Thank You.....

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!

But fame is theirs - and future days

On pillar'd brass shall tell their praise;

Shall tell - when cold neglect is dead -

"These for their country fought and bled."

~Philip Freneau

College

Last Friday Cheerleader Girl and I headed up to Longwood University. It is the first college of several in which she has/will apply. It is also the only one that has an “immediate decision” which essentially says, if you meet certain requirements, you apply, bring your transcripts, tour the school, and while touring, the admissions office reviews your application and by the time you get back they have their decision, but you don't have to commit until May. (Pretty sure that was a run on sentence, glad I didn’t have to write her essays). We knew going into this tour that CG far exceeded the requirements, and according to her college comp teacher her essays were “phenomenal,” but there is still a level of anxiety that is comparable to bungee jumping in Thailand. For me, not for her. Fortunately, all of my concerns were put to rest shortly after we returned to the admissions office……. Yep that’s right my friends that live in my computer

SHE WAS ACCEPTED!!!

Congrats Cheerleader Girl!!!

Still don’t know if she will go, but it is one down……

I think I’ll go find that bungee cord now.

Let the wine gulping sipping begin.

Ugh.

Oyster Festival :)

I don't have pictures to post, I'll leave that to my fellow attendees, because well, I FORGOT my CAMERA, and my phone takes crappy pics.

I was unable to attend Friday's festivities, but on Saturday, The Salesman and I ventured over the bridge into the humongous teeny town of Urbanna for the 52nd Annual Urbanna Oyster Festival. It is such a quaint little place with 4 billion people. Well maybe not 4 billion, maybe it was only 2 billion, but who knew you could put so many people in one little town. Of course when you don't let cars in, it's a little easier I guess. Okay, Okay, maybe not 2 billion, but there were A LOT of people.

There was food GALORE! It was like going to the fair, but better! We had the best clam chowder I have ever eaten. And butterfly fries, and crabcakes, and roasted cashews and WINE! Yes, there was wine tasting. $10 got you a wine glass and an all day pass to the taste the wines of many of the Virginia wineries. We drank lots, and bought more! My favorite of the day was White Meteor from White Fences Vineyard, in Irvington, VA. Hmmm, may just have to take a trip there, as soon as I find out where the heck Irvington, VA is ;) Oh and there were lots and lots of booths with people selling their wares. Everything from apple jelly to zebra print purses. Yes we spent money, what can I say.

The best part of the day was meeting up with BHE, Mental P Mama, CBW and Bud, Noe Noe Girl, Little T (even if he did call me Atlee) and CW, all at BHE's dad's house for the parade. I missed the Fireman's Parade on Friday, and I can still hear, unlike the others but Saturday's parade was a site to see. The parade wrapped all around the town, literally! It ended where it started and in order to get to the start/finish, the leaders had to stop to let the end come around so they could complete the loop. (I'm pretty sure that statement doesn't make sense, but I know what I mean). There were shriners and antique cars, marching bands and Little Miss Spat, there was even a man dressed as an oyster. At BHE's dad's house there was good company and wine and laughs all around. They are the most fun group of people to be around! Never a dull moment for sure and I am sure glad I got to spend time with them.

I believe they all headed back to Ann Marie's for a fish fry, but The Salesman and I had to head on back to the 'ville. I always miss the good parts, and I am for sure sorry I missed this one and look forward to reading all about it.

I sure hope you all had as fun of a weekend as I did! Can't wait to see all of them again!

Regionals

Since Cheerleader Girl's competition team placed 2nd at their district competition last week, they advance to the regional competition which takes place tonight. Its another "last" for us. Possibly the VERY last competition she will compete in - ever. Only the top 4 of 16 teams advance to the state competition and who knows how CG's team will do. They have all but one of their original team members back from inury or illness (thank you H1N1), so that is a good thing, and we are expecting big things from them tonight!!

However, I am pretty sure the stars are not aligned correctly or something, because weird things are happening with sports in our area this year. Teams that haven't ever placed are winning district competitions and matches. Teams that haven't had a winning record in a lot of years are ranked top 10 in the area. Its good for those teams.... I am happy for them, it's just weird. It also leaves things WIDE open, which makes me, Psycho Cheer Mom, wondering if the stars will be aligned correctly tonight.

I wish all of the teams Good Luck,

but most of all,

I wish my not-so-little girl the BEST OF LUCK!!!

Love you CG!!! Kick A$$!

Friday Fragments

• My kids high school football team plays their cross town rival tonight. I sure hope they win. Too bad CG won’t be cheering due to that LOVELY injured shoulder.
• I am a “cereal killer” at work today for Halloween. Lots of little cereal boxes taped to a shirt with plastic knives in them. Pretty clever huh? Yea, I thought so. I definitely stole the idea.
• I love when daylight savings time ends. It gives me an extra hour of sleep. Even though I will probably wake up an hour early anyway.
• I just finished reading “The Lost Symbol.” Interesting book, full of cool references.
• CG finally submitted her application to James Madison University. I am not diggin’ the whole application process. Well, actually, I’m not diggin’ the whole “going away to college” thing. Wonder if she would mind if I moved to the town in which she is going to college? Probably not? Dang it!
• Based on the drop in temperature and the change in the leaves on the trees, I believe autumn has finally arrived. I wasn’t aware the sun stopped shining during fall. I thought the grey set in during winter. Strange.
• I have no plans for Halloween. None, and for some reason, that seems strange.
• Do any of you have any plans? Have a Happy Halloween!

2nd Place

Well, for those wondering, Cheerleader Girl's competition team placed 2nd out of 6 in her district competition last night, only losing to the 1st place team by 4.5 points(240.5 to 236). After the many obstacles and challenges they faced over the last week, a 2nd place win will just have to do :) I am so proud of the job that all of them did, but especially my baby girl! Best part, I didn't cry and CG made it through without additional injury. Woo Hoo!

We will face the 1st place team again at the Regional competition next Wednesday.

Watch out Raiders.... there's a host of Hawks headed your way!

Congratulations Cheerleader Girl and her Lady Hawk Cheerleaders!

Another last...

Tonight is my daughter's last High School District Competition Cheerleading competition.

I am not sure how I feel about that.

I am very sad, because, while I feel confident they will move on to the Regionals, it is still the last Districts.

At the same time, I feel relief.

I am looking forward to the season coming to a close. She has been practicing with an injured shoulder, 3 hours a day, 6 days a week since August and that includes a 7 hour practice just last night to reset the entire routine.

There have been numerous physical therapy appointments, even more bouts with advil and TONS of tears. Her team has been plagued with injuries and the "piggy flu" and still they manage to put it all together.

We take it one day at a time, and the very important day is finally here.

I wish her all the luck in the world that she will be successful and bring home a CAPITAL DISTRICT WIN for her team. And I am praying that she can do it without further injury.

I love you Cheerleader Girl! Good Luck!