Prayer for this week

The view from our room this week

Heavenly Father, in You we live and move and have our being. We humbly pray You so to guide and govern us by Your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget You, but may remember that we are ever walking in Your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

A Collect for Guidance
The Book of Common Prayer
 

Debate lessons

March Madness is not just NCAA basketball for us; there have been three debate tournaments in March.  Crazy.  I haven't had a chance to comment on debate tournament number two yet, and it needs a comment:

Ninety teams.

Rex and Lucy came in first.

*FIRST*

One hundred and eighty debaters.

Rex was the third place speaker.

THIRD.

We had sent Rex to San Diego with friends, so we were not there in person to celebrate.  But I do believe that if our windows had been open, and Rex had been listening carefully, he could have heard us screaming with excitement.

Congratulations, son!

And this last week we all went to Santa Rosa for the last part of Debate March Madness.

It was a different experience.

We laughed hard as Rex and Lucy had to debate three times in the men's locker room at the school where the debate was held.  There were no showers going while they debated, but once or twice there was a distant flush heard from across the way.  These are memories we will never forget. 

And when breaks were announced (breaks being those teams who had winning records and go on to debate in octofinals and quarterfinals), Rex and Lucy did not break.  Win the whole tournament a week before, no breaks this week.

I would say I am disappointed except that, when I got on the computer last night, I read these words on my son's facebook page:

That's called competition. You win, thank God for His blessing, and celebrate. You lose, thank God for His blessing...and celebrate with the people that won.

And I am thinking that I have a lot to learn from this wise young man whom I am honored to call my son.

Well done, son!!

More competition....more success....more excitement

This has been a busy few days for Rex.

No only were there two basketball games on Saturday, but there was a debate tournament on Thursday and Friday. When it rains it pours.

Debate good news:  they had a winning record for the second time, so that means they are going to be debating at NITOC (the National Invitational Tournament Of Champions) in San Diego in May.

Way To Go Rex and Lucy!!

photo courtesy of Susan Keller Photography

NITOC (National Invitational Tournament of Champions)

It is a ten-ish-hour drive to San Diego. That is a long drive, but my companions were great company, the music was energizing, and the hours flew by.





University of San Diego was our destination, and NITOC was our purpose for the week.




We worked hard, both at the tournament and at the hotel late at night. It was exhausting in a wonderful way.





When announcements are made it feels all about winning and losing. We love winning, but there is so much more to it. The camaraderie is priceless. We are a team, and it is a beautiful thing.




Even the siblings are there in the early morning, ready to hear of their siblings wins and losses.

The ocean was waiting for us when we were done. Oh! I LOVE the beach. San Diego is gorgeous.

I love these debaters.

And these beach bums.

It's good to be home, but this road trip was a blast!

The end of year swirl

Last week my olders finished their Schola classes, this week the junior college classes my older boys were taking finished.  Now it is all about DEBATE.  Research.  Research.  Haircut.  Pick up dry cleaning.  Research.  Pick up new suit.  Match gorgeous but strangely colored thrift store Italian suit to the thousands of ties available.  Find two matches.  Pause for the moment to acknowledge that this is a miracle.  Research.  Talk about debate.  Practice debate.  Research.  Sleep.  Eat.  Research.

We leave soon to drive our trusty and dusty van to gorgeous San Diego.  The boys have never qualified for the national debate tournament before, so it is very exciting.  And the younger non-debaters are excited because there will be the beach, and friends, and fireworks...and did I mention the beach?  We're ready for an adventure.

Debate is a demanding extra-curricular event.  It costs money, it takes time, and it strains the brain cells, but I am deeply grateful that my sons dragged me into it.  They are learning to think and organize and communicate in ways that thrill me.  And I am fortunate enough to have dear, close friends who are involved in the same craziness with me.  It is an all-round win-win-win-win for us.

San Diego -- Here We Come!

Laguna

What a beach! What a day!

A perfect place for the calm before the debate storm.

Surrounded by beauty.

Time to serenade the waves.

Life is good.

Road trippin'

We're on the road this week with our Debate Life.

We've already gotten lost, so we can cross that off of our list of things to do. And we (Royal We use here) have two debate rounds under our belts. Only SIX more to go before we hear who goes to quarter finals, semi-finals and finals. Eight rounds. Wow. That is a lot of debating. And a lot of judging.

But every night I will come back to the beautiful home of blogging pal Susan Keller (of Susan Keller Photography Fame) and enjoy being surrounded by beauty and comfort. How sweet is that? A bed is a nice place to be after listening to environmental policy debates for hours, and blogging friendships are so nice to bring into real life.

Today the boys and I got out to Laguna Beach before the serious work began, and I should have some photos to post tomorrow. I am always a better person after a few hours at the beach.

And now, sleep. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Here we go again....

Resolved: That the United States Federal Government should significantly reform its environmental policy.

The suits are ready, the lunch is packed, the debate case is being finalized (yes, finalized the night before the first debate round robin), and the excitement is palpable. I am not ready to get up at four *you've got to be kidding me* thirty, but it goes with the territory, like it or not.

Look out Stoa! Pope/Wheeler and Pope/Wheeler are hitting Santa Rosa tomorrow morning.

Happy New Year!

I'm here. Really I am. But so are the debaters. They are tapping on my shoulders, reminding me that the first tournament is on the 14th. Of this month! Coming too soon. And there is evidence, just waiting to be found, and briefs to write, and speeches to prepare...and, and, and.

And so I hand over the laptop to my desperate crew, and my lists of books and my fascinating musings will have to wait for yet another day.

But have no fear - I will be here, sipping my coffee, working through the latest math lesson, reading Poirot mysteries, and trying to find Mr. Rochester in all the fog swirling around our house.

And I will be listening to speeches, trying to laugh at the right places (I am terribly famous for laughing at the WRONG places).

And I'll be watching basketball. One more boy joins the basketball swirl, and his second season promises to be a joy.

So be patient, and enjoy that sidebar of links. It will lead you to worthy destinations.