After a pretty good performance on Saturday, the girls had a drop on Sunday that landed them last place. Expectations for this competition were pretty low, so it wasn’t a big surprise, but it was still a disappointment. This photo is probably my favorite of the whole year so far because it shows that despite all their struggles over the years, Billy and Robin really do love each other. It was a very hard weekend, but we came out of it together, and that’s what matters.
Category: April 2023
-
April 29
Oh my god the anxiety reached a peak for me on Saturday. The girls were supposed to check in for their performance at 1:00 and at 12:57 they were still in the hotel room putting on makeup. I called Billy literally in tears, bracing myself for the possibility that they actually might miss their competition. I have no idea how they did it, but they actually managed to make it there before their warmup time and they competed. And they did well! They’d really been looking rough all week, but they really looked good. I was so proud. And exhausted.
-
April 28
We are ready for cheer competition weekend! The girls have lost three team members in the last two weeks, so they’ve had to redo their whole routine at the last minute. We’ll see what this means for them, but there are four teams in their category, so they’ll at least place fourth!
-
April 27
Yesterday afternoon was a complete clusterfuck. First I completely forgot about Christina’s dance class. It wasn’t until I left to pick them up that I realized my mistake. The class had already started by then and I still hadn’t picked them up, so I knew we wouldn’t make it. Then there was a Tremendous Storm. Crazy amounts of lightning and thunder, but no rain. So I took the girls to Publix to buy some drinks for a church gathering that night and a little treat for Christina to make up for abandoning her at school, and the power was out there. And by the time we left, there was this. We waited for a few minutes until it let up a little bit and ran through three inches of rain to the car. And then for some reason I decided to order a pizza? It was what we’d promised the kids the day before, so I figured why not. The pizza place is three miles from Publix, but it took us 45 minutes to get there. It was raining so hard, I couldn’t see past the front of my car. And then traffic lights were out, roads were flooded, tree branches were down, and then it took 20 minutes just to turn at one light (even though it was actually working) because traffic on the Buckman Bridge had come to a complete standstill and no one could turn. And then when we got to the pizza place, THEIR power was out. But I guess their oven runs on gas, so yay, we still got pizza. Coming home from there, an entire tree had fallen into the street, blocking an entire lane of traffic. And then I was supposed to have this church thing at 6:30 (on the other side of the Buckman Bridge) that I then had to cancel at the last minute, frantically trying to find everyone’s phone numbers. And then the girls’ cheer practice was cancelled because the gym had flooded (and they really needed that practice). All this happened in the space of about 2 1/2 hours. And then after all that, I got an email from the dance studio telling parents not to skip any more classes, which was just, like, yay, thanks. It’s not like I chose not to go. But whatever. Now on to another day.
-
April 26
Billy removed the tree that was growing in our gutter above the garage today. That ALMOST makes up for leaving me with a week’s worth of dirty dishes to wash. Guess he lives to see another day.
-
April 24
I really wanted to throw every one of these dishes across the room last night. I’ve come up with a chore chart for us to go over as a family as a last ditch effort to more evenly distribute the work around the house. I am on the verge of completely flipping out.
-
April 23
It was another long day of training today, after which I got Christina and Jackson to join me in a quick trip to the park. The weather could not have been any more incredible, and I really regretted having to leave, but hunger calls.
-
April 22
Spent 90% of the day training to facilitate NAMI family support groups. It was more exhausting than I expected. Sitting still for that amount of time is very tedious. When it was done, I took myself for a walk around the neighborhood. I needed it. And I beat the rain.
-
April 21
The kids’ school hosted a movie night fundraiser at which zero people watched the movie. Kids were zooming by in every which way so that they were no more than blurred lines criss-crossing the semi-dark room. It was chaos, and all the parents sat in their folding chairs paying no attention while I curled up in Christina’s comforter and listened to the Yankees game on my headphones. If no one else cared, neither did I. I blew my WW total, too, on a day that had otherwise been going pretty well. Who knew two hot dogs and a small bag of popcorn was 29 points? Ok, I guess I knew. Oh well. Might as well throw in a beer at this point. Tomorrow is another day.
-
April 20
When in doubt, take photo of dog. It was a busy day. I am recommitting to Weight Watchers. I really need to lose about 30 pounds, which is doable. I tracked all my food today, but did not stay under my limit. I just always felt hungry. I don’t know if I just need to adjust to not overeating, or change what I’m eating so it’s more filling, or eat more frequently… maybe a combination of all those things. In any event, I’m working on that. Also had a church meeting today and took Robin to look at a potential new gym for cheerleading. It looks like a much better place than where she is now, so I think we may go for it. Onward.
-
April 19
Work in progress. Lots left to do. I got some weeding done tonight, but there’s a lot more to go, then raking the leaves, then bagging it all up. I’m deciding whether to lay much when I’m done. The leaves will just fall on top of the mulch and they will be a lot harder to rake up that way. Mulch will definitely look nicer… at first, anyway. We’ll see. After this, we’ll need to fix that 4×4 so we can hang another swing. And then the backyard cleanup will more or less be done. Then I will start on the gutters, plant some flowers, put in some furniture, and then work on the front yard. Oh my goodness, what was I thinking? Can’t lie, though. I’m kind of enjoying it.
-
April 18
This is not the photo I wanted to take, but it’s the photo I got, not unlike the 15 years of marriage we celebrated tonight. I don’t mean that to sound like a bad thing. Life rarely turns out the way we hope or expect. Part of living it means we roll with the punches and see what comes next. Tonight we got pork chops and mussels and bourbon and Sambuca. Tomorrow… hot dogs. Tonight I enjoyed a little bit of perfection with just the right amount of imperfection to make it worthwhile. You get what you get… and maybe that’s pretty good, after all.
-
April 17
I got my activist hat out today and joined my church at the Jacksonville Nehemiah Assembly to try to raise justice issues to our city’s leaders. I have to admit that this is uncomfortable for me and I had a hard time engaging. But I was there. And for whatever little bit, it counts. Maybe next time I won’t be in such a lousy mood to start with.
-
April 16
More yard work today, followed by a walk to the playground with the girls and dogs. Now cooking dinner and annoyed because a) the grill started up, but by the time I got out with the chicken, it had gone out due to an empty propane tank, b) in going with plan B of baking the chicken, I discovered that Billy put the baking sheets back in the cupboard WITHOUT WASHING THEM, and c) I had to do two days’ worth of dishes just to make counter space for cooking. I am tired and hungry and cranky. Grr.
Year in Photos 