Let’s play some catch-up

Sorry I’ve been silent … all is well!

Just been a busy damn week, with all the running around trying to get the car back and everything else we had to do this week.

Let’s see …

Derwood has had to go on campus all week to take training classes for Red Hat technician and engineer certifications.  Today was the two-part test, which he was convinced he was going to bomb.  Waiting for him to get home so I can see if that assessment still holds. It’ll be nice to have him back on his regular schedule.  Update — he passed part one of the two part test with 81.5%, however he did not pass the second half and will have to re-take it.  At this point he is now a certified Red Hat technician, however he doesn’t yet have the Red Hat engineer certification (part 2 of the test).

The blue-screens-of-death have stopped – knock wood! — at long last.  Derwood kept swapping things around and it appears that it was something wrong with the CPU heat sink and/or the fan on the heat sink.  He’s swapped over a different heat sink and fan and so far there hasn’t been another incident.

We got the car back on Tuesday afternoon, thank God.  That gas hog loaner van was killing our budget.

Missy has been busy with dance — she has Indy Feis this Saturday, Louisville next Saturday, and the following weekend is Dayton on Saturday and Cincinnati on Sunday.  Then we get to breathe for a month before Columbus and Lansing.  I *need* to finish up her petticoat, which had to be remade because she’s danced off too many inches and it was falling off her!  I’m procrastinating at the moment, but I need to get a move on, because she must have it for the morning.

She’s done exceptionally well this year, especially considering she’s just getting back into it after her long ass break, and she’s still nursing a healing ankle.  Right now, she’s also got a blister that took out her heel — literally the thing was the size of her entire heel, it opened last night while she was at dance and now her entire heel is raw and exposed — and I’m not quite sure how she intends to dance on it, but she insists that it will be fine. So far this year she’s gone to five Feisianna and she’s brought home…

2nd place – Treble Reel, Open Jig
3rd place – Set Dance, Set Dance, Treble Reel
4th place – Treble Jig, Treble Reel
5th place – Set Dance, Set Dance

We’re still waiting for the rest of her Akron results (we don’t know how she did in the Hornpipe, everything else she placed in).  The worst she’s done so far this year is an 8th place in her Reel at the Queen City Feis; she’s consistently placing in the top half.  Once she fully requalifies for Prelim, she’s moving on up — hopefully soon! — she has six more Feises lined up this year, four of them are this month.  What she ideally needs to do is to move up by Columbus so that she has Columbus and Lansing to qualify for Oireachtas.  It’s a tough order to fill, though, so I’m not sure if it’ll happen.  That almost-a-year off has really hurt, but she’s the one who made the decision and she’s the one who has to live with it now.  :/

On the T0-Shin Do front, she will graduate to her next belt (blue & black) next month — I had my schedule off and thought she was up for it this month and I’m actually relieved it’s not!  She’s had workshops every Thursday and because of the Saturday Feis’ing, her entire schedule is off right now.  Monday she has dance.  Tuesday she has To-Shin Do coaching followed by her actual class, followed by black belt club class.  Wednesday, T0-Shin Do class.  Thursday is dance followed by T0-Shin Do workshop (this week and next is Shuriken, the next three weeks after that are “Ground Flow” training.  Friday and Sunday (except the last Sunday of the month when she has a Feis) are her only days off right now.

I’ve got some more updates, but they’re going to go under lock and key.  If you don’t already have the password and want it, drop me an email and I’ll fill you in.  Unless of course you’re aligned with ™ … if that’s the case, don’t bother wasting my time asking!

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 11th, 2010 at 15:45. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “Let’s play some catch-up”

  • Anonymous Dancer Says:
    June 11th, 2010 at 19:10

    This comment is intended for the Akron/videotaping entry, but I thought more people may see it here. Feel free to copy/paste it wherever you wish.

    I am a current dancer (although certainly not one of the “winners”) at Missy’s former school, and I have been for 13 years. I would like to express how sorry I am that anyone from our school has behaved in ways that are hurtful to you or Missy. I am glad that Missy is happy with her decision to change schools, and I hope that she continues to succeed and be happy there! Sometimes things are just a better fit somewhere else.

    I have loved my experience at this school. Here is why:
    1. The teachers have been available to help me outside of class, not only with dancing but with overall fitness, as well as difficult life situations.
    2. I have formed lasting friendships with the students and parents, and have been able to grow up with these positive influences.
    3. I have been given the opportunity to teach others and help them progress along their dance and life journeys.
    4. I have danced at large cultural events in the community, as well as countless small shows at nursing homes, schools, etc. that brought great joy to me, and I hope to those in the audience.
    5. The school continued to support and encourage my dancing even during my college years, when I could not always attend regularly and my skills were not always up to par. It also encourages other older dancers to continue (at least 6 of our competitive dancers are at college age or above).
    6. The teachers encourage and understand my other endeavors, and have even allowed me to use my musical training in various ways within the school.
    7. I have learned not only from the teachers, but from other excellent dancers and from our workshop teacher.
    8. There is ample studio space and opportunity for private instruction at an affordable rate.
    9. The school is continually improving and refining its facilities and schedule.
    10. The school works hard to keep tuition costs low and defray costs of costumes, trips, etc. so that everyone has an opportunity to dance.
    11. Though I am by far not the best dancer in the school, I have felt continually encouraged to improve. I have received a great deal of one-on-one instruction, and have overall enjoyed tremendously the last 13 years at this school.

    Those are just a few reasons off the top of my head. Many of them may apply to other schools as well.

    Again, Missy and Kate, I wish you all the best! I believe most of us at your former school have no desire to create rifts between dance schools. I’m sorry if the actions of any one of us has offended you. I hope to see Missy in Lansing!

  • Kate Says:
    June 11th, 2010 at 22:31

    I wish I had seen this before I answered the other comment in the other thread! First, let me just say that we don’t blame the whole of CA for the actions of the person and her family who were the subject of our Akron Feis discussion.

    The first few encounters *were* weird, and some things that happened may have been misconstrued, on both sides. Now that things are getting back on an even footing, I thought everything was going to settle down. Until Mama Lardosaurus began wielding her Videocamera o’Doom, anyhow!

    Anyhow, much of what I said in the other entry applies here too, so I’ll just cut & paste myself … I had responded to someone who asked me to divulge why we left CA so they knew which side to take.

    ————————-

    There shouldn’t be a “side” to take.

    Missy’s reasons for leaving — this was Missy’s decision, which I supported, but with which I did not at first agree to be entirely honest — were Missy’s reasons. Whether right, wrong or somewhere in between, she had decided that 2008 was it for CA. This meant either she quit Irish dance, which she has loved since she was 3 years old, or she switched schools and endured all the set-backs that come with a switch.

    She chose to switch. As I said, I supported her, but honestly at first did not agree with her. I do agree with her decision now. However, it hasn’t been easy!

    First, there’s the obvious — being unable to compete for 6 months (which in her case became just ten days shy of 10 months from the day of her last Feis [10-11-2008 -- Gem City Feis] to the day of her first return Feis [8-1-09 -- Columbus Feis]).

    During the ten months without competing, she was learning all new steps — and some different terminology too! — with a new TCRG (with totally different teaching methods and approaches) in a school where she knew precisely one person before she started dancing there.

    She comes from a family with a predisposition to diabetes and being overweight. During her time off from competitive dancing, she gained more than 40 pounds — despite our living at the pool last year, continuing to take dance classes twice and three times weekly, continuing to take To-Shin Do classes three and four times weekly, and so on.

    Because she had switched schools, she missed the yearly dance show from her old school, which she dearly loved. Because she didn’t know how she would be received, she didn’t go to the show last year or this year, even though she really wanted to.

    She didn’t yet have a school dress at her new school, so she missed all of the performances throughout the year, including the big St. Patrick’s Day sweeps throughout March. The only thing she likes more than competing in her dance is sharing it with the community.

    There’s more, but those are the big ones.

    It’s not a decision I would recommend to anyone without first urging them to really think it through. What’s right for you or your dancer(s) may not be what was right for Missy, so the reasons why she left are irrelevant to everyone but us. You have to weigh your own options and make your own decisions, without letting anyone influence you. It’s not a decision that should be taken lightly and without really honestly thinking it through all the way … little things like your old friends not feeling comfortable talking to you now hit harder when they’re “one more thing” on top of all the other things that will happen.

    Yes, there was some tension when we left, but let’s face it, there had to be or we wouldn’t have left! She still cheers when one of her old friends place. She learned a lot and gained some (likely lifelong) friends along the way. Despite our leaving, we don’t hate CA or wish them any ill will whatsoever.

    And now, I’m heading up to bed. Missy has the Indy Feis in the a.m. and it looks like we’d better be there by 9:30 a.m. Ick!

    I’m really glad you’re happy with your dance school, and I thank you for your kind words to Missy. Wish you the best!