Cheering Competition in Brewer

I don't do it very often but sometimes I step out of my comfort zone. It's not always an easy thing to do and sometimes I have to be quite bullied into it... tonight was one of those times. Two beautiful ladies-Miss Kacie and Alyssa- that spend time with me in the evening sometimes when their parents are at work wanted me to come to a cheerleading competition and so I worked really hard on my homework and headed up to Brewer...

My initial impression was that there was lots of people and it was very loud -that said I had a great time! I've never been interested in cheerleading and even in high school and never went to any of the games or watch the other sporting events because it didn't interest me. Frankly, if it wasn't friends or theater, plays or musicals... I wasn't interested.

However, I had fun and overall was a great experience for me. I found myself wriggling in my seat to the music leaning forward and starting to move as I watched someone tumble and generally joined in the melee of music, cheering, energy, and sound. So congratulations for all the hard work and effort that our cheerleading team gave to the competition. Participants were: Jenna Arey, Haley Brown, Taylor Brown, Lily Chase-Hurd, Grace Debeck, Alyx Frazell, Alyssa Graychase, Katelynn Leighton, Alyss Maguire, Alexandra Pickering, Kacie Sealy, Kaylee Tozier, Victoria Watkins, Alexis Wardwell, Kaylee Whalen, Molly Wilson, and Abigail Coffin!

It was a fun night! Hope to do it again soon. :)

Here are some pictures of my friends in the Bucksport Middle School cheering group in their act for the competition:

Good Thoughts

I've been struggling a bit for the last few days. I have stopped taking some of my abdominal medications and it is pretty amazing to me exactly how much the meds were helping. I had managed to take them for so long that I didn't really remember how much abdominal pain and nausea I tended to live with and now it is back... and wow, I don't like it much. That said I have so much good going on right now so I thought I would count some of my blessings so to speak. :)

1. It's school vacation and I am caught up in all my classes with all of them graded except for one; I got all A's and B's so I can't whine about that. One of the classes was a math class and it is the first time in my life that I have passed an Algebra class! For full disclosure, I had lots of help. I was tutored, used three different texts from outside of class as well as a Teaching Company/ Great Courses class and three smartphone algebra game apps. Not to mention friends and sometimes spending as much as two hours on one question. But I passed- one more math class and my degree will pretty much be mine- all my requirements will be completed. I'm getting there!

2. I am doing pretty well with not biting my nails. I've tried to stop a few times in my life and I am at the crucial point where the nails are long enough they are starting to break. This is where I usually break down and start biting them, but I have been doing well and trying to cut and file them instead.


3. I have a wonderful household of animal companions that keep me company, give me love and affection and even make me laugh. While I probably have too many, like children... I don't know who I would live without if I needed too. So, like family, they stay and I wouldn't have it any other way.

4. I have a fun home and I am warm in this pretty cold and icy weather. I have a few close friends that I adore and who genuinely care for me and while work is a challenge, I have a few co-workers that I really love and can't imagine my life without which is an amazing blessing as well. I have food and water... and even a little ice cream. :D

5. I spend a great deal of my free time with Bug or in service to others which is a gift and helps keep me busy as well.

6. Even though I do have some health complaints, I am doing pretty well. I wish that taking care of myself was easier, but it could be much worse and having a safe place with companions to recover in means the world.

7. I was recently able to visit with some family and that is a gift that I cherish everyday.

8. I live in Maine- it is so beautiful here. I love being rural and being able to have a little space of my own. Being able to not feel super crowded is precious.

9. I love reading and currently have many new books to choose from. I am taking advantage of my vacation to do some fun reading and I have pretty much finished every Nero Wolfe book I got! On to Hamish Macbeth!

10. Who can't smile with silly ferrets around :)

What do you have to be grateful for today?

Today...

Things are going pretty well for me right now. I am so much to be grateful for and I love having the last few days of some rest with family. Bug is so tall and I enjoy spending my weekends with him laughing, cooking and just enjoying him grow. I'm looking forward... hoping for a much better year than the last for me and for so many others. Let's see what's in store for all of us. :)