What a BUSY time!

The end of a school year is always busy and crazy. This year seems more so! Carissa is getting ready for high school! I can't believe it. Lots of things are going on right now:

1. Orange County Public Schools has been faced with major budget cuts this year because the people of Florida voted for a property tax amendment that would save them, on average, $200 per year. These dolts that voted for it wouldn't listen to the people who were warning of education and public safety cuts because our "fabulous" governor, Charlie Crist, promised he wouldn't cut funds from these areas. Well, guess what? He did. So Orange County Schools had to cut $70 million this year. One of the ways they are saving money is to switch middle school and high school start times. The busing issues this switch will eliminate will save an estimated $6 million dollars. It is hotly contested in the community and there have been student walkouts from class at various high schools and parent protests. The next school board meeting is Tuesday the 27th. Hopefully it will come to the table for discussion again and will be either postponed for further study or eliminated altogether.

2. Carissa had to register for high school classes! She chose all honors classes for her core classes, and band and Spanish. It will be a rigorous schedule for her, considering that she'll also have marching band practice and all-star cheer.

3. Awards ceremonies and band performances galore! She had her end of the year concert last week, and will perform at the 8th grade awards ceremony on Tues. Since she is also an honoree at the awards ceremony, we'll see how that works. She made it through middle school with only 1 B on a report card. That was the first time she'd EVER gotten a B on a report card, and it didn't happen until this past report card. She was very disappointed because she was trying to get straight As throughout this year so she'd get honored as such at the awards ceremony.

4. Her 8th grade dance will be this coming Friday, the 30th. She is going with Wesley to the dance, but just as friends. There are several other friends going, too. We have the dress and shoes (I'll post pictures) and will be making an appt for her hair. The theme is "Hollywood." I'm not sure she'll look very Hollywood, but she's happy with her choices.

5. Field Day - Field Day for the 8th graders was an all-day outdoor event. Her team won. I'm not sure what that means or how it was determined. All she participated in was a very poorly organized Three Legged Race in which she didn't win. She said they ran out of rope and had to tie her shoelaces to her partner's shoelaces. She had fun, which is what is important I guess.

So the last day of school is June 4, I think. She'll be babysitting over the summer, attending cheer practices, band practices, band camp, cheer camp, and then hanging around. Steve isn't traveling this summer, so he'll be there to shuttle her around, I guess. I'll keep you posted!

New Season, New Team, Same Gym

The 2007-08 cheer season came to a close and tryouts for the new 2008-09 season took place the first two weeks of May. Carissa did amazingly well! She landed her standing tuck (like a back flip from a standing position) and is doing well working on her full. I'll try to post video soon. The coaches asked her if she'd rather be on a level 5 team (the highest level) and be able to throw her advanced tumbling by NOT be a flyer, or if she'd rather be on a level 3 team and maybe fly, but not be able to throw her advanced tumbling. She thought about it for a while and decided that since they said "maybe fly" on a level 3 team, that she might end up on level 3 and not be able to fly AND not be able to throw advanced tumbling. So she chose the level 5 team. She is actually enjoying not being a flyer. She said all of her stress over the past two years has been from flying. So this year she'll be a side base on a junior 5 team. Her team name this year? The Devil Rays. Yes, I know. There is no such thing as the Devil Rays anymore. The gym did it on purpose to link them to the co-ed team, The Diamondbacks, the only other level 5 team in the gym. The link is because they call the co-ed team the D-Backs, and they'll call this team the D-Rays. They will still use all of the current gear for the Tampa Bay Rays, though.

Her team is going to be focusing on tumbling this year and we're excited about the improvements Carissa will make in her tumbling. I'm proud of her for making this hard choice. I think she made the right one!

You'd Better Run!

Friday night at about 2:30 am our doorbell rang repeatedly like 5 times. It only woke up me, not Steve or Carissa. But it scared me, and I woke up Steve. We went and looked out the front door, but of course no one was there. We waited a few minutes, then returned to bed. At about 2:45 or so, they did it again. It was just as we were dozing off again. Steve jumped up out of bed, ran to the front door, yanked it open, and saw 4 kids standing in the cul-de-sac. He yelled, "You'd better run mother f'rs! (He said the real word) You'd better run!" and he CHASED them up the street! They ran straight to their house on the lit road (they live in that big huge white house at the end of the street). Steve had run in the shadows along the houses and reached the end of the street before they did. He said he chose not to go catch any of them ---- because he was in his boxers! hahahaha! Anyway, the boys crawled into a bedroom window in the house. So Steve came home and got dressed, then went back and rang the doorbell of the house. No one came, so he went home. He went back the next day and ended up talking to the mom. He said it was a waste of time to talk to her, though. Steve did this once before at our old house. He ran after some kid who was ringing our doorbell and running. This kid, however, he caught. He grabbed the kid and dragged him back to the kid's house and told his father. It's really funny. So I recommend that you NEVER ring our doorbell and run. Steve WILL chase you down the street.