One Gold and One Silver

I've been worn out by the sun this week. I'm so glad it's Friday. But let me back up and let you know why I spent time in the sun.

On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, I took time off from work to attend the Special Olympics. This was Puppy's fourth competition. The games were rained out two years ago or it would have been his fifth year. Anyway, this year he was participating in the 50 yard dash and the standing long jump.

I was worried about the choices because Puppy has put on a little weight this year. I wasn't sure why the coaches would pick an event like the standing long jump for a student as heavy as Puppy. The only plus to this was that he had previously competed in this event both four and five years ago (in a leaner body, hehe). And as for running, last year he surprised me when he did the four person relay and ran 100 yards!

So to be brief, the opening ceremonies started at 10 A.M. instead of the usual 9 A.M. Then, they decided to present awards to school officials, politicians, and law enforcement which pushed the games back another hour or so. Once that was over, we found out that they changed the location of the relays from the South end of the field to the North end. Several runners were scratched from Puppy's school and other campuses because of the change. But after a long morning, and now 1 P.M., Puppy finally got his turn and ran his 50 yard dash against three other students and placed second for a Silver medal. He was excited and happy to have the day of events end. So was I...I got more Vitamin D than I wanted.

On Thursday, the officials and judges took their time arriving at their prospective posts and had the kids waiting until 9:30 A.M. to get started at the standing long jump event. Puppy's turn came up at around 10:15 A.M. and two other students on his team were no-shows, so it was only him and one other student competing against each other. He really tried his best and was successful to win the Gold! The only sad part was it took another hour of waiting to get to the presentation of the medals.

Puppy was proud of his wins and enjoyed the party and dance after the end of the Olympics. Another year, another successful participation. I didn't mention any problems with behavior because Puppy loves to be outdoors and he was at his best and in a calm state of mind on both dates. Congratulations, Puppy!