Race Report: Memorial Day Crit.

It was a milestone day at Casa Alarcon this weekend, as the 11 year-old participated in her first bicycle race. She’s been asking to try racing for about a year, and we finally agreed since the race would be a criterium, with only 4 girls participating (thus addressing Helicopter Mom’s concerns about crashes).  I was thrilled to see her keep up with the 2 girls who had racing experience.  I was even more happy to hear her tell the story of the race after the event:

-          “We agreed early on that we would take turns leading – at each turn, the person in back would move into the front.”

-          “Last year, the 2 experienced girls raced together. When one of them crashed, the other waited for her. It was only fair.”

-          “But they weren’t going to give each other any room at the finish – you still want to win.”

-          “We thought we would each take our own line at the end. But we would work together until then.”

If the race had been 1 lap shorter, Gabriella would have held strong.  As it was, she finished 3rd by ¼ lap. Once she got her breath back, she went over to congratulate the girl who finished 4^th on completing the race.  While waiting for the awards, all the girls – both this age group and the next – were chatting, rehashing the race, and goofing around together. 

I loved seeing the camaraderie throughout the event.  It’s a great reminder that even in competitions, there is a sense of alignment.  These girls are doing something not many others can, or choose to.  They can be proud of their own accomplishments and still support each other.  What a great lesson to learn at 11. 

 [NB: I'd prefer to post the pic of all 3 racers, but since I don't have parental permission, we'll go with this one!]

Eleven

I never believed in the concept of a 'Tween. Frankly, I thought it was a gimmick dreamed up by the folks at Disney to keep the money flowing when girls are past the princess stage.  But, I am standing (sitting...) here today to issue a correction. Gentle Readers, behold my Tween:

So, now that we know a Tween actually does exist - how would we know to identify one? A few pointers, from my position of vast experience.  

1. She reads the Twilight books over and over. Usually while wearing her footy pajamas.
2. She texts all the time, to the 3 other friends who have phones.
3. She plays the Glee videos on YouTube again and again. Unless she's watching Wizards of Waverly Place.
4. Her iPod is constantly playing Katy Perry, Glee, or Pink. Or any Broadway musical song you can sing to in the mirror.
5. She is obsessed with getting her hair to lie perfectly flat. But can't remember the last time she showered.
6. She runs on pasta, apples and soy pudding, plus anything you can buy from Powell's Sweet Shoppe.
7. She only wants to wear clothes from Abercrombie & Fitch. But she can't understand why they have such revealing models in their ads.
8. She tries on said clothes, and realizes that only the T-shirts fit (if you roll up the sleeves to your elbows.) Needs another 3 inches to make the jeans work.
9. She can't wait to go en pointe in ballet. By the way today's theme dress for dance class is purple. As chosen by the tween and her dance BFFs, without notifying the teacher.
10. She wishes Mom would help out more at school, but is mortified that we brought cupcakes to her class at the end of the day today.

She is 11 today. She's bright, beautiful, and a constant source of laughter and happiness.  Happy Birthday!

The Sunday Salon: 2010 in Review

I've always been a reader. It's my way of keeping sane. It's how I turn off the voices in my head at night so I can sleep. Other people meditate. I read.

Friends often ask how I can read so much. I've often wondered how much is "so much". So last year, I decided to try an experiment and track how much I read. This wasn't done with a goal of increasing my reading, or changing reading behaviors. I just thought it would be interesting to measure how much I read.

I decided to keep this simple, so I used Goodreads. For each book I attempted in 2010, I tagged it to a specific shelf, added a rating and the month I finished. Sometimes I added a review; more often I didn't. Again, reviewing wasn't the point. This was really just a thought experiment.

And after a yearlong experiment, I can now report. "So much" = 22,168 pages. That's 52 books completed, and another 6 attempted but abandoned.  I'm amused that it turned out to be roughly 1 book/week, although that really wasn't the goal. A few surprises also stood out in the data.  Roughly 25% of the books were  Non-fiction/Memoir, which is higher than I expected.  Only 2 books were re-reads. That's lower than I expected, and may lead me to rethink how many books I actually should be keeping on the bookshelves.  However 1/3 of the books are either by authors I've read before, or authors who I read multiple books from this year. So there's a high degree of familiarity on the list. 

All in all, I liked this experiment. It's nice to look back on the year remembering the books I read, thinking about how they reflect my needs at the time, and how they impacted my outlook as well.  It's an experiment worth turning into a habit and continuing into 2011.  Why not join me? You can add me as a friend, or follow me on Goodreads - or start your own tracking project. 

Cheers to good reading in 2011!