Sunday, October 25, 2009

The Float

Busiest week ever!

I spent every spare minute this whole week building the float. I did get a lot of help so thank you, thank you, thank you, everyone who helped out. There were a few do-overs and some tense moments. Plus, I burned my fingers really badly on a glue gun, which does not make court reporting any easier. All that aside, the end result was amazing.



The judging was on Saturday. We were voted Best Design, not best over-all like I had hoped (we were robbed I tell you) but Best Design is pretty darn good. After the judging there was a luncheon, and after the luncheon there was a football game. It was a really long, really exhausting, but fun day.

After all this, I FINALLY got home pretty late to find a stray kitten in the parking lot of my apartment complex. I had seen her a few times before and I didn't want her to turn feral and get mean or starve so, I spent over an hour trying to get her to come to me. She finally did, but then I was scared she would be sick and might get my cat sick so I was up half the night worried about them both. I took her to the vet in the morning and except for a mild case of ear mites and the fact that she's really scrawny, she's healthy. She is super cute and super cuddly. So, now I have ANOTHER cat and still no dog. It seems like my lot in life. I may actually give the kitten to my mother when I go home at Thanksgiving if she doesn't get along with Phoenix. We'll see. She needs a name though.

I know this post had almost nothing to do with court reporting, but I had to get it all out there. I'll let you know how these poor burned fingers do on the tests. Let's hope I heal fast.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

We won the mock rally!

The mock rally was this week and I'm proud to announce, We Won!!! I got to be a judge, and obviously I'm a bit biased, but there were about 10 judges so my vote wasn't the only one counted. It was a fair outcome. Here's the real Monica and the mock Monica. I hope you can tell the difference.




The day was really fun, and I even got a little work done. I typed up a 5-minute, 130 jury charge and I passed it. It wasn't a 140, but I least I'm no worse than I was before.

Homecoming is approaching very quickly and I'm a little nervous about my float, but I think it's starting to come together. I'll be sure to post a picture when it's done.

I've been practicing a really good take of a 140 jury charge. I'll continue with the same take this whole week until I get it perfectly and hopefully, it will help with the real 140 jury charge test on Friday.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Busy Like a Bee

Please forgive me for letting so much time pass. I have been so busy lately that I don't even no which way is up. To catch you all up on what's been going on, I passed a one-minute 140 test. But, before you get too excited, it was a congressional test, so it only had to be at 95%. I was at 96% so I passed, but if it had been any other kind of test I would not have. Small victory I suppose. Now, I just have to get a whole five-minute test and then I'll really have something to talk about. Here's hoping.

The club is busy, busy, busy. Homecoming is just around the corner and I have two roles this year. I am the reigning homecoming queen so I have to judge the floats and attend the new queen events as the reigning title-holder. Plus, I am the club vice president so I have design and be in charge of building an awesome float for the parade. That way, when I vote for it, I don't look too biased. I'm swamped. Our new queen candidate is Monica. She is a theory student and has stepped up to be the next homecoming queen. (Bless her) If she wins, which she will, the court reporting club will have won four years in a row! So far, Monica has already been voted into the homecoming court. (That is the top seven girls out of all the ones that signed up, I believe ther were about 26) I know this whole thing probably sounds silly to most people, but it's really just for fun. On Thursday, there is a mock rally where every girl on the court has a guy "mock" her. This consists of the guy dressing in her clothes and pretending to be her while he is judged and everyone laughs. Aaron (bless him too) has graciously volunteered to mock Monica. It's gonna be hilarious. I'm hoping that as the reigning queen, I can be one of the judges. I'll let you know how we all do.

I'm really hoping I can get everything done. I don't want neglect my speed training, of course, because it's the reason I'm doing all this in the first place. My husband, as I mentioned, works on movies. He just got a job in Michigan so he will be leaving this week to go there for a month. As sad as I am to see him go, (which I really, really am) I'm hoping I can use that time to really focus on getting everything done and passing a full five-minute test. I've been practicing with Lexi and my handy gadget Celena told me about. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Until next time.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Peaks, Valleys, and Plateaus

No. I’m not talking about actual land masses. I’m talking about court reporting progress. Last year I was climbing peaks, I was going up and up when it came to speeds. I went from 100, to 110, to 120, to 130 without much time passing. But, much like the land mass, every peak has a top. Unfortunately, I seemed to have reached the top of that peak. Like in nature, I had to go down the peak to the valley, and I felt like I was slower than I was before. I had to work twice as hard just to get back to where I was. Luckily, I’m pretty sure I forged my way through the valley. However, I seemed to have reached a plateau. I’m consistent, but not improving. How long is the average plateau? It’s frustrating, but hopefully, there’s a new peak to climb in my near future without any valleys ahead of it.

Perhaps I’m being too metaphoric, but this whole process is a journey for me so it only makes sense to think of it in that way.

Here’s too my next peak.