Did you miss me?

The last time I wrote anything here was before Thanksgiving. It's now March. For those of you who check here regularly, sorry about that. It's been hectic.

What have I been doing? Well, let's see. I went to South Carolina after Christmas to spend a few days with the fam. We were all together for the first time in a long time, so that was really nice. It's always good to see my siblings and their small fry. I wish we lived closer so we could get together more often. But we've all carved out lives for ourselves in our corners of the world, and it's hard to move those carvings. So, I treasure the brief moments we do get to spend together.

Of course I've been working. That is my life, you know. November, December, January and February are always full of basketball and wrestling, so my life is full of the same. I got to cover a couple dozen wrestlers at the state tournament, which was really fun. None made the finals, which was unusual, but four earned medals. While everyone wants to be a state champion, winning a medal (the top six get them) is pretty impressive.

Then there's basketball. Three of my girls' teams qualified for the state tournament through the wild card option. None made the finals, but two at least got to the semifinals, which is good. One of my boys' teams got to the state tournament for the first time since 1984. Their coach wasn't even born yet. I was in junior high. I feel old.

At the college level, one of the Concordia wrestlers finished as national runner-up, and another (who happens to be from Milford and I covered when he was in high school) finished sixth, earning his third All-American honor. The women's basketball team received one of the four No. 1 seeds in the national tournament and is ranked No. 2 in the country. Pretty cool!

Our staff decided to choose words for the year, each picking one we felt we wanted to be our "guide" or something. I chose the word "focus." Not only does that play on what I do with a camera (ha, ha), but it's also something I sometimes struggle with. My mind sometimes wanders when it shouldn't, and I don't always use my time wisely. So, focus is a good goal. We wrote our words on rocks that we leave on our desks (currently), so they're a good reminder.

I'm currently reading "Reflections on the Psalms" by C.S. Lewis. I don't necessarily agree with everything he thought, but seeing a different perspective isn't necessarily a bad thing. I've also started rereading Laura Childs's Tea Shoppe Mysteries which are easy reading but a fun escape. I haven't finished "The Return of the King" yet, but I will. I just can't take it to lunch with me because I know the end will make me cry. (I know. It's just a story. But I get attached to characters almost as much as I do to real people. And good-byes make me cry anyway.)

I got to see "Star Wars: Rogue One" which I liked. I also saw "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" which was really fun. I wasn't sure what the filmmakers would do since the book is basically an encyclopedia of magical creatures. They created a good story to go with some of the creatures and the book's author.

So, in a nutshell, that's where I've been. Sorry it's been so long. I'll try to do better.