Updates, Updates, Updates .....

The last weekend was really busy …. Friday night in Fresno, Saturday morning in Modesto and then an autobahn race up the 5 across the 12 and into Fairfield just in time to see my two groups of guard kids perform. I made it to Armijo High School with about fifteen minutes to spare getting there just in time to catch up with the Franklin kids in the warm up room, give ‘em a quick pep talk and push them into the gym … literally. As soon as they were through performing I reran (ran being the operative word) that same circuit with the Woodcreek kids and THEN said goodbye to the Frankies and hustled over to Fairfield to do it all again with the Woodies. Both groups represented themselves well. The Franklin kids let their butterflies go to their head a bit and took 7th while the Woodies did far better than I thought they would and took 2nd … at both shows. There’s work to do but it’s an auspicious start. My good buddy Stu came to Frankie rehearsals with me this week and wrote some super-duper swing flag phrases that I think will help the Frankies rock the house. Both groups have shows again this weekend in Elk Grove …. I predict the Woodies will place lower (but hope desperately that I’m wrong) and Franklin will place higher (and hope desperately that I’m right) … putting away my colorguard crystal ball … for now. Sunday I allowed myself a bit of retail therapy followed by lunch and drinks with some fellow guard geeks and ended the day by having dinner with my son and his girlfriend. All in all, a recuperative and badly needed day off. This weekend while the kids are performing at Elk Grove I’ll be judging at Vallejo. After all the ballyhoo on World of Pageantry this week the NCBA judging panels for both the Elk Grove and Vallejo shows have been doing a lot of conversing about their thoughts and views on the various shows. I think conversation helps. Sometimes you find things out that escaped your view by talking to others and you get one of those light bulb moments if you know what I mean. I haven’t had one yet about the upcoming shows but there’s hope for the future.

Speaking of hope for the future. I’m a single girl now. Unofficially single sure, but single in my heart where it matters most. Now that I know with a certainty that’s the path my life is on, I’m free to plan, free to do, free to go on, free to commit or indulge myself, and simply free to be me. While I haven’t graduated to the point where it feels good to be single, I know that I will and I look forward to that. I’m regretful for the wasted time but I’m also thankful for the wonderful moments that have been sprinkled over the vast wasteland that has been the past few years of my marriage and for the lessons I have learned. Sometimes people damage and disappoint you. Sometimes they amaze you. Sometimes you give of yourself to people who don’t deserve or appreciate it …and sometimes you have moments of clarity in which you realize you can’t fix someone else no matter how hard you try and you need to focus on fixing yourself. I hate that I’ve failed a second time at marriage. Maybe one day I’ll just have to admit that choosing partners is not something I’m good at. Sigh. In the meantime, a clear, blue horizon lies ahead and I have every intention of enjoying the discoveries yet to be made.

Highlights ...

The Frog has four new tires and I think they actually make him taller, prouder and greener?

The bank account now has four digits

I cruised midtown at lunch yesterday, looked at a couple of places and now have a better idea of what my lifestyle there would be like -- thinking about it seriously

In the Meantime ...

Give a shout out to God on my behalf and ask him to keep his wild and crazy sense of humor in check for awhile.



:)