4th place!

I'm rather proud of the Dancers Only Senior All Stars - 4th place at the Michigan State Spirit Showdown. They really held their own against some other really good, well-established high school teams. They were the only studio team there.

There were a couple glaring mistakes in the first kickline and one of the girls dropped a pom later but for their first time competing in this style? Pretty damn awesome, I think.

Miss Angela had actually been to this particular competition before. She went with her school JV team back when she was in 9th or 10th grade. A good thing about it was how quick they kept it moving. Of course there was the one school who insisted on practically every girl doing a solo, whether they were any good or not. Some were pretty painful to watch. But the time limit on solos / duets / trios were pretty short, so we survived. And I hate announcers who talk down to the audience, like they're idiots. I understand that a lot of spectators don't really know what is going on, but do they really need to spiel about how much courage it takes for these kids to get out there alone, blah blah blah. No shit, Sherlock! And did you really need to say that right after the girl who fell and forgot half her routine left the floor? Sheesh.

I made spaghetti for dinner Friday night, because it had been a tradition when I was a kid for Mom to make pasta the night before my brothers had big swim meets. So I do the same for Angel. Plus it's something she really likes and I'm sure the carbs help fuel her the next day. She needs all the help she can get since apparently its a dancer thing to get a nervous stomach and not want to eat in the morning. I did get her to eat half a donut before heading backstage (by force-feeding her!) and she had most of a medium mocha coolata thing from Dunkin Donuts, so she had something in her tummy. And I know Terina won't let the girls go without food, so I imagine there was something backstage for them to munch on.

It was a lovely hour drive Saturday morning to get to the school.  Their parking lot was confusing, with not having entrances where it seemed there should be.  I confess to 4-wheeling across part of the lawn and almost getting stuck in the mud!  Hopefully nobody was in the drivers training car sitting in the driveway!  But my Vue is SO festive, with garland and red bows on the luggage wrack and muddy tires and mud splatters all along the sides & even up on the windows!

What was funny, Saturday night was Angel's work Christmas party.  She works at a Thai restaurant and they had it after the restaurant closed for the night at 10!  Her & Sarah (who she dances with) joked around about going in full competition hair & makeup just to see what people would say.  But I noticed Angel did have her hair somewhat the same way, she braided it across the front, but was still in a high pony with the bow! And she wore black leggings and her studio jacket.  She toned down her makeup and took off the fake lashes, tho.

So my troops of nutcrackers have finally invaded my house! I was pretty motivated Friday night and brought the 3 big totes in and unpacked them. Granted a lot of them are all currently standing in the living room on the coffee table like a really lame party. I also hung a display shelf in the kitchen for our souvenir shot glasses, moved all my plants off the corner table in kitchen, dusted the whole corner, put the holiday cloth on that table, hung my stained glass trees in the window and plucked off some dead leaves before replacing all the plants and watering them.

Here's Rudy with all the ladies...... 

This is from one of the totes!

Maybe I'm starting to find some holiday spirit.  I have been happy looking at lights.  In fact Randy and I took the dog for a walk around the neighborhood tonight after dark so we could look at them.  I can't imagine being these boring people who don't put any lights up.  I told Randy I don't care if we lived in the middle of 100 acres and no one else could see us - I'd still put up lights because they make ME happy!  And people - timers are your friend!  They ensure your lights turn on, even if you're not home to do it!  I could see several houses that had them up, but not on. 

I'm hoping tomorrow goes smoothly with taking Miss Daisy in to get her sutures removed.  The burn on her belly doesn't look any different to me - better or worse. Hopefully the vet sees something positive. She's passed out on my lap right now, I don't know how she's even comfortable, but her little feets are twitching and I can play with them and her not move. 

We had record high temperatures for the past 2 days (and last night, too!)  It's bizarre to take the dog outside without bundling up, in fact standing out on the patio in just a t-shirt!  Not complaining in the slightest!  In fact, Lucy, the giant freakin' spider who lived between our backdoor and porch light all summer, is still around!  Yes, we named her and I'll spare you the picture.  Her body is easily the size of an M&M.  She's out there with a fresh web, but I can't imagine she's getting much to eat. I haven't seen any bugs. 

Time to go put the antiseptic on Daisy's belly and find some clothes to wear to work.  It's time to turn in!  

#TFTLS