A Funny from Saturday

 

I realized I didn't say how Mattie did on the rest of her divisions at the Texas Heat Wave Tournament on Saturday.

She received first 3rd in Self Defense.

She did not place in Traditional Kata or Open Kata.

She received first 3rd in sparring also.

YAY Mattie!!

You did great!

After the tournament, we were starving.

We headed home and stopped in Weatherford at On the Boarder.

Love this place. Just haven't had the chance to eat there in a while.

Aimee and her kiddos met us there.

It took forever for the waitress to come get our drink orders.

After she took the orders, we waited even longer for her to come back.

When she finally did come back, she didn't have any drinks. She explained to us how she had written them down and misplaced the paper.

So she took the order again.

Again we waited.

When she finally brought them, a couple of them were wrong.

But she was very prompt in fixing that.

It took a while, not as long as we had been waiting, for her to come back and take our food order.

I will admit, Mattie was playing a game on her iPad, so she didn't hear the part where she said she was taking our food order.

All she heard was when she asked her "what would you like."

At that point Mattie looked at her with those big baby blues and said...

"What! Did you loose the order again!?!?"

Oh My!!!

It took everything in all the adults powers to not laugh out loud!!

I didn't complain to management because in the end we had a good meal and a lot of laughs. And I know that everyone has an off day or are just learning a new job. And in the end, she did get everything right and didn't charge us for our drinks and also gave us a queso.

And I do have so much more to be thankful for than most...

Until next time,

God bless.

This is not the ALDC

No reason to try to back up and say what all has been going on so I am just starting fresh for what all went on today.

Today was Mattie's first AOK tournament of the year, Texas Karate Heat Wave in Duncanville. She was ready.

OK.

Well...

I do need to back up a little,

but just to Tuesday.

As we were getting ready to leave, she asked me if she could to Self D a the tournament on Saturday.

Whaaaaat???

I've already signed you up!

You've never done Self D before!

Do you realize you only have like one day to practice?

No I didn't say any of those things to her, I said I would talk to Shihan and see what he said.

Well of course he said he would get her ready.

Wednesday night we left early to watch the Harlem Globetrotters (fantastic as usual!)

Thursday, her dad picks her up so she would have to be done at 6:00PM, but they will get it done.

At 5:45PM I remind him she is leaving in 15 minutes. So he get Drake to help her.

It's going great, but by the time they get organize it only leaves 10 minutes?!?!

Thank goodness, Buddy said he had an errand to run and he could leave her for another 20 minutes!

YAY! A little more time! So a total of 3 minutes to practice! Goody!!!

Sparring practice on Friday runs long and we have got to get out of town for the tournament on Saturday, so still just the 30 minutes from the day before.

We all get to the tournament and Drake grabs Mattie and her helpers and they go through it two more times!! WOW! This should be good!

I don't like going into a competition unprepared but that was happening today.

It's Junior Self Defense which means She will not only be competing against some older kids, some are literally twice her age!!

They call names to make sure everyone is there and she will be the last to go! YAY! Such a huge benefit!!

Once she goes, she does great! Not very smooth, but she remembered everything she was supposed to do.

We had talked with her about having to compete about the older kids, so not to get her hopes up about winning. And also that the others had much more practice time than she did.

So imagine how excited we all were when they called her for first 3rd!!!

What does this have to do with the Abby Lee Dance Club (ALDC)? A lot!!!

"Dance Moms" is one of my guilty pleasures. I don't know why, but I love to watch.

It's like a watching a car crash. It's awful, but you just can't look away.

Those people do more yelling in one hour than all the competitors did combined today. But I just love it! Abby Lee Miller is the dance instructor and the girls are competitive dancers. Each week they learn new routines to perform the following weekend. And the girls are very good. I just don't understand why they have to learn something new each week. The ice skaters in the Olympics this past week have been performing those routines for probably a year. It takes time for perfection.

So the other night, Abby Lee had a duet that she only spent 15 minutes with and when they performed, they placed 2nd. She was livid!!! Why??? They had 15 minutes of practice and placed 2nd! I think that's pretty good. I can't imagine not congratulating a child on an accomplishment, especially if they haven't practiced it for very long!

I was ecstatic over Mattie's 3rd place win!!!

So happy for her and all our kids that were in that division. There were 8 competitors, 4 from AMMA and AMMA took the top four spots!!!! WOW!!

Congrats to everyone that competed today!!!!

And I promise to be better at posting!!

So until next time,
God Bless.

It Has Been A Busy Summer

WOW! July 24 already!!

This summer is flying by!

And we have been enjoying every bit of it!

June 29 we left on our two week vacation. We always plan our vacation time around the US Open Karate Championships in Orlando, FL and this year was no different.

We just took more time off than normal.

Frank and I wanted to see some of the sites between Abilene and Orlando that none of us had seen before. Originally we had planned to leave on Monday July 1, but if we left a day earlier we would have a little bit more time to play.

We didn't drive very far the first day, partly because we didn't think we were going to be able to leave as early as we did and secondly because I didn't measure our distances between stops very well. It all worked out ok though. Terrell, TX was our first stop and we got there early enough that Mattie got to swim for a long time.

This kid loves to swim!!



 

We got up pretty early to make it to our first stop. West Monroe, LA. We were headed to Duck Commander Headquarters. It was a surprise for Mattie. We love watching Duck Dynasty. The Robertson's are an amazing family that have held to their Christian values. We need more people like them on TV.

Looks just like it does on TV!

 

Then we headed on down the road. We had not planned to make any other site seeing stops but we missed a turn and while our GPS was getting us back on track, we passed this...

We all agreed we had time to stop!

 





We all love BPS and even though we didn't buy anything, we used the stop to eat lunch. And of course it was really good!

 

After we got back on course, we headed on to our Day 2 stop in Magee, MS. Again we got there early enough for Mattie to spend some time at the pool. And I needed to pick some things up at Walmart and it was just a stop light away, so very convenient for Katie and I to go by ourselves and not get lost.

 

We didn't have any stops planned for Day 3 because we needed to get on to Orlando and get in the hotel. It is about a six hour drive from Pensacola to Orlando with not much to see other than trees. But this time we got into some rain. And I mean it rained!!!!

Boy! Would we like to have this stuff back home!!!

 

It took us just a little longer than normal to get to Orlando because of the rain. There were some points when Frank was going about 50MPH because visibility was so bad! But we got there safely and all in one piece, checked in the hotel, ate at Joe's Crab Shack, Mattie and Katie hit the pool, then we settled in for the night. I had a lot of work to do and we had to be at the tournament site at 3:00PM to start getting things set up.

 

On Day 4 we had a yummy breakfast at the hotel, then I had to get to work. I had to turn two balloons covered in plaster of Paris into glitter filled coconuts and make a sign for each of Mattie's stations in her creative open. We packed Katie's Cricut and even though I had never used it, it didn't take me long to figure out how to get all my letters cut out. and Frank helped me get them glued on to the signs. We finished just in time to get to Coronado Springs and start unloading equipment. Well, I didn't unload anything, but everyone else did!!

All the material has to be unloaded off the trailer...

then unloaded again inside the building. It takes much more muscle and energy than I have these days.

 

After all this was done, it was time to find food, swim for a minute, the get to bed for another busy day.

 

 

Getting the tournament site ready for competition is always done on Day 5. It is always held at Disney's Coronado Springs resort. It is a great facility. When we walk in this is what it looks like...

 

And we have to get it ready for breaking (protecting the facility from the boards and bricks) 

 

And we also have to separate all the breaking material that everyone has ordered and get it ready for the competitors to pick it up.  

 All these bricks and boards will leave this building tomorrow in bits and pieces!!

 

 

We got finished early enough that we had some time to play, so we headed to Down Town Disney!

I wish I had this at my house!!!

 

 

We had time to go to a movie while we were there. Mattie wanted to see The Lone Ranger but it was all sold out so we saw Despicable Me 2. Just as good as the first and the most comfortable movie seats I have ever sat in!! Then it was back to the tournament to check in, get kinks worked out before the morning, the off to bed to get ready for competition.

 

Day 6 is what this vacation is all about, competing at the US Open Karate Championships. The WORLD'S largest karate competition. We have mad so many friends in the few years we have been going and that held true for this year as well. I must say, my family did very well this year. This was Katie's first year to compete and she was in two divisions and won them both!!! Frank won 3 firsts and one third. Mattie won 4 firsts and 1 second. She was so focused this year and her creative open stole the show. She had several of the masters tell her how much they enjoyed her performance. My family is amazing!!!

 

Competition took up the entire day, but Katie and Mattie did get out in time to go find some fireworks. It was Independence day after all!! It was a great day and we were ready to finish off with the ISKA competition on Saturday.

 

ISKA is by invitation only and is so much fun to watch. It is the Masters that we all love to watch. Frank helps on stage, helping to set up and to hold for the breakers, so he spends a lot more time there then the girls and I do. We headed down to the pool after Larry and Don did their creative,  then when Frank was finished he joined up. We decided to do a little bus hopping and went over to the Art of Animation resort. Frank and Mattie had never seen it and we had dinner there.

Then we headed back to the hotel to get ready to leave for Tampa on Sunday.

 

The drive to Tampa was nice. We got checked into the hotel, then headed over to Clearwater Beach to meet up with everyone else, spend some time in the ocean and have a cookout. Its what we do every year. It is a day to not have a real schedule because we all need a rest from all the rush of the competition. We had a lot of fun on Day 8 spending most of the day at the beach.

 

Day 9 was park day. We choose to go to Busch Gardens and it was a great decision!! We had a blast!! Great rides, beautiful park, and fantastic food!!!

Our visit was over come Tuesday morning, Day 10. We were headed to New Orleans. None of us had ever been there and decided to take a different route home so we could make a stop. It was a long drive and we arrived just in time to get checked into the hotel, find some supper and take a swim before it was bed time. We had some great food at a location recommended to us by the hotel. We were all very full. The child's hamburger that Mattie ordered could have fed three kids her size and Katie and I were so glad we decided to split something! It was more than enough for both of us!

Yummy!!!!

 

 

I had told Frank there was only one place that I really wanted to go while we were in New Orleans, and he kept his promise and we had breakfast there on Day 11

Café Du Monde, a must stop in NOLA!!

 

After a little site seeing and some shopping, we got back on the road and headed to my cousin's house in Kingwood. We stayed the night there and had a great time visiting, it just wasn't long enough!!!

 

On Day 12 we headed for home. It was a relaxed drive, well for us anyway! Frank won't let anyone else drive but he doesn't seem to mind!!

 

It was so nice to get home, but we are ready to do it all over again next year!!

 

We had a couple of days to relax before Frank had to go back to work and I was ready for my next surgery. I hope to have my video of our travels ready and posted in the next few days.

 

I will also have a post ready for you about my surgery.

 

In all this time away from home and seeing more of God's great creation that we have seen, it more evident than ever that,

 

Everything is going to be ok!!!

 

Until next time,

God Bless 





It's My Cancerversarry!!

June 29, 2012 - I was getting ready for bed when I found it, and my life has been changed forever.

So how do I really feel about this past year?

It has been an awesome blessing and I thank God for it everyday.

Most people don't understand that.

The most important thing, it has grown my relationship with God. It has made me so much more thankful for waking up in the mornings and thankful for my healthy family.

I've always been pretty much an optimist, but I have been able to find the good in everything lately, even in having breast cancer.

During this past year I have been amazed that the truly selfless people in my life and I have learned how to get rid of the truly selfish people that said they were my friends.

It has brought me sisters that have gone through this, are going through this or are just in the beginning for their journey and looking for help. It's an unfortunate community but it is on that has helped me through this.

And what does the next year bring?

Who knows.

I know I will continue to heal, make changes for a healthier life, and continue to try to help those that are just starting their lives with cancer.

I will have some surgeries to rebuild my body.

But most importantly I will continue to grow in spirit and faith, knowing that God will continue guide each step I take. And because of this faith, I also know that whatever happens,

Everything is going to be OK.

Until next time, God bless.

Follow Up Time

Tomorrow I head back to Texas Oncology for my six month check up.

Really?!

I can't believe it's already been six months since my last round of chemo.

I am looking forward to this visit. I have lots of questions.

Monday, June 10,  I went to a new GYN. I didn't actually see her, but her nurse practitioner, Stacey. I really like her. She made me feel very comfortable and it was very easy to ask her questions. And I was loaded with them.

This was, after all, my first yearly check up since my cancer.

She understood all of my concerns and ordered some test.

And she must have put a rush on everything, because I had all the results by Thursday June 14!! WOW! I've never had results back that fast!

Pap results were clear of cervical cancer! Yay! One small victory down!

Had blood test and sonogram on Wednesday June 13.

Blood test negative for ovarian cancer! YAY! Small victory #2!

Sonogram showed a small spot on my uterus. Stacey made two suggestions. It is probably a small fibrous cyst and we should do another sonogram in six months to look at it again. And to talk to my oncologist to get his opinion on waiting the six months.

She also said some people that have had breast cancer and showed a spot like this would choose to have a hysterectomy. But she strongly suggested talking to my oncologist before making that decision.

I told her I would and that I had a check up coming up with him soon, I just couldn't remember when it was but that I would call and find out.

The next morning before I had a chance to call, oncology called me with my reminder for my check up on June 19,

That worked out nicely!

So I go tomorrow feeling confident in how things have been going.

I can't wait for my appointment. I have missed all my team over the past six months.

Even though I only had two victories out of three test, I don't feel that the third was a failure, just a temporary delay in getting the results I am hoping for.

I have an awesome God that has made some amazing miracles this week in friends fighting other battles and I know he will do the same for me.

Whatever choices I am given tomorrow, I know in my heart that...

Everything is going to be OK!

Until next time,
God bless.

A Willful Waste is a Woeful Want

My grandmother used to tell us that all the time,

especially when we were wasting something!

And this really hit home the other night when Mattie was getting ready for bed and needed to brush her teeth.

She squeezed the tube and nothing came out.

There was still some in there, I could see it in the tube.

 

So I got the bright idea to cut it open in hopes to get a little out for the night until I could get to the store.

I couldn't believe what I found!!

 

There was enough in there to last probably two more weeks!!

 

I mean seriously! She has a small mouth and she's loosing teeth almost faster than the tooth fairy can come pick them up so it doesn't take much each time she brushes.

 

So my thought is, if I had already bought more toothpaste because I knew she was almost out, I would have wasted all this that remained.

 

I wonder how many things we buy that we throw out before we really should.

 

I'm not really a penny pincher but I think I am going to start paying more attention to the things I am doing around the house.

 

I know this isn't really a plan to save the world or anything, but it is something to make me think about what I am doing.

 

But no matter what I decide to do with toothpaste in my future,

 

Everything is going to be OK.

 

Until next time, God bless.



Lazy Days of Summer

I think they have started early this year.

I have always thought the "lazy days" were in August when the temperature is almost unbearable and we have to start getting ready for the first days of school.

But for the past 30+ years, I have been working during this time and wasn't quite so lazy.

Well I'm not working and I'm getting pretty lazy.

Katie and I have been working on some cleaning out of cabinets to get ready for a garage sale and I have been working getting our breaking team ready for the US Open.

Other than that, pretty lazy.

Mattie is at karate camp this week but next week she will be home with us.

Katie and I have pinned a lot of science activities over on Pinterest for her.

We are going to have to crazy outside summer fun next week.

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far.

No matter what you have planned for the summer or if you actually have a job that you get to go to, please remember,

Everything is going to be OK.

God bless.