Good-bye Patches

Ten days ago we had to say a sad good-bye to our dear friend Patches.  She was a sweet and friendly girl, always ready for a snuggle and eager for a meal.

She came into our lives one summer, 10 years ago, as a stray, lurking in the woods by the blackberry patch and chasing mice in the hayfield.  As summer turned to a chilly fall, she would nervously sneak into the garage to eat Spike's puppy chow.  She would never let anyone near her, and I warned the kids to not get too close, as we did not know her vaccination history.  One day, while she was in the garage, stealing Spike's food, I managed to get the garage door shut before she could run away.  She hid among the toys stacked along the wall, but I was able to reach in and run my hand along her back.  That was all it took, one friendly touch and she was in love with us for the rest of her life.  We checked with all the neighbors - no one was missing a cat, and our best guess was that she was one of the many barn cats from the old farm.  We got her checked out at the vet and lived happily together for the next decade.  Heather was so young when we adopted Patches that she doesn’t remember life without her. We will always remember what a sweet and friendly girl she was.

New England Indoor Track and Field Championships

On Friday morning we all headed down to Boston.  Wes and I dropped Heather off at Joanie's house for an overnighter before heading out, and Wayne and Cole traveled down in their coach's vehicle.  (Cole was allowed to choose a teammate to make the trip with him, and he chose Wayne.)Lake Region High School had paid for rooms for the coach and Wayne and Cole.  The school also paid for their gas and meals.  Cousin Emily had warned us that the Best Western we were all staying at was not the best area of town, but the hotel itself was fine.  I liked our rooms - they were comfy and clean.  The staff was great.

 Our view.

 Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, Wayne and Cole had some free time to explore with their coach.  The running events had originally been scheduled to begin at 11:30 Saturday, which meant Cole's 1000m race would have been at around 1:00.  Friday evening, event officials sent out a message that, due to a "storm" of 3-6 inches of snow, the entire event had been pushed back.  Running events would not begin until 4 o'clock.  Estimating that Cole would not run until 7, really threw a kink in our departure plans.  We didn't want to leave Joanie responsible for Heather and transporting her back and forth to her Newport basketball tournament.  Joanie and Heather were also dealing with our sick cat, the dog, and chickens.  Wes was concerned about plowing, if we were to get snow.  We were thinking we wouldn't be able to stay to see Cole race, which felt like a huge waste of time and money, to go down there for nothing.  

In the end, after hemming and hawing long enough, Wes and I did end up staying to see Cole's race.  There never was very much snow, and we knew a night drive back would not be too terrible.

Cole warms up.

 Waiting to enter the track for his race.

A race official shows some of the runners where the start line is.

Cole placed dead last in his race.  However, we have to consider that he was the only freshman in a race with mostly seniors.  He had qualified without even really training (Lake Region students do not have regular access to an indoor track, and winter running outside in VT is sketchy.) Also, he did better his Vermont State qualifying time. (I will try to update with times later after I verify with Cole)

We were really proud of Cole and glad we ended up staying to see the race.  We are also really thankful to Joanie for being so flexible and dealing with Heather and her basketball tournament, and all of our animals.

Heather is #15.  Peter and Jeanne also attended one of her games and Jeanne sent me this photo.  We got back to Joanies house at around 9:30 to pick her up.

 The Glover team took 2nd place in the Newport Rotary tournament.  She had 2 games on Sunday which we were able to watch.

Lots of Basketball, Some Art, and Cole is Going to Boston!

The regular season of basketball is winding up.  Cole played JV-A for Lake Region.

 So far, Heather has played on 2 teams.  Below, her Junior Hoops team is runner up in a tournament.

 Heather was voted MVP. Coaches do the voting.

 Heather and I enjoy some art projects, thanks to Joanie! This kit came in the mail with online video instructions.  We'll be real artists in no time!

 We have had no shortage of snow this winter!

 Heather has also played on the Glover Middle School basketball team.  As a 6th grader, she doesn't get as much playing time, but the team is doing really well for the season.

 Wayne and Cole have been doing indoor track.  Wayne has set school records in the 600M and high jump.  They have been doing really well, especially considering they have no specific way to train for indoor track events.  They run outside on the roads and hit the weight room regularly to be in the best shape possible.

 Cole qualified for New England Regional Championships in the 1000M with a time of 2:51. On March 2, he will run at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.  

Paul, Lesley, and Joanie attended the state championship meet at UVM's Gutterson Athletic Center.  Lesley sent me some of these photos.

Wayne hasn't had a haircut in a long tme.

It didn't look like a spectacular finish. I felt bad that he seemed to be having a bad day.  (He and teammate Cole Royer had fumbled and dropped the baton in the 4x200 relay race, which disqualified them.)  I wondered why Cole seemed so happy with the result of his 1000M race. His coach explained to us that he had qualified for regional championships in Boston. One of only 2 freshman at the VT State Championship meet to do so.  

Heather's Jr Hoops Coach goes over the game plan for their last game of the season.  He instructs Heather and Alyssa, the two 6th graders, not to shoot baskets right away, but to pass the ball to the younger team members who have not scored a basket this season so they could have their chance.

Heather had her last Jr Hoop game today.  Here is a little shot of her last jump ball.  Next year she will be too old for Jr Hoops.

Here she gets a basket.

December

Heather had her middle school concert.  She is in the jazz band this year.

Wayne and Cole had their Lake Region High School concert. Wayne is doing both band and jazz band as independent study this year.  He now plays tenor sax which means that the jazz band is almost all saxophone players.

Cole now plays baritone sax.  You can barely see him to the far right.

Cole is not normally part of the Lake Region chorus, but when the chorus spent the day travelling around the area caroling, he decided to go along.  Here they surprised us at where I work, Rock Insurance.  

Wayne and friends ran in the Santa Run.  

 Wayne placed 4th overall. Below he poses as 3rd for men.

 Heather had some friends over for a sleepover birthday party.  They did some sledding.

 Drank some hot cocoa.

 Made a giant batch of slime, which is all the rage now.

 They also made and decorated cookies.

 They ate some pizza and cake.

 Oops, these pictures are out of order.

 Played hilariously awkward game of twister.

And that pretty much brings us up to date until tomorrow - Christmas Day!