Many thanks to Misha and Beth for hosting this hop!!!
It's been a whirlwind month - although more focused than last month. Last month, I had five things happening at once. This month, I had two things happening, slightly overlapped.
1. School started. This means that I started teaching three classes at a local home-school co-operative, and my oldest started her second year of a dual credit program at a nearby community college as a senior in high school while my youngest started a combo of online, home, tutored, and public school classes (a little wild for scheduling, but the perfect fit for her).
2. My kids competed at the Olympic Hopes Regatta in Szeged, Hungary. And I, with the help of some other parents, managed to take a super-fast trip to Amsterdam, Budapest, and Szeged. I put out a few facebook posts via instagam on my phone, but connectivity was spotty throughout the whole trip. I came home to over 40 e-mails from students, three rejection e-mails for short stories, and some other e-mails that I still need to tackle. I also received an ARC in the mail. (It has been fun to read, but I'm still working on the review.)
Words Written: 21,000 (mostly before I left.)
Miles Walked: 47 (over half of this happened on the trip)
Miles Biked: 0 - yikes!
(Short Stuff) Story, poem, and article status: 3 rejections, 1 "on hold for one more month" e-mail, and 18 pending response.
Marketing - none, except a slightly slower automated twitter feed. Sales are down, but more paperbacks sold than normal.
W.I.P. Novel - complete change of direction and topic. I'm playing with an idea based on King Belos the Blind of Hungary and Queen Helena, his wife (originally from Poland). These two royals don't have mega-statues in any of the big tourist spots that I visited, but I happened across them in a strange cross-referencing kind of way and an idea sparked. (I just have to see if it's going to light an actual bonfire that lights up a full novel.) Or, I might write a story about a girl at the girl's school that was the first group to use the Castle in Budapest. Or, I might change direction . . . again.
Pics from the trip - because you expected them, right?
Picture of the Parliament Building on the Blue Danube in Budapest.
Pic taken from Castle Hill.
Picture of St. Matyas Church on Castle Hill in Budapest.
This is the most beautiful church I have ever visited and I've seen St. Paul's Cathedral, Notre Dame, and the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. - St. Matyas Church is worth a visit if you are ever in Central Europe.
The Labyringth of Catacombs under Castle Hill is extensive. In the tourist-friendly portion, there is an exhibit on Dracula - because this is where the historical Dracula was imprisoned and tortured. His grave, or at least a representation of it, is down there, too.
The steam is natural because Budapest is home to many hot springs.
They have a section that is without lights to give visitors the full effect. My friends and I were bad and turned on our cell-phones so we didn't stumble down any wells (there were two with grates over them) or run into walls.
My youngest daughter's K4 team boat (in blue). The girl in the front is the daughter of a girl I played soccer with in elementary school - we didn't make the connection until we were in Budapest. (Seriously wild. small world stuff.)
2016 OHR Team USA with a camera running low on battery power.
Awesome athletes and coaches.
My oldest daughter, sick with a bad cold, had the courage to go out and race 1000m when many other female canoeists from several teams declined that distance.
She had her worst time ever, took 9th place, and earned a point for Team USA at the regatta.
I am proud of her for having the courage to go out and race, even in tough circumstances, against girls whose arms were bigger than her legs.
My youngest didn't make any "final" races but raced hard in her heats and semi-finals. She always has her eyes on the finish line, no matter the distance.
We came home, she rested one day, and then started doing body weight workouts the second day home. She's hoping to qualify and compete at the 2017 Olympic Hopes Regatta, which may be in Romania, Bulgaria, or the Czech Republic.
Biggest news for Team USA at the 2016 Olympic Hopes Regatta: two young women took a bronze medal in a C2 (two person canoe) for the 500m distance.
This is huge. The USA doesn't usually medal at this event.
Our results by the numbers can be found here: "Ghizila and Crocker Win Bronze."
And, a local newspaper had an article: Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Racing Team canoeist wins bronze medal in Hungary
My kids both get mentioned by name in there, so it's kind of cool. :)
22 comments:
Congrats to your girls. They did their best under the circumstances.
The church is gorgeous. I'm sure you took a ton of photos.
Happy to hear the ARC arrived.
Your daughters are awesome! You should all be proud! :)
Love the pics, especially the one of the Labyrinth entrance. Creepy stuff.
Sorry your daughter was sick. That took guts to do it anyway. Sure you're really proud of both of them.
Roaming around those catacombs would be cool.
What gorgeous pictures!!
I think you can excuse yourself from the bike after walking 47 miles!!
Your girls sound amazing!
Diane - thanks! And yes, they did!
Madeline - I'm definitely proud of them. It wan an intense event and they did great!
Alex - yes, I definitely am! And, roaming around was cool and fun!
Elizabeth -thanks! I think my girls are pretty amazing, too. :)
Congrats to your daughters for their amazing efforts! Sorry your daughter was sick during the competition. A ninth place finish while battling a cold is pretty impressive. Fantastic photos! Thanks for sharing them. It sounds like you had a great time.
Thanks, Lori! I did have a great time. I also had some worrisome times . . . as a mom. My kids and several other athletes ended up with the cold and their hotel was not the nicest place. However, they stuck it out and did well.
The pics of Budapest were gorgeous, and congrats to your daughter. "Arms were bigger than her legs"- Holy crap!
Oh my, what fabulous photos! And it sounds like a great trip, too! Best of luck with October :)
Great photos. Must've been a fantastic trip!
Holy cow! Yes, that is a busy month. Congrats to your kids. That's impressive. Really nice photos.
And you got some words down too. Congrats!
CWMartin - yeah - the arm size of some of the athletes was remarkable. My oldest is from the "lean" side of the family so it's not likely she's going to get huge shoulders and arms, but we did see a few canoeists from Canada who were lean and strong so we know it's not all about arm size.
And, thanks!
Meradeth - it was great! Thanks!
Olga - it was one of the more amazing trips I've taken. And, thank you!
HR - thank you!!!
Wow, you had quite a full month, and congratulations to your girls for their achievements. Just sticking to the training schedule and competitions is definitely an achievement especially when not feeling well. Thanks for sharing the Budapest post. I've always wanted to go there and hope to make it soon.
I would love to visit Budapest, enjoyed your pictures. I don't usually take my computer when we travel so I can take a break and try to write without being drawn to facebook, emails and other sorts of communications. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. Enjoyed your post.
Hi Tyrean! The photos of the rowing are so great, I love to see your children in competition. I'm sorry your daughter wasn't feeling her best for the race, but good for her for trying hard anyway.
What a busy time for you! I hope you had a chance to relax a little this weekend :)
Blessings,
Ceil
Looks like you had a fabulous trip - congrats to your daughters for taking part and racing their best. Wow - you're busy! I hope you've waded through all those emails now.
Lovely photos! As someone who's never left the US, I can't imagine how amazing it was to see all this in person. And many congrats to your daughters! This is beyond impressive...
Love the photos and that's awesome you and your girls got to take that trip together :)
Lynn - the wildest part for me is that Budapest wasn't up there on my top ten travel list, but my girls were going to compete so I went and I was awed by how beautiful Hungary is.
Betty - I only had my computer open one day and wished I hadn't taken it with me. Connectivity was spotty beyond phone data - and that had it's rough moments, too.
Ceil - Thanks! My daughters both had a great time meeting athletes from all over the world. As my oldest now says, "the sun never sets on paddlers."
Annalisa - Thanks! and yes, I think I waded through all the old e-mails and now there are new ones! :) Such is life.
Heather - Thanks!!! I say - if you want to travel, look for ways to make it happen. There are always some decent deals out there - B&B's in Europe are basically airbrbs for less than anything we pay for American hotels. The library always has good travel books, and youtube has some great resources for "best places to see" and things like that.
Marcy - Thanks! We actually traveled slightly separately. They were with Team USA and I went with friends a few days later. They stayed in a team hotel with multiple teams, and we stayed in a different hotel. Athletes and coaches were protected by security at the venue - it was ironic visiting my kids from outside of a fence with a security guy glaring at me, until their coach gave them leave to hang out with me. :)
Looks like a wonderful trip! I've always wanted to visit Central Europe. :-)
Your pictures are fabulous, Tyrean. And that word count is darned impressive!
Misha - you definitely have to go someday!
C.Lee - thanks!!! The word count thing just happened - not sure how.
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