Good to be Back

Ha!  This was funny.  As Edge ATA was only able to take about twelve people at a time this week due to social distancing, they asked us to make "reservations."

So I wrote an email asking for a spot for Madison last week, also asking for "reservations for two at your finest table in the back, seating with a nice view, a pleasant flower arrangement, and a dinner menu in place."

So they had this set up at the counter there for me!  That was funny, and it was also just such a super sweet time together for all of us.  For weeks, we've been doing this online, and it will continue that way for many others choosing to do things online each Tuesday and Thursday.

But each of these cushions is wiped down, and the floor is mopped, and shoes have to be left outside the mat, and each of these cushions is so far apart.

Daddy was snapping these pictures to share with everyone, just to get the word out.  Let's climb out of these holes we've been in.  Seriously, this place is just as clean as the grocery stores in the county.  We trust this place, and knew it was time to help support them.  There were only about seven kids to start out with here, but it's a start, and it's such a warm atmosphere of joy and hope.

There were two girls there, and a few boys as well, and with the exception of the distance, everything was as a typical training could be.  There was exercise to begin with, warm-ups with jumping jacks, running in place, and push-ups too.

The kids all worked on their form today, each with varying degrees of difficulty.  All of these students did exceptionally well on their first day back, because all along they've been working from home on their technique, as well as following along online.

They spent time with their nunchucks too, of course, just as we've been doing from home.  This class couldn't be as long as the usual class was, but that was just fine with Madison and all the others.  It was just so good to be back.

This studio will be filled with kids again soon, and it's great to see just the start of things.  You could tell the instructors felt the same way.

Obviously, they were all learning a bit more today.  With a smaller amount of students, the teachers had the ability to focus more on individuals who needed to make slight changes or adjustments.  But for the most part, that wasn't as necessary for this.  All the students here today have been doing the online classes, practicing, and following along at home, keeping up with it.  Moving forward, despite not going anywhere.

You can see Mrs. Edge here helping Madison with her form.  The two instructors worked hard to set things up here, and are working out the different phases of the studio, as to when to have people fully back again.

One wonderful surprise of the day was the unexpected earning of a second stripe.  The first stripe was earned online, and this one was earned in person.  Each belt was placed on top of a cushion there, and one by one, the students each got a second stripe, one towards their next belt.  That's #2 of 3, for those of you keeping score, the next stripe meaning they're good to advance.

With Madison, that simply means she gets a brown belt decided, whereas she currently has a brown belt recommended.  It's another brown belt, but it's the decided one, which is basically saying, "yep, she really earned it."  All of these kids really earned these next belts though, and I think this one will always be super special.

This is the one they'll always look back upon, and they'll remember the unique challenges they overcame to earn this belt.  Madison will always remember the brown belt as the one she earned during one of the most difficult times in her life.  It's great to see these kids pushing forward, and punching through all these challenges anyway.

That's what makes the class so great, really.  It's more than just the physical actions and discipline, but a spirit of overcoming things that has rested upon this class of kids.  They're champions.

We drove home afterwards, and Daddy got a lot of ice cream for our champion in the house.  It is Taco Tuesday, so we did have tacos today.  But we also had Choco Tacos too!  That's right, we got the taco ice cream as well, and even set it up on the little plastic taco trucks on the plates there.

Madison did a lot of school work today, pretty much the same things she's been doing lately:  "The Outsiders," Africa, and studying animals for math enrichment.  Yes, I know that makes no sense.  But she's chosen the black bear as a thing to study for math enrichment, as it is one that has been locally seen.  In fact, there was one spotted in a community not far from here, and last year of course we had one in our neighborhood right here.  Black bears are a big part of the story of the Smoky Mountains, so that may be fun to study as well.

Tonight's feature movie was "At World's End," which is such a convoluted mess, but it's fun.  The music is unforgettable in these first three movies, and even the fourth one.  I think that's one thing that makes a movie series so great - an unforgettable soundtrack.  Even now, we've all got different pirate themes going off in our heads.

We were reading tonight from Narnia, and we were praying too, of course.  We were praying for Ba-Ba, and for our nation - for all those small businesses to get back to work, to have money for families to survive in the coming year, and to bounce back.  To have the same spirit as these kids in class today, punching through adversity, and becoming champions.