Back to "Normal"

It's been a few weeks and the holidays are done. We are about to get busy with the everyday things again. Owen has been back to school for over a week now, and had one night of wrestling competition last week. He will have 3 days of it this week. At Mexico Tuesday, Home Thursday, and tournament in Chillicothe on Saturday. If Chillicothe is the same as last year, it will be a very long day. The pictures are a little backwards: most recent to a while ago. Owen has a couple more wins since break ended.

Professional photos are always better than mine.

Win against Owensville

This was during Max's match. I love this.

Max got the takedown to win the match.

It was so good!

Gracie made an appearance.

She couldn't make it to the first dual, but saw Owen's second match and Nova's senior day.

just more wrestling pics

Meanwhile in Columbia...

Full circle moment

Gracie sent me a pic of her in the cold tubs at the football facility.

Seems very surreal.

2019

Nick helped with the SEZ construction project which was completed in summer 2019.

He was able to take us through the amazing facility prior to the team taking over.

This is Gracie next to one of the pools that she would use as a student-athlete almost 6 years later.

CRAZY.

Gracie and Owen both in the cold/hot tub area.

Conditioning/Fitness test

Gracie dove right in on January 4.

She passed the run test.

She also left me a note.

This makes my day and reminds me how lucky I am that she is still so close.

She brought all of her gear home to wash, but forgot her coat.

Owen is keeping it safe for her here.

Less than a week after her graduation party, Gracie moved out of her room in Ashland and into a dorm in Columbia. It was a very busy week, getting things done and packed. I had this feeling that after her practices started, she wouldn't have much time to do anything except play softball and go to school. We took some things up to Columbia on January 1 and 2. Made some trips to Homegoods, Marshalls, and a few other places so she could pick out things to make her room her home for the next 5 months. Thursday night was a little rough, sleeping at home for the last night, preparing for some big changes, and not quite knowing what to expect.

But Friday morning came very quickly and the first thing Gracie was scheduled to do was her medical exam in Columbia. That took awhile. After an hour at MOI, her athletic trainer met us back at MATC to go over some more things with her and make sure she filled out all of the necessary medical/health forms. There are a lot. Then we did a lot of driving around and figuring things out. We went to campus to try to get her student ID, but the ID office was not open until Monday. Then we went back to MATC and talked to the person in compliance to get her set up for housing. She needed a temporary ID for that. We went to her dorm and took some things there, then went to run some errands, then back to her dorm. I left to go home late afternoon, and she stopped by before she picked up a couple friends to go watch Chase play basketball.

Nick helping move stuff up to her dorm room

Outside her door

Getting settled in

Nick helped her hang her wall decor.

She bought a rug and throw pillows, brought in a TV, stand and a few other things to help the space feel more like home. When we visited back in November, neither of the girls who lived there had done much with the common area. I still don't know if it will get used all that much, but it looks a little more welcoming now. Student-athletes just are not home that often.

Entering the building.

You have to use a code both to get in and out of the building.

It has been over a week since Gracie has moved out. She has been home a few times, but has been pretty busy with softball. She was at MATC or Devine for over 9 hours straight one day. It is very true that student-athletes have two full time jobs. Student and Athlete. She made it home for Owen's wrestling meet last week and she and Chase came over for dinner last Friday night. Even on their day off they had things scheduled. They had a team lunch, nails appointment, massages, etc. I know. Pretty strenuous activities.

It is very strange not having Gracie at home. I mean, she wasn't home a lot before she moved out, but now she has somewhere else to sleep, as well. I'm still trying to figure everything out. So many challenging dynamics. I can't start to explain all my thoughts right now; it's just a lot of change that we're navigating.

Prior to Christmas

I mentioned in a previous post that we had another 2 day tournament in Harrisonville. We were at this tournament last year, as well, where Owen placed 5th. He had another great first day and some very tough 2nd day competition. He was 4-0 in pool matches, which put him in the top bracket again. He won the first bracket match, then wrestled a returning 3rd place winner from state last year, who was also undefeated so far this year, and remained that way. So, Owen had an opportunity for 3rd. However, he came up a little short and got caught and pinned. That opponent placed 5th last year. Very unfortunate, but hopefully a learning experience.

Day 1

High 5 from Coach

Still Day 1 - last match of the day

I stayed in the same hotel as the team, but of course drove myself, so did not have to follow their schedule. It was a pretty uneventful night and early morning again. The tournament was run pretty well, for the most part, with the exception of a little hiccup prior to the placement matches.