Better than no place

"Mom, do you know where there is a pond around here?"
That was the question this morning before school.  Apparently Audra needed to take pond water to science class today. So we found a pond  and trespassed through someone's back yard so that Audra could lay down on their dock and scoop up pond water.  Mission accomplished!

"Mom, are you busy?"
That was the phone call I got this afternoon.  Audra  forgot that track team pictures were today and her uniform was at home.  Unfortunately for her, it was also in the washing machine.  Mom to the rescue again!  I took the uniform out of the washer and had the bright idea of hanging it out the window of the car while I drove.  This worked for a little while until it started raining.  So I tried turning up the heat and holding the uniform in front of the vents.  This would have worked if the school was farther from our house.  It got so hot and steamy in the car that Will and I had to crack the windows--which let the rain in.  When we got to school, it was pouring down and for some unknown reason, there were orange cones blocking the circle drive.  What to do???
"Will, get out and move those cones."
Hopefully Audra will be able to smile pretty while wearing wet shorts...

"Just finish"
At Audra's first track meet she ran the mile.  We didn't know what to expect because she had never raced before.  She came in last.  As I was walking her around the track to cool down, she showed me the words she had written on her hand, "Just finish."  That was her goal.  She didn't care if she won.  She just didn't want to be a quitter.


That incident reminded me of one of the many wise things Anna said.  We were one of two boats entered in a 4th of July boat parade.  We had a great time riding around the lake.  Anna wore her blue swimsuit and her pink cowgirl boots and waved to the people on the shore.  When I told her that our boat came in 2nd, she said, "Well, second place is better than last place.  And last place is better than no place."

In this race called "life," finishing is my goal too.   I don't care if I am first.  I don't care if I'm the best.  I just want to finish strong and hear my "coach" say, "Well done."  That's what pressing on is all about.

Keep going.

Don't quit.

Just finish.

And remember that last place is better than no place.