State Finals

 

We had a great time at the state tournament a week ago.   I have been waiting to post the team picture on here but  haven't received that yet.    Our team did really well and won 4 out of 5 matches.  We ended up tied for 1st in our group.  Our team had one set more than the other  1st place team and we couldn't move on to the next phase.  I assume we will try to be there again next year. 

Overall, the weekend was a lot of fun.  We had nice dinners in the evening and good conversation along the way.  It was an experience that we all will remember.  :)

Tennis anyone?

Winning at tennis was excellent, but character off the court is more important. J. L. Atlanta Journal Constitution May 9, 2006

Today our USTA team is heading to Macon GA for the weekend to the state tournament. Should prove exciting, fun and maybe play some good tennis along the way! We have been waiting since last August when we won our division to head to this tournament to show our stuff. Hopefully we will come back with having a good time being there as a team and watching those who excel give us inspiration.

CRBI Canoe-a-thon, Race and Environmental Fair

This past Saturday was the 6th annual Coosa River Basin Initiative's Canoe-a-thon, Race and Environmental Fair in Rome, Georgia. The Canoe-a-thon and the race were 13 miles on the Oostanaula River. It was nice to see over 120 people participate in this event to raise money for the River. Dan had a great time participating in the adult kayak group and took 3rd in that event! He was only a minute behind the first and second place winners who were in their late 20's. I would say for a 12 year old, he did excellent. Dave and I took first in the mixed tandem canoe category while our friends in this picture both took first in the men's single canoe and women's single kayak.

The day was beautiful, sunny and full of nice people to talk with after the race. Along with that, it was nice to know that money was being raised to keep the river maintained.

Let the river flow. :)

Tommorrow

"When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you."
-Lao-Tzu

I think we all need to be ourselves in this life we have. Valuable time can be wasted when we compete with others in things that shouldn't matter as much. I tend to follow my own way in areas that are important to me. Sometimes this raises eyebrows, sometimes not. We all have the ability to choose, but at times stand still in which direction to take.

When I falter, I raise.

When I doubt, I regroup.

If I compare, I lose sight.

Tomorrow, I will start over.

Bird of Confidence

Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.

Henry Van Dyke

This picture was taken as I was lying on the beach waiting to put my kayak in the Gulf for some paddling. I was looking at the blue sky and absorbing the sunshine as this bird caught my attention . With it's great wing span and searching eyes, it flew above me in a graceful flight. It was not as colorful as the many birds I saw while in Florida, but it shown brightly with it's confidence in flight. I layed there in wonder while thinking, dreaming and flying. :)

Georgia Aquarium

These sharks look far from real to me in this picture, but they are in fact very real. To me, they look like those toy rubber sharks that they sell in the store!  lol

 

We visited the Georgia Aquarium which is now the largest aquarium in the world.  It was beautiful with the fresh and marine water that filled the displays.  Even though the salt water fish showed their bright colors vividly, I seemed to love the fresh water rooms.  They had a flat glass ceiling showing the fish, and my instant  thought was that this would be great in a bedroom.  To just lay there and look up and see the fish swimming around would definitely be pretty calming to me.  I actually had a dream last week where two of the walls in my bedroom were aquariums!  Dreams do come true, don't they?  :)