Friday 17 September 2010

Cross-country races are held way a-cross the city.

Jaclyn is running on the school cross-country team this year, and I'm feeling a little sorry for myself because I don't think I'm going to be able to go to any of her races.

(My friend was at the race this week to watch her own daughter and snapped this photo for me.)

The races are all at beautiful park locations not in our area of the city, and if there's a football practise I need to get Steven to, or a RS meeting I have to set up for (or both as was the case this week), watching Jaclyn run isn't doable.  I am glad she can drive herself and participate even though I can't be there.

The races conflict with Jaclyn's piano lessons, so I suggested she trade lesson days with Carmen and Chloe the rest of the season.  Only Carmen and Chloe need me to drive them to piano lessons - I shot myself in the foot with that one.  The piano switch works well for making Jaclyn available on race days, just not me!

So I know Jaclyn feels like this week wasn't her best race, but judging from the picture she wasn't last with all the bystanders in the photo looking behind her . . .

That's all I've got since I couldn't be there.  The identities of Jaclyn's teammates are trickling in gradually.  Like when she tells me she is giving Auburn a ride to the race and I say
'I didn't know Auburn was on the team'.  Then Jaclyn tells me that she just assumed I assumed Auburn was running cross country.  (Which is why she didn't mention Auburn when I specifically asked who else is running cross country.)  This morning over breakfast I was telling Jaclyn a story about learning about the seating plan in physics class at meet-the-teacher last night, which reminded Jaclyn of the fact that Matthew won his category at cross-country this week.  'Matthew is in cross-country?' I asked.  Well, I don't know for sure, but maybe she mentioned  that one to me back when I asked her who was on the team.

One other thing about cross-country is Jaclyn is organizing the team to dedicate their long-run practise next week as a Terry Fox Run.  It was something she noticed when she got to high school - that the Canadian school tradition of running to raise money for cancer research disappears after grade 9.  She actually asked the Leadership teacher back in grade 10 about organizing a Terry Fox Run, but he declined. ( I find the committees she's on at school a little frustrating.  It seems like Student Voice, Social Justice Club, and the Environmental Club are all there to teach kids to take 'no' for an answer.)  So rather than organizing a school-wide event, Jaclyn is distributing sponsor sheets to the cross-country kids today and together they'll see how much they can raise as a team.  Hopefully in years to come the event will grow and expand to include more of the school.

BTW: Here's a little tidbit I learned:  I shouldn't be double spacing between sentences anymore.  That was a typewriter thing; it no longer applies with modern typography on computers.  But I just can't help myself!  It's a reflex!

5 comments:

Jill said...

Life is crazy, it is difficult to be everywhere we need to be, it must be wonderful that Jaclyn can drive herself to places.

It took me quite awhile to unlearn the double space as well.

Neighbor Jane Payne said...

I'll feel badly for you that you miss Jaclyn's races. I hate missing out on things like that.

I love how devoted your kids are to raising money/awareness for causes.

Marie said...

Why are you not supposed to double space after a period on a computer? I always do!

Tiffany said...

Good for Jaclyn!

I double space--it's a hard habit to break. When I text (very limitedly!) my phone converts my double spaces into a ". " It's actually quite helpful and buggy at the same time.

Amanda said...

Ooooh. I think I double space too! I never thought about it. It was how I learned to type back in the 1990s oh so long ago.