Flashback – March 2007
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Taylor Homecoming 2012
Rebecca (and family) experienced her first Taylor Homecoming last weekend.
The festivities began Friday night at the Homecoming football game against Morton Ranch High School. During the halftime show, Rebecca and the Pacesetters performed a rather snappy pom routine, and the Homecoming court was presented to the crowd with traditional pomp and circumstance. The football game concluded with Taylor losing in triple overtime 56-48. The good news: The boys fought hard and almost got their first win. The bad news: Next week’s game concludes the season.
Saturday involved last minute trips to the grocery store for nail polish and hair accessories, a four-hour up-do at a friend’s house, grandma ironing a dress with careful precision, cameras shooting and family oogling. Before the dinner and dance with her friend Cole, we met the uber-group for a photo shoot at a neighborhood clubhouse. Enjoy!
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Justus Is Going To The Big Show
Yesterday, Justus competed in a special program called the Region 3 Mens Gymnastics Future Stars Testing. Future Stars Programs leads ultimately to the Junior Olympic National Development Team.
Region 3 includes the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri. The testing entails a combination of nine technical sequences, including strength and flexibility evaluations. Coaches select athletes to participate in the regional Future Stars Testing based on the ability of athletes to compete at a national level. In the Future Stars Program, boys compete in five age groups (8-9 year olds, 10 year olds, 11 year olds, 12 year olds and 13 year olds) and contend with others their own age. The 10, 11, 12 and 13 year old divisions can qualify to compete at a national level at the US Olympic Center in Colorado Springs in November.
Justus performed strong in his test, particularly in floor, rings, vault, high bar, parallel bar strength and floor flexibility. His overall score placed him 3rd in his age group (age 13) and qualified him to compete as a Region 3 qualifier in the National Future Stars Championships at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado next month!
At the National Future Stars Championship the top six athletes will be named to the Junior Olympic National Development Team and the top three will be invited to attend a special national development camp.
Go JMac!
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Flashback – June 2006
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In Memoriam
Today we laid to rest my sweet Uncle Richard.
His obituary reads:
Richard David Wilson, 70, of Buda was called home by the Lord on Saturday, September 8, 2012. Richard, also affectionately known as “Poppy” by his grandchildren, was born in Austin on March 15, 1942 to David Wilson and Leona Goetz.
Richard retired as maintenance chief after 38 years of service with Night Hawk Foods of Buda. There are not enough kind words that can be said about this wonderful man. Richard never met a stranger and was loved by everyone he encountered. He was thoughtful, compassionate, and gentle spirit who never put himself first and had unconditional love for his family and friends. Richard was cherished by everyone that had the pleasure of knowing him and he will be genuinely missed by all. Richard joined Bethany Lutheran Church in 1966, serving at one time as Sunday School superintendent.
Richard is preceded in death by his father, mother, and sitster Sandy Kylberg of Elgin.
Richard is survived by his loving wife of 46 years, Vickie; daughter Lori and husband John of Buda; and daughter Lisa with husband Chris of Pflugerville. Richard is also survived by his 5 grandchildren: Samantha (Wilson) Sleeman and husband Jared of Crestview, FL, Christopher Wilson, Ashley Keegan, Brittany Keegan, and Caitlin Keegan, all of Buda.
The life he led was one of constant service to those around him. He and Aunt Vickie invariably insisted in hosting every large family gathering. He was the first in the kitchen, often preparing days before the festivities. During family gatherings, he served with joy and always put everyone before himself. And at the end of the evening, he would remain in the kitchen to put up the final hand-washed dish.
He loved working with his hands. He would spend hours shelling by hand perfect pecan halves for baking, and he enjoyed sharing entire bags of his labor with family just in time for Christmas baking.
Uncle Richard lived out Philippians 2:3-5:
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.
He was perhaps the kindest, gentlest man I’ve ever known. Even as my vision is smeared with tears, and my throat aches, I will miss his stories, his gentle hugs, his genuine concern for the lives of those around him, and his giggle that reminded me a little of Rosco P. Coltrain.
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Becca as a Pacesetter
Last Friday night Lisa and I attended our first high school football game in almost 30 years. The Taylor High Mustangs hosted Cy-Fair Bobcats in their season opener (Cy-Fair is short for Cypress-Fairbanks for all you not in the know). Justus was with us and this was his first time to see a live football game. He was in gridiron heaven. We home team fans enjoyed the shady-side of stadium and escaped the afternoon sun. Even the breeze seemed determined to keep the otherwise sultry air at bay.
Rhodes Stadium is the only Katy ISD football venue for the six gargantuan high schools it serves. With that, you can imagine how impressive it is: state-of-the-art artificial turf and CCTV with instant replay on a huge video score board. To be frank, this complex rivals the fields of most small colleges.
Rebecca made the drill team called Pacesetters, and we were there to see her first show. I was surprised by the nostalgic sights and sounds of rivalry and spirit. I was reminded of years in marching bands and leading as drum major. I was nostalgic for other reasons, too. My little girl was presented to seemingly the entire town as a young lady in royal blue, sparkles and make-up.
My time remaining with her is dreadfully short.
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Victoria, BC was experiencing mild sunny days in the mid-sixties which was a fine escape from a Texas summer in the mid-nineties.
The Queen Victoria Hotel was nestled among tree-lined parks and charming neighborhoods just two blocks from the inner harbor, ample shopping and the BC Royal Museum.
Our evening event was a private sunset sail on a tall ship. We needed to bring our own dinner and drinks, so we set out by foot to find dinner. Our first stop was the Strathcona Merchantile for some fine wine and local craft beer. Finding our first Canadian meal was a bit more challenging, but fortunately we found ourselves at the pier at Red Fish-Blue Fish for fresh seafood street food. Yes – street food. One word: Awesome (sung).
We located our tall ship Thane with First Mate Susan and Captain Lenard waiting for us along with their crew, Tuxedo Woods and Trinket McMuffin (two black and white domestic short-hair cats). During our outing, we learned from Susan’s rather sporadic and mostly dismal narration that she and Lenard spend their winters in Thailand (although they don’t speak a lick of Thai), Victoria’s municipal government makes poor decisions (reference the $92MM Johnson Street Drawbridge replacement project here and here), people pay stupid money to live in shoe-box sized boathouses (2.5MM+), and Victoria’s skyline is scared by the effects of mold remediation (several of its multi-story waterfront hotels were covered from top to bottom in green drapes). Her account sounded like any town in America. When Susan wasn’t talking, the sights and sounds of the water were delightful, the sunset was full and our foursome conversation flowed like our wine.
Once the sun put itself to bed, the rain clouds quickly rolled in and the temperature dropped like a stone. A chilly rain began to fall before we docked, so we took shelter in the nearby historical Empress Hotel where we wandered through its marble halls and ornate dining rooms.
The next morning we made a thirteen mile drive west to Sooke where we planned a morning of zip-lining through the Canadian forest. We started on a training zip line to learn safety rules from our guides. Then we took a military ATV up the side of a mountain to our first of seven progressive zip lines graduating to 1000 in length and 150 feet high. Amy was a little apprehensive about zip-lining, but she did great! We shared the experience with a family with two boys. Conner, the younger boy was only eight years old. Even with our encouragement he visibly shook with each leap over the edge. With each taller platform, Conner became increasingly hesitant. By the fourth zip-line, little Conner was frozen in fear. Half our group cheered to receive Conner on the other side. After several minutes, Conner finally came. We found out later his mom bribed him with unlimited video games for the remainder of the day. Ironically, with gusto he insisted leading the adventure to its conclusion.
The scenery was breathtaking. Below is a rough video I took with Becca’s hand-held Flip video camera.
Part 3: Pints and Gardens.
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QV closing
secondary smoke
fate of QV
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It was a plan in the making for the better part of a year and the masterful concoction of Lisa, Amy, Steve and myself.
Amy and Steve married just three weeks before Lisa and I exchanged nuptials. We’ve always been close, so having a week long 20th anniversary vacation in tandem with Amy and Steve sounded like great fun.
Although we first settled on Vancouver as our vacation destination, it wasn’t long before we realized Vancouver was also having their gay-pride celebration the same week. This boy was not interested in such distraction. The city of Victoria on Vancouver Island, however, had a bevy of activities that interested us: sailing, whale-watching, zip-lines, old-town charm, fantastic scenery and great food. (Well, Amy wasn’t so keen on the zip-lining at first, but she came around.) We also decided to fly in and out of Seattle because we wanted to visit old friends, the Stackhouses, and it was flat cheaper not to fly internationally. So, we made plans to take a ferry across to British Columbia.
Our entire flying experience with United Airlines was less than stellar. All of our flights were delayed causing us to miss every connection. We were fouled up so bad on the way home, our luggage beat us back by a full day and we were diverted through Denver for a complimentary overnight stay without clothes or a toothbrush. Thank goodness we didn’t let United’s poor performance keep us down. Every time one of us got a little grumbly, the others would encourage with laughter or gratitude. On the positive side, the delays gave us opportunities to visit over a fine craft beer or two.
Our first memorable experience was the flight out of Austin on a 50-seat regional jet CRJ 200. Our small aircraft hit a thunderstorm updraft sending our plane abruptly up and banking 30°. Drinks went arcing across the cabin like the Bellagio fountains, and someone’s tomato juice left a bloody trail on the ceiling and overhead bins before landing on Steve’s head and shirt. This unfortunate incident gave the flight attendants opportunities to comfort the passengers with extra creature comforts (no free drinks though), and Steve reason to shop for a new shirt at the airport. We reached Seattle after 11pm (PDT) after the Enterprise computers shut down. By the time we reached our hotel and checked in, we were spent.
On our first morning, Lisa and I met Heather Stackhouse down at historical Pike Place Market early for local coffee, flaky apricot pastries and a personal tour (Steve and Amy understandably slept in). We discovered ladies cutting fresh flowers behind mounds of bouquets, butchers throwing fish in the market, and farmers giving out samples of their sweet treats. Among the throng of shoppers, made up of an equal mix of beatniks and foreigners, were workers pushing their wagons of wares, street musicians and mimes, and clowns and cops.
Later on, we picked up Steve and Amy and drove on to Anacortes, Washington to catch a ferry to Sidney, BC. On our way to Anacortes we passed vineyards and timber yards. We passed lonely watering holes. One such forlorn saloon adorned a sign blinking, “Bikini Baristas.” We almost stopped to take a picture (of the sign).
The ferry trip to Sidney was spectacular, navigating west through the San Juan Islands. The Washington State owned-and-operated vessel was clean and comfortable. We didn’t encounter any whales abreast our boat, but we gawked at a lone sea otter pup floating on his back nearby. As we passed, he curiously stared back at us. It was mutual captivation.
Once we landed in Sidney and past through customs, it was a short drive to Victoria. We would have gotten to the Queen Victoria Hotel a lot sooner but the speed limits Canada were entirely too slow for us Texans: highway speeds averaged 70 kilometers/hour (45 miles/hour).
Part 2: Our sunset sail and zip-lining in the Canadian forests.
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Rebecca Sings in UIL Preview Concert
Tonight, the James E. Taylor High School Choral Department presented its UIL Preview Concert. The families of the performers enjoyed listening to what the students prepared for this spring’s competition. Rebecca’s choir, called Camerata, greatly improved since the Christmas concert. They are singing more balanced, with better dynamics and intonation. Choir was surprisingly challenging this year, but I can tell you (with some authority) Rebecca’s voice has developed greater power, improved diction and vowel shapes.
She was feeling mildly feverish tonight, but was required to participate since the concert counts as a test grade. Still, she looked and sounded marvelous!
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Justus Performs at Stanford Open
Back in January, Justus and I made a trip to the San Francisco Bay Area for his competition at Stanford University’s Stanford Open. Zach, a fellow athlete of Justus’ traveled with us.
We flew in the day before their Level-9 session which gave us an opportunity to attend the Open’s NCAA session where Nebraska, Cal State, Washington and Stanford Universities competed. The Pavilion was rockin’, sounding more like a WWF event than a gymnastics meet. Justus’ meets are comparatively quiet. I think it took Justus and Zach off-guard to see and hear so much enthusiasm from the student body.
The next morning we enjoyed an amazing buffet breakfast at the hotel, and went for a morning stroll along the San Francisco Bay. We also decided to search out a go-cart racepark for a few hours of fun before the big meet. We went to two places – both turned us away either because the boys were too young or Justus was too short. A major bummer. So, we settled for a game of putt-putt!
After catching a late lunch we drove back to campus and made our way into the Pavilion. Justus performed his season-high on Pommels, and tied his season-high on Rings and Parallel Bars. For Level-9, Age 12, he scored first place on Rings and Parallel Bars!
We celebrated by joining other teammates for frozen yogurt near campus. Afterwards, Zach, Justus and I headed back to the hotel where the boys enjoyed late night snacks, pillow fights and wrestling matches on the bed. It was a great day.
Unfortunately, Justus woke up the next morning ill. I mean really ill. I left the boys at the hotel while I ventured to a neighborhood drug store for a solution. We had a long journey home in front of us. I had to find something to keep his stomach malady in check. In the end though, nothing seemed to help. Thankfully, we made it successfully through every security check and leg of the flight without him puking, but it seemed like he was puking in a bag everywhere else. The boys were real troopers.
Below are photos of the trip and video of his performance. Enjoy!
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Urinetown? Never heard of it? Neither did I, nor was I thrilled about my daughter participating in such a crass-named buffoonery, until I read the credits of the production: twelve total Broadway awards, including Tony awards for Best Original Score and Best Direction of a Musical (2002).
As it turns out, Urinetown is a delightful musical comedy, poking fun at politics and abusive corporate greed, and includes satirical tips of the hat to other musicals such as Les Misérables and West Side Story — really all musicals in general.
“In an attempt to regulate water consumption, Urinetown has outlawed the use of private toilets. The citizenry must use public, pay-per-use amenities owned and operated by Urine Good Company, a malevolent corporation run by the corrupt Caldwell B. Cladwell.” — BroadwayMusicalHome.com
Rebecca played “Old Ma” Strong, the Mom to the main character who started a revolution against the municipal government and the corrupt Urine Good Company. She also danced in the ensemble as a police officer and rich bureaucrat.
Below are pictures from the production. Enjoy!
