Ribbons Down My Back

30 kids
22 awards
6 Best of Events

Thank goodness. If we hadn't done well, certain parents would have flayed me alive, devoured my innards, then wrapped my remains in the local paper's article about the changes I'm making to the speech program.

We survived the first meet. We got awards. I learned a lot about scoring working in the tab room. I didn't leave any students behind (or chaperons, for that matter) (Hi, Janelle!), and I have four more days to rest up before the next one.

Rest up. Ha!

I'm supposed to go visiting with my presidency tomorrow. We had a list of 12 girls to contact, and I'm waiting for the word on how many appointments we've got. My girls haven't called me back yet. Jasmine's is a no-answer and a "maybe?" I don't know about Hillary and Allison's lists.

Is it wrong of me to hope for a whole slate of no-returned-calls?

I usually don't mind the visits once I'm on them, but what I really want to do is sleep. And do laundry. And grade the papers I'm ignoring right now. And sleep.



In speech class today, one of the veteran speechers named the cheer I led them in before the meet as her favorite moment of the whole thing. A lot of students have also been talking about the meditations I've been teaching them (mostly as a way to cope with stage fright). I think I'll do a group meditation session at the hotel on Friday night, if I can find a space for it.

Two of the older boys and I were chatting the other day about the first overnighter. I told them that, based on their reasons for why overnights should be reinstated, I expected them to
1) be in bed asleep promptly at 10:30,
2) spend the entire evening before practicing their pieces (for at least four hours), and
3) divide up their rooming assignments so that each room has at least two freshmen in them, so the newbies can "feel more included."

They laughed at my statement, nervously. My assistant coach (one of the boys' mother) told me later that as soon as I had walked away, they turned to her and demanded in a whisper, "She doesn't mean that, does she?"

Paula said that she just smiled and shrugged.

She's a great assistant coach.