School Year Wrap Up

The end of the school year came quickly, and passed just as quickly. Field day, yearbooks, goodbyes, a few tears (from Keely). The kids both had good years, and 5^th and 3^rd grades are in the past for them. Their final report cards and SOL (Standards of Learning) test results came home with them on the last day of school.

Quinn took four SOLs, including the 6^th grade math. He received a pass-proficient on two and pass-advanced on two. Keely took 5 SOLs. She received three pass-proficients and two pass-advanced. She was one of only a couple students from her class to take the Social Studies and Science exams. Those are not required exams but her teacher felt that her skills in those areas were worthy of taking the exam, and she took them with the AAP class.

Their report cards were very good…all 3s and 4s (highest grades) and good comments from their teachers.

Keely will miss Mr. H a lot. She is already e-mailing him to see how his summer is going. Considering her negative reaction to having a male teacher, she did a complete turnaround and says he is her favorite teacher to date. Another ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ lesson learned!

So, that’s the wrap-up. Another good year, and our last year at Beech Tree. We enjoyed our short two years there. It was a good introduction to Fairfax County Schools, and we really had a good experience with all of the teachers and staff. On to Mason Crest and Poe…new adventures await!

The End of Elementary School

Quinn has now finished 5th grade. In our area that means he will be entering middle school in September. It’s going to be a big change, and I think it’s safe to say that there is a bit of nerves and excitement all around. We got a dose of the increased workload the last few weeks of school. Quinn’s teacher had assigned what she termed a ‘year-long project’…although later on I heard it referred to as a ‘graduation project’. I think the reason for the name change is because not one student had been working on it all year long. They chose ideas back in October or November, but after that point we didn’t hear one word about it. I think this was a test of these 5th graders ability to prioritize work on their own. In that respect, I’d say the majority failed. I think at this age, there should have been a bit of reminding the parents to help with time management. If we knew they weren’t stressing it at school (or even if they were), we could have stressed it at home. In any event, around Memorial Day Quinn got really stressed because he hadn’t worked on it at all and it was due in early June. The deadline got extended so they had a bit more time, but it was a big effort to cram into 2 weeks. Quite honestly, he could have saved himself a lot of stress if he had just worked on it a bit at a time. So what was his project? He created a graphic novel of one chapter of his NaNoRiMo (National Novel Writing Month) novel, Sky 7. He drew all of the scenes himself, then used computer magic to color and make the frames. He asked for an extra day so that it could be bound. It ended up quite nice.

In the midst of this project, there was the 5th Grade Science Fair. So he had to juggle working on both – see, middle school time management lessons at their finest! His science project was called ‘The Great Basil Race’. He chose three varieties of basil to see which grew best in the same conditions. He used a grow light, and kept the basil under the light or outside to natural light the entire time. James helped him with his charts and graphs, and the project came together pretty easily. Unfortunately, he donated the basil to his teacher – and threw his poster board in the garbage promptly upon arriving home from school that day so I have no evidence of his hard work. Boys!

Needless to say, we were all happy when the end of school rolled around. The end of elementary school is marked with a ‘Moving Up’ ceremony. I like that they don’t call it graduation…that should be reserved for larger commencements. This was a nice, simple ceremony in the school gym with parents and the rest of the students in attendance, followed by a small reception in the library. Quinn downplayed it, saying we didn’t have to attend but I am glad I decided to…mostly because he received two awards. The first one was the Outstanding Band Student Award from his band teacher, Mr. Sorenson. This was a big honor, having been chosen from the entire band as the student who worked hardest all year to improve. He really has taken a liking to the saxophone and it shows. He practices on his own with no nagging, and he is always working to teach himself new songs and notes. Evidence is the talent show – and his Pink Panther performance. Second, he received the President’s Award for Educational Achievement. This is a national award with standards set for academics, community involvement, and/or extracurricular activities. He received a pin and certificate, and a trophy for the Band award.

We are very proud of his achievements this year, and of the young man he is becoming. I’m sure he will do well in middle school and beyond, and we will be there to help him along the way. As I’ve said, I’m beyond disbelief that my baby is entering middle school – but I have to face that fact, and try to enjoy every moment as we enter this new phase in his life. New adventures await, and I’m grateful to have him as my son and eager to see him progress in this next chapter!

The Talent Show That Wasn't

Beech Tree puts on an annual talent show. Last year, Keely participated - singing Bubbly by Colbie Caillat with her best friend, Julia. This year, we knew Keely would want to participate but the question was with whom? She wavered all year it seemed, changing songs and groups of friends. In the end, it came together in one night just before the tryouts (using that term loosely, because everyone gets in). She decided to sing Trouble by Taylor Swift with her friends Riley and Catherine. The surprise entry was from Quinn, who decided to play his saxophone (alto sax, as he corrected me when I described his talent on the signup sheet). We were quite surprised, pleasantly of course that he wanted to do this. He tends to be a bit more reserved when it comes to getting up in front of crowds, unlike his sister. He also seems to think things like this are a bit embarrassing – I’ll never forget the year he wouldn’t dress up for the Halloween event at school, he was seriously the only child not in costume but he just wasn’t into it and he held his ground. Similarly, he won’t do pajamas to school or silly things like that. So hearing that he wanted to participate was a nice change. He chose the theme from The Pink Panther and practiced diligently for weeks (until all his time got sucked up by his yearlong and science projects). He also surprised me a bit further – he was an emcee for the event with two of his classmates (one his best friend, Jack and the other another good friend, Tali). So you can see why we were quite excited for the actual event. I saw some of the rehearsal the day before and it was pretty good. Nana even took the train down from NJ to be here to watch the show.

Alas, it was not to be. The East Coast weather struck again. I swear, I really wish we were still in Utah where weather didn’t affect anything – not even feet of snow would cancel school. There was a tornado warning that afternoon and the school got spooked by talk of another derecho (the storm that hit last summer, knocking out power and downed trees) so they canceled it nearly 3 hours before the event. Of course, the weather ended up a non-issue by the scheduled show time so it was really canceled for nothing. They did get to perform for the school during the day, and from what we hear there is a videotape of that performance which we are to get on CD. Nothing yet though, but I’m still looking forward to watching the entire show. I’ve seen Keely’s performance, and they did really good – and from what I hear, Quinn’s rendition of The Pink Panther was his best yet. I can’t wait to watch my budding performers!

A Tale of Two Runs - ZOOMA Half 2013

Last year, I trained for my first half marathon. Once I found the ZOOMA half in early June in Annapolis, I knew I wanted to do it. I had a great experience…although not what I expected because of poor weather and having to drive to the race early that morning. It turns out that was a blessing in disguise. I was eager to run this race again this year, only my 2nd time at that distance. After my great experience with the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, I was hoping to not only beat my time but break 2 hours.

However, the week of the race my body conspired against me, or so it seemed. I got an infection and had to go on antibiotics on Tuesday. My doctor told me to go off of them on Thursday to get them out of my system…her worry was an increased risk of tendonitis. I did indeed stop the medicine on Thursday but not for her reason, but because it was causing me horrible stomach issues. Running already does a number on your GI system, so having a problem like this was a big cause of concern for me. I stopped the medicine, hydrated well and hoped that my stomach issues would clear. They did, for the most part. However on top of all of that, I started feeling ill on Wednesday night – the beginnings of a head cold. Again, not ideal for running a race. I thought I could fend it off…and I think I did a pretty good job with vitamins and hydration, but I wasn’t 100%. Nevertheless, I still felt confident – ready to rock the race and do my best, hoping for a PR.

The weather cooperated this year, so we headed to Annapolis on Friday evening. After picking up my bib and tee, we found a nice Irish restaurant for dinner. A pre-race meal is pretty critical, and I was unsure what to order. I chose a chicken and cheese quesadilla, which was fine but again, I’m not sure if it was the best thing for my already upset tummy. I slept pretty well in the hotel, but having to get up and hole up in the bathroom for nearly two hours was not ideal. I also forgot my Gatorade Primes…something I usually have the night before and the morning of the race. Staying in a hotel the night before was not something I was used to…and not having all of my ‘normals’ threw me off. It was just another thing that was not ‘right’.

The weather on Saturday morning was already hot and steamy at 7 AM when the race started. I walked the half mile to the start. I still felt pretty confident, but within the first two miles I felt very sluggish and tired. I even thought about turning around at the 10K mark, unsure I could finish the half distance. I started with the 1:50 pace group, trying to push myself and started off very fast – probably too fast. My first two miles were in the 8:30 MM range. I felt the entire race that I couldn’t keep up, that people were passing me. Actually, it wasn’t a feeling – it was true. A PR was not to be. I knew that pretty early on, but was still hoping to beat my time from last year. When the 2:10 pacer passed me between Miles 11 and 12, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. I was beat, I didn’t even think I could finish. I felt intense nausea the entire last mile. I only saw James and the kids near the finish. When I saw them, I was relieved and I shouted to the kids ‘Run with me!’. They did, and that helped propel me to the finish line. Even then though, I felt like I was so slow. I couldn’t move my legs. It was horrible. The photos of me crossing the finish and immediately after are telling – I’m totally beat and exhausted. The heat, humidity, hills (they changed the course and it was much more hilly), my body...a lot of things worked against me. It was a tough day, but I must remember that I still ran 13.1 miles again!

I think I will take a break from ZOOMA Annapolis. I love the tees, small number of runners, neckalce instead of medal - but there are a lot of other races to choose from that weekend and I need to find something new and fresh. I am now running as much as I can…2-3 times during the week and a long run on the weekends. I’ve been running 8-10 miles on the long run. I think I have picked a fall half, one close to home so no traveling involved. I’m sure I can get used to races away from home, but it will take a few more before I get that routine down. I still want to beat 2 hours…so that is what I will train for all summer and into the fall.