17!

Amy celebrated her 17th birthday by having a show for musical theatre class, which she is the teacher's assistant for. "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" had its first showing on her birthday and then again the following night, and it was a super funny show. I think it was a little tiring to spend your birthday going to school and then staying at theater for five plus hours after that, but she was with her people so it was all good!

It's been a big week or two, with Amy being asked to prom by Ashley, who she also does stage management with. So now they are officially dating and that's a whole new world for us, since Reed hasn't jumped in that particular pool just yet. We will all find our way through it! 😀 I am happy that she's going to her first high school dance, and she was excited to choose a prom dress to order online (now we are anxiously awaiting its arrival and hoping it fits without alterations!). Many more decisions still to come – shoes, hair, jewelry, dinner location, and more. 

I am very grateful that this has been a semi-normal junior year, though it's not been without its covid-related challenges. When our *^@($_ governor decided to stop localities from requiring masks at school, that was particularly hard for Amy, and she is still wearing a mask and is not comfortable being around those at school who aren't (well, she happily has meals next to lots of people not wearing masks, but that doesn't count in her mind). When you've been told to do something to keep people safe for nearly two years, I understand that it's hard to make the switch. So we do our best to support her, while also trying to help her understand that the risks are not the same as they once were, and we're not going to wear masks forever (though it sure was nice not to go nearly two years without getting a cold!). 

Amy spends pretty much five days a week after school at theater, and sometimes Saturdays too. It's a full schedule and a tiring one, but clearly she enjoys it and I think she still has enough time to do some fun things with friends and also have down time. 

She is starting to think about what she might want to do after high school graduation, which is exciting. We have a few college tours lined up for spring break next month, so we will see what she thinks about the whole idea now that it's closer to reality....I think when she visited CNU, VCU and JMU with Reed, it was too far-off of a concept. 

Happy #17, Amy, we love you so much and are so proud of you!