June Highlights:
- We visit grandma’s house
- Lilah win’s Optimist Club scholarship and club president presents her with award
- Lilah plays Bohemian Rhapsody at piano recital and shares a moment with her instructor Mrs. Shelley afterwards
- Lilah graduates high school
- Cat attends big Les Mills instructor training on USS Midway
- Lilah celebrates birthday
Awards and Performances Continue for Lilah
Public Speech
This month, Lilah was again forced to come out of her introverted shell. Reluctantly, but focused and determined, she rose to the occasion, beginning with a 3-minute speech she gave to members of the Camarillo Optimist’s club, thanking them for the generous scholarship they awarded her. It was the first time I witnessed her give a speech in front of a crowd and I have to admit I was more nervous about it than she was. All I can say is I was blown away by her poise. Somehow, this high school senior got up there in front of people she didn’t know and proceeded to tell them her story.
Yes, she listed some of her key accomplishments, activities and interests, where even I learned some things I didn’t know such as her volunteering to write holiday cards for young girls in orphanages. She also talked about her future plans to go to UC Santa Cruz, study astrophysics, and eventually work for a company like JPL. But it was the way in which she did it that blew me away, interjecting humor along the way, some improvisation, and a heartfelt thank you to the club for their award and their belief in her. By the end of her speech, my eyes were watery, and my heart was full, as I marveled at the human being our daughter has become.
Piano Recital
The next big performance was her final piano recital where she played the 6-minute long Bohemian Rhapsody by her favorite band, Queen. The recital was held at a senior center and since the song was from the 70s many of the residents seemed to know the tune as I observed a few of them tapping along. Although she had a couple of hiccups in her play, for the most part she was solid and overall she seemed genuinely happy to have completed such a long song in from of a big group.
School District Award
Lilah also showed a sense of duty by attending the School District’s award ceremony for all the valedictorians in the district. She was the only one from her school to attend. She said she felt bad that nobody else seemed to be going so she showed up and represented her school on stage all by herself until the school principal came out and gave her a congratulatory handshake. Way to step up Lilah!
Graduation
And Lilah’s last big center of attention moment came at her high school graduation. She did not get up and give a speech or anything, but afterwards she took part in a “photo shoot” of sorts. I have a friend who is a professional photographer so I enlisted his help in taking some candid photos of the kids at school. But after the candids, we also took some posed pictures with family and various friends. Although Lilah was grateful for the beautiful photos, later that day, she did confess that she had received her attention quota for the day and was ready to recharge her batteries with some much needed chill time.
One of the coolest things Lilah did this month, came the day after her graduation when she went to her middle school and visited some of her old teachers, including her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Nakaba, who had a big influence on Lilah early on (when she was just starting her academic career ;)), as it was during kindergarten that she developed the quiet confidence she still possesses today. She even took this cute photo with Lilah — and here’s another sweet one of the two of them together so many years ago. Just so nice to see Lilah taking it upon herself to visit and show gratitude toward the people who have helped turn her into the person she is today.
I Compete in Admiral’s Cup Triathlon and Cat Attends Les Mills Instructor Training
Admiral’s Cup Triathlon
Not sure if I mentioned this, but I’ve been training a lot less this year because I haven’t really had the urge to compete much this year. Well, at least not compete in a way where I’m fighting hard for age group awards. In mathematical terms this means I’m training about 33% less than in past years. Oddly enough, that has only translated to about a 10% increase in my race times so it’s not that bad of a tradeoff when you think about it. Yes, that 10% is enough to knock me off the podium at the races I do, but I’m okay with that for now.
This means that these days I go into races with no expectations. I simply do them to have fun, stay somewhat sharp and encourage newcomers into the sport. Glad my buddy Greg talked me into doing a quick short race at the Pt Mugu military base. It was a beautiful day, we both had fun, and got a chance to hang out for breakfast afterwards. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday. Maybe my competitive juices will return again one day, but for now, I’m enjoying the scaled back training so that I can do other things, like go surfing with Luke, help Lilah get ready for college, watch the World Cup, and just be more available for doing things socially when the mood strikes.
Cat Attends Training on USS Midway
This month, Cat attended a Les Mills instructor training in San Diego. This training was quite unique however, as it occurred on the USS Midway aircraft carrier. Cat also got a chance to meet two of the more famous Les Mills instructors (Dan Cohen and Kylie Gates) as part of a meet and greet. Cat summed up the experience with this short blurb she recently posted on Facebook, which I thought was a great explanation of why she does what she does:
The most tiring two days but I would do it over again and again in a heartbeat! #lesmillslive #tr1be #AIM1 #bodycombat #bodypump #cxworx #24hourfitness Coming to these events, big and small, always re-energizes my Instructor-soul. The energy and passion that surrounds me is infectious and heartwarming
That’s all for now….more next month!