Speech reflections

It was a fantastic trip to Point Loma University for speech. Long hours of driving were filled with speech practice, musical choices, lots of conversation, and plenty of thinking time. We also listened to The Grey Lady, a Father Gilbert mystery from Focus on the Family Radio Theater. The time flew by and we soon arrived at our first destination: the home of our October guest. What we suspected was confirmed..this is a family of kindred spirits, and we wish we lived closer and could visit more often (and eat their tamales -- yum!) Without wasting any time, we talked of family life, church experiences, and everyone was able to practice their speeches. As sad as it was to say good-bye, we are hopeful for another visit. If one of our students can manage to break into semi-finals in speech, we will come back to Southern California for the invitational tournament in the spring. We will all be working hard in hopes of reaching that goal.

Dear friends and Violet the faithful dog

The tournament itself is a blur of memories. Competing, cheering, judging events, we all met up from time to time to eat, debrief, and continue on the marathon. It's a stretch for anyone with introverted tendencies, but I think we did pretty well. I loved being near the ocean; though my toes did not touch the sand, we did have the joy of watching the sunset over the water.

The view at sunset

Fine company

Then, we parted from our tournament pals, and we headed over to the HMS Surprise. The ships in the museum were all we hoped for, and the Surprise in particular was fun to visit. Ropes, ropes, and more ropes left the biggest impression on me!

Now, for those of you who might be envious of the experience, I'll provide a reality check. The skyscrapers in the background and the airplanes taking off with earth-shaking regularity did take away from the ambiance just a bit.

I thought of Ms. Crib Chick, though, amidst the rigging and the flight pattern!

After two days of laundry, rest and getting back on the ordinary routine, registrations are confirmed for our next speech adventure. We are hopeful for a visit with another bunch of loved ones (this one, this one, this one and this one. Yippee skippee.)

For now, though, the adventure must wait. These are the weeks of home-sweet-home. Our view is beautiful in its winter simplicity, the caffeine requirements are lower, the routine is soothing and the ordinariness is quite pleasant. The birds are asking to be noticed, a stack of books is waiting ever-so-patiently, and there is always the joy of my own, perfect, cozy bed. Ah, it is good to be home.