Tough Decisions

I hate hate hate having to make tough decisions when it involves Midget. I am not averse to making tough decisions normally, yes I consider them carefully but once Mel and I make the decision I am fine with it. With Midget it is so different. I agonize over them.

Case in point is gymnastics. We have been going to the same gym for the last 2 years and it has been a home away from home for us. The owner and coaches have instilled a deep love and desire for this sport in my daughter and I am forever grateful to them for it. When she made the team she was given a choice to do gym or dance, and since then she has not looked back once. That was a good decision.

But now we have decided to pull her from that gym and move her elsewhere.

And I hate it.

We love the owner, we love the coaches. We trust them. We know that we can leave Midget with them and everything will be fine. We felt like part of the family. And to go with that we know that there is no such thing as the perfect gym. So what is the problem?

Consistency.

While each of the coaches is wonderful, ok, most are. There is little consistency between them. Midget was once taught the same skill over 3 days by 3 coaches in 3 ways. She was getting confused. She was getting upset. And so was I.
I think it would have helped had there been a clear leader among the coaches, an actual head coach. One that made sure everyone was consistent and really ran the team. But we didn’t have that.

So we are moving to a new gym. In fact today is the last day at the old gym. The owner knows we are leaving and I don’t think there are hard feelings. I hope not anyway. Based on what Mel told me I believe the door is still open if we end up hating the new gym. I am glad about that. I am really really glad about that. I feel like we have a safety net.

But I am still agonizing over this. The owner indicated to Mel that she will be putting a coach in charge of each level. Which, as I mentioned above, is the major problem that we feel needed addressing.



I think we are making the right decision, but I can’t help but agonize over it.

The current healthcare bills blow

So let me see if I have this straight.

Both houses in Congress have passed healthcare reform bills that equal about 4,000 pages. One has a public option and one does not. Both were created under the argument that all Americans, being equal, deserve to have the same access to health insurance. Not health care, health insurance. They have decided that this goal is so important that they are willing to ignore public sentiment (as is their right, they don’t have to poll their voters prior to making a decision) and go ahead even as they acknowledge they will most likely not be re-elected.

But…

Congress themselves are exempted from any and all of the various requirements. They get to keep their own plan forever and ever and it is not considered a “Cadillac” plan.

Some states, because their senators’ votes were in question, got sweetheart deals that basically mean they do not have to pay for any of it.

Public employees and union members do not have to pay the 40% tax on “Cadillac” plans until after 2017, though that date could be renegotiated in the future.

So my questions are as follows:

If this is such a great plan why is Harry Reid trying to sneak language in that essentially makes it impossible to repeal? Something not allowed under the current rules and he does not have the votes to actually pass. Which essentially means that the passage of the bill as written is illegal anyway.

If this is such a great plan why is Congress exempt?

If all Americans are equal how come the majority of the states will be paying for the few that got bought off? If this was such a great plan that would have hardly been needed right?

Why are the unions getting preferential treatment? I mean I know the answer but seriously?

I am not ready to say that we should vote out every incumbent but if someone is coming up for re-election and they voted for either of these piece of crap bills show them the door! Passing something with the idea that it will be fixed later is idiotic.

One last thought…

If you voted for Obama. Good call!

Meet Report

Midget had her 2nd to last meet Sunday in the UAGL league which is a non-sanctioned relaxed meet. Several of you may recall this is the meet that has the fun announcer that likes to tease the girls a bit during the awards.

We were really looking forward to this one since it is so low key and just fun after the stress of qualifying and competing at States. Plus we are prepping for the last meet which is the Magical Classic in Orlando next month.

The last few weeks have seen Midget and one of her partners in crime uptraining during practices more than anything else but she did spend the last practice before the meet working on the L3 routines.

But I digress.

First up was floor. She has been really consistent but not great on floor all year but she was looking really solid during warm ups. The judge was flying through the girls and I had looked down at my phone and missed the Midget was up. And the camera was still off. OH NO!! But anyway, she did a great job, held the handstand prior to rolling out of it, and looked very pretty. Scored 8.9 and I was ecstatic!!

On to vault. As you all have heard this is her nemesis. Her run has always been bad and she was taught the old dive roll instead of a handstand-forward roll. But she has been working on the L4 vault, which she is much better at, and her coach told her to do the L4 handstand and just roll. She did very well on her first one and got an 8.4. Again I was thrilled.

Bars. She has her Mill Circle now and we were very hopeful on bars this meet. Of course there is always a danger on that mill but her warmups looked good. But the last time she had this judge she got a 6.4. She gave a bit of a second hop on her mount but feet together and toes pointed. Everything was nice and tight and straight. Leg cuts were awesome, and she nailed the Mill! She did bend her front leg as she stopped it but who cares! Score: 9.2!! WOW!!!

Now beam. Midget's best event. She was solid as always so not much to say. She scored a 9.25.

All-Around: 35.75

Placements;
Vault: 2nd
Bars, Beam, Floor, AA: 1st

Midget was on cloud nine. She can't wait for the Magical Classic next month.

She also has not figured out that she is being promoted for sure to L4, even though we know she is. But she wants it so bad. LOL.