2010: A quick recap

Can you believe it's 2011 already! 2010 just seemed to come and go so quickly. So much happened last year.

1. Nicholas enjoyed another year of sports success. He played AAU basketball again. In early 2010, he was a part of the Scorpions (a team that Mat pulled together and coached). Then came KN baseball. A less-than-stellar regular season (attributed to a less-than-stellar Minor A draft position). However, his skill was noticed as he was selected to the KN 10 Year Old All-Star. They had some bumps along the way, but ended the season with a 2nd place finish at State (beating their rival, KA All-Stars, in the process). September paved the way for his first year of tackle football. Although the Rams "C" Team didn't make the playoffs, our "B" Team did. Nick and 2 teammates were invited to "play up" during the playoffs and during the semi-final game, Nick intercepted the Tigers' QB late in the game. A win took them to the Super Bowl (played at Lampson Field). Another win gave them the Super Bowl title. Round two of AAU picked up right away with Nick playing on a different team (the Lil Braves), along with several of his KN All-Stars teammates. Instead of playing in the league, the Braves are only playing tournaments. You win some, you lose some....and they experienced both.

2. Samantha's dance year was incredible! As a member of the Intermediate Company, she was cast in the lead role for "Peter and the Wolf", one of the pieces that MCB chose for their spring performance. She continued to excel during the year and into the "End of Year" recital. She danced in numbers for musical theatre, jazz, ballet, triple threat, and pointe (our favorite was the jazz piece to "Black and Gold"). In the summer, she and several dancer took their first solo trip via airplane to Jackson, Mississippi, for the 2010 International Ballet Competition (held every 4th year in the USA). She had a truly wonderful time, getting to take classes from high caliber dance instructors and watching the Olympics of ballet each night. In the summer, her hard work was rewarded when she received an invitation to audition for the Senior Company. Along with 2 fellow Intermediate Company dancers, she is now one of 20 dancers in the Senior Company. This meant she had 3 parts in this year's Nutcracker (Fairy, English, and Flowers)...which she danced beautifully!

3, New vehicle: Our 1996 Accord was starting to show its age so it was time to get a new car. We went "green" with a blue Honda Insight (hybrid) which gets 40+ mpg. We LOVE the way it looks and the mileage it gets!

4. Mat's calendar has been full of all things sports as he coached (Scorpions) and assistant coached (Lil Braves) Nick's AAU basketball teams, coached (HPT) and assistant coached (KN All-Stars) Nick's baseball teams, and coached Nick's Grid Kids tackle football team. He also served on the KN Board as the Minor B Representative and fielded fantasy football and basketball teams. And tries to fit in a game or two basketball on Thursday nights, when he can.

5. This was the first year that I did not make it to a scrapbook convention or retreat. Yes, I missed that. And yes, I hope to get to one in 2011. Once again, I am co-House Manager for MCB's Nutcracker (sharing duties with my friend, Mary). With each year, we are able to make subtle tweaks that make things easier. And in October, I decided to "step up" and take on the role of Treasurer for KN. The "big" stuff doesn't kick in until 2011, but I should have enough time to do this. The reason for the extra time....I am retired! Yes, at the end of 2010, I retired from DOE. An early out and buyout allowed us to make this decision. I've only had 3 days of official retirement (so far) but being able to have dinner made AND all four of us at the table together is one example of why this was THE right thing to do.