Back to "normal"

 Our first full week back to school was a busy one.    Every night had something going on!  Mercer had baseball tryouts for several every day after school.  My Tuesday night classes resumed.  Isabella's "usual" Monday thru Wednesday schedule had also kicked in.  

On the 3rd night after tryouts ended, the teams were posted around 10 pm.  Interestingly, some of the players who were on the team last year did not make the team this year, and there were some Varsity / JV swaps!  (The roster last year was huge - and may be part of the reason that the 8th graders didn't get much play time.  Todd said that it was inevitable that the roster be pared down this year.) I'm sure there are some feathers that got ruffled.  I got nervous at first because there was a cluster of names beginning with G and he wasn't in that cluster.  Thankfully, the list was not alphabetical.... and... Mercer made the JV team again.  WHEW!  I do feel bad about some kids who were at tryouts / worked really hard and didn't make it - including M's training partner.  

There is a new coach; he obviously came in with a fresh eye.  We are excited about the season ahead and hope it's a good one!   Team photos and photos of Mercer forthcoming... they took pics already, but we haven't heard anything yet about orders.

Isabella was supposed to have her violin performance at her school's talent show that Thursday night, however, it was cancelled - along with everything else in town - due to tornado warnings.  There were devastating tornadoes that swept through Alabama and continued through Georgia.  10 - in total in our state that evening (9 in the Metro Atlanta area) and ravaging a town south of the city where there were homes destroyed, two lives lost and many injuries.  We are grateful that nothing happened near us.  

The event was re-scheduled for this week - just happened this past Thursday night.  She had been practicing the "Can-Can" on her violin.  And - somehow she got into her head that she needed to NOT look at what she was doing... maybe close her eyes and feel the position of the notes on her violin.  

So... she started practicing blind-folded!  (Watch "America's Got Talent" a bit too much??!!)  Her music teachers sent us this photo during one of her lessons.  Ha!

She decided that at the Talent Show, she WOULD perform with the blindfold on!  So, that what she walked up there and started to do.  But, unlike at home where we can pull her blindfold down, she had to do it herself on stage... and she couldn't get her bow set properly. 

She started several times and the wrong notes were coming out.  So she stopped.  Looked a little defeated.  The crowd cheered her shouting "You've got this" and she pulled down the blindfold / began again.  

People recognized the song and started stomping / clapping to the beat... continuing to cheer for her.  It was really heart-warming to see this community come around her!  

At the end of the show they brought all performers back up to recognize them and the MC's - who did a great job keeping the flow of the show going / telling groaner jokes.  

It was a really cute show!  We had a LOT of juggling to get everyone there on time b/c of an urgent-care visit earlier in the day, baseball practice pick-up and an across-town meeting.  But - whew - Todd and I were there (on time) and enjoyed seeing her persevere AND seeing the support of her school community! 

She had a couple of other great things happen since the last blog post.  At gymnastics, she was FINALLY able to do a back handspring on the mat (her teacher called me in to video, but it was hard to catch.  Here are a couple of screen shots in progress!)

AND - she got to ride the horse Chevy that she has been wanting to ride for a long time.  They trotted and she controlled him -- "steering" and winding him through the cones.   

He was the biggest horse there (15 hands) at the stables for about a year... but we just learned that there was an even bigger horse that they got this week at 17 hands.  She may have a new goal once they get the horse acclimated to the stables and the children.  ha.

In other non-kid news, we hosted a Soup Night & bonfire at our house in honor of our neighbor Mike who passed away last winter.  He has been to many of our soup nights and he - himself - would host bonfires every season.  It was a fitting event to gather his friends from the job he worked at here in Atlanta for so many years of his life + a gathering of some neighbors.  

The date in January was chosen because at his home church here in Marietta, a neighbor arranged to have a Mass dedicated to him and this was the date - although far out - that they got it on the calendar.  We went to the Catholic church service, then headed to our house following the service. 

There was a crowd of about 30 people - many we did not know, but some in the "industry" we knew of or had met at some point in time.  There was some cross-over of our former co-workers who also worked with him...  so it was nice catching up with those folks too. Two cross-over workers:  Dave pictured between Todd and me... and Cecilia in the center of the couch and soup night MEGA attendee / close friend + her "grown up daughter" now in college... who has always drawn pictures in our guestbook at Soup Nights from her time as a young girl to even now.  

Mike was moved back up to Michigan (where his family lives) before he passed... and his funeral service was held up there. This was the only "event" held here in the area for the Atlanta architecture community & Marietta neighbors.  Connie, his girlfriend for at least 15 of the years he lived here (she moved to NC several years ago).... she came into town (seated on the couch).  We saw in the sign-in book that others travelled too:  a family who is not pictured here / left early but who drove up from Jacksonville FL and a guy who flew in from Texas!

 

We received many words of thanks for letting them all come together.  Connie's sister, Julie (pictured next to Mercer) was especially emotional and grateful for this event to help provide some closure. It was a TON of work cleaning after a 3 year hiatus on Soup Night, but even Todd said he was glad we did this.

There's not much about Mercer in here.  So, how about an unusual photo:  when your 14 year old needs a quiet, dark place to chill......