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.

All Things Good and Exciting

Not much has been going on lately. Cheer season has ended (with a bang!) and the banquet was awesome. I was very impressed with the whole thing. Our old gym didn't do that. We got a preview of the new uniforms for next year, the kids were all recognized for another year of cheering with a "Veteran" t-shirt with their years of experience printed on the back. There were a few fun awards given, and I gave pause when they announced the "cry baby" award. I thought for sure it was going to Carissa. hahaha! So did she. However, it was given to a few of the coaches instead.

This weekend I am very much looking forward to going to see Wicked at the Bob Carr. I am going with my very dear friends Joan and NiCole and our daughters. We are having brunch first.

Tryouts for next season of cheer will be the first two weeks of May. I'll let you know what happens. In the meantime, know that I'm enjoying my few weeks of relaxation! =)

Happy Earth Day!

I hate to admit that I didn't do much that was "Earthy" today. I was informed this morning as I was getting ready that I wasn't even wearing anything "Earthy." I was wearing black and white. Those are colors that occur in nature, right? Oh, well. At work we were given a little flower to plant. It's cute, but it's probably a waste of money and also against the Earth Day philosophy as the little flower pot is made of plastic that isn't recyclable.

However, the highlight of my day was seeing the pictures Carissa took today and posted on her myspace. The reason? It was of her hugging a tree. Why, you are probably asking, is that the highlight? Because it made for the perfect opportunity for me to embarrass my child. Yes, that's right. It's not too often that I take the opportunity to do so. I remember when she was about 1 and 1/2 or 2 and we were at Anne Cobb's house in downtown Orlando. We told Carissa that trees were her friend. We laughed quite hard when we told her to hug and kiss the tree and she did. Thankfully, I had my camera! So now, so you can also be amused, are pictures of my kid in a then and now type of format. Click to make larger:

Then:



Now:

BANG! That was Carissa's cheer team ending the season!

Well, another year of cheer is over! Yay! The last competition was at Daytona Beach - outside. Let me remind you that I HATE the beach. The competition mat was at the bandshell. There were two sets of stands on either side which blocked the breeze. It was brutally hot! I thought I was going to melt! I slathered myself with sunscreen and just figured I'd be hot all day. I discovered upon looking for shade that the shopping/restaurant complex attached to the bandshell was quite breezy, cool, and shady on the 2nd and 3rd floors. So I parked myself there instead and was comfortable all day! It was awesome.

By the time Carissa's team came out at 2:30, the sun had baked the dark blue spring floor mats for around 6 hours. She said it was burning hot to the touch. They have to put their hands on it to tumble and they roll around on it during parts of the routine. It was also radiating heat. To make the whole thing even better, the sun was in the bases' eyes when they were looking up to hold up a flyer. They couldn't see anything! This had been going on all day and I suspected was the reason so many teams were dropping girls or the reason for flyers bobbling (shaking) in their stunts (also a deduction).

Well, Carissa's team nailed their routine. They had one person put hands down on tumbling, but that was it. There were 14 teams in their division. At awards, they had all 14 teams on the mat. As their name was called, they got their trophy and left the stage. So the number of teams on the mat dwindled as the awards ceremony went on. I knew they were in contention for at least top 5. So as it got to 6th I started to get nervous. Then they called 5th . . . then 4th . . . then 3rd . . . then I was REALLY nervous! They were one of two teams left on the mat. Second place went to some team we'd never heard of. So Carissa's team WON! Another national competition and a great way to end the season. First out of 14 is quite a feat! So her team ended the season with a bang. It was awesome and made the icky day at the beach a little less annoying. =)


So what now? Three weeks of tryout clinics where they work on specific skills. Carissa will be going for working her tumbling full and her standing tuck. Then there are two weeks of tryouts. Then . . . the new season starts! Yay! sigh.

Spring Break '08

Spring break this year has been exciting. We went to Myrtle Beach for the first part, and then Carissa went to New Smyrna Beach with Kelsey for the second part. We were in Myrtle Beach for a cheer competition where Carissa performed with two teams. She was filling in on a 2nd team for someone who couldn't go. That team took 4th out of 13, and Carissa's regular team took 2nd out of 11. It was quite exciting! They gym organized a huge stunt group picture on the beach. Carissa is in a light blue shirt near the middle. Here are some Myrtle Beach pics. Remember, you can click on them to make them bigger.






We got home from Myrtle Beach on Monday and then Carissa went to New Smyrna on Tuesday through Sat. She just got home today and she's really brown! Here are some New Smyrna pics. Click on them to make them bigger!


And just because even Carissa's vacations contain a little cheerleading, a heel stretch on the beach:

Hmmm. National Champs? Yep!

This past weekend - yes, Easter weekend - we spent at a cheer competition. After endless whining about having to pull my kid out of school on Friday to compete - yes, they had school on Good Friday - all of our gym's teams did amazing! All teams got either first or second place! Carissa's team had to learn practically an entire new routine because they dropped from 30 kids down to 20. They cut a few kids and a few dropped out because of conflicts with other sports. Therefore, they had to redo their routine. This happened about 2 weeks ago and it's been a rough couple of weeks with them trying to learn everything in time. The coaches told them that they'd be happy with a top 5 placing out of 7 teams, but that top 3 would be great. After day one, they were in first place. They held that lead on day 2, too. So they are national champs again. The coolest part - real leather jackets! They are sooo nice! Next stop: Myrtle Beach, SC next weekend.

New pics - remember, you can click on them to make them bigger.

Carissa with trophy and cool jacket:




Keisha, Ashley, Carissa

Oooh. Creepy.

You've probably heard that the downtown Atlanta area was hit by tornadoes recently. I got a little creeped out when I was looking at the pictures because the places in the pictures were places where we'd been just a few weeks ago and Cheersport Nationals. The Westin hotel where we rode the elevator was reported to have lost many windows AND TO HAVE SHIFTED SEVERAL FEET! Now, you might be asking why I'm so bothered by it. While we were there, there was a large weather system that moved through and we were under a tornado warning (not just a watch). We were inside the convention center, which is largely underground, but there are several windows around. It could have been very bad. It just makes me feel lucky.

It also reminds me of when I was a junior in high school and went on a trip to Mexico City with my Spanish class. A few months after we were there, a huge earthquake struck the area and the hotel in which I had stayed was leveled. It was also an unsettling feeling and a feeling of having escaped something horrible.

Just kind of freaked me out a little, is all. =)

Cheersport Nationals, Atlanta

This past weekend was nationals in Atlanta for Carissa's cheer gym. Overall the teams did VERY well - better than we have ever done before in Atlanta. Many of the teams "cheer down" to hopefully walk away with a trophy. Since this form of cheating is unregulated, it happens regularly. Our gym has better morals than to allow our teams to do this, so we usually walk away with placements somewhere in the middle.

This year, however, most of our teams did a little better than 1/2. One of our youth teams took 2nd place out of about 16 teams. Several of our teams took 5th place out of anywhere from 15 to 20 teams. That is commendable at such a large competition. Carissa's team had several problems on Saturday which placed them lower going into Sunday than they would have liked. They were in 10th. Their performance on Sunday was much cleaner, but the still weren't able to move up. So they scored 10th out of 12. That was disappointing and the kids were sad, especially since just two weeks prior they had a flawless routine at a competition.

The excitement for the weekend could best be described as "girl drama." One of the girls on our higher-leveled youth team made a mistake in her tumbling and put her hand on the floor (a deduction). She threw a tantrum on the stage. She immediately started crying, sobbing, and stomping around the stage. She refused to throw some of her tumbling and to stunt. It was quite the spectacle and caused her team many points in deductions. They came in last place.

The other cheer drama story was on the oldest squad of kids. On Saturday, one of the flyers was dropped and she decided to slap - yes, slap! - her base. This slap was followed up by the words, "Put me back up, b!*@$!" The base, obviously, was not happy. So she retaliated. Here is what she did: On Sunday, in the middle of the performance on stage, she was holding that flyer up. She said, "I don't feel like doing this anymore" and dropped her hands to her sides, making the flyer fall FLAT on her face on the stage (a deduction). She then refused to put the flyer back up into the stunt to finish that part of the routine. Another girl that was nearby tried to step in to put the stunt up and the girl who dropped her hands pushed her out of the way so she couldn't help. Basically, to get back at this flyer, she sabotaged the routine! Instead of dealing with this flyer who slapped her one-on-one, she decided to make the rest of the 34 kids on the team suffer. It could have cost them an invitation to the World's competition that they were hoping to get. Thankfully it didn't, they still got the invitation (called a bid), but it did cause them to drop a place in the standings. Wow! Needless to say, no one is very happy with these girls right now!

So that's my Atlanta story. The only other thing to note is that I no longer feel as though I ever need to stay at a Ritz Carlton. We stayed at the Atlanta Ritz. It was just another hotel and was overpriced. We were required to stay there, though.



Oh, one more thing - we rode the elevator at the Westin hotel across the street from the Ritz up to the 73rd floor! They have a restaurant up there and the elevator is an express. It is a glass bubble on the outside of the hotel and at night time it's beautiful! I loved it! =)

Birthday Pictures

Here are the promised birthday pictures. You can click on them to make them bigger.

First, here is the cake. I LOVE this cake! We saw something similar on a Publix flyer about a year ago and Carissa said that was what she wanted her next cake to look like. So I called a bakery and had it made. It was small, but it was plenty for the number of people we had. It was yummy, too!



Here are some pictures of Carissa and her friends.



The kids were playing "Sardines," a funny version of hide-and-go-seek. They were all in our pool bath.



It was a great day and I think everyone had a lot of fun!

Happy 13th Birthday, Carissa!

Well, my baby is a teenager. She turned 13 today at 10:27 am. This morning she had to listen as I recounted the experience 13 years ago today for her. I told her about how we were nervous, Grandma was there (but not in the delivery room), and how we felt the first time we heard her cry. Did I hear a collective "awwww!" ? I thought so. She has been counting the days until teenage-dom for quite some time. Her party is tomorrow. We're having several kids over and have rented a jumpy thing and will have the volleyball net and some yard games set up outside, and Wii inside. I think it will be fun. For her birthday she got a desk for her room, and lots of little stuff. Tonight for her birthday dinner she chose to go to Olive Garden for dinner and The Melting Pot for dessert. We took her friend, Kelsey. Kelsey had never eaten at Olive Garden (WHAT?!!) or had fondue. She was quite excited, too, so it made the evening even more fun. I'll post pictures from her party when I get some.

National Champions, Baby!

This weekend was a big competition for our gym. Several of our teams were against the local rival, the gym that divided up our old gym. Well, all of our teams did amazingly well. Carissa's team and the co-ed team both took 1st place! Carissa's team was in 1st place going into today, but today they nailed their routine. It was the best performance they've had all season. It was a well-deserved win, and the kids were all very happy. I'll post pictures soon!

Hannah Montana

Carissa went to the Hannah Montana concert at the Amway Arena on Tuesday. This was her big gift for Christmas. She went with Sarah and Kelsey, two of her good friends. They had a blast! They made t-shirts the weekend before and wore them to school the day of the concert.

Sarah's mom drove all of us and we dropped the girls off at the arena. After making sure they made it in okay, Sarah's mom and I headed off for dinner at Dexter's in Thornton Park. It was REALLY good food. I've never eaten there before. We went back to the arena to pick them up. While waiting, I could hear the concert from outside. It sounded pretty good. The last song was with Miley and Billy Ray, her dad. It was cute. The girls came out all excited and have all said it was the best night of their lives. Next up? Jonas Brothers on March 9. I will be taking the computer with me this weekend to the cheer competition to try to nab some tickets. Wish me luck! =)

Eric's Wedding

Well, I guess I need to post some pictures from Eric's wedding, too. Steve brother, Eric, got married in Jax the weekend before the cheer competition. It was beautiful, and Eric looks very happy. I also really like Carla. Here are some pics:

A Year's Growth

Wow! What a weekend! We were in Jacksonville for the 2nd weekend in a row (I might stop complaining about that sometime soon), but this time for a cheer competition. The gym did well, over all. Carissa's team took 2nd out of 2, which isn't fabulous, but everyone is entitled to a bad day. She did great, though, and was very pleased with her performance. The good news was that they at least did better on the second day than on the first.

I was looking through pictures and saw the photos I had posted from the Jacksonville competition last year. It made me reflect on how much Carissa has grown in the past year - not only physically, but also emotionally (WOW, what a difference) and as an athlete (yes, cheerleaders ARE athletes - I'd like to see you try it!). Here is Carissa in a stunt at Jax last year:



Here are the pictures from this year. Not only is she wearing a different uniform (new gym, remember?) that has a half shirt she hates wearing, but she looks much more mature. She also looks MUCH more confident in her stunts and is doing MUCH harder stunts, too! Here are three pics. The first one is called a heel stretch, the second is called a scale. The third picture is just 'cause I think it's funny. It's from the end of the dance. Remember - you can click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Christmas and New Year's

We had a very nice holiday. We had a lot of time together to relax, which was nice. Carissa spent a lot of time with her friends, and Steve and I kind of did our normal stuff - just without work and cheerleading practice. Mom came over on Christmas Eve, as usual. Carissa and I always bake Christmas cookies on Christmas Eve, and we did that this year, too. On Christmas, Carissa was spoiled again. The big gift this year was Hannah Montana tickets. The concert is Jan 29. She's VERY excited! Here are a few pictures from Christmas. We were attempting to take a Christmas card picture, and the jumping one finally won. We didn't get them all sent out, though.



Yes, you definitely know your kid is a cheerleader when your Christmas card features her jumping with a Santa hat. I know. I know.

For New Year's, Steve and I sat home and Carissa went to a friend's house for a sleepover.

So now we're back to normal. All of the Christmas decorations are neatly packed away (thank GOD!), we have all returned to school/work, and I'm spending an inordinate amount of time at the cheer gym again. Carissa's next cheer competition is in Jax on Jan 18th/19th. Steve's brother, Eric, is getting married this weekend. In Jax. Yes, if you do the math, you will figure out that we will be taking TWO trips to Jacksonville on consecutive weekends. I am NOT looking forward to it. I think Jacksonville stinks. No, I mean, really. Literally. It has this disgusting smell there. I don't know what it is, but that, and the boring drive, make me dread going there every year for this competition. The fact that I'll be spending two weekends there does not thrill me. I'm sure I'll have more pics to post soon!

New Year's Survey

I am stealing an idea from my friend, Jenny, about surveys. She included pictures and it made it so much more fun! Here are my answers to the survey. Well, I picked 12 questions from the 30 she sent. Feel free to forward me your answers!

1. Will you be looking for a new job in 2008?
Gosh! I hope not! Harcourt was bought by Houghton Mifflin, a competitor, and we're all hoping we keep our jobs. I currently work for the combined company, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.



2. Will you be looking for a new relationship?
I think I have plenty of relationship right now. Don't you? =)



3. New house?
Nope. Storins will be gone until '09 as of right now. Maybe I'll buy this house when they come back:



4. What will you do differently in 08?
Well, I still say I plan to lose weight and get in shape. That's my staple. I would also like to save some money so we can live in something other than a cardboard box when the Storins do come home.



5. Any trips planned?
Aside from cheerleading? Maybe. For cheer we'll be going to:
1. Jacksonville
2. Tampa
3. Atlanta
4. Myrtle Beach

Carissa wants to go to Myrtle Beach with BETA Club. That's in June, but it depends on when her cheer camp is. Not sure if I'd be going or not.



I would like to go to DC with Carissa and Steve over the summer. Carissa and I were supposed to go over spring break with her school, but the trip was cancelled. We'll see if we actually go this summer.


6. Wedding plans?
Um . . . yes, actually. Steve's brother is getting married in January and we plan to attend. So that is two trips to Jacksonville in January - one week right after the other. Thanks, Eric. =)



7. What would you like to see happen differently?
I would like to see all-star cheerleading become a reasonably-priced sport. OH! And NO broken bones this year. Whew. What an ordeal that whole thing was!



8. Will you be nice to people you don't know?
Nice or polite? I try to always be polite, but I can't always be nice. I'm finding that, in general, people are rude idiots. I am also finding I have little tolerance for stupidity. I think I get that from Steve.



9. Do you plan on having a child?
Oh, God. Bite your tongue.



10. Will you still be friends with the same people you are friends with now?
Yeah, they're all good people.



11. Do you expect '08 to be a good year for you?
Expect? Dunno. I hope so, though!



12. One wish for 08?
For all of my friends and family to be healthy and prosperous! A winning lottery ticket wouldn't be bad either.