Saturday morning and it's the usual running around. Ellie is at the Atlanta Ballet with her Mom (Kate teaches for the Atlanta Ballet Company - she's a Brit, remember?). Afterwards she attends "Applause for Kids", a local drama school for children where she is rehearsing for "The Wizard of Oz". I'm at a local Karate school where Joe is enrolled in a black-belt program. He has a Gold Belt and will be testing for his Green Belt at the end of October. He takes two classes during the school week and then a private lesson early on Saturday morning coupled with another class just after lunch. It's our quality time and we get to talk about all sort of things......it is amazing what a 10 year old knows and what he wants to know! Joe was on a school camping trip on Thursday evening and I picked him up yesterday afternoon at the school. One of the Mom's came over to tell me how great a kid Joe had been on the trip and he had helped with the chores and such. This morning after the private lesson Joe and I were have breakfast at our favorite Diner and a Dad who was on the trip came over to tell me the same thing. Now, if only we could manage to get that great, helpful kid to come to our house. Oh well, I guess I should be delighted that he is such a wonderful person when he's away even if he is a little bugger when he's home.
Karate is a great confidence booster. Joe is not much for team sports, but loves individual competition, especially Karate and Chess. An interesting combination when you come to think about it, but all that odd given the amount of concentration required for both. I got my confidence later through Paris Island and years of being a Marine Non-Commissioned Officer, but I think I would have responded well to a Karate program had I been given the opportunity earlier in life.
Kate and I had a date last night. We managed a quick dinner at the local mall and a movie, which was supposed to be a comedy, but it was a tad slow and I was ready for it to be over about 30 minutes before it ended. Still, it was nice to go see something that wasn't rated "G" for a change.
Okay, everyone have a great day and enjoy the beautiful weather.