This month, I have had a couple positionals (I am wanting to improve on serve receive) and practices. I got to go over to Lilah's house before one of them. Our teammates in Columbia do a carpool to Jeff City so the 6 of us have a lot of fun on the way down and back.
We had our 2nd tournament at the Gateway League in St. Louis. We stayed at Auntie Heather and Uncle Sean's house and all Covid tested before. Emily ended up being positive, so she and Dad stayed home. Dad ended up testing positive too that weekend. As for me, I dove headfirst for a ball straight into a metal bench and ended up with a concussion. I loved that Papa Ron and Dan and Nickie came to see me, but feel bad that they really didn't get to see me play. I did go back to watch for the second day just to support the team. I was out for a week but after a lot of rest and no phone use, I am back to normal.
When I wasn't able to play at the tournament, another player stepped up and ended up playing in my spot (outside hitter.) I was moved to DS. It really shook my confidence because I thought Mikayla didn't think I belonged on the team anymore. At the PAC Challenge tournament, I played libero. I missed hitting but I did the best I could. Every tells me that Mikayla is putting me where I will make the most impact, but I just don't believe them. We ended up doing very well in that tournament (second in our pool!) We lost in our first round but had we scored one more point in our pool, we would have had a bye the first round of bracket play and probably could have beat the next team.
We had a scrimmage against Club CoMo for one of our practices. Since Aaron can't make any of our tournaments, he and his mom came to watch the scrimmage. I barely played at all and was so disappointed. I feel bad that they came and didn't get to see much. Again, this worked on my confidence and I was told by another parent that she doesn't usually play the better players at scrimmages so other players get a chance to play more. I have my doubts of course.
I went to several nights of Aaron's basketball games at the Oakland tournament. I wore his John Warner sweatshirt and got a lot of looks from my school friends! I also got to hang out at Aaron's house afternoon/evening and really enjoyed that time.
We had an early release day one Tuesday and ended up having a snow day the next day! I love snow days! Our school is putting on the play A Mid-Summer Night's Dream and unfortunately, I have a tournament the same weekend. Fortunately, I have impressed our new drama teacher and she asked me to be a student director! I got to decide on parts during auditions and tell the actors what to do and where to go. I think some of the younger ones are scared of me!
I have been excited about high school just to get out of middle school but haven't had a lot of emotion about it. However, Battle High School had a Course Fair and I got to meet a lot of my teachers for next year and learn about some classes and programs I would like to take/participate in. Now I am nervous and excited! I am also signed up to take health in summer school!
Our family went over to Thad, Corinne, Jack, and Lillian's house for the Chiefs playoff game. I really don't get football but it was good to hang out with friends. We have also played some games as a family. We really get into Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza! We had Emily's friend birthday party at Flipz and I actually had a good time. I tried to play with kids who didn't seem to know anyone so they felt comfortable and welcome. After that, I got to go to Aaron's house for the Super Bowl! I spent time with his family, including his grandparents, and learned a lot more about football!
This year, I asked for a much bigger and better cake for my birthday. Last year, the cake was about the size of my hand and the wrong flavor. I got a larger marble cake this year and was much happier! I celebrated my birthday with the youth group. Michael got me a cake and of course they sang to me.
With Lilah before team pictures
