Author: Mom

We had our practice session for the tournament. I did very well.  At the state Forest Ecology contest I was really prepared. I rocked all the areas except for the ecosystems. But I know what I did and how to improve that going forward. Sadly, I did not place this year, for the firs time since I was 9 years old. Ugh! I was sad. I missed placing by 1 point. Oh well. I still had a lot of fun and learned a lot. I am already starting to work towards next year. I WANT to go to nationals as a senior next year. So I have to bust my butt to be ready!  I also lead a talk and activity at the county council meeting for 4-H this month. I taught about macro inverts as water quality indicators. We used the same pond as a few months ago and this time didn’t find much at all. We can tell he water quality has gone down quite a bit in the dry season. The pond was covered in duck weed and water spangles. 

We had the final state archery tournament. I did terrible. I hurt my shoulder in karate and was having hard time drawing my bow. I still had fun but was really frustrated to work so hard all year to end without placing. 

We are around the house a lot more lately becauseof Mom’s foot. She had surgery this week and isn’t supposed to move. They couldn’t find the pencil tip so she has to let it heal 100% then they will see if it still bothers her. We wrapped up the archery season with a mini tournament. I thought my shoulder was feeling better but 4 flights in I gave up. I don’t want to make it worse. So Iwatched and cheered on my friends. Mom took me to the Latin State in Orlando. There were over 1000 screaming kids! It was kind of crazy but I had a lot of fun. Every evening we would leave property for food. I picked Chuy’s. I love their floutas and Mexican rice. I loved seeing all the costumes for one of the contests. This is the line for “Janus”.This is 3/4 of the FLVS crew. There were SOOOO many awards. The awards ceremony took over 3 hours! Our crew with Dr. Bebergal. I got a 7th (but they only had 6th place) place ribbon for my PMAQ (Phrases, mottoes, abbreviations and quotes). I probably didn’t study as hard as I could of since I was busy with my SPC classes and forest ecology.  We had a great weekend. I want to go back next year but don’t think I will since I am not currently taking Latin anymore. I have completed my 2 required years of foreign language.

We came home to all the new equipment from the NRA grant for 4-H. I love the giant new velociraptor target!!! 
We are having fun with the injured Mom. She has a knee scooter, borrowed from Mrs. Wendy, to get around. We are protecting her, the world in dangerous! Especially pencils! 

We recently joined a homeschoolers group that does field trips out of Hernando County. They field trips are usually closer to us. Mom snagged a few spots on the Tampa Airport Tour and it did not disappoint! I loved the war room for the police station. This is were they monitor all the 911 calls and all the security cameras from the airport. They even watch the traffic cams on the roads around the airport. I enjoyed learning the history of the airport. I wanted to go up in the control tower but they said no! The ARFF was really cool. We learned all about being a airport fire fighter. They have to have special training to deal with jet fuel and airplane fires. The regular classroom was full for the day so our group got to use the media room for a video. No one complained because the chairs were so comfy! We got to see the equipment lockers and one girl tried on a fire suit. I loved the firetrucks the most. They had so many different types based on what needs may arise. The one in the photo below is the firetruck for spraying the foam on the tarmac and also can pierce the fuselage of the place to inject foam.  The giant piercing rod. They wouldnt let us lift weights on the tour but the firefighters are required to use the gym 1-2 hours a day to stay in shape. We saw one of Trumps planes departing the airport after being here for over a year for repairs. Must have had to get parts! We goot a 1 hour bus ride around the property and say all sorts of cool things. This is the training area where they burn the fuselage and then firefighters get to put it out. They do this a few times a year and have other  local fire stations join them. This is where they test the engines of planes in for repair. It buffers the sound from nearby areas when they have long engine tests. There is a second, much smaller, one for smaller planes as well. There are a lot of hangers for plane repairs, they were all FULL! What a great field trip! I learned a lot and had a great time. I am feeling kinda crappy and my throat hurts but I am getting better. My hamsters are cute and make me happy. Oh and two days later, mom did stupid. She stood up and managed to jam a mechanical pencil into her little toe, and it broke off in her toe. She will need surgery to remove it. 

We have had several great study sessions for Forest Ecology. I love when we go on the hikes.  Helping one of the new youth to learn about insects and diseases. I ran for VP of the 4-H County Youth Council. I was elected and now get to help run meetings and plan events for the county program. We had a fun night at Mardi Gras in Dunedin. I was mad because E kept getting all of the beads and other items. But Ihad a lot of fun seeing the floats. We spent time with Mom’s friend, Miss Gail. Hamsters are awesome and mine are cute and fluffy! CaligulaNero. Nero is a lot smaller for some reason. My friend Preston stayed the night. We had a LOT of fun!

Friday night I came to Mom and said I had a sore throat. She looked and cringed. I made it through the night but woke up early and insisted I go to the walk-in clinic. Mom got an appointment. I fell asleep waiting for the doctor to come in. Strep test was positive, very positive. Guess I will be taking the weekend to recover. I have to be ready for SPC Chem class on Monday!