Feeling Beachy

This past weekend Emily's friend from gymnastics invited Emily, myself, my mom and another friend and her mom to their beach house as a final get away for the girls before we leave. The weather was nice (60s on Saturday and 50s on Sunday) and we had a blast just hanging out and goofing around.

These girls practice 5 days, 20+ hours a week together, plus sleepovers and other hanging out activities. They are more than friends, they are like sisters. I know it will be hard when we leave. Leaving the gym won't just be leaving friends, it will be leaving family. Don't pull out the Kleenex quite yet. Emily has already made plans for when we return this summer with them, plus has managed to sucker me into sending her to camp next summer with the team here.

Here is just a sneak peek into our short, yet incredibly fun trip.

Emily is considering changing her name to Dolly after this shot. I have no clue why.

We had such a wild and crazy night that we stayed in after dinner and us moms the girls sang some karaoke.

However there was some OJ, Skye Vodka and wine involved so by the end of the night the moms were doing gymnastics. And before you ask, no, this is NOT me.

Sunday morning the girls were nice enough to make us breakfast.


The girls took out the tandem bike, only for the chain to come off so we had to bring "Barney" to come fetch them.


My mom taking a walk down the beach.

Emily and I posing for a picture.

Emily running towards the water. Don't worry, she stopped once she hit the edge.


When you take gymnasts to the beach there is never any question if they will do any jumps and flips.

The girls stopped flipping to "stand" around.

We went to this restaurant in Swansboro for lunch that was filled with Elvis, Marylin Monroe and James Dean memorabilia. In fact Elvis even talked to you while you peed!

I think Emily's eyes popped out of her head when they brought her lunch. Those onion rings alone made me want to run for diet pill.

Friday's Fumblings

1. Because of the humidity, we have had horrible storms roll through for about 20 - 40 minutes every evening. The storm 2 nights ago was probably one of the worst lightening storms I have seen in a long time. Somehow the storm knocked out Time Warner's digital service all over the area. We had no cable, phone or Internet for over 24 hours. Twenty four hours. I could handle the phone and cable. But the net? I broke out in a cold sweat just thinking about not being able to retrieve my email or check my daily news sites. (Can you say addicted?) One of the projects I am working on can only be done by accessing a server. So no working either. After 10 pm last night we were finally back up and running.
   
2. I have over 36 books checked out at the library and 2 more waiting for me to pick up. Oops. Now to my defense, probably 10 of them are the kids books. But that probably doesn't make it any better, huh? I also have $100 in bookstore gift certificates and $148 in trade credit at the local used bookstore that I am needing to use. Maybe I will do a little shopping today.
   
3. Speaking of reading... I had set a goal to read 20 books from Memorial Day to Labor Day. I am happy to say that with 8 weeks left I have read 12 books. Woot!
4. Matt has his yearly review this morning. He always gets so frustrated when it is review time and then always does awesome. Fingers crossed that today is the same.
   
5. Sami has been moved out of her regular gymnastics class and onto preteam. Last night was her "evaluation" night and other than a few stubborn Samisms, she did awesome. Being that she is such a drama queen, this is right up her alley. The way I see it, it cuts down in carpooling Sam to some other activity. Who knows. Maybe she will do this for awhile and decide it isn't for her. With Sam you never really know.
   
6. My dad is going through some physical therapy and will be having surgery on July 24. Please keep him in your prayers. I am not ready for this whole aging parents thing. Sigh...
7. Only 37 more days until I get to see David Cook. I.Cannot.Wait.
8. I just downloaded a trial of Photoshop Elements 6.0. I have been told that it is much more user friendly than my Photoshop CS program. Anyone have any tips?
9. I am hoping to be able to blog several Thailand and beach vacation entries in the next week. I am needing to upload pictures online first and am trying to decide if I still want to use Shutterfly (which I like) or switch to something else. And if I switch, can I transfer over my current albums. Sometimes technology just brings too many choices.
   
10. That cat is still hanging around. And one night he brought a friend. Oops. We have opted to not tell Matt that one. Emily has named him "Buddy". Original, huh?
11. Matt's heading back to Japan next month, and possibly Puerto Rico. Joy. Joy. Joy.
12. I cannot for the life of my figure out the call waiting on my cellphone or my Bluetooth headset. I can switch over to the other caller, but I cannot figure out how to switch back to the original person I was speaking with. I have a Verizon Chocolate cell phone. Can anyone help?
    
13. Only 10 days and Jamie, Hannah, Ashley and even Mark are coming to visit! I am so flipping excited. I am trying to fit golf, a trip to the farmers market, a day at the beach and dinner on the boat all into their 4 day visit. I hope they are resting up and buying lots of sunblock.
    

Maybe It's Monday?

We got into Raleigh at 7 pm last night. Matt was right. Coming back home is much worse than going jet lag wise. I finally dozed off at 2:30 am last night and after waking up about 5 times I got up at 6 am. While I was exhausted, I really wasn't all that tired –– until about 2pm this afternoon when I stupidly slept for a few hours. Now I am wide awake again. Ho hum.

Don't worry I plan on doing lots of blogging about the trip. I have uploaded all the pics to my computer and now I just need to upload them online and start descriptions. I will probably blog in waves, so just be patient. After all, I have 10 days to catch you up on.

So while I am still steaming over last weeks American Idol (I just watched it on my DVR –– flipping Ryan), I will spend some time catching you up on things around here.

• Sami is learning how to ride her bike without training wheels. She is able to do it for about 15 seconds before having to stop. She is pretty proud of herself.
  
• Chris's baseball team is just starting practices. This season he starts kids pitch instead of coach pitch. I am hoping this will make games much more exciting than in previous years. Wednesday he will be representing his elementary in a county wide sporting event as the fastest boy mile runner at his school.
  
• Emily landed her full on the floor while I was gone. This is a huge huge huge thing in gymnastics. This is not her, but this is what the skill looks like.
  

• Matt is scheduling a trip to Brazil for the beginning of June. He will be gone 13 days. He is tired of traveling, but excited because he has never been to Brazil yet. he is bummed that he will miss the last week of the kid's school. I guess it is only fitting as he also missed their first week.
  
• Well I did not get that position that I blogged about last month. But when one door closes another opens, right? Well today via email a new client confirmed that he chose me for a project. I am very excited about this one as it is a whole new market, yet one that I love. Shopping! I will be writing online catalogs for furniture and other items like sporting goods and door hardware. Pretty cool!!!
• My parents leave tomorrow for Ohio (my dad drove down on Saturday and will leave with my mom tomorrow) It has been great having them here and showing them around a town that I have grown to love. Thank you so so so so so much for helping with the kids. You guys rock.
  
• Did I mention that I am yanked with last week's American Idol? (the results, not the Idol Gives Back portion)
  

State Bound

After the gymnastics meet in Las Vegas, Emily had been moved up to a level 7 on her team. Yesterday was the first meet she would compete as a Level 7, and it also was the last meet of the season to be able to qualify for the level 7 state meet. She has been going to extra practice the last three weeks and it paid off. Despite all the nerves, Emily did awesome (took 3rd place All-around) and managed to qualify for state. So now she has three weeks to prepare for state. Yikes!

This also was the first meet I had my new camera. My photoshop program is on the fritz so I couldn't edit anything. Taking pictures at meets is hard. No flash is allowed and the girls move so fast.

Here is a sneak peak at Emily's debut as a optional gymnast! Enjoy.

Wordless Wednesday: Hangin' Out at Caesar's Palace

Vegas Roundup

I know, I know. I promised to be a better blogger. Things have just been crazy around here. But here are pictures and details from Las Vegas, as promised.

Yep, we finally made it to Vegas.
Emily did really well at the meet. She placed 4th on vault, 7 on floor and 9th all-around. Considering the amazing gyms that were there, she did awesome. And I am happy to say this is her last time ever competing as a level 6/compulsory gymnast. She is competing 7 next month.

Here is Em and 4 of her fellow teammates. Or should I just say "sisters". These girls spend so much time together in the gym that they really do become family. It was cool getting to watch them bond even more over the 4 day trip.
New York New York hotel. Emily loved the roller coaster so much she rode it twice (for a mere $14 each time). They had some awesome pizza and even better Matzo Ball Soup! This also was the home of Coyote Ugly, the place the parents closed down Saturday night. Luckily we all forgot to bring cameras. Don't worry we weren't as wild as those who were in need for some drug rehabilitation . After all we are gym parents.

Emily and Jessica.
Emily inside the Coca Cola store.
Me and my roommate Carlette outside of the Bellagio. I think the parents had just as much fun, if not more, than the kids. I really have made some awesome friends at the gym. And boy are they fun! We are already planning our next get together.

There is just a few. Sadly I forgot to get any pictures of Emily and myself together. Luckily Ken, one of the dads who was lucky enough to come with his daughter since his wife is deployed, took several of Em and I. I will post them (provided I look normal) when he emails them to me. In the meantime, you can see all the pictures here.

Viva Las Vegas

Sorry that I have been such a bad blogger the past few weeks. Between the holidays, school functions, church activities and work I have been swamped. We just got back this evening from a week back in Ohio visiting family and friends. Don't worry I have lots of pictures and entries to share –– soon. I promise.

But right now I have 36 hours to unpack and repack our Samsonite and get ready for Emily's and my big trip to Las Vegas. Yes, it is finally here. So again I will be MIA as I am taking a break and not taking my laptop. (**gasp! I know!) But I will be back Monday and will catch everyone up. And of course share lots of pictures from Emily's and my big adventure.

Wordless Wednesday: Strike a pose

R-E-L-I-E-F

I cannot even begin to tell you how much lighter I feel right now. And no, I am not talking poundage. I am talking about the huge weight that has been lifted off my shoulders. Our last home gymnastics meet is over. Can you breathe a sigh of relief with me?

Our gym hosts two "home" meets. One in September and one in November. The Booster Club is in charge of concessions, programs, a special sales table, hospitality rooms for coaches and judges and then staffing and setting up the whole meet. And as you can guess, who does most of the work fall on? Yep you guessed it –– me. Sadly the booster club president has to pick up what no one else does, along with their already assigned tasks. So I spent the past week scheduling works and securing donations for the concession stand, then all day Friday shopping for all the rest of the food and setting up. Yesterday I cooked 22 (yes TWENTY TWO) pounds of taco meat for walking tacos. Then today I was at the gym by 6:30 am and just got home at almost 11 pm.

But the meet was a huge success. We really do have some awesome booster club members who jump in and help out wherever needed. Thank goodness or things like this would be even harder. But we made some great money and had tons of compliments so in the end it was all good.

Emily competed well. She got 5th place all around (after a mess up on bars) and had her best all around score so far this season. One more meet until the state competition. Then it is off to Las Vegas baby for her competition and the beginning of her optional gymnastics season. And ya know, there are still some some Vegas hotels available when we are going for anyone who is looking for a mini vacation. **wink wink**

In the midst of all this, Matt flew out this afternoon for a two week business trip to France. (Yeah poor baby. French wine, bread and cheese. I don't feel too sorry for him) I told him it was pretty bad timing. I could really use a good foot rub right about now.

Nighty night!

What a week

Shew... finally the week is over. Our gym hosted the first competitive meet of the season yesterday and as the Booster Club president I was in charge of half of the meet. So my past few days consisted of shopping, making phone calls, scheduling workers, setting up, tearing down, cooking and lots of other stuff in between. And in the middle of that we had football and gymnastics practices, Emily's first school dance, I managed to break my cell phone, school, homework, my work and a trip to the park.

But here are a few pictures and updates from the past few days.

Here is Emily before the dance. She had to get ready at the gym as she was having her final practice before her Saturday meet.
Another picture of my gorgeous girl. I think I needed a portable oxygen concentrator to revive Matt when he saw how gorgous his daughter looked.
My insomniac son helped me cook 10 pounds of penne pasta for the meet at 11 pm. What a guy!
Here is Emily and the other level 6 girls after the competition. Cool glasses, huh? Can you guess the meet theme?
Emily without the goofy glasses.
Emily got a 9.05 on the balance beam. She was .05 shy of getting first place. She had an awesome first meet, placing 4th in the all-around.
Sami decided that she couldn't go to bed without doing "homework". She feel asleep instead.
We took the boat out today for some R&R. As you can see the small amount of rain we had a few weeks ago did nothing. The water level is usually up to the big trees. Some of the towns get their water from this lake. The lake is only half boatable as it is now... a few more weeks and it will be unusable and the latest calculations gives Raleigh water until mid-December. However I am NOT praying for rain after my last little experience.

"Flipping Cross Country"

Emily's gymnastics team has been given the opportunity to compete in one of the nation's largest gymnastics meets in January. Wanna guess where we are going? I'll give you a few hints.

• You will need coins.

Nope not Atlantic City.

• Lots of shows.
  

Nope not Branson Missouri.

• You can travel the world in just this one city.
  

Tired of guessing? I guess I can tell you. We are going to LAS VEGAS!!!

There are 12 girls traveling and let me tell you, most of these kids have no idea where Las Vegas is, but they know they get to ride on an airplane, for a long time, to get there. They also know that the gym Nastia Liukin (the Carly Patterson of this upcoming Olympics) is from will be there. And boy are they excited.

I have to say I am very proud of my daughter. This will be an expensive trip between airfare, hotel, food, meet entry expenses, and spending money. She told us that she would trade in her Christmas presents and birthday presents (her b-day is in Jan.) towards the trip if that would help us decide to let her go. She also has told my parents the same. And she has offered to help work the fundraisers the gym is having to help go towards the trip. I, of course, will be a chaperon so it will be a neat mother/daughter experience for us.

We booked our tickets tonight, so watch out Vegas... the Jacobs' gals are coming to town.

Festival Fun

Today's Emily's competitive gymnastics team did a demonstration at the Angier Crepe Myrtle Festival so we decided to go a bit early for some "fair food" and free real estate promotional pens. Okay so the food was the real reason, the free pens were just just a bonus.

Only two weeks until her first meet of the competition season. I hope she is less nervous than I am.

Sami and daddy watching a clown perform.
Emily and three other gymnastics pals rode "The Cartwheel". Matt and I laughed because the ride wasn't operated by electric or a switch. Rather the man in the shirt just spun the cage around by hand, switching directions back and forth. Only in North Carolina.
Mr. Jack giving a last few directions. Notice how attentive the kids are being.
Emily showing the corwn a handstand forward roll. If only we all had leg muscles like these girls.
Emily landing her back handspring back tuck.

Beach Madness

Today Emily had a "fun" meet down in Wilmington, NC. She has been moved up to a level 6 gymnast and today was her first meet. I am so proud of her. She did so well, especially since she has only been moved up for 6 weeks. Come the next competitive season in September, she is going to totally rock.

So afterwards we decided to hop on over to the beach for a stroll. It was 70 degrees, but it was really windy so it put a nip in the air. It got me excited to know that in only a months time we will be able to be sitting on the beach getting some rays. And it reinforced how blessed we are and how blessed we have been with this move. I never imagined I would live less than 2 hours from the beach.

Even though it was only March and windy, there were many people out walking, sitting and just enjoying the scenery, goofing off, flying kites, and even a few were surfing (okay I thought they were nuts since the water was freezing). Afterwards we went to a restaurant right on the inter coastal where we could enjoy watching the water. It was a wonderful, memory filled, day.