Last Day of Summer Break

It was a pretty quiet day today.  Madison was practicing her form today, because tomorrow night is a big night for her at taekwondo.  She'll be testing for her blue belt, and the most challenging aspect of most of these tests is the part where she demonstrates the proper form.  She has this routine, going from kick to pose to punch to jump to kick to twist to ... well, you get it.  She needs a little more space to do this sort of thing, and the great room here is about the best we can do, although it certainly is no martial arts studio.  The end result is an abbreviated version of the form, something a little more mental than the actual routine itself.  And that's really where the biggest challenge of all is:  knowing what move to do next.  She sits there like one of those ski athletes before a big slalom, practicing in her mind, her eyes closed and her head twisting this way and that as she mentally goes through the different moves.  She's gone through it enough, and after last week, she's feeling much more confident than before about the testing.  She's certain she'll earn that blue belt, and after the long summer of sacrifice, she's certainly earned it in our eyes.

There was some piano practice today, but not that much.  We'll start that up in earnest soon enough, as piano lessons are also starting with the beginning of the school year.  Madison will be keeping herself busy soon enough, after a nice, long, lackadaisical stretch of the summer break.  At least it seems that way when compared to the breakneck pace of June.

She didn't go to church tonight, and the reason for that is that tomorrow is the first day of school.  We wanted her to get enough sleep, and she wanted that too.  Not only that, it's good to go into that first day prepared and all cleaned up too.  Madison had a nice long, relaxing bath, and she got all her supplies and material ready for the big day.  After prayers, she got to bed early tonight, although she probably didn't fall asleep for another hour or so.  It's difficult adjusting to a new schedule, but that will come within a week, especially after getting up an hour earlier than normal.  We don't have to get up terribly early for middle school, but it is certainly earlier than it has been lately.

Daddy was able to come home from work for a bit, but not for too long.  Summer break is over, but summer moving along with such an intense and unpleasant humidity.  It's difficult to remain outside for too long, even under overcast skies.  It's just a hot, muggy atmosphere, even at night.  You just know rain is on the way, and it does come, and it goes, and it's still muggy afterwards.  Slight breezes during the rainstorms cool things a little, but then things move on and we're back to muggy again.  We've got plans again this Saturday for going somewhere, but we may plan for indoor activities.  We'll go and do some things locally again - it was fun last week hitting a few of the museums.  Maybe we'll do another one this weekend!