Hummingbird Mind

Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Backward...

Since last Sunday, when I got back from Dayton, I have been sick.  I also lost my cell phone, and had a huge computer problem, which resulted in my having to buy a new computer.  (Note to my daughters:  No you may not have my old computer...yet.)

All this happening, while a colleague and I are trying to finish up some documents for a consulting project added mucho stress.  And, then there's the fact that I have not gotten as far in my packing as I'd hoped to.  I haven't been out to the house to measure rooms. I also missed seeing my brother who was home for two weeks from Baghdad on R&R.  I didn't want to give him this bug to take back with him.

But -- today is a new day.  My fever seems to finally have broken. My head congestion (not my brain) is clear, though I've still got a bit of a "productive" cough.  My old computer has been scanned for viruses, defragged, uninstalled and reinstalled and the new computer is waiting for me to pick up. 

I leave for Denver Tuesday, then head to California and return on next Monday, so I may or may not get much chance to post here.

That's all.  I'm a bore.

Dayton Diaries Update: Days 4, 5, and... Whatever

You've probably guessed that I am home from Dayton. Here's a quick catchup and then, I'll move on to being behind in blogging about this week.

Since the kids didn't make finals, they got a day off and spent it sleeping late, shopping, playing games and generally having a wonderful time. Not that I would know. I wasn't with them. I was working. 

On Saturday night we all went to see World Finals. The units were great. A good time had by all... blah, blah, blah... can you tell I am so over this?  I wasn't then, but I am now.

I was lucky enough to have Julie H., one of Jane's teammates, riding shotgun on the way home. She wanted a break from the van. I wanted all the week's details from the team's POV. And, you guessed it, my own daughter never rode with me once.  I understood.  This was the last time many of them would be together.

Julie made the first five hours of that trip fly by.  Then she slept. I'm always amazed by the way young people can sleep anywhere, in any position.  Julie's position was sitting straight up, face-first in her pillow. All I saw was a bunch of red hair sticking out of a Little Mermaid pillowcase.

It was a great season. We accomplished all our goals. Our budget will not wind up in the red.  It's all good.  But, I am sure glad that Jane has no plans to do this again.  I'm way to tired for all that driving.  But, I'm not tired of those kids.  They are stellar.

Dayton Diaries: Day Three

The kids had a great show tonight.  They didn't make finals; however, they met their goal, which was to make semi-finals and perform a better show than they did in preliminaries. They did both those things. That should make anyone happy.

I hope they're as proud of themselves as their families are of them. They had a rougher season than they should have had, but they kept plugging away. They've earned their day of fun tomorrow. While they sleep late, eat a bunch of junk, drive go-carts and enjoy whatever other surprises their coaches have for them, we parents will be breathing a sigh of relief that this season is over. We'll all meet tomorrow night for the World Class finals.

If I have the energy tomorrow, I'll report on my continued (though involuntary) pattern of meeting the police in every state I visit.  I had two experiences with representatives of the Dayton Police Department within ten minutes of each other this evening.  The second encounter was Tripsy's fault, I swear.

I have to say... people in Ohio are some of the friendliest and nicest people I've ever met.  Thank you, officers.  I made it back to the hotel safely.

Dayton Diaries: Day Two Update

Act 1 made semifinals. They had a fine show.  I'm going to bed.

Dayton Diaries: Day Two

Spent the entire day so far in my room working on the consulting project.  Just one more conference call and then I head over to preliminaries.  The kids had a "preview show" last night in Kentucky.  The Executive Director reported via Instant Message that they did a good job.  I asked "how good."  He said, "There's always room for perfection -- LOL."    Then he informed me that comments were that if the show had been judged they would have won their class.

These preview shows are good for the kids -- give them a "home audience" to play to because the parents and kids in the other guards root for them, they feel as if they know someone in the audience.  It gives them a "dry run" -- a way to release the jitters and work out little things before the preliminaries.

Everyone is our competition in this class -- so we are hoping to make it to semi-finals.  Wish us well.

Dayton Diaries: Still Day One

I'm now in Dayton. Left the kids and staff in Kentucky and moved myself to the Doubletree Dayton-Downtown (boy, you get good rates with an AARP membership).  What a great place. Before I left the desk after checking in they handed me a warm, freshly-baked chocolate chip cookie. I've been in the room for about an hour and they just delivered a nice welcoming note and more chocolate.  I haven't had this much chocolate since my hourly runs to Suz's candy dish at my last job.

I'm working on a consulting project while I wait for the other parents to show up.  Once they're settled and I'm done with my consulting work today, I'm going to sleep.

Dayton Diaries: Day One or Is It Two...

We made it to the Quality Inn & Suites in Florence, Kentucky (which is just across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio) by 3:30 a.m.  I must say that the Quality Inn folks have been wonderful.  First of all, they had all the rooms ready and after we made a few switches (which they handled without any issue or attitude) we all crashed.  I have visions of coaches and children silently lugging luggage down the hallway and that's all I remember.

Five hours or so later, I woke up, had breakfast and am now waiting for a conference call.  I am multi-tasking this trip, working on a consulting project in between preliminaries, semi-finals (keep your fingers crossed) and finals.

I'll be leaving the kids and staff here in Kentucky where they will be practicing between performances. I'll be  checking into the parents' hotel in Dayton.

So, parents who are reading... your kids are alive and well and a joy to travel with.

Dayton Diaries 2008

Those of you who've been hanging around for some time know that about this time each year my daughter Jane and I go to Dayton for the WGI World Championships. Her winter guard unit competed in 2006 and came in 7th in the world in their class.  She didn't compete in 2007, opting instead to focus on her freshman year in college, but she chose WGI Championships as her mother-daughter weekend, as I reported here.

This year she performs again, but she says it will be her last year.  I believe her.

I'm getting too old to be driving eight hours at night, so I'm hoping to head out this afternoon, nap at her place until the team catches up (since they'll be leaving later in the day).  Then we'll head off to the hotel hoping that we'll get there by 2:00 a.m.

This may be the last year this unit performs. And this particular group is made up of some pretty spectacular young people. Some of the kids are aging out.  Others are going their separate ways.  I've known most of these kids a long time. It's been a joy to watch them grow up and become fine young adults.  So this year is bittersweet for me. 

But they enter the arena hoping to make finals... and we'll all be there to cheer them on.  I'll keep you posted.

From Russia With... Something

My brother sent me this link and I thought you'd get a kick out of it. I wonder if they covered "Free Bird," too?

(With thanks, too, to my friends who gently (and my kids who not so gently -- you may stop laughing now) corrected my entry and reminded me it was "Free Bird" not "White Bird." Sigh.)