the envelope please, drum roll . . . & other excitement

On Thursday last week, I had the day off. I was typing away in the study. A FedEx truck delivered something. I wasn't expecting anything. I kept typing. 

During my layover in Dallas a few weeks ago, I'd texted my friend, Dee Dee. WAVING TO YOU FROM THE AIRPORT. We'd decided to schedule a time to catch up. It was supposed to happen Thursday morning, but it didn't.

While I was typing, I got a text from her saying she could talk NOW. I happily stopped typing and wandered around the house folding laundry and cleaning bathroom countertops while we chatted.* (more on the funny thing that happened during this phone conversation later, too hard to explain here). I also opened the front door and picked up the FedEx envelope. It was from the Evans' Committee. 

*Gulp*

It was 2:00 - Mini would be home in an hour. At this point, I figured they wouldn't be sending a rejection via FedEx. We'd heard that they were thinking it was going to be hard to send her to Notre Dame. Her interview happened in the last group, so I wondered if the committee was running low on funds, trying to make their dollar stretch, etc. Secretly, I wondered if maybe they'd reach out to contributors or something to try to make her first choice possible. 

They'd said she'd hear in 2 weeks, but this was only one week. Seemed like they wouldn't have had time to scrape up enough to fund Notre Dame. Hey, a free ride is a free ride. I get that. Remember, there are layers to the whole Notre Dame situation. Her 2nd choice has an amazing business school:  Indiana U, where Ed goes. 

Coach works late on Thursdays, but he was home. He was leaving for a retreat for the weekend, so he came home early. The stars were aligned. 

Mini walked in and I was like ENVELOPE IS HERE. 

She was like I'M SO NERVOUS. *I took a video, but I was trying to be casual, so she wouldn't know I was taking a video of her, thus the weird angle.

Then she opened it and WE WON THE LOTTERY. 

We could not believe they agreed to send her to Notre Dame. Needless to say, she is over the moon. It seems so surreal. Pinch me. 

*******

Meanwhile, Reg participated in a three point contest end of Feb. He almost didn't go. He needed a ride back to school at 4:15 to catch a bus to this contest. I had a zoom appointment. Coach was out of town. Who knows where Mini was. I called Becky and asked if her daughter was available to drive him. Thank goodness her daughter agreed to drive Reg. 

*I paid her in pumpkin bread. Her favorite. The kids had their annual fundraising staff/student b-ball game and bake sale for their Global Humanitarian Club the night before. Guess who baked like crazy that week? I handed Reg a handful of bagged pumpkin bread:  GIVE HER THESE. 

Pumpkin bread is about to be considered a real, legitimate currency. Haven't you heard?

None of us went to the competition. It was at a school a distance from home. The 3 point thing was happening fairly early in the evening because it was before a playoff game (Reg's team had been knocked out of the playoffs).

Reg came home:  UM, I CAME IN 2ND PLACE AND I ADVANCED TO THE NEXT ROUND. I MADE 12 OUT OF 15 THREE POINTERS IN 45 SECONDS. ELEVEN OF THEM WERE IN A ROW.

Wow.

He competed at sectionals Friday night March 4th. Our high school was hosting. Curly, Lad, and I got to go. Coach was at the retreat. My mom showed up. Reg's godfather was there. Michael from church came with his dad. One of the families that I babysit for came to cheer Reg on. Delilah was there too. 

There were 20 kids eligible for this round, but only 16 showed up. During warmups Reg only missed a few times. He shot 10 out of 15 in the competition. He said afterward that he'd expected to score a few more than that. 

Guys who did great during warmups missed quite a few of their shots. Two kids tied with 9, but Reg's ten was the highest score. They took the top two kids, so the kids with 9 had a shoot out. Reg and another kid from our high school were there and freakishly, the two of them came in 1st and 2nd.

SO . . . Reg and the other kid from our high school advanced to the state 3 point contest. We go to University of Illinois on Saturday, March 12th*. Exciting. Delilah looked at me after he won:  BANNER WEEK FOR THE SHENANIGAN FAMILY. Very true. 

One of these guys is Reg. Hint:  he's the handsome one. 

*Updated to add:  Friday the 11th the family quit my daycare at 5:00, then I went to Curly's volleyball game, raced home, threw some stuff in a bag and drove with Curly, Coach, and Reg two hours to the hotel. I was tired from being awake at night trying to sort out their nonsense, and now I was ticked by how I was treated.

The contest was good - the hotel experience was unusual (more later), not Reg's best round. His shot looked a little off during warmups. 

In the competition he made 7 out of 15. Four kids made 9 and had to have a shoot out to advance. There might have been one kid with more than 9. Two kids advanced to the next round. If you don't feel like doing the math, Reg did NOT advance. It was a very cool experience, and he recognized that it was great to have made it that far.

Guesses on which one is Reg in the pic? Any guesses on what went wrong at the hotel?