One Down, One To Go

Our son Jordan graduated from high school this year.  He actually attended the same high school that his dad and I did, way back when.

He was in the A+ program which means he was granted two years of free school at OTC (Ozarks Technical College) here in town.  He is also a big track and field star and OTC doesn’t offer that.  To our surprise, MSU (Missouri State University) no longer has a men’s track team either.  I was told they used to have 21 sports at that school and now they only have 16.

The quest was on to find a college where he could major in Biology and be on a track team.  He did all the research himself, made endless phone calls and filled out massive amounts of paperwork.  He was interested in Drury because they do have a track team and they even have a Decathlon which is what he has participated in for the last two summers at Nationals (Junior Olympics).  But CMU (Central Methodist University) made him the best offer.

At CMU he was able to stack his athletic scholarship and academic dough together and he even applied for a scholarship through the church that he was raised in (Methodist Church).  He scored some money there as well.  It’s a good thing all of this happened because lord knows we don’t have the money to send him there.  As it is he will owe a little less than what it costs to attend one year at CMU in  loans when he’s done.  And that’s if everything stays like it is now.  I have a feeling it will be even better next year in the way of athletic offerings.

We moved Jordan to Fayette, MO last Saturday.  The school is quaint, kind of like Drury but maybe even smaller.  The buildings have that old, cool architecture and the dorms are decent.  The food was pretty good as well.  We all had lunch at the cafeteria that day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He will major in Marine Biology and he already got a job in the office there on campus.  That’s a good thing!  The town is very small and honestly I think I would go crazy living there but he doesn’t seem to mind.  I made a joke that he will get into trouble because of lack of stuff to do, or he’ll get into trouble because he’ll be driving to Columbia every single weekend.  Frank didn’t think that was very funny. 

He will toss the discus on their track team and the coach had maybe mentioned hammer throw as well.  We’ll see.  He’s had some trouble with one of his ankles and he’s pulled a hamstring a couple of times as well, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the inuries lay low. 

Good luck Jordan.  You are fine young man and I’d like to think that your family had a little bit to do with that!

You Go Jordan!

Today was a blustery, nasty 45 degrees with drizzle and all.  Not the ideal day for a track meet.  But.  We had to attend.  It was the first meet of the season and our son probably didn’t get any sleep last night thinking about it.  He’s been trying to beat Parkview’s discus record for three years now.  

Last night he asked me if we could do some yoga stretching and some relaxation.  I said of course.  I had him use the strap to stretch out his legs and use the bolster to stretch out his back.  I even treated him to a little Thai Yoga Massage at the end.  He was thankful.

Back to the track meet.  Our son was scheduled to throw at 4.  I met my husband at the field, but not before I drove through Starbuck’s (I had a gift card, otherwise it’s out of my budget) and I sat in the car until the meet started.  I noticed my in-laws had a front row spot in the car to see the kids throw.  I joined them.  I don’t like to be cold and I dislike being wet and cold even more. 

Jordan threw 161 feet the first throw and 163 feet the second time.  He threw 163 feet again the third time.  On his fourth and final throw, he tossed a 176.9.  That’s feet.  From the car I saw him put his hands on his head and fall to his knees.  I ran as fast as I could to see how far he had thrown.  He was so excited and so were we.  I told him it was because we did all of that yoga last night.

He is going to CMU, Central Methodist University next fall.  We are so proud of him.  On his own he researched and made phone call after phone call and filled out massive paper work.  He will be attending CMU with 80% in scholarships.  Now that he’s thrown this distance I’m sure his athletic cash will be upped a tad.  Track is hard for scholarships as they base it on what you did last year.  Of course he had academic stuff to stack on top of this athletic stuff as well.

I am so glad that he accomplished his goal.  The discus record was set in 1981 at 174 feet.  Way to go Jordan, you are amazing!

Our Junior Olympian

Our son Jordan (shown in the black and red) is quite the athlete.  Track is his thing and he loves it.  At the end of the school year he’s always a bit depressed that the season is over.  That was until this year.

This year a guy started the Springfield Track Club and several kids joined up.  Oddly enough this guy is also a neighbor of ours as well and was interested in Jordan already.  Jordan was so excited to have a track team to practice with as soon as school got out.  They practiced two nights a week and attended several track meets as a team out of town.

The last meet they entered happened in Tulsa.  Here was where he would qualify for nationals.  And qualify he did.  He spent this last weekend in Norfolk, Virginia with 10 or so others that qualified as well.  This is pretty cool stuff.  He was so excited and so were we.  But.  Neither Frank nor I could head to Virginia.  I’d just been gone 24 days and we didn’t expect this to happen.  His mother was able to be there.  His aunt and uncle were there too, they live close to that area.  He had a strong support system there and we were thankful.

He placed FIRST in discus and SECOND in shot-put.  He entered the Decathlon which meant 5 events for him on Saturday and 5 for him on Sunday.  He did great, we are so proud of him! 

Check out his stats –

100 Meter Run 11.99 seconds – Long Jump 17′ 6.25″ – High Jump 4′ 11″ – Shot-Put 45′ 3″ – 400 Meter Run 55.47 seconds (he set a personal record on this one), Discus 152.3′, Pole Vault he didn’t clear, bummer – Javelon 135′ at 13th place, Hurdles 110 and the Mile Run 5 minutes and 12 seconds!  He ended the Decathlon with a score of 4,913 which isn’t too bad considering this is only his second Decathlon EVER. 

He’s hiking and camping in the mountains of Virginia right now and we sure can’t wait to have him back home to hug him and congratulate him properly! 

You rock son.

Our Son Rocks

Our son, Jordan, is amazing.  He’s taught himself quite the technique on working the discus for track and field.  He even bowed out of most running events to concentrate on his passion, throwing discus.  He placed first in the Sectional meet yesterday in Lebanon.  I couldn’t be there, I had to teach a yoga class, but his father was there and so were a ton of other relatives to cheer him on.  The Springfield News-Leader interviewed him and took his photo after the event.  He didn’t land his photo in the newspaper, but he gave a decent interview and got his name in the headline.  We are super proud of how hard he’s worked and how dedicated he remains.  Good job Jordan!

Our daughter, Lauren, is becoming quite the seamstress.  She’s on her 7th sewing lesson, she has one more next weekend, then I think she wants to break for the summer.  So far she’s made a pillowcase, a pair of bermuda shorts and yesterday she made the cutest little skirt.  She’s taking a class with her good friend Madeline as they both received sewing machines for Christmas.  Talented girls they are.  I cannot use a machine to save my life, but I can sew by hand.

My car.  Another story.  It will be repaired but who knows when.  They have to get parts from a few different states, since the car is ten years old.  So far the repairs are up to $3,052 and that’s OK.  The insurance company already issued me a check with a letter that says they will pay for anything over that amount.  Then why not just wait until the car is finished and cut the body shop one check?  Who knows?  What I do know is this.  I deposited that check and I’ll put the repairs on my Discover card, pay it off immediately and enjoy my 5% cash back bonus.  Thank you insurance company.  The accident got into my front wheel drive, so though the Volvo doesn’t need much in the way of body work, it needs under carriage crap.  Hopefully it will drive just as good, if not better when I get it back.  And oh, am I missing it!  They gave me a 2010 Pontiac G6 to drive.  It’s a brand new car, I guess I should love it, but I don’t.  It’s nothing like my Volvo.  Nothing at all.  I like my 10 year old car and I will have myself a serious little party when I get it back!

Off to work some more in the garden.  We finally have a day without rain (so far) but it’s pretty hot and humid out there!  I weeded half of the garden already and have decided to blow the other half off.  I didn’t plant much this year, so we’ll be moving the fence to make the garden smaller here in a little while.  That is, if I can get Frank to help me.  Enjoy the day.

Where’s My Kitchen? Part 3

Our kitchen has been and still is, an ongoing project.  It’s OK though.  When we finish something it looks like we just got a NEW kitchen….again……this year. 

The latest was our track lighting.  It has elbows and we wrapped it around our pot rack. 

We’ve got nice lighting pointing at our counter now too, as well as dark corners.  Dr. Woo Hoo really shines now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love it.  I can totally blind myself with this lighting, which is probably not a good idea.  We’ve had our under the cabinet halogen lighting since we put our cabinets in and I do love them, but they get hot.  Really hot.  Especially if you’re using them ALL the time because there’s no other lighting unless you’re using the sink or the stove.  For instance, they can get so hot that the covers will just fall off.  I actually gave someone a batch of green beans in a clear plastic container not too long ago.  My friend called me later that night to ask me if a clear glass disc that says UV something meant anything to me.  I was all, heck ya, I’ll be right over.

Next up was that nasty, wooden window sill that I’d painted white about a million times because that’s the only way to keep it looking good, and that’s an understatement.  You can decide for yourself.  It always looks dirty, was not meant to get wet and definitely was not wide enough to hold anything except a cherry tomato.  Totally useless.  I took this photo after I sanded it down, cut the ends of it off and trimmed the edging in brown.  Huge improvement already.

 

 

 

 

 

 

But then, the coolness arrived.  Ozarks Cultured Marble.  You guys rock.  I’d forgotten about that place until fellow blogger Ann, was doing a bathroom remodel and it came back to me then.  Thanks for shaking my brain up.  We attached the new sill to the original sill with some carpet glue, because this totally looks like carpet.  Just kidding.  We couldn’t find our tile mastic.  Misplacing stuff is classic around here.  The cost?  A whopping $48, this piece measures 35 inches long in case you’re interested.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyways, it’s totally gorgeous and functional.  The pattern is so neat.  And it’s not stone, it’s a paper transfer.  Can you believe that?  A paper transfer.  I can put my dish soap up there.  I can put a full size tomato up there.  Or hey maybe a gallon of milk, a full pot of coffee, or even a 2 liter!  It’s 4 1/2 inches wide, that’s a saucer people.

I played hookie from teaching yoga tonight.  The weather was awesome and the yard was flooded with walnuts, again.  I even hit the houses on both sides of us and I’m not done yet.  Thanks for the tips a few of you have sent me on free walnuts.  If I ever get this area finished, perhaps I’ll branch out.

Another Amazing Weekend

This weekend was yet another amazing one.

Starting with Friday afternoon, our son totally kicked butt at the track meet at Parkview.  The day was beautiful, not much wind, no clouds and tons of sunshine!  He ran in three events, and came in second in two and first in one!  Way to go Jordan, you’re awesome!

Saturday morning I found Lauren a bike on Craig’s List.  I drove out South of town to check it out.  It turned out to be a basically brand new bike, for a not so brand new price!  Sold. 

As I left there my cell rang.  It was my sister who was on her way to check out some authentic Indian rugs that she’d found on Craig’s List in Florida.   I’d been wanting a runner for our super long hallway, but they cost too much.  I told her I was in the car and trusted her to make the purchase, she’s got good taste like that!  This lady had 4 rugs and 1 runner for $50 each.  I asked my sister about the quality.  She said, “She was wearing a Sari and spoke broken English, what do you think?”  Sold. 

Saturday afternoon I checked my auctions.  I ran a bunch of yoga clothes on e-bay as I often do and they were doing OK.  I also ran a little 6″ vase, circa Nippon.  It was holding at $20 for a few days, but Saturday, it shot up to $102.  It had an hour left.  I decided not to waste time and watch it end.  Where did I go?  Yoga, of course!  When I returned the auction was over.  Someone really liked that vase as it sold for $350.60.  I wish I had another one, or two, or three……  Sad thing is, it’s probably worth 3 grand or something.  I’d had it a long time.  I like Asian inspired things.  I like bright Asian inspired things and as you can see, it’s pretty muted.  I like Lusterware, it’s shiny! 

Saturday evening came around and it was time for me to back up everything I cared about so Frank could hook up my new (used) computer!  The computer I have is older and I’ve never had a problem with it,  but it was starting to run really slow.  Too many high end programs.  Too much stuff not enough space.  (Sounds like my house and my internal organs).  Anyways, we spent the evening hooking up, re-installing and copying files over.  It’s really fast now!  I cruised through the yoga community group e-mail awhile ago.  The internet really loads fast too, so I’m excited.  Free computer, yippee!!

Sunday came.  More of the same, computer stuff, etc.  Until my friend  Sylvia (the artist) called.  She had something to bring over.  OK.  I’m home no big deal.  She walks in the door with this. 

Yep, another beautiful painting framed and ready to go!  This is her new character, Dr. Woo Hoo.  She called this one “At OHM with Dr. Woo Hoo.”  Amazing, absolutely!  Just check out that detail and those colors!   She needed to borrow the other one she’d just given me (Dr. Woo Hoo Cooks) and we hung this one in his place for now.  How lucky am I?  Totally lucky.  I am building her a small website to showcase her art.  The world really needs to see her heartfelt brightness!!

Perhaps the goodness of the weekend was fueled by that yoga class and the power of Dr. Woo Hoo!!  That vase action didn’t hurt either. 

Peace Out.

Small Setbacks

On Monday my husband decided to go to the doctor and get an x-ray.   He’d been dealing with a twisted ankle for a week now, so I guess he thought it was time to get it checked out!  It was twisted all right.  He’d turned it enough that there was actually a small break.  They’re unsure if this is a new or old injury, but he came home with a brace and crutches for seven days.  He has one foot that turns out extremely.  In fact, his leg turns out from the knee down.  He’s all the time walking through the house kicking stuff, but he can’t help it.   He’s healing up, it’s a good thing.

On Tuesday, the trainers from the MSU athletic depatment called me at 3:15.  Jordan (our son) had twisted his ankle during warm ups at track and needed me to come and get him.  I got there quickly, and his ankle on the outisde area, was huge!  He’d sprained it in January and we didn’t go to the doctor at that time.  I’m thinking we should have and I’m still feeling bad about that now!  We headed to Urgent Care where they got us in pretty fast.  His x-ray showed a serious sprain to the front of the ankle.  He was so happy to not have a broken bone.  They’d just made him track captain.  Track and field will most likely be his ticket to college.  They sent us home with a brace and crutches for seven days.  He’s receiving physical therapy at track practice every day and it’s helping immensely!  It was warm that day, high 70’s.  When we left Urgent Care, it was blowing sideways rain and the temps were in the 40’s.  We were freezing as I was in yoga wear and he had on shorts and a tank top!  I was lucky to be able to get ahold of someone to teach my class as we were in route to the doctor.  Crazy ankles.

My eyes.  Another story.  I returned to the eye doctor on Wednesday because they still felt gritty.  I no longer had a bacterial infection, but am now dealing with an allergic reaction to whatever got in my eyes.  I have prescription eye drops for allergies and I purchased something called Eye Brite today as well.  My eyes feel much better except the right eye is fuzzy.  The letters on this screen are fuzzy, it’s  fuzzy when I read and it doesn’t matter if it’s something far away or close up.  The left eye is fine.  I’m sure once this stuff is full out, I’ll have better vision.  I hope.  If not, I’ll be finding an eye doctor that takes our insurance and getting that checked out!

Luckily, Lauren is fine.  No broken bones, no eye trauma.  Just a serious fall off a bicycle and a tummy ache this morning. 

It’s times like these that I really feel grateful.  I’m glad my eye is fuzzy and that I’m not blind.  I’m glad my husband and son can use crutches and ice and advil and that they still have all of their limbs.  I also feel that sometimes when stuff is out of balance in my life, I teach my best yoga class.  Why is that ?  Guess I’ll never know and just continue to feel thankful for the things that are going in the right direction.

Have a great weekend.

What’s the Difference Between 0 and 9?

I say the wind, that’s what!  It was 9 degrees this morning.  It’s supposed to be 0 tomorrow morning.  I wonder if 30 below feels different than 0?  It probably does, especially if the wind is blowing!  Luckily enough for us, there is no wind today.  I arrived at the studio extra early this morning in order to crank up the 4 space heaters we use as supplemental heat.  It tends to get a bit drafty this time of year as we’re located in the lower level (ok, the basement) of the building.  It seems, a lot of other places offer yoga in their basements as well.  At the YMCA, I’m in the basement.  When I was at the City, we were in the basement.  Our basement has no windows, it’s nice because it gets good and dark for relaxation.  But windows can be nice in basements, if they’re in the form of glass blocks.  Anyways, people actually showed for class at 9 this morning!  Nice to move, get warm and rest with loads of blankets!

Our daughter, is on a field trip today with her school.  They headed out to Springfield Lake for Eagle Days.  Let the eagle watching begin!  I wonder how they’re doing?  The high is supposed to be 15.  She wore long underwear, fleece lined wind pants, wool socks and a pair of my old Ugg boots.  On top, she had on three shirts, a hoodie, a coat, a hat, and gloves.  I’m hoping she was able to turn her head if the eagles weren’t sited dead on!  She had her camera and binoculars.  Do eagles really fly in this type of weather?  I don’t know.  I’d be staying hunkered down in my nest!

Our son will have track practice, as he does, 3-days a week after school today indoors of course during this kind of weather!  We’re heading out to an indoor track meet this weekend in Joplin.  It’s his first indoor meet.  These meets require an entry fee and are not school sponsored, so you have to get yourself there.  There are no discus events (his main thing) because the place isn’t large enough but he’s going to run in two events instead.  There will be lots of coaches there from different places, so I suppose scouting will be in order.  He’s excited on trying for an athletic scholarship and frankly, so are we!  He just purchased his first vehicle last weekend, I can’t believe it.  He had saved almost $1,500 and spent $900 of it on an older model Dodge Dakota pick up, long bed, with a camper shell.  He did pretty good, it needs some seat covers and minimal carbeurator work (hello Frank) and that’s about it.  It will be nice that he will be able to drive home from practice.  Right now, I have to wait until he calls and could be anywhere from 4-5:30.  He has a driving permit now and will be able to get his license in April.  You now have to hold your permit for 6 months first.  Not like it used to be.  I tried for my license on my 16th birthday, like every one else did!  He’s been busy splitting wood to sell as he can’t really squeeze a job in with sports.  Hopefully though, this summer will bring work at a clock in type of location. 

I’m thinking it’s a pot roast in the dutch oven kind of day!

Too Much at Once

• Orthodontist consultation for our daughter today.  $5,200 for upper and lower braces.  Her teeth aren’t bad, bite does need correction, not an emergency.  We have no ortho insurance, we will hold off a year, and shop around!
• While I was at this ortho appointment, the person scheduled to sub my yoga class………forgot to show up.
• Later in the afternoon, while cleaning the studio, the vacuum cleaner bag exploded on me!  Serious mess.  Way worse than when I started. 
• Picked my kid up from school, only to find out they were in lock down.  Bank very close by had been robbed.  Dropped her home, got another sweeper, finished the HUGE mess.
• Tile is up around our kitchen window, this took all of two hours to complete, but two years to get around to it!
• Cruising on the group e-mail newsletter for the yoga community.  Lots of things are happening.  New location for the Yoga Education Center, additional classes and lots of other things, all good.
• Good things are needed on crazy days like today!
• My husband and my son deer hunt.  It grosses me out. 
• His family actually process the deer here at the house, which blows my mind.  I’m not from a farm.  My parents weren’t either, nor are my parents elderly.  I don’t get it.  My kitchen, was a butcher shop the last few days.  My mother-in-law can process a deer all by herself. 
• After this week deer season is not over for us.  There’s like black powder season, bow season, trip a deer with a wire season, rope a deer when it runs by season……it just goes on….and on!
• If we could plan the finishing of the kitchen, like we do the deer hunting, we would’ve been done before we started.
• My childhood dollhouse is out of the attic and my kid loves it.  Haven’t seen her that happy in awhile! 
• The yoga studio parking lot, is full of leaves from the Gingko trees.  Totally made my day today, wish I had a camera phone, to capture that pile of golden beauty!
• Off season track has started for our son.  He’s into something new.  Indoor meets.  You get your own self there.  They’re held out of town.  This will cost money.  We will figure out how to budget and go, somehow!
• My parents will be here on Tuesday.  They’ve closed their last video store, and are officially retired…I think.  My stepdad is only 53, so we’ll see on that one.
• My parents are bringing their camper and parking at Lake Taneycomo.  I’m thinking, I will spend a night or two down there, check out the Landing in B-Town.  Only been once, I’m not into much shopping. 
• Evening of Giving is Sunday at the Mall.  It’s cool and I always get free tickets, cause I have the hubby hook up. 
• Sad thing is, that after this busy weekend, I’ll be too tired to go!
• Saturday restorative yoga for the female physicians of St. John’s, I’m looking forward to new faces, new places and helping people relax. 
• Sunday I’ll go to yoga class followed by a Tao Workshop.
• They’ll have free wine at the Evening of Giving.
• I might talk myself into going.
• Stay warm and enjoy the weekend.

First Week of School

Our kids don’t have to ride the bus, we live close to every single school that they have to attend.  I consider us lucky!  They don’t have to get up too early and they don’t have to waste too much boring time in transit.  Our son is liking his sophomore year so far.  The school has undergone serious construction and he said he felt almost as lost this year as he was last!  To top it off, they actually distributed the wrong schedules to everyone the week before school started, so the first couple of days were a bit crazy!  It’s all good now and he’s just patiently waiting for Spring track to start!

Our daughter made it thru her first week of WOLF School.  I was a little concerned at first.  A few of the other parents whose children did not get in also made some comments.  One was “I heard it’s going to be really tough, do you think she’ll make it?”  Please, it’s a conservation based school, not boot camp!

She had been at the same elementary since Kindergarten.  It was a small, friendly elementary, up the street from where we live.  She had bonded with many girls there and at this new school, only one other kid was chosen from her previous elementary and it was a boy.  When I picked her up yesterday, the kids were all outside waiting and she was lingering.  Then, she hugged like 2 other girls good bye!  Wow!  How great to make friends like that in the first week. 

I do feel the circumstances they are in has made all the difference in the world.  They spent the day Friday out at the Watershed.  She said it was a bit cold to swim but they got in the water none the less.  They studied leeches, mayflies and water pennies.  She absolutely loved it and can’t wait until next week when they go to Bull Creek.  What a wonderful opportunity and hopefully this is just the first of what our public school system will offer in the future!