Just a few things

This post doesn't really have a certain theme to it. It's just a few things that have happened to keep people updated on the Texas (formerly Minnesota) Winkels. We had our second tornado warning a few nights ago. It was strange to me for two reasons. One, coming from Minnesota, this is not the typical season for tornados. Two, the weather wasn't even close to what I'm used to before a tornado warning goes into effect. The sky wasn't black, the wind was only gently blowing and there was no rain. I wasn't sure what to expect or do. I finally got the kids out of bed and into the downstairs bathroom because, I reasoned, I'm not familiar with Texas weather patterns so I don't know how fast a tornado could come up. The warning siren must be going off for a reason, right? We were only in the bathroom for about 10 minutes before I let the kids go back to bed.

Analee came home from school last Tuesday and said she wanted to be a cheerleader. In middle school here, you don't have to try out for the team. You just have to fill out the application form and turn it in on time and you're on the team. I had to go to a mandatory meeting for parents on Wednesday and the application had to be turned in no later than 3:30 on Friday. She also wants to try out for soccer. She and I talked about both activities. She would make friends and have fun with both activities. Both would take a big committment. Both would cost money, soccer being the cheaper of the two. And the big clincher for Kyle wanting her to choose soccer was the uniform for cheerleading is immodest, being a tank top and a short skirt, typical cheerleading uniform. I told her it was her choice and we would support her in whatever she chose. She took until Friday morning to decide and chose soccer. She can choose cheerleading next year in 8th grade. I think she will have a great time with soccer. She is a tiny little thing but she loves to play the sport.

I have been asked to be the Cub Scout Day Camp coordinator for our ward. I know absolutely nothing about scouting. Zip, nada, zilch. It is Latin to me and even though I have been to a meeting about Day Camp I am no further along in my knowledge of the subject. Fortunately, I have a partner in this, the 5th ward Day Camp coordinator, who knows much more than I do. I am perfectly content to let her lead and do as she tells me.

Kyle took me to the shooting range for Valentine's Day. I'm not big on giving or getting gifts for this holiday, anniversaries or birthdays. The only thing I want is time with my valentine. He's been wanting to take me to the shooting range for a while so we went on Saturday. Despite his conviction that I would really like it, I didn't. It was a weekend so it was busy and people had some pretty high powered guns. We started out at the rifle range where I shot the 22 and did alright with that. Some of the guns on the rifle range sounded like (and felt like) cannons. The concussion was strong and I came away with a new idea of what it would feel like to be shot. The concussion was bad enough. After the rifle range, we went down to the pistol range and the noise and concussion was even worse. I shot the pistol once and was done. I gave it to Kyle to finish the rounds and stood well away from everyone. I admitted to Kyle that I was nervous and slowly moving towards scared. I'd never shot a gun before and I didn't like it. He said I would probably do better when there weren't so many people. I even got hit once with someone's shell casing flying out of their gun. I'm not against trying it again but I won't go on a weekend.

I've begun volunteering in the elementary school library. I love it. I wish I had done it sooner and in Minnesota. I've also volunteered for several things in the PTA for next year. I've volunteered to be the council delegate, which means I go to the district meeting every month and report back to the PTA. Since I'm going to do it for the elementary school I got volunteered to do it for the middle school also. No big deal. I've also volunteered to help with the Book Fair that is held twice a year. I love going to the book fair with my kids and letting them choose something but now I will be helping to organize it. I've been told it is a lot of work but that is alright as long as I have help in the form of someone who knows what's going on and what needs to be done. I also volunteered to help in the library next year which will be greatly needed because the library assisstant position will be gone. I'm looking forward to being involved and getting to know more people. Hopefully, I haven't gotten in over my head.