Between book deadlines and volleyball tryouts, there have been a lot of stressful moments around here these past couple of days. Definitely taking years off my life, but all is well that ends well.
After 3 tense days of tryouts and some anxious moments waiting to find out, Erin made the C squad (9th grade) Mayo Volleyball team. This will keep her busy every day after school for the next couple of months and give her a chance to keep improving her skills. Erin's buddies that were trying out made the team as well, so it's good on the social front, too.
Erin's other accomplishment today was completing Chapter 5 of her Pre Algebra math textbook from last year. Erin had missed an entire chapter on rational numbers while we were in Memphis last year, and with the events of January, we just skipped that chapter and moved on. Not really fair to Erin, but it was the best we could do at the time. But, after working with a helpful tutor, Erin now feels like she's covered all the necessary material to be ready for this year's math curriculum, Linear Algebra.
Enough about Erin, let's talk about me!
I've had to meet some book deadlines this week: Book title, book cover, author photo... stressful stuff because, of course, I want it to be just right. And, of course, the best way to make something perfect is to obsess over it, right? I'm good at that. But seriously, Dan and Erin weighed in, and we made the decision together. Not sure if I'm supposed to be sharing the title with the public yet, so, consider this a tease... Anyway, I'm feeling really good about our choices and I'm amazed at the progress that we've made in the last few days.
Next up for me is reading through the manuscript and writing captions for the photos in the book. This is a first full read through and there is still a chance to edit/add/subtract material. This will be a challenge for me to read my own work critically. I, of course, will be obsessing over it. Luckily, I do trust that my editors and publishers will offer their opinions and help make the book better.
So, it's full steam ahead with fall sports and fall projects. One of those fall projects is to put some energy into raising more money for The Scholarship Fund. Along those lines, we've created a new Shannon bracelet. This one is metallic silver with lime green text reading, "The Shannon Fund" on one side and "Honoring Her Spirit" on the other. We will sell them for $3 apiece or 4 for $10. Dan and I will each carry a stash with us, so if you see us out and about and you'd like to buy a new Shannon bracelet, don't hesitate to ask.
As always, we keep pushing forward while remembering. Lots of reminders this week. It seems at least one kid has on a Shannon t-shirt at volleyball practice every day. That brings a smile to our faces. And a couple of days ago, Dan and I chatted with some of the 9th grade boys who were hanging around after football practice. Some of those boys - heck, young men - go back as far as second grade with Shannon. We are connected to them forever.
That incoming 9th grade class picked up their first semester schedules this week. The graduating class of 2016 is ready to start high school...damn...
