Passages

It is with great sadness that our beloved dog Austin crossed over the rainbow bridge on Friday, September 26th at approximately 7:20 pm.  Lily and Daddy were by his side in the veterinarian's office.  Austin had been declining over the past few months and the vet had warned us that his time was drawing near, but it was so hard to make that decision.  Thankfully, he had two episodes back to back that convinced us that letting him go was the humane thing to do.  Thank you, Austin for being the best dog ever.  We will miss you.

A Junior!!!

How can she be a junior already?  She was just in pre-K with Ms. Oland at Liberty Elementary.  Lily began her 11th-grade year at Linganore last week.  So far she seems relatively happy.  

She did not make the varsity soccer team, but we are so proud of her for going out and trying.  She did very well during the run, cutting a whole minute off her previous time. She will continue to play travel soccer and this fall she will get to play on her favorite coach's co-ed team.

As the summer season whines down, the lifeguard company she works for has decided to schedule her for more hours after not scheduling her much during the summer.  While it's hard to balance school and work, I think she will enjoy earning the money.

She's very close to getting her driver's license.  She finished her 3rd and final driving lesson with the instructor and I am sure she has enough practice on the road hours to take her test.  She is scheduled for October 20th.  She's getting more and more confident each time.

  

Summer Dud!

Well, the summer of 2022, hasn't panned out exactly the way Lily had hoped, but I got to give the girl credit, she has taken it all with a grain of salt.

First, she went on a cruise with her good friend Emery to Alaska.  What was promising to be an adventure of a lifetime, ended up being a COVID quarantine ordeal.  Emery contracted COVID on day 2 of their cruise and the girls were quarantined in their cabin for the rest of the trip.  At least they got moved to a balcony room, had room service and unlimited internet access.

Then in mid-July, she was supposed to go to see Shawn Mendes in DC with her good friend Carolina.  Unfortunately, Shawn Mendes had to cancel his World Tour due to mental health concerns.  Once again she took the disappointment like a champ.  I told her I would take her and Carolina to the beach in September sometime.

Work has been frustrating for her as well.  She was hoping to work many hours and make a lot of money but has only been scheduled for about 10 hours a week even though she has continually asked for more hours.

Training for high school soccer has taken up much of her summer, but I know she's been really anxious about trying out for varsity soccer.  I think the new coach is a bit intimidating.  He told them he expected them to run the 2-mile run in 12 minutes.  Crazy!  Anyway, I am praying that she will go out there, have fun, and do her best.  She's improved so much as a soccer player, and she stands a fair shot, however, if she does not make it, she's got a good plan in mind for the fall.  She's even talked about going on for the swim team for the winter season.