I feel like my head is completely empty lately... Maybe the hours of mindless driving (sounds scary, huh?) fueled by compulsive Easter candy eating is a causative factor. Whatever!
For lack of anything worthwhile to share, I thought I'd just embarrass HRH by posting this pic. I took this a couple of weeks ago for an audition...
Today is November 4 and I have only posted once this week. This should be my fourth post, but sometimes those little things for which we are most grateful seem to get in the way! HRH is working through an online charter school. This is great for her dance schedule, but frequently ties up my computer!
Today I am grateful for a that very thing that keeps me from blogging. I am so impressed by our charter school. I like that someone has finally found a way to cater to kids who have other, time-worthy things going on in their lives. For anyone interested, check out www.OpenHighSchool.org.
Every mom likes to think her kid is the best. But once in a while, it's really nice to have someone else confirm it.
Last spring, at early registration time, we attended our scheduled appointment in the counseling center. When HRH gave her name at the front desk, the secretary was so excited to meet her. She told us that she was the resident "talent scout" and that HRH had been requested to work in the counseling office for the upcoming year. HRH was flattered, and when her schedule looked like it would allow it, we signed her up.
Today I took HRH to our local middle school. We are making some significant changes for the coming school year, and we had to withdraw her from the majority of her classes. Upon entering her counselor's office, Mrs. Brown said,
Ah! It's so nice to see you! You are a very popular girl!We smiled, but had no idea what Mrs. Brown was talking about. Apparently, there was some confusion regarding the request for HRH to work in the counseling center. She was scheduled as an assistant, but there was no information saying where she would be assisting... Mrs. Brown had sent out an email asking who wanted HRH for an aid. She got responses from nearly every teacher saying,
Me! I want her!!!Unfortunately, nobody at the middle school gets her... She will be otherwise engaged for the year. And I'm going to enjoy having her around a bit more!
Sit, Lola. Good Girl!
Ours was an interesting weekend. After months of training and rehearsing, this weekend was the long-awaited Youth America Grand Prix Ballet Competition. We packed our bags and set out for the regional competition in Denver. The flight was on time. Our seats were fine. None of our luggage got lost... That was the end of the smooth ride...
YAGP is a well respected international competition with regional events in the USA as well as in Italy, Mexico, Japan, and Brazil. I knew that The Princess had her work cut out for her. After all, most of the other dancers have probably been studying ballet for years. With only about five months of real training, she was certainly at a disadvantage.
Of course, I thought her disadvantage would be limited to her lack of proper training. As it turned out, that was the least of our problems! During each of her solo classical variations her music quit. Other dancers had musical malfunctions as well, but having problems with both pieces was very trying. HRH handled it like a pro, but it really shook her confidence.
Later, on the evening before we were checking out, the power went out in our hotel. We slept through several hours of power-free quiet, only to awaken to a dark hotel. I made the mistake of jumping in the shower and washing my hair... Big mistake! No blow dryer! I got to spend the cold, windy, Colorado winter morning with wet hair. Joy. And if the frozen ears weren't discomfort enough, I got to endure the hideous hair for the remainder of the afternoon.
I do have to admit, however, that it was a bit of a novel experience. We opened our room door to find glow sticks carefully placed in the hallway outside each room door. The stairwells were similarly lit, with glow sticks on every other stair tread. Breakfast was tasty and (surprisingly) warm. A buffet (undoubtedly cooked on a gas stove) was kept warm with assorted chaffing dishes heated by Sterno cans. Each dish was illuminated by additional glow sticks and the tables were all candlelit. It did make us smile!
After our morning and early afternoon in the cold, we were lucky enough to catch a break. To our good fortune, the kind woman at the Denver Double Tree North took pity on us. Feeling bad that we had checked out, despite having nowhere to go, with wet hair and make-up that was applied in the dark, she offered us a room for the remainder of our wait.
The room was a suite, complete with kitchenette and king sized bed. We snacked on hot, Double Tree chocolate chip cookies, and popped popcorn in the provided microwave, and sipped steaming mugs of hot chocolate. The best part is that our kind hostess provided the room to us free of charge.
So, for the rocky weekend, we had a satisfactory ending. HRH took second in the Contemporary category, and first in the Ensemble category. Our studio took the Best School award, and our choreographer won the Best Choreographer award. We got to fix our hair and makeup, and lounge in a comfortable suite... I guess it wasn't so bad after all...
I've always thought that Nutcracker was a great tradition to open the holiday season. This year I was excited to watch my daughter perform in the Classical Ballet Academy production.
After three years of dancing with TDC, The Princess left the studio and is now studying classical ballet. The move was a hard one, and we hoped we were making the right decision. I worried that HRH would get bored with all the focus being on ballet. I was sure she'd miss the other forms of dance, especially contemporary.
While the ballet is going very well, we recently had the opportunity to work on a contemporary group number with Nicki Loud. It was a diversion from the ballet technique and a fun change of pace. I think we made the right decision moving to a ballet studio, but it was nice to have a temporary respite. What an awesome experience to work with such a great choreographer and with such an amazing group of dancers.
HRH loved working with Nicki so much that we had her do a solo piece as well. She'd such a great person to work with. And the girls loved the evening we spent with her at Los Hermanos.
Remember my disheartening search for the perfect jeans? Those jeans that would shape and uplift my buns? Well, you'll be happy to know that this post has nothing to do with that! This is all about The Princess' Buns. No, you perverts--not those buns... These buns!
The Results are in... The Princess made it into the Top 10 of over 100 girls for National Outstanding Dancer! She did awesome! I'm so proud of her for her hard work and dedication.
Sinking Feeling didn't win Critics' Choice--but we're pleased with the end results anyway.
I'll edit photos and post them from home in a few days.
I realize that I'm a little behind in my 30 in 30 posts... But give me a break, I'm in the city that never sleeps, and there is just so much to do! I can't seem to find time to sit down and blog when Canal Street is calling... Or when the New York cheesecake is tempting... Or when Saks is having a sale... Or...
But, I do realize that this little excursion is really all about dance. The dance stuff is going well. Competition will really heat up for us tomorrow. The Princess will be competing against all the other dance divas for top honor in the solo competition. We never come expecting to win anything, but sometimes even we get surprised! She's been working really hard and now we'll see if the many (many, many) hours have paid off for her this year.
I'll try to post photos tomorrow--if the computer will cooperate... I'm using a new netbook and I'm not sure it will play nice with my camera... Wait and see!
The jury is still out on this next one.
HRH hates this next photo because her knee isn't straight.
I promise not to bore you with ongoing photos.
I've just spent the better part of 48 hours freezing to death at an area convention center. The corridor of an unheated convention center is not exactly the location for a relaxing weekend in January. But weekend corridor sitting is one of my responsibilities as a dance mom. I typically spend my weekends sitting in the corridor of a convention center or a hotel (it costs an additional fee to actually watch the classes--no, thank you!). Believe me, it makes for some really long days... But the benefits for my daughter are usually worth it.
The Princess and her dance company were competing at a regional event for individual scholarships and team awards. While I don't really enjoy the actual conventions, I do enjoy the competition and closing shows. Today was no exception--the performances were truly amazing. In fact, one of the numbers brought several of the audience members to tears--seriously, they're that good!
So, in honor of my frozen toes, and my days of boredom interspersed with fleeting moments of amazingness, I'd like to share a favorite photo of the weekend.
Anyway--Congratulations on your scholarship, cutie! You deserve it! And yay! I won't have to pay tuition next time! That's two in a row! That almost makes the frostbite tolerable... Almost.
Another year's ending, I'll give you the gist.
Events kept on happening, sometimes with a twist!
We traveled, played soccer, and danced up a storm.
By the end of it all, this family was worn!
We're happy to say we survived yet another.
And we're glad to report that we still love each other!
Where does the time go? I can't believe that we've already come to the end of another year. This year was full of ups and downs, but for the most part, we all survived it well!
This year brought many opportunities for travel. The Mister and I took a ten day cruise to French Polynesia and The Cook Islands. It was a new experience for us to spend time alone together, I think we should do it again sometime! The Princess and I spent about ten days in New York City for a national dance convention. In October, we went to Orlando to play at Disney World. From Orlando, we took a family cruise to The Bahamas on the Disney Wonder. I think it's safe to say that this was our family's all time favorite vacation.
The Buddies took up soccer this year. The Mister coached their team. While it wasn't exactly a winning season (ours was one of the youngest teams), the boys had a really great time. The Buddies started kindergarten this year--what a change that was! They are in separate classes and enjoying making new friends. JJ's teacher loves him for making her smile. Max is in the highest reading group in his class. Zeke is friends with all the girls--yes, all of them...
HRH, the Princess, is dancing on Teen Company at her studio. Age-wise she is only a Junior, but she competes against the older dancers. We enjoy traveling to conventions and competitions, and she will be competing for another national title again this summer. HRH is only in 7th grade and is already studying Algebra II and getting straight As. She's such an over achiever!
The Eldest took a little detour this year. It was a great decision and we are proud of him. I think our whole family has benefited from his choice. He is back home and going back to school in January. I can't believe he will be graduating this spring! He continues with his music, art, and voracious reading. The boys now reaches six feet tall and is officially tall, dark, and handsome!
We hope 2008 brought you as much fun and excitement as we enjoyed.
Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for a Healthy and Prosperous New Year!
