoy it because I am not any of those people that my friends are used to interacting with - I'm just the cooker girl at Easter. Say "hi," Kiss the cook, go mingle. If you are willing to flip an aebelskever or two, you get to hang in the kitchen a little longer, but otherwise - eat - mingle - get out of my kitchen.
I have recently been thrust into one of those "learning" situations. For me. The friends involved are having no dilemma - of course - this is because I surround myself with truly amazing people. Two of my "besties" have recently become friends. This is awesome, because time is always a factor for me, and I never feel like I have time to connect with any of my friends. The thing is, they are, in may ways, on opposite ends of at least one of my spectrums. One is my best "day-to-day" friend, the kid, life, husband, what's for dinner? come drink wine with me friend. The other is one of the few people in the world that with whom I am comfortable having a deep and very dark side. Even when we are not talking or interacting with that side of me, I know that I have an accomplice when dealing with my inner demons. In the past I have not spent a lot of time with this friend, and I realize that I don't put out a lot of effort to spend time with her. The person I share most comfortably with her, is the part of me that I am very uncomfortable airing in public. So - awkward. I am getting more comfortable having the two of them hang out with me, but frankly, I need to find more alone time with both of them, because I don't feel like I am reaping (or contributing) the full benefit of our friendship with either one. Hence the time thing. I see them both more than ever, and feel like I am spending less time with each of them. Easter was the one time of year that I alotted to this juggling act, now I feel like I have balls in the air all of the time. I really need to find time to spend with one of my "smack me up side of the head" friends.
Enough of my rant. It is nice to have a dilemma in which all of the pressure is internal - at least I am just chasing my own crazy.
The thing is, I'm a lot of different people, and my friendships reflect that. Some of my very closest friends, the people I love most in the world, my "go to" friendships when I am hurt, down, and confused, are not the people I spend most of my time with. Not that they live far way, or I don't love and want to spend time with them; they just live a different daily path than I do, and those paths seldom cross. I have friends that I feel very comfortable discussing deeply spiritual aspects of life. I have friends (conservative and liberal) with whom I have rousing political discussion. I have friends that get the full on bitch about my job on a daily basis (sorry, Alina). I have friends to whom I brag endlessly about my child - wait, that is everybody, does not really apply to this post. I have people that I bitch about my ex too, and I have people that know how deeply hurt I am that we were not able to maintain a cohesive parenting relationship for our daughter. I have friends with whom I discuss medical and political topics deeply and intellectually, and friends that I advise on their personal pain syndromes. I have friends that I call when I want a fight, and friends that I call when I need someone to knock me over the head. I have friends that call me when they need help, I have friends that call me when they know that not hearing from me in weeks is a sign of trouble. Friends who I tell to go to their doctor, ask for a steroid injection and try to take it easy. Friends with the same injury that I advise to have an energy healing session, take calendula and arnica, rest and ice for several days, and let me look at it when the energetic blockage is cleared. People that see me as personally liberal. People that know me as politically conservative. For the record, I consider myself moderate.
Easter is the one time that all of my worlds come together. The thing is, I am so busy at Easter that I get to observe all of these different people interact, and get to know each other. And it is fun, and very gratifying to me. These are people I love, people that would probably never meet or speak if it was not for this one holiday a year when we drag all of our friends to a very casual get together. I enjoy it because I am not any of those people that my friends are used to interacting with - I'm just the cooker girl at Easter. Say "hi," Kiss the cook, go mingle. If you are willing to flip an aebelskever or two, you get to hang in the kitchen a little longer, but otherwise - eat - mingle - get out of my kitchen.
Enough of my rant. It is nice to have a dilemma in which all of the pressure is internal - at least I am just chasing my own crazy.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Flippin' Fabulous
Last evening I had an email from our Head Coach wanting to talk to me about Gym Girls meet schedule. I am 40-something years old, I have very good relationships with all of the authority figures in my life, and every time I get a "we need to talk" message my little mind and stomach starts having anxiety flip-flops. The daughter is practically perfect in every way. There can be no "problem." Just calm down, go and watch as much practice as you can, like you normally do - act casual. Be Cool.
Monday her group coach was not there, so she got to work with one of her favorite coaches and was bouncing off the wall with success, she even made her back hand-spring on the high beam. Really awkward to watch, but all the new skills start out that way. Cool - good for her, the one level 7 skill she did not have. So, anyway, I get to the gym last night, she is on floor, up first for routines. They added a layout to her first pass, and moved the round-off/back-handspring/ back-tuck to the end of her routine. Wow - that is a 7 floor sequence.
She comes running out to see me, tells me that they are moving her into level 7! To clarify, she will compete prep-op for the rest of the USAG season, but will compete 7 in the upcoming AAU meets. Could I be more proud?
But it gets better. On beam she is nailing her back hand spring. It looks like one of her easiest skills. Last week she was still scared to do it on the high beam even with a spot. Today she acts like she has been doing them her whole life.
Still more proud Mommy moments. The Wild Child Pics interview comes out in the Lutz News and the Tampa Tribune today. Go Wild Gym Child! Go!
Monday her group coach was not there, so she got to work with one of her favorite coaches and was bouncing off the wall with success, she even made her back hand-spring on the high beam. Really awkward to watch, but all the new skills start out that way. Cool - good for her, the one level 7 skill she did not have. So, anyway, I get to the gym last night, she is on floor, up first for routines. They added a layout to her first pass, and moved the round-off/back-handspring/ back-tuck to the end of her routine. Wow - that is a 7 floor sequence.
She comes running out to see me, tells me that they are moving her into level 7! To clarify, she will compete prep-op for the rest of the USAG season, but will compete 7 in the upcoming AAU meets. Could I be more proud?
But it gets better. On beam she is nailing her back hand spring. It looks like one of her easiest skills. Last week she was still scared to do it on the high beam even with a spot. Today she acts like she has been doing them her whole life.
Still more proud Mommy moments. The Wild Child Pics interview comes out in the Lutz News and the Tampa Tribune today. Go Wild Gym Child! Go!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
ReMix
Tradition has us looking ahead at the beginning of each New Year. Resolutions. Resignation. Revolutions. I also enjoy looking back. The group of women that I am closest to get together at the end of the year and do a little ritual where we focus on what we have learned from the waning year, and try to determine how or in which direction we would like to grow for the following year. Often we ask the universe to grant us gifts of strength of character to achieve our goals and continue learning grand lessons of life. It is a group of women that for about 15 years have spent a lot of time together. We used to see each other socially, and make an effort to get together without the men-folk about once a month. Now our only consistent gathering is Winter Solstice, and we all cling furiously to this tradition.
What have I learned? The big "life lesson" that will carry me through to the end of my days? or at least until my situation changes? One thing about this particular ritual, it makes you look at your past year, determine at least one truly important lesson that you will carry with you, a thing that changes you, even if only slightly. Mine: I am not what I do. This seems simple enough. But I have always defined myself by what I do. I have been a massage therapist/manual Physical therapist my entire adult life. I was doing massage on family and friends as a child, licensed by 18, it was "who I am." I was an internationally recognized pelvic floor therapist, the "go to" local therapist for TMJ. Now, for the first time in 25 years, I don't even own a massage table. Surprisingly (to me) I have not changed. I now do physical therapy in a setting that only requires a license and a strong back. I have those. I am becoming a good home health physical therapist. I am learning to let "who I am" define "what I do." I love the freedom this gives me. As I felt arthritis creeping in over the years, I have been afraid that I would not be able to work - and the fear had less to do with lack of income, than the fear of losing self. Now I know that even if I were to suddenly become disabled, I would have a huge set of challenges, but struggling with an identity problem will not be one of them.
On to gushy Mom mode. Photo girl is being interviewed by Lutz News on Tuesday. I would be more excited if the reporter had not requested coming to our house. Mad cleaning Frenzy - ugh. The house needed it.
Next weekend is the first optional gym meet. I have butterflies. She seems fine. Wild Child Pics just purchased a very cool point and shoot camera, the underwater housing is on order. I have usurped the camera, she doesn't need it for land pics, and I will never use it underwater. We decided to get it now, instead of waiting for the next snorkel trip so I can use it to take pictures of gym meets. It is not a DSLR - but it is till way more camera than I need. Fun to play with. Intimidating for us "non-camera" people.
I have tax stuff for both businesses ready to go to the accountant. Made my January 2nd dead line. My Darling Husband is a little slower. I am begging him to get organized enough that we won't have to file an extension this year. Why do I not help him, and organize it for him? Because I value our marriage. We work at different speeds, with different styles. We do very well with separate tasks that mesh, especially when his are manual and not on a time frame. He is the perfect compliment to my mad OCD qualities for things like our big Easter breakfast. I think if I had to work with him on organizing business things, I would let my inner bitch loose, and probably not be able to get her back on the leash.
Happy 2010. New Year. New Decade, still New Millenium.
What have I learned? The big "life lesson" that will carry me through to the end of my days? or at least until my situation changes? One thing about this particular ritual, it makes you look at your past year, determine at least one truly important lesson that you will carry with you, a thing that changes you, even if only slightly. Mine: I am not what I do. This seems simple enough. But I have always defined myself by what I do. I have been a massage therapist/manual Physical therapist my entire adult life. I was doing massage on family and friends as a child, licensed by 18, it was "who I am." I was an internationally recognized pelvic floor therapist, the "go to" local therapist for TMJ. Now, for the first time in 25 years, I don't even own a massage table. Surprisingly (to me) I have not changed. I now do physical therapy in a setting that only requires a license and a strong back. I have those. I am becoming a good home health physical therapist. I am learning to let "who I am" define "what I do." I love the freedom this gives me. As I felt arthritis creeping in over the years, I have been afraid that I would not be able to work - and the fear had less to do with lack of income, than the fear of losing self. Now I know that even if I were to suddenly become disabled, I would have a huge set of challenges, but struggling with an identity problem will not be one of them.
On to gushy Mom mode. Photo girl is being interviewed by Lutz News on Tuesday. I would be more excited if the reporter had not requested coming to our house. Mad cleaning Frenzy - ugh. The house needed it.
I have tax stuff for both businesses ready to go to the accountant. Made my January 2nd dead line. My Darling Husband is a little slower. I am begging him to get organized enough that we won't have to file an extension this year. Why do I not help him, and organize it for him? Because I value our marriage. We work at different speeds, with different styles. We do very well with separate tasks that mesh, especially when his are manual and not on a time frame. He is the perfect compliment to my mad OCD qualities for things like our big Easter breakfast. I think if I had to work with him on organizing business things, I would let my inner bitch loose, and probably not be able to get her back on the leash.
Happy 2010. New Year. New Decade, still New Millenium.
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