2.19.18

Oh hello there gratitude journal!  I have missed you!  I just went back and checked and my last post was over a month ago.  Not too great---since I am really trying to focus on gratitude this year.  Instead of re-hashing all of the minutia from the past month, I'll just start here, with the now.

Today I am off (yay! President's Day!) and it is giving me just what I need to get up to date with the blog, the business, the kids and the bills.  Luckily, I paddled yesterday with some friends and was able to focus on me for a bit.

We spent Friday and Saturday in Orlando, for Nova's gymnastics meet. Nova was cramming to finish school work on her way there.  She has a heavy load this year with 7th grade at a really high stress school, track, gymnastics, and of course, guitar practice.

We got to stay at one of my favorite Orlando hotels, the Hilton Orlando--had fun with friends and then she had a great meet, scoring her highest ever on beam (9.700) and smashing her goal of hitting at 37.00 (her all around score was 37.425.  She was thrilled to take 2nd All-Around to her good friend Sydney.  It feels so good to watch her shine and reach her goals.

After we went to The Sugar Factory--which is basically heaven for teen girls.  It is loud (lots of good music) and the menu overflows with sugary treats.  I am continuing with the Whole 30 (until the end of April) so I didn't indulge but the girls did a good job of it.  Just seeing those treats on the table was enough of a sugar rush for me.  The girls had a great time and then Nova crashed in the car on the way home, saying, "I don't know what is wrong with me, but I just can't keep my eyes open."....Ahhh....the effects of huge amounts of sugar on her little body.  Luckily, after a long nap, she woke up and felt just fine.

I love all of the adventures I get to have with Nova because of gymnastics.  It is such a fun sport and I love that we get to travel with the other moms and daughters, love to see Nova so disciplined and motivated, and I love to see all the girls compete.  I need to remember to have gratitude for those things in the moments of irritation with driving her to practice, paying tuition and trying to fit it all in.  I read something recently that said, "Someday, you won't have someone to drive to practice," and it makes me want to savor all of the moments we spend living, breathing gymnastics.

I wish we could focus a bit more on Sawyer's surfing and I am working on a plan to make that happen.