Jumping In, Both Feet at a Time

My daughter S has taken to this move like a fish in the water.  She said she knew it would be hard, but she would be alright because she makes friends easily.

What a great attitude!

I wish we could all be so positive. She has decided that she wants to be involved in all sorts of things associated with the Middle School.  She really hasn't been involved with much before, but here, the opportunities have been opened to her.

She decided to run Cross Country. She did well, made friends, and had fun.

She also joined the chess club.  She participated in a tournament where she played for about 5 hours.  She played 5 games.  Two of them she won, two of them she lost, and one ended in a draw.  (One of the other player had S in check mate several times, but neither of the players noticed it, so it ended in a draw!)

Oh yeah, and by the way. . . . Mom I joined the swim team, and practice is at 6:15 am. . .

Sigh.

Run til it's Fun

A friend of mine recently said,"Cross Country is a way to turn torture into fun."

 I agree. 

Tooty has been participating in Cross Country for Worland High School this year.  This is really the first year that he has participated in sports in High School.  He has been doing very well.  He has a competitive spirit that helps him overcome physical limitation.  When the season started, he was in the middle of the pack.  When the season ended, he was at the front. 

Yesterday was the State Competition for Wyoming, which was held in Douglas.  Douglas is actually closer to Loveland, Colorado where my parents live, than it is to where we live.  We called my parents and invited them to come.

Tooty ran the 5K race, which was on a very difficult course, in 18 minutes and 50 seconds.  He was disappointed with his time, but I thought he did well.  He said that he hit the hill too hard, too early, so he had expended all of his energy.  Seeing him come down that hill, I would have to agree. 

Before the Hill

                                                                        After the Hill

The thing that he is disappointed in, is that people caught him in the end.  He wasn't able to keep his speed.  He came in 29th, with about 100 runners in the race.  Pacing himself will come with practice. 

I was proud of him.  He ran, he finished.  More than I could do.

Yo quiero Taco Bell

When I left Pocatello, SS gave me a calendar that everyone had put together in my behalf.  It had pictures of all of my friends, with special occasions marked.  It also had intermittent reminders to blog about new things in my life.  The first assignment was to write about our new place.

When JG came to visit, the first thing out of her mouth was, "It's pink." Yes, I live in a pink house.  The next thing she said was, " It reminds me of Taco Bell."

If you can get past the fact that we live in Wyoming, and not New Mexico, it's not that bad.  It has green carpet, and green is my favorite color.  It also has carpet that is white, 2 shades of blue, another shade of green, and red (which matches the kitchen sink!)

We are very blessed to have 5 bedrooms.  Everyone gets their own room except DSH and I, but we don't want them anyway.  I couldn't show any pictures of the bedrooms, because not one of them was clean.

We have three rooms in a row that connect to the living room.  One is a dining room, but we put the piano there because we didn't want the table to be seen from the living room.

Next is the kitchen. It is located inbetween the dining room, and the family room. It is directly behind the wood paneling in the living room.  It is smaller than I am used to, and it doesn't have enough storage, but a kitchen is a kitchen.  At least we wont fall asleep while doing the dishes!

Finally is the family room which we use as a dining/computer room.  It is the room which sees the most use. Unfortunately, the carpet is white. Maybe putting the table there isn't such a great idea after all.