I had the opportunity to be a judge at a local speech tournament today. It was an absolute blast. The teens were highly talented and simply brilliant. It occurred to me while I was ranking them that we probably need more things like “rankings” to motivate kids today. The kids in this tournament were obviously shooting for first place. It was difficult not being able to give them all “first place”, but I think it’s good for kids to have to work for what they want. We had a segment of the evaluation form where we could explain why we gave them the ranking we did. We were told that the kids do take the comments and use them to better their performances. So, while I tried to include much praise for what they did well, I did offered suggestions for where their performance was lacking. Having competed in speech type events and got peer reviews in speech/theater class as a teen, I know how much I poured over my evaluation forms.

On my way out, one of the parents at the judge check-in asked what was in my water bottle. I told her it was grape juice (had a real hankering for concord grape juice today). She laughed and said it looked like Merlot to her. I jokingly swirled it around in the bottle and said, “My goodness, it does. Yes, well, you know, a little wine sometimes helps when listening to teenagers.” We continued to joke about filling out judging forms while tipsy (which of course I have never done). When I got out to the van, I remembered that I had dripped grape juice down the front of my sweater (my water bottle lid leaked) while in the judges lounge, and I wondered if she truly thought I had wine in that bottle. Goodness me… and it comes right back to perspective doesn’t it? Suddenly I was concerned that someone might think something about me that wasn’t true. I worried for a moment that they wouldn’t take my judgements seriously (will be judging the finals tomorrow); and oh my goodness, what kind of a lush would they take me for if they really thought I carried in a 32 ounce bottle of Merlot to judge a speech tournament! Deep breath. The drive home was so long due to traffic, and I thought about it the better part of that drive… until I felt God whisper to my spirit to let it go. He would protect my reputation against harmless misunderstandings if need be… silly child, God is bigger than grape juice 😉

Are you looking to make some changes in 2013? Check out The Journey for more information.

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What I read: Numbers 28-30

What I ate:

• Breakfast – Green Smoothie (6oz AJ, 6oz CW, 3bananas, 2 oz Kale, 2 oz spinach, 6 oz strawberries)
• AM Snack – 2 bananas
  
• Lunch – 8 oranges juiced
  
• Afternoon Snack – Two Moms in the Raw Gojiberry Nut bar
• Dinner – 32 ounces of grape juice
• PM Snack – Two Moms in the Raw Gojiberry Nut bar
  

What I did: Busy, busy day – was at a speech tournament all afternoon.

Here are the notes I made regarding my symptoms throughout Day 66:

• slowed digestion (gas, abdominal pain, bloating)
  
• headaches
  
• puffy hands, feet, and face
  
• sinus congestion
  
• dry/itchy eyes, skin, and scalp
  
• acne
  
• aching muscles and muscle spasms
  
• foggy brain
• irritability
  
• mood swings
  
• blood sugar fluctuations
  
• fatigue – still having bouts of fatigue, but not as bad
  
• unable to sleep well
  
• unquenchable thirst
  
• cravings
  
• chest pain
• cold sores – last one 1/13/2013
  
• kidney stones – eliminated when we went vegan Oct 2011
• tooth pain
• sensitive teeth