Ex Ex Pat Scheiners

 We attended the Saint X Cheer banquet last night, which marks the official end of the Saint X 2023-24 cheer season.  It was a wild ride, and I learned some of the ins and outs of the cheer world.  I am sure there are still many unknowns, but I have a greater appreciation for the sport of cheer now.  Coach Heidi made an interesting statement last night that cheerleaders are somewhat individual in mastering and achieving their own skills, but they also fill a space that is empty when they are not present.  In some cases, it is not as noticeable; however if one member of a stunt group is absent, then the entire stunt group is at a disadvantage.  There are not really subs for positions in cheer as there are in most other team sports. I was impressed that Heidi had something positive to say about each of the over 30 athletes that made up the team this year.  I also did not know that Saint X cheer had not attended nationals in over 25 years. SO many props t...

 As Ali gets closer to the end of this gymnastics season, she is starting to realize how big of an impact gymnastics has had in her life.  She is sad to say good-bye to gymnastics, which is completely understandable.  Being at the gym 3-4 days per week has been her life for the last 6 years.  And she has made some of her closest friends through gymnastics.  She had the best meet she has had in a long time yesterday; if bars was not so hard for her and she had the desire to get the skills she needs on bars, I have no doubt she would be staying with gymnastics for at least one more season.  I one thousand percent comprehend the defeat she would feel to repeat Level 6 for the third year in a row.  BUT I also know that if she put her mind to achieving her handstand and Giant on bars, she could do it.  She just doesn't want it enough. And Drew's soccer team had his their first friendly on Saturday as Mockingbird.  They won 2-1, after scoring 2 goa...

 Last weekend, Lauren and her team spent the weekend in Orlando, Florida after receiving a bid to compete in the UCA Cheer Nationals Competition.  I was fortunate to be able to tag along as well and have some fun in Orlando supporting them. The girls, as well as their coaches departed around 6 PM on Wednesday night via charter bus.  Lauren was not super excited about riding the bus through the night, but they arrived in Orlando around 10 AM on Thursday.  I arrived on Thursday night, and after waiting in baggage claim for about 40 minutes, I was on the road to Disney Springs in my rental mini van.  I met up with a couple of other moms for a DELICIOUS dinner of gluten free fish & chips at Raglan Road in Disney Springs.  We stopped by to see the girls at their hotel for a brief moment and it was great to see Lauren's smiling face! Friday, the girls had practice in the morning and evening, but they were able to squeeze in some park time in between.  Th...

 Drew and I had an interesting discussion over the weekend about mix tapes and the ease of access to music for his generation vs my generation. To make a "mix tape" (playlist), it is as simple as opening Apple Music, clicking Create New Playlist, naming it and then searching for the songs that suit the mood of afore-named playlist and clicking the plus sign and there you have it.  All the songs that are your favorites at the moment in one place.  Once you have overplayed a song, you can just remove from playlist. Making mixtapes was a long, time-consuming process, which required having the original tape of the songs you wanted to add to the mix as well as a blank tape and a boombox with recording capabilities.  (I am pretty sure eventually you could record from a CD to a tape.....but that is a foggy memory.)  To make a perfect mixtape, it was required to ensure you hit the pause button just at the transition between the songs, otherwise you would get the beginni...

 It is hard to believe we are already halfway through the first month of this year. The year definitely started off in a positive way with Michigan securing their first "official" National championship against Washington.  The Rose Bowl game that enabled them a chance to play in the pinnacle game was fantastic.  Michigan was behind for the first time this season, and were able to come back in the 4th quarter and secure the win.  It was the most stressful game, but we were SO happy when they won of course. Ali competed in her first gymnastics meet this year, and scored just over 35, so she has already qualified for state.  She is still struggling on bars a bit, but continues to be confident on floor and vault as well as attempting back handspring on the beam.  She does not love in the same way that she has, but she is still so much fun to watch.  I predict this season will be her last as a gymnast, and she will pursue cheer, which would be a great trans...

 Wow, it has been quite an exciting past week.  All 5 of us made the trek to Ann Arbor the day after Thanksgiving for THE GAME!  We walked around campus a bit on Friday afternoon, but most of the buildings were close due to the fact that it was Thanksgiving weekend, and then we had dinner at Pizza House, our very favorite restaurant. Saturday was an early start since we were staying an hour south of Ann Arbor, but we were out the door right on time.  Drew realized he lost ONE of his airpods, so we were a bit delayed while searching for that with no luck.  We arrived in campus and headed to Game Day.  It wasn't too crowded, and I don't think we got on TV, but the kids made some great signs.  Ali & Lauren made a sign that said "I tried to change my password to Ohio State but it was too weak." (With all the O's xed out.)  Drew made a sign that said "I am 12 years old and I can kick a 33 yard field goal.  He was hoping to attract the attentio...