Right now...

I'm sitting here watching episodes of Laverne and Shirley, listening to my oldest and youngest snoring away on the sofa beside me. Baxter has assumed his position of blanket hogging...seriously, this guy is a major blanket hog for being all of seven pounds...and the boys are in the basement watching a "guy" movie. Abby is already sound asleep in her bed. I am drop dead tired myself, but a quiet house is a scarce commodity around here, so I couldn't resist trying to blog a bit. Mind you, I cannot be held accountable for coherent sentences. It took me three times to type in my username so I could update my own facestory "status" (see below).

It's been a long couple of days, and tomorrow will be even longer. Thursday afternoon was the first of the three-day WGI (guard) World Championships. Abby and the rest of her team started their school day and then headed off for an evening preliminary performance in Dayton, Ohio. To cut down on expenses, the team drove back last night and then reported at 4:50 am this morning for a quick rehearsal and then another trek to Dayton for semi-finals. I was lucky enough to chaperone today, so that meant I was out the door at that ungodly hour myself. After about two hours of sleep. I was so afraid we'd oversleep that I couldn't relax enough to go to sleep!

Crossing the Ohio state line

as the sun came up this morning...

"Hate early. Must kill early."

It was such a fun day. I relish the days that I get to spend with my older kids, believe it or not. I have two pretty fabulous teenagers. They actually like me and like having me along. Makes life a lot easier when I'm, like, along.

The girls did their airbrush make-up and eye make-up

after practice and while they were eating breakfast.

On the bus, however, it was time for finishing

hair and applying the "Gaga" eyes.

So, they made it to finals! A pretty hefty accomplishment in light of all this team has been through this season...trust me on that one. World Class is the cream of the crop. There are only 23 World Class teams in, well, the world. I think right now all 23 are from the US, but you get the picture. It's a pretty cool thing just to be competing. Of those 23 guards, Abby's team has placed 13th in the first two rounds and earned a spot in the final round! We did, by the way, get to see some international teams in the independent class, but our favorite was the Cinci Pride. Amazing.

The "Fantastic Four" freshmen on the World Guard team...

Last year, Abby was still in middle school and, therefore, competing in the cadet class. In one short year, she has gone from the beginning level of competition to the highest level. And she deserves it. As goofy and fun as she can be, she takes it seriously and has really blossomed into a beautiful dancer and skilled performer.

This year's show was titled "Into the West"

and set to the Annie Lennox song by the same name.

This is at the beginning of the show where

they form a ship crossing the ocean.

Abby is on the far left, at the front of the ship.

The girl, however, is pooped. When we finally made it home, she beelined it for the shower for the battle of the shampoo versus the hairspray, braided her hair for tomorrow's show, updated her "status", scarfed down Taco Bell while giggling over Laverne and Shirley, and bid me good night. She didn't even notice that I turned on the light to take her picture. Apparently, she didn't notice that there's no pillowcase on her pillow, either.

Tomorrow is another long one...almost a 24-hour day, from start to finish. After finals competition, there's a full retreat of all guards for the award ceremony tomorrow night. Then the drive back from Dayton. I'm sad to say I won't be there tomorrow. At $50 a pop for the cheap seats of finals, I agonized over my decision and decided to stay home. I rarely miss a performance of anything for any of my kids. I've invested a small fortune in marching band events alone. This one would have been $50 for the ticket...and that's in the cheap seats, plus gas both ways and food. It just wasn't in the budget this month. And it absolutely killed me to miss it. But I did get a chance to chaperone today and see them perform at World, something not all the parents were able to do. And I got to spend an entire day with my sweet girl. That, as all you moms know, was priceless. And right now, that's all that matters.