A day in Des Moines...
I went to Des Moines yesterday with my parents. My sister is a member of her high school's Rhythm Squad and they were performing in two categories at the State Competitions - pom pom and military. Knowing we had to be up at the butt crack of dawn, I drove down to my parents house on Friday evening (after the nose piercing) so that I wouldn't have to get up BEFORE the butt crack of dawn to drive down Saturday morning! It's much easier to just stay there. I slept in my sister's bed with Jill the Wonder Dog (my sister's dog). She was very wiggly and because she is expecting puppies in a few weeks, she has to pee every few hours. Needless to say, my sleep was interrupted quite a bit and at 2:30 am, she made it quite clear that she had "to go outside right now!" even though my mother had just taken her out about 15 minutes earlier. I pulled on more clothes and took her outside, then stood out there shivering in my wool coat while gazing up at the night sky. Wisps of clouds blocked out sections of the sky, but I did recognize the constellation of Orion. It's amazing how clear a cold winter night sky can be. I think the Big Dipper was on the other side of the house, but I didn't want to wander around to look for it.I just wanted Jill to finish so we could go back to bed!! Of course, once inside she thought it was play time. *sigh* Um, no. Lights out little poochie - time for sleeping!!
Eventually, Jill and I did get in some more zzzz's, but morning arrived way too soon and we headed out on our 2.5 hour roadtrip. I had taken a book along to read but never opened it. I couldn't concentrate, which may have been due to the McDonald's cappaccino...it was nasty! I noticed few funny things along the way: Sporadic miniature evergreens in the road ditches that had been decorated with tinsel and ornaments; a house that looked like shit. Dad said cat shit, then Mom said chicken shit, I said baby shit. After a minute of silence, I said "Well, at least we agree that it looks like shit." LOL Mom and Dad got into yawning wars, each blaming the other for "starting it". I was immune until the cappaccino wore off and then I was yawning too.
But, the day wore on and we made it in time for Shayna's 10:00 performance. Shayna's next performance wasn't until 2:00 pm so we headed out for some shopping. I ended up with two shopping bags full of goodies, all of which was for me. LOL I just couldn't resist the 50% off sales!
After Shayna's 2:00 pm performance we all headed out for a late lunch. My parents and I drove to Red Lobster, while the youngsters dined at Hooters. Crazy kids. ;) They were sticking around for the 7:00 pm awards ceremony, but us old farts headed home to watch Spiderman 2 before heading to bed. Actually, I would have stayed in Des Moines with my siblings & company but didn't want to be at the mercy of too many smokers in one vehicle. It would have been one miserable ride for me!
And how did they do? They won 3rd place in their division for their military performance. They always do well at that style and their performance was very awesome. I even got goosebumbs watching it!! Good job girls!
2 comments:
I guess I am too far removed from the cheerleading loop. What is a military performance?
Military performance is a very rigid, timed manner of movement. Moves must be sharp and precise with the idea that the group moves as "one". Think of marching band but with much more focus on making sure lines are straight - vertically, horizontally and diagonally. Synchronized movement...that's what I'm trying to say. To really make an impact, their outfits are usually different colors on their arms. (Right arm white, left arm black; or white on front, black on back, etc.) This way, when they move, the flashing of the colors emphasizes the synchronized movement. It's hard to explain if you've never seen it performed.
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