7 Days!

We are officially at the 1 week mark!  Seven (7) days until KJ walks across that stage, grabs her diploma and takes off running!  I'm so excited and proud of her!  It wasn't easy to move 756 miles in 8th grade to Maryland and then move 1,361 miles to Dallas in 10th grade!  She's made some great friends along the way and has learned a lot about herself which is most important!  She's had to put herself out there out of necessity and that is not always easy for a teenage girl. 

 

I'm looking forward to family coming in for the festivities.  My parents should arrive sometime Friday, T-bone and Pony Boy should get in very very late Friday night, my bro arrives Saturday, Sunday is her grad party with friends and Monday is the actual ceremony!  I'm not sure of the exact number of graduates walking but it should be close to 1,000. 

i wish i drank coffee!!

So Cosmo has survived the great Texas floods of 2015 and our house is still standing. I thought for sure the pool would have over-flooded or one of the trees in the front of the house would have come crashing down but all is well. 

If I can get through the next couple of weeks it will be a flipping miracle. 
Coach flies in for one last weekend and KJ is having a big going-away party Saturday night.
The movers will be here to pack up on Tuesday and Wednesday and will load the truck on Thursday and we kept Friday open as an extra day if need be.  KJ's last official day of school is Monday, June 15. It's only a half day and all of her exams will have been complete by Friday, June 12 so the game plan is for us to be on the road on Sunday. I promised her we could stay the weekend so she could attend a friend's b'day party. 

Originally we were going to ship my car but because it would go on the car carrier with stops to pick up other cars on the way, there was the possibility I would be without a car for up to 3 weeks.  So, rather than try to get thru that last week car-less and fly to Dallas with the dog, KJ and I decided to take a little road trip and stop in B'ham for a few days to visit with friends. And then, the minute I arrive in Dallas, I have to drive to Vicksburg to check Miss Amory in with pageant officials because she's not 21 yet.  KJ and Coach will be in his fancy corporate apartment until the day competition starts. 

So, I'll be in Vicksburg for over a week and then drive back to Dallas on Sunday after the pageant crowning Saturday night.  We've scheduled the delivery of our household goods for Monday, June 29.  And then T-bone will arrive at the new house on Wednesday, July 1 just in time to celebrate her 21st b-day!!!  meanwhile, KJ will be somewhere out West with my parents.  we'll all be in Vicksburg together for the pageant but when it's over, my parents and KJ are going to road trip and hit San Antonio, the Grand Canyon, the Four Corners, etc and then bring her to Dallas. The day after she gets to Dallas she heads to SMU for volleyball camp for a few nights and then she'll start open gym at her new school. We've got an appointment with her guidance counselor to pick her schedule and the following week school starts. I mean, seriously!!!  Poor KJ!!  By the time she comes back from the pageant, her trip out West and volleyball camp, she will not have slept in her own bed for almost a month!!!

By the time we depart for our cruise in September, I will be exhausted and may just sleep my way through Europe!! 

Lax Life / Laxer for Life

Yay!  Yay!  Yay!!  KJ finally had an official high school lacrosse game!  They lost by 1 but considering our girls have only been on the field two or three times, I'd say it was a success!  The weather has been so horrible and has totally wrecked the fields so they've mostly been in the gym conditioning and working on stick stills.  Some of the new girls were unsure about the hash marks, marking-up, etc.  KJ is definitely one of, if not the most, aggressive player on the team (shocker!) and definitely has great stick skills.  She still has a lot to learn but she really did great yesterday.  She had a couple of shots on goal, didn't score, but still took the shot nevertheless.  She played a little attack, she played a little defense as well.  She likes attack better.

I love the girls' uniforms and naturally my child has to coordinate her cleats and shoelaces.  She said they looked like a bunch of highlighters running around out there.

Unfortunately, Coach Stone couldn't be at the first game due to a family scheduling conflict but she asked Champ to help on the sidelines.  He warmed up the goalie and helped the assistant coach run the lines and was very vocal from the sidelines (shocker!).  I know it was killing him to keep quiet for most of the game and defer to the assistant coach but he did point out (rather loudly) to the ref that he awarded the ball to the wrong team.  Ref acknowledged he made a mistake, gave the ball to us and game on.

Being a little sassy and giving a lot of attitude on the field.  

Lax Season is Upon Us !!!

Excited for lacrosse season to officially begin!  Tomorrow KJ has her first scrimmage as a Damascus Hornet.  It's supposed to rain but that's OK.  Between Cosmo coaching and the both girls, I've sat through hundreds of rainy games -- lax, soccer, softball and even half-time at football game.when T danced.

The lax team had a fundraiser the other night at one of the local restaurants we had never been to before.  Cosmo was out of town but I went and had a great sandwich and then took her to volleyball practice.  The poor thing is just exhausted this week but she's been a trooper.  She's had lax practice every day this week after school until 5 PM and she's had volleyball practice from 8 to 10 PM three nights this week.  The nights she's had volleyball we don't walk in the door until 10:30 PM or so but she's gotten up pretty good every morning this week.  She takes after me -- the girl needs her sleep and likes her naps!

T had a successful Spring Break despite not leaving Oxford.  At the last minute she decided to forgo a trip to the beach so she could work with the local Boys & Girls club.  She said she had a lot of fun and the kids were pretty great!  One day she had little kids (pre-schoolers), the next was a little older (maybe 1st or 2nd grade) and they made cards to be delivered to the local veterans.  A couple of the kids made cards for T instead and they were so sweet!  The last day the kids were a little older (10-12).  Yesterday she spent the day in Amory with her pageant director and this weekend she and Pony Boy are heading to his hometown and then to the beach for a few days.

Another crazy week!!!

At the end of May, I, along with several others, lost my job at the Sheraton.  I've been working since I was 15 years old and have never been laid off or fired from a job so you can imagine what a shock it was for me.  I knew it wasn't personal, I knew it was just business but still.  The hotel was doing poorly, they needed to cut expenses and since my position was a newly created position, it was deemed a luxury.  The timing actually worked out in my favor . . . I was home all summer with KJ, got to enjoy the pool every day and worked on my tan, I was able to see a lot of my lax family when they came up for tournaments, I was able to go to Vicksburg for 10 days in July for the pageant, I was able to spend quality time with T-Bone when she came home for a week at the end of July, I was able to drive KJ to and from volleyball camps and clinics and I was able to be involved in her JV volleyball experience.  I was also able to fly to Oxford for a few days in October and, had that damn hurricane not happened, I would have been able to enjoy a week in Cabo!  Now, the holidays are upon us and I was looking forward to hosting Thanksgiving and having all of our family here for Christmas.  Simply put, I have not been looking for a job.  But a job found me.

Tuesday I received a text from one of my co-workers at the Sheraton asking me if I was interested in a position in the Sales Department.  Something had come up and I was the first person they thought of.  On Wednesday afternoon I received a call from HR asking if I could come in Thursday morning to meet with the new GM.  Within an hour, I had an offer of employment.  My head is spinning!!!  I start on Monday.  Naturally, I ran to the mall to buy some new clothes!

We have got so much going on over the next couple of weeks, I'm questioning the timing of this new job but things have a way of working out.  We are also in the process of buying a house here in Maryland so I was very honest with the DOS and the GM.  I told them up front that I'll need some days off for the closing, the move, etc and I absolutely positively have to have off the entire week of Christmas.  That was not negotiable.

When we first moved here we decided to rent since we really weren't sure if we were going to stay.  Fortunately, KJ loves it here and is positively thriving.  She made the honor roll 1st semester of high school as well as all 4 semesters of 8th grade and we couldn't be prouder.  She's in all AP classes and did an incredible job of balancing academics and athletics.  This coming from a child who hated school in Alabama and begged to be home schooled.  Every morning was a struggle with KJ.  She begged to stay home, every morning brought a new ailment ... a headache, a stomach ache, etc.  She loves her school, likes her teachers, she's got a great group of friends, she's popular and she's got quite the social calendar.  So, we decided the time to buy a house was right.

Unfortunately, finding a house has proved to be difficult and not without it's challenges.  Obviously we want to stay within our current school district.  We do not need nor do we necessarily want a McMansion which seems to be the rage up here.  Houses in our current neighborhood start at $625K.  It's just the three of us for the next three years (we have accepted the fact that T-bone will probably never live in Maryland).  We do not need a 5-bedroom house.  We're trying to find a smaller house that fits our needs and a house that we can quickly sell once KJ is off to college and we can downsize even further.  Unfortunately, a smaller house in this area equates to a much, much older house needing updates.

We've been searching since the spring and think we may have found our next home.  It is an older home but the kitchen and master suite have been beautifully updated.  The house is on an acre and backs to the woods.  It's a brick ranch that has none of it's original floor plan.  The master suite is huge and also has a separate sitting room that was probably one of the original bedrooms, beautiful hard woods, his and her closets and one wall of exposed brick.  The family room is an addition it is also has beautiful hardwoods, walls of windows overlook the back yard and a wall of exposed brick.  The house has two fireplaces -- one in the formal living and one in the finished basement -- but my favorite room is the mud room off the garage.  I have always wanted a mud room!!!  There is a guest bedroom in the basement and KJ will take over the entire renovated attic.  So, if we do put an offer on this house and the closing goes through, we will be the proud owner of three homes and a lacrosse store!  Yup.  Our house in Hoover is currently being rented by a nice family from MS with 2 high school aged girls, the renter in our condo has been there for over 5 years and it doesn't look like he's going anywhere and of course we still have Stickhead.  We keep joking around that all we need next is a condo in Ocean City!!!

The Road to Hell

Gah!!  It's been an incredibly long time since I've blogged.  I've been meaning to.  I had good intentions.  But you know what they say about good intentions . . . 

So let's see.  Last time I blogged we were probably getting ready for our trip to Cabo.  Well, Hurricane Odile took care of that.  While we were naturally disappointed, everything seems to be working out A-OK.  It looks like we may be doing a Mediterranean cruise next year so we have that to look forward to!  I believe the cities are:  Barcelona, Palma De Mallorca, Marseilles, Florence/Pisa, Rome and Naples.  Works for me!!!

KJ's JV volleyball season is officially over.  She had an incredible season and made so many friends.  Unfortunately, they played their last game on her birthday and lost.  It was a very tough loss and she was so upset that the loss happened on her 15th b-day.  This weekend she has travel team try-outs.  

KJ also had a great time at Homecoming.  They do things a little differently up here than they did in Hoover.  Very few boys ask the girls to the dance so they all go in a big group.  However, they do go out to dinner before the dance just like they did at Hoover.  I think there were 13 or 14 in KJ's group and 6 girls came back to the house for the "after party" (a bonfire outside w/ s'mores) and they all slept over.  It was a gorgeous night and we had so much fun taking photos and it was nice for me to meet some of the parents.  

Friday night, prior to kickoff, they have a homecoming parade into the stadium and then the Homecoming King and Queen are announced.  Our football team in undefeated and the student section rocks!  The kids really, really get into it and KJ loves going to the games.  Our Varsity volleyball team is currently in the play-offs so KJ has continued going to the games to cheer on the older girls.  Girls Varsity soccer just lost in the play-offs but they had a great season, too!  The principal tweets alot and 

I broke down today and bought the latest Taylor Swift CD.  I've heard SO many people say it's really, really good so I thought I'd give it a try.  "Shake it Off" sure is catchy.  
http://youtu.be/nfWlot6h_JM

Had such a nice although very quick visit to Oxford mid-October.  T was competing in the Miss University pageant.  She did awesome (as usual!).  I wasn't sure about her new gown but the judges loved it and she got some extremely positive feedback.  She was a little discouraged because she didn't officially place but after speaking with the program director, she feels much, much better about her performance. As always, it seems like there were a lot of politics involved.  

I flew into Memphis Tuesday morning, we did some shopping and had lunch at Zaxby's (we don't have Zaxby's in Maryland!).  We had dinner and drinks at Boure with the Dew.  T had to leave early for rehearsal so the Dew and I walked around the Square.  It was very nice to spend some time w/ just him and get to know him a little better.  Wednesday we had breakfast at BBB (duh!!!) and I had lunch w/ the girls at the AOPi house while T was in class.  She had her private interview that afternoon and then the pageant was that evening.  She had a great cheering section!  Me, the Dew, Amanda, a ton of AOPi sisters and one of her AOPi advisors, a bunch of her residents and several of her co-workers.  Her residents were super sweet and had a bunch of funny posters and hooted and hollered whenever she was on stage.  Afterward we attended the cocktail party at the U Club and Thursday morning we had breakfast at Bottletree Bakery before heading up to Memphis for my return flight.  The Dew and Megan drove up to Memphis with us to keep T company on the ride home.  

T is not coming home for Thanksgiving this year (she has to check everyone out on Sunday but be back by 8 AM Friday).  She'll have Thanksgiving w/ the Dew and his fam.  She hasn't seen Cosmo and KJ since July so we're super excited for her to come home for Christmas.  Christmas is going to be INSANE at our house this year!!!!  Not only will my mom & dad be here for the week but Cosmo's bro from FL and his fam will be here too!  And then Cosmo's niece (and her hubby) that live here in MD will join us for Christmas dinner.  And then my bro and his fam will be here for a few days after Christmas.  It's going to be one big slumber party!!!  And I'm SOOOO excited!  That's what we moved back up here for!!!  

Get 'Er Done

I fell off the blogging wagon for a few days but now am back.  It's been a busy week in our house!  Cosmo has been travelling a bit this week and is all over the place.  I had a haircut this week and had to exchange a pair of sexy shoes I bought for Cabo, KJ had two volleyball games this week -- one on Monday and one yesterday.  Monday's game was an absolute blowout -- they only had to play two games.  KJ is the starting setter but honestly, she barely touched the ball Monday afternoon.  I don't think she even got to serve in either of Monday's matches.  The other team was so bad, they couldn't return a serve so the two games went pretty fast.  We didn't even have to play defense and Sarah-Sparkley Headband just ran the board.  Yesterday's games were a little different and we only won one of the three matches.  We should have beat them in two but let's just say there were a lot of missed opportunities.  In the first match KJ had an incredible run and put up 11 or 12 points.  I lost track.  One thing is for sure though, KJ is her father's daughter through and through.  She's very, very competitive and very hard on herself.  And has high expectations of her teammates as well.  She has a couple girls on her team who just phone it in and it pisses her off to no end.

When volleyball is over, KJ will be faced with the decision to play travel volleyball again this Spring or to maybe play lacrosse.  She's torn -- she's a little worried that she may be "behind" the Maryland girls since she hasn't played lax in a couple of years (and also because she played in Alabama -- not exactly a traditional hotbed of lacrosse).  To which I said, Pish Posh.  She's very athletic and I think she'll pick it up again very easily.  Plus, The Legend can help her with her stick skills.

T is having an awesome Junior year so far and we're only a couple of weeks into the semester.  She will be a DJ again on Rebel Radio, she has an internship with the Lyric http://www.thelyricoxford.com/ a live music venue on the Square in Oxford) she's writing a few pieces for a Greek-life magazine and she found out she will be the Thursday night anchor for NewsWatch!  We are so incredibly proud of her!

This weekend I'll be in PA for my cousin's wedding, Friday KJ is going to the football game w/ friends, Saturday she has a b-day party and Sunday we have Redskins tickets.  I doubt I will be home in time for the game so it will probably just be Cosmo and KJ at the game (which makes me SO mad!!!  I'm the Skins fan in this house -- those two are Ravens fans!).

So, on to the next batch of Miss America photos!!!

Football and Pageants (story of my life!)

KJ had a GREAT time last night at the Damascus football game!  She said she wasn't sure what to expect coming from Hoover but said the game was great, the atmosphere was great and it was great sitting in the student section.  Overall, she said it was GREAT!  She said the band and the cheerleaders were great, too.  She said it was similar to Hoover and the seniors had "seniority" in the student section.  They got to sit in the front row with all the lower class men behind them and the seniors were the body painters.  Today she went to a pool party and then her friend Britt came over and now the girls are making cookies.

T was on duty last night so she and her friend Tana drove up to Nashville early this morning for the game vs. Vandy.  She didn't have a ticket and the box office was selling seats for almost $80 so she was getting a little frustrated.  Tana told her, "Just smile and walk in."  So she did.  She walked right through the security line and walked right through the gate.  That's my girl!  The Ole Miss game was kind of boring.  I'm happy they won but the game was pretty much a blow-out.  Not an exciting game at all.  Vandy obviously didn't eat their Wheaties this morning.  Cosmo has the Ohio game on and that stadium is positively rockin'!  Not an Ohio fan but I do think that would be a great place to see a game!!!

And now, to counter-act all that football testosterone, here are some more Miss America photos!!!

I luv, luv, luv the clean lines on this gown!   

Go Jasmine!!!  I think she's going to do great next Sunday!

FriDay = FriYay!!!

So happy it's the weekend!  Had such a busy day today, it's nice to relax tonight.  KJ is at her first official football game as a Damascus Swarming Hornet.  It's a gorgeous night for a game and she looked so cute in her cute pink camouflage t-shirt!

She had a pediatrician appointment today and afterward we ran a couple of errands before I dropped her back off at the high school for volleyball practice.  Although I think we've transitioned exceptionally well, there are some things that really trip me up sometimes.  For example, I didn't know I had to write a note for KJ to check her out early.  The attendance office told me if she has a note, she can check herself out and wait at the front door for me.  I don't even have to walk in the door.  Very cool.  Especially since my Alabama license doesn't work in the security reader at the front office!

I luv, luv, luv her new pediatrician.  She was super cool, treated KJ like an adult and everyone at the practice seemed very nice.  We then went across the hall in the professional building and made appointments for October with our new dentist.  Kind of weird to have to find all new doctors again.  Our pediatrician in Alabama was the only pediatrician KJ had ever known.  And the OB/GYN I saw for 15 years was the same doctor who delivered KJ.

T is so super excited -- her new gown came in the mail today so . . . on to a few more Miss America photos!

Had to include the following photo of Miss Maryland 2013 -- Miss Christina Denny.  We met her a couple of weeks ago, she was super sweet and this is the custom gown T tried on.  The gown was absolutely gorgeous, a big statement gown, and fit T perfectly!!!  

Class of 2018

So we've got a Froshie in the house!  Today is day 3 of high school and  so far, KJ has had a GREAT week!!!  Monday I picked her up after school to drive her to her scrimmage over at Sherwood High School and I asked her if she was intimidated by the upper classmen.  Her response?  "Uh, no???"  Classic KJ.  She's got friends in every class and she said they've eaten lunch in the courtyard every day.  She gets an hour for lunch (which I LOVE!) so they can meet with a teacher if they need to, play some pick-up games in the gym, get some homework done, etc.  They get out of school at 2:10 and she goes to the varsity coach's science lab for study hall for 45 minutes.  Practice is from 3 to 5 PM. 

She played AMAZING in Monday's scrimmage!  They played 3 twenty minute games . . . she played all 3 games, she started all 3 games, she played setter all 3 games and she put up 7 or 8 points each game.  Very, very proud of her!!  She's not crazy about playing setter but I told her to stop fighting it.  That's the position for short white girls! 

Yesterday I drove down to Georgetown to spend the afternoon with my Hoover friends Judy and Amanda.  Amanda had jaw surgery so Judy's been up here taking care of her.  I love, love, love spending time in Georgetown and it was SO nice seeing Judy!  Haven't seen her in a year!  The weather was great and we had a nice lunch at Tony & Joe's sitting by the water.

Looking forward to the long weekend . . . KJ has a scrimmage Friday afternoon at home and my folks are coming down for the weekend to chill by the pool.  Depending on the weather, we may meet them in Gettsyburg and spend the day walking around.  If it's too hot, I'd rather be at the pool.  Sunday we'll grill and Al and Z will join us.  So, so nice having family around!

Our Little Froshie

So our sweet girl made the JV volleyball team!  I couldn't be prouder and I taught her everything I know!  (Yeah, this 5 ft. tall mama taught her girl a lot about volleyball!).  But seriously, she did work very hard and I did practice with her a lot. There were over 40 girls trying out for JV and they only took 14.  She had a little bit of a come apart on the last day of try-outs . . . she accidentally left her bag in Cosmo's car.  We didn't realizxe it until a few minutes before try-outs.  Cosmo was waaaaaay down in DC when she hysterically called him.  He drove like a maniac and was able to get her bag to her just a few minutes after try-outs started.  She did have an extra pair of sneakers and an extra set of knee pads at the house but she was VERY, VERY upset that the coaches would think she was irresponsible.  I had to give her a tough pep talk in the car.  Basically I told her to buck up and kick butt!  Try-outs ended at 5:30 and at 6:30 PM they posted the results on the gym door.  KJ and her friend Maddie both made the team so all four of us girls celebrated at Jimmie Cone!  The girls had their first practice Wednesday, Wednesday night we had a parent meeting, they have practice Thursday and Friday, Friday they're going to a rope course for team building and they have a scrimmage on Monday...the first day of school!  Yikes!  KJ's going to be in for a rude awakening next week . . . her bus comes at 6:28 AM and she'll have volleyball practice until 5:30 PM each day. 

Can't wait for her to get home sin a few minutes o I can hear all about today's Freshman Orientation!  Damascus does things a little differently that what we were used to with Hoover.  There is no "registration day" where we have to write a massive check to cover items such as activity cards, yearbooks, agenda, locker fees, mailing costs, PTO, extra curricular fees (T's Buccanette's just about killed us every year!).  At Hoover T's registration usually cost us a couple hundred dollars.  So far, the only bill I've been hit with at Damascus High School has been a $30 extra curricular activity.  I think Cosmo & I are going to join the booster club so we can get into football games, basketball and, of course, KJ's vball games!  

Freshman Orientation sounds pretty cool.  It's only a half day but the kids are encouraged to get on their bus like they will on Monday and today they'll get their lockers, walk their schedule, etc.  And then tonight, we have a Freshman Parent Picnic.  We'll meet the teachers and also attend a meeting with the Athletic Department.  Concussions and cardiac disease are a hot button this year and KJ had to take a baseline concussion test before she could even try-out.