September 2023

September 1st was the first home football game of the season.  My job was to put up all the senior banners.  Seeing a banner for Avian really brought the dose of reality on.  I can't believe my baby is a senior this year.  Knight Watch sounded amazing and the crowd got really into cheering for the team.  I love football season.  

September 2nd we moved the pavers from in front of the patio and put down sod.  The lawn in the backyard looks a ton bigger.  I also worked on clearing out the firepit area. Meal planning and grocery shopping also happened.  It was a productive weekend.  

Before picture of the firepit area being overrun by weeds.  

September 4th was Labor Day and we used our day off to get a lot done.  Avian had volleyball practice in the morning.  I got the firepit area prepped and started to put down the shredded paper and weed guard.  I made excellent progress and got the pathway in the corner all done before heading to Sandra's house so she could talk to Nick about what he needs to do to get ready to buy a house.  After meeting with Sandra, Nick and I went and got him some more work pants since he is really hard on them and keeps wearing them out.  After shopping we went kayaking to relax.  Steve and Avian hit the art store to get a portfolio so Avian can carry their artwork to and from school.  When Nick and I got home from kayaking, Steve and Avian were power washing the house.  We didn't want to get a nasty letter in the cold of November that we needed to get the mold off the house.  I pulled more weeds around the AC units out back, made bread and did some laundry.  We spent the rest of the day helping Nick with some credit card fraud.  Someone had hacked his card while he was trying to buy something online.  It was a good lesson learned.  Bank of America caught it immediately and shut down his card.  It pays to have a good bank who really protects your money.  

Sandra and I saw this gorgeous fellow on our morning walk.  Super cool!

September 5th, Chris Singleton came and talked to the students about loving each other and showing kindness.  He is a major league baseball player who goes around to schools talking to kids about how to break down the cycle of hate.  His mother was one of the victims in a hate-crime church shooting in South Carolina.  His message was very powerful and the kids were listening to everything he said.  One thing he said that stuck with me was that situations are 10% active and 90% reactive.  You need to be prepared to react in a way that shows love and kindness to those around you.  It was pretty powerful. 

That evening the volleyball team traveled to NW Cabarrus.  We beat their team in 3 sets.  Avian got to play in all three of those games and it was really fun to watch.  

September 6th Steve taught me the wonders of Vlookup in Excel.  It saved me HOURS of work.  That afternoon we played Concord at home. Avian got a kill during the game.  

September 7th we took Avian's car into the Ford dealership for an oil, lube, filter and emissions and inspection.  They called and told me the car needed $2,500 worth of repairs.  They said it needed new spark plugs, cabin filter, one of the belts replaced and a few other things.  We told them to do the OLF and emissions/inspection and we would worry about the other stuff later.  Back at home, Nick looked at everything and determined that the belt was perfectly fine as he had replaced it a few months earlier.  He replaced the cabin filter and spark plugs in about 20 minutes and saved us $800.  The other repairs are electrical in nature and not critical.  I love having a mechanic in the family.  Universal Technical Institute was worth the money. 

September 8th there was a tailgate before the football game vs Pine Lake Prep.  The band played during the tailgate, during the game and at half-time.  It was fun to watch.  

Out on the field playing at half-time. 

Friday night under the lights.  

September 9th, Steve went to a garage sale and came back with 3 guitars.  Two of them were Guitar Hero video game guitars which Jeremy could fix up and sale.   One of them was real.  Steve was going to try to refurbish it.  It was another productive weekend of cleaning and grocery shopping and getting things done.  

September 10, Steve helped me figure out how to talk database enough to get the Clever upload into Branching Minds to sync and work.  I learned more about Excel magic.  

September 11, we played Carson at Carson.  We lost the first set by a fairly large point margin, but came back to win the next three.  They were NOT expecting that.  I always love and hate to play Carson because they are good and it fun to watch, but it is also stressful.  We did win in the end though!

September 14th the volleyball team had their media day.  One of the moms helped get a great photographer to come and take team pictures.  It was well worth the money.  They turned out amazingly well.  The girls had a good time during the photo shoot as well.  

Lake Norman Charter Lady Knights Varsity Volleyball Team 2023
Back row (left to right)  Ella Landman, Alex Oneal, Lydia Chambers, Sarah Turner, Avian Cannon, Riley Caruso, Coach Bethany Kiley
Front Row (left to right) Joy Atwell, Danielle Lewis, Emma Chapman, London Stewart, Ashlyn Tighe, Sophia Petrucci

After the photo shoot, Avian and I went looking for a shirt for them to wear to the homecoming dance.  The theme for the dance was Alice in Wonderland.  We found this great shirt with parrots and jungle foliage.  It was perfect.  

September 16 Steve and I worked most of the day on a drink station for the middle school PTO.  Melissa Boone was in charge of it and had a vision and we were helping to bring that vision to life.  It was a fun project.  I also go the windows cleaned which made a huge difference.  

The windows on the far right are clean and the ones on the left are still dirty

The drink cart is almost done.  We used pieces of old pallets that were just going to be thrown out.  I think it turned out great.  

September 17th we finished the cart and delivered it to the school.  I made bread and and salsa as well as visited with Mom and Kathy on Zoom.  

September 18 - Steve and I have been really busy with work so it was a nice break to go and watch Avian go on a 12 point serving streak.  Coach Kiley put them in just to serve since all the other girls were serving out of bounds.  It was fun to watch.  

Volleyball banners are up as well.  

September 19th we had a thought provoking Relief Society activity.  It was all centered around serving each other.  Rachel McOwen gave a phenomenal presentation on serving each other and really SEEING each other.  

September 20th was the most stressful volleyball game EVER!!!  We played South Rowan at home.  They beat us the first two sets and their student section was being exceptionally obnoxious.  Mr. Schlegel had to warn them to be nice or leave.  I am happy and relieved to say that we rallied and won the next three games to beat South Rowan!!!

September 21st was another 5 game nail biter.  This time we played West Rowan.  My heart cannot handle this!

I saw this on one of the bulletin boards at the high school.  They had highlighted Avian.  

September 22nd, the volleyball team went to the elementary school and helped with morning carpool.  The high school athletes will do this occasionally and the little people love it (and the big people too although they won't always admit it.)

They all got to go down the slide afterwards.  

That evening, after volleyball practice, we left for Savannah to check out SCAD. 

The sunset was really pretty on the drive to Georgia.

We arrived about 10 p.m. and found our hotel.  Avian immediately said they liked it better.  There was a more relaxed feel to Savannah and walking around at night was fun, not frightening.  

September 23rd we woke up early and had some breakfast before heading to our tour meeting location.  We got there early and decided to look around before the tour.  There was a park nearby that was having a craft fair.  There was even a guy there who would compose and type up a poem for you right on the spot.  So much talent and the scenery was so beautiful.  

The fountain in Forsyth Park

When it was time for our tour, we were guided into a waiting room that was so much fun.  The furniture and plants and walls and everything was so much fun and so artistic.  

They gave us a quick introduction and the took us out to a waiting bus that would drive us to the various locations on campus.  The city of Savannah is the campus.  SCAD buys up vacant buildings and turns them into classrooms.  It was fun to get to see the train station morphed into the architecture building and the old coffin factory into the illustration classroom building.  Avian thought that was the coolest thing that their classroom building was an old coffin factory.  They REALLY liked the campus.  

The dorms.  The rooms were similar to the ones in Atlanta but these felt bigger and more like home.  This complex of dorms was like it's own little city.  There was a Starbucks, gym, huge cafeteria, laundry station, etc.  The more we saw the more we like it.  

After the formal tour was over we continued checking things out on our own.  We found the SCAD Beach on the way to the museum to check out the exhibits.  

The beach even had ocean sounds playing on the speakers.  It was a very relaxing area.  

The museum exhibits were great as well.  Some were disturbing and thought-provoking and others were just fun and quirky.  

By this time we were all hungry so we found a pizza place and had lunch.  Avian wanted to continue looking around for a bit longer after lunch so we found an old bookstore and then hit the SCAD bookstore to see what they had.  I could tell Avian was really enjoying Savannah because they didn't even finish the full tour in Atlanta and wanted out.  Now they wanted to continue to explore and see all the sights.  

We had to leave eventually so Avian would be home in time for Rose's formal bowling birthday party.  

I took this picture of Old Savannah from the parking garage.  It is truly a beautiful city.  

Back at home, Avian went bowling in their Sunday best from ten to midnight.  Jeremy was on campus attending an event he helped plan and was hosting.  He came home all excited because it had been a huge success.  He had also attended an event at Catawba College while we were gone.  He is turning into a social butterfly.  

September 25th was an e-learning day.  I love getting to work in my jammies.  That afternoon we played NW Cabarrus at home and beat them in 3 again.   

September 26th Steve ended up in the doctor's office because his cough was not getting any better and he FINALLY caved.  He has bronchitis and needed an inhaler, steroid and antibiotic.  Jeremy  also possibly has COVID. 

September 27th - YUP, Jeremy has COVID.  He is sequestered in his room for the time being.  

That night was Senior Night for the volleyball seniors.  There were so many things the girls did to honor the seniors.  They had created Instagram posts and baskets of goodies and fat heads and worked so hard to make the night special.  

Before the game started there was a showcase for each of the seniors where the parents got to escort them onto the floor while the announcer read a blurb they had written about where they wanted to go to school, how much they enjoyed volleyball and a shout out to the parents and family.  This is all going too fast.  

We got them all teary and then made them play volleyball.  

Warming up.  Avian is ready.  

Nick came straight from work to support his sister.  

We had a larger than usual student section to support the seniors.  

After winning the game (in 5 sets) against Lincoln Charter.  

September 28th I worked the JV game and got to see the varsity team warm up before I had to head out to a church meeting.  They won in three sets and Avian had 3 kills.  I am so sad I missed this game!!! Steve kept sending me updates though.

September 29, Knight Watch started their day playing during elementary school morning carpool followed by an inside performance at a mini pep rally.  

The PTO had a great lunch set up for the staff.  They always do such fun things for us.  

That afternoon there was a pep rally before the homecoming game.  All the seniors got to come running in while the other students cheered.  

There goes Avian getting ready to play with Knight Watch.  

The volleyball team was recognized since they are a fall sport.  

Knight Watch performed.  

That evening Knight Watch played at the tailgate and then during the game.  Avian was ex-haust-ed by the end of the day.   It was a good exhausted though.  

The Knight Watch senior banners ready to go for the big game. 

September 30th was the first day of General Conference and I really needed to have some time to reset and get my head space back where it needed to be.  

That night was the homecoming dance.  Avian went with a group of friends and had a most excellent time.  It was a great homecoming for the seniors.  

After Avian left for the dance, Jeremy was finally able to come out of his room.  Being in quarantine was really hard on him. He was so frustrated with not feeling terrible and not being able to be around people.  He had to miss out on an event he had helped plan and he did not like that at all.  We had a great talk and got him back to feeling like himself again.  

September was a busy month and flew by.  I can't believe we packed that much into 30 days!!!