First Debate Tournament

 This weekend, Isaiah competed in his first debate tournament - the Cowtown Corral in Ft. Worth. He had already put in many hours of effort in research and preparation of his cases. Luke and I got to put in some extra work in the week ahead, helping him put together his attire! Having spent the last year in athletic wear and never owning real dress clothes, he needed a lot to complete the uniform! By Wed night, we had completed the ensemble with one more trip to JC Penny's for shoes, socks, and undershirts.

My birthday was on Thursday, and it was a full day. Noelle had an orthodonist appointment, we ran some errands, picked up Slim Chickens for lunch (my bday choice), went to Prudentia then headed straight to Tyler for 3 HEAT games. We gobbled ups some Torchy's tacos on the way home before a late night treat of ice cream. Isaiah and I left at 8am on Friday, ready to conquer our first tourney! I say "our" because I knew I would attend judge training and judge several rounds of debates. We both learned a lot and had a great experience! 

Isaiah competed in 6 rounds and went up against several very experienced debaters. He held his own and successfully completed all rounds! You get your ballots at the very end. He was disappointed to discover he had only won 1 of 6 rounds because he felt that he had done better. After reading through the comments and evaluating the ballots more closely, he felt better. On "Speaker Points," he won 3 and lost 3. And on several of his overall losses, the judge's comments showed that it was very close! He discovered that he needs to work on his cases and provide more evidence. However, I was blown away by how adeptly he has stepped into this totally new world, prepared everything almost completely by himself, and impressed seasoned debaters! Give this kid a year or two and he's gong to be a fierce competitor!

I also learned a lot and can now speak some of the lingo - "In LD are you on aff or neg?" I was not really looking forward to judging rounds, but I really enjoyed it once I was doing it. I was so impressed by these young men and women and it was a delight to see such kind, intelligent, respectful, mature interactions! I only ended up being needed for one regular round and for the LD Final. My only regret is that I didn't bring more things to work on! I very much enjoyed spending time with Isaiah nad cheering him on. We also enjoyed some Ft. Worth treats like Trader Joes, Indian food in the hotel room, and In-n-Out on the way home - 

Back at the ranch, Luke was very busy coaching 5 games (!) for Isaiah's team... without Isaiah. He and the girls were troopers and even had the house tidy when we got home. It was a very full and good weekend. Today is Sunday and we are trying to squeeze in a little rest as we prepare for a full week ahead - Luke will be back in the classroom. CC starts back up for the girls. I'm in week 2 of my current class. We have 2 nights of basketball games, too! Thankful to be healthy! Hoping we made it through this weekend w/o being covid-exposed!