I cannot wait to get back to Rugby! Tryouts start tomorrow.
He said
This week was by far and away less busy than our couple of weeks. There was no wrestling (practices, tournaments, or qualifiers). There was no cheer competitions. Basically it was just school, cheer practice, work and friends for Emelia. For Danielle & I, it was basically work and home and getting Emelia to cheer practice. After the last couple of weeks, it was an absolute blessing – on the bodies and the wallets. Emelia’s body finally got enough of a reasonable reprieve from all the competitive sports toll she had been putting on it.
The first signs of spring started to show themselves this week. While we have had some strange and unseasonably warm weather here and there in January and February, we did have a blast of cold and snow in the last few weeks & this week too… but, the hope is that is it for winter! Starting Thursday this week we saw the temps start to go the right way from 0ºC and in a big way. By Friday (and yesterday) we were seeing temps in the teens. It meant that I was able to get back outside for my daily bike rides and that was wonderful for my mind and body. While I have found a happy solution for inside during winter in Zwift, it is just no match for what I get out of being outside and moving in the fresh air!
But, the best part was that this morning, I was actually able to get out for a ride before work, and I was able to start my ride at 7:00am with sunlight! As we shift seasons, both sunrise and sunset have been respectively earlier and later which afford me a lot more options to get in that time in the saddle outside in the fresh air. In fact, not only did I get in a ride this morning with daylight, but I did so Monday after work at 5:00pm also, still, with daylight! There is something so recharging about this time of year that is not lost on my every single year!
Lastly, the focus at cheer practice this week sounds like the focus has been based on the feedback and results they have had this season that it is time to pull out all the stops and up the difficulty. There is one competition left in the season in the CANADIAN ALL-STAR NATIONALS (April 12-14) and Sov seems to be poised to swing for the fences! This is music to Emelia’s ears as all she wants to do is put it all out there on the floor and end the season with a bang — and possibly their best placing yet! The conversation began Tuesday as did the work at practice. At today’s practice which Danielle watched, it seems like they are determined to do much better which is all we want for the girls as they have faced so much adversity this year and worked so hard.
So, I guess all that’s left is to put in the work and hope for the best!
She said
This last week felt like a mini vacation compared to what the last few weeks have been. Emelia has been burning it at both ends with school, sports, work and a very busy social life. With wrestling wrapped up for the season for her she can put all her energy for at least this week towards cheer. I was able to go to the parent meeting on Tuesday for the recap discussion around the judges comments and score numbers. Essentially the girls execution scores far outweigh their difficulty. Not good. You of course want strong execution scores but they should be a lot more even. So the coaches told the girls that they would be upping the difficulty significantly and making other changes to the routine to hopefully put them in a very strong place for Nationals. This is music to the girls ears. I left after that meeting and went to visit a friend. When I came back to see Emelia she came out from practice beaming. She is loving all the changes and all the girls are willing to do the hard work to make it clean. This is many of the girls last season for cheer so I know a lot of them want to put it all out there and go out with a bang.
Our reprieve from Emelia only being in one sport is going to end this coming week. Emelia went from wresting and is back into rugby with tryouts starting tomorrow. She is excited to be back with her team and to get on the pitch. She is going in this season with more experience and the advantage of wrestling she has learnt a lot about how to play with some aggression. She loves rugby and is close friends with a lot of the girls who will be on the team again this year. Our break from 6:30 AM practices will be done after March Break but it will be worth it to get our girl back on the field.
For me it was a wonky week. I have started on new meds and the side-effects were really kicking my ass all week. Lots of nausea, fatigue and headaches. I am grateful for my work being flexible allowing me to work at home for some of the afternoons to give me the chance to balance out the side effects and get my work done. Thankfully the side effects are getting less noticeable and I am feeling more like myself.
That is honestly it for me this week, it was still a busy week but felt like a bit of a break from the pure chaos of the last few weeks. One more week and Emelia is off for March Break and then the reality of crazy busy schedules I am sure will be back up and running.