Scattered Thoughts . . .

W e were supposed to attend Kenzie's annual figure skating show last night.  Normally, I would be the one shooting photos and video of the event. Unfortunately, I was feeling quite lousy all day long with a sore throat and generally feeling pretty weak and miserable.  By mid-afternoon, I had a fever (yet again) so I tested myself for COVID again since we were supposed to be meeting with a lot of people at the show.   I tested negative, which I suppose is a good thing, but these symptoms as well as the fever are the same as I have been fighting since testing positive just before Christmas.  Plus, I'm simply feeling pretty miserable most of the time.  I have occasional good moments but I'm feeling less-than-good far more often.  It has been a long couple of months.   Considering my sore throat and the fever, I knew I should stay home rather than risk passing whatever I have on to someone else.  Plus, I knew that wearing myself down more by wandering from the house, keeping bu

A s I've mentioned a few times in this blog previously, Sheila has been practicing her figure skating in an effort to be as prepared as possible for our trip to Manhattan with Lukey and Kenzie.  Until a couple of months ago, she hadn't skated in decades so she knew she needed to get on skates again before we were at Rockefeller Center and Bryant Park.  Lukey and Kenzie want to skate as much as Sheila has wanted to skate at these two popular rinks so this has been the plan since we started talking about a Christmas trip to Manhattan with the kids quite a few years ago. We've been heading to a couple of different rinks a couple of times a week so Sheila can practice.  Sometimes Sheila skates with Kenzie before Kenzie's skating lessons but most times she is out there alone while I practice my video and photography skills.    Sheila has improved quite a bit over the past few weeks but she is now done practicing.   She took a bad fall the other night and has been left badly

A bout two weeks ago, we went to one of Kenzie's figure skating lessons.  It was actually nice to step into winter for a bit rather than be in the heat and humidity! This was the first lesson of Kenzie's we've seen since purchasing her a new pair of figure skates.  We're happy to say that we noticed a significant improvement in her skating since her ice show back in February!  I'm sure part of the reason for such a significant improvement is simply due to her getting older and stronger.  However, since she was clearly more sure-footed and fluid at this lesson and practice session, we have a very strong feeling that the biggest reason for her significant improvement is due to the new skates. Both Sheila and I feel as though she could be a pretty good figure skater so we're hoping she sticks with it.  Of course, getting ice time for practice is difficult for various reasons so growth comes slowly which can be frustrating for the skater.   _________________________

B ack in February, both Lukey and Kenzie had sports events on the same weekend.  Lukey had to travel to Saratoga, New York for a hockey tournament while Kenzie had her annual end-of-season figure skating show here in Barre, Vermont.  This particular holiday weekend was fast becoming a logistical nightmare and this logistical nightmare was developing at the last minute after months of planning. We were told about Lukey's February hockey tournament way back in October.  Literally the moment we were told about this tournament, Sheila and I started discussing making reservations at our favorite inn in Saratoga.  We like Saratoga so we were making plans within mere moments of Lukey telling us about the tournament.   We knew the hotels in Saratoga would book very quickly and we were correct.  In the few short hours that we were discussing and planning this long weekend trip, our favorite inn was filling up quickly so we knew we had to book the weekend immediately.  Actually, within just