Overcoming target panic

me shooting at the Pro-Am 

Rick Shooting at the Pro-Am 

Hannah (in the middle) Winning the Adult Female Freestyle 

Just the word brings fear into a lot of archers. Target panic is a bad, bad thing to get when you shoot competitive archery. It comes in many forms but what it comes down to is you are not able to hold on the target when you bring your bow up. It is not easy to overcome it but it can be done if you work on it.  I have had it for about the last 5 years. Sometimes it is really bad and others I can keep it under control. In 2010 it was probably the worse. Then in 2011 I pretty much took the year off. I shot league but did not shoot any tournaments other then Vegas. Just the thought of shooting the MSAA State shoot last year sent me into a panic. Well this year has been different. For the first time in a long time I am enjoying shooting again without being totally stressed out about it. I won't say I am cured but I will say it is much better. It has been a long road to get here but it is worth it. Some might ask why I would want to even shoot archery if it causes so much stress. Well I will tell you why...... because when everything goes right and you have a great game it is so rewarding. Just like any other sport you have to put in the time if you want to be good. This past weekend we shot the IA Pro-Am and I had my best score since 2006. It was one of the most relaxing tournaments I have shot in years. I had a great time not only because I shot good but because others that I know also shoot good. Rick had his best score ever at the Pro-Am on the second day when we shot the Vegas Target. And Hannah, who had to shoot as an adult this year won the adult female freestyle class. All of us at the Waseca Archery Club are very proud of her. So I am very glad that I did not give up on archery and I am looking forward to a great year of shooting.

The Pro-Am was in Des Moines this year for the first year. We went down on Saturday morning and spent the night. When in was in Mason City we just drove back and forth. It was fun to have it someplace different. We did not get home until 8:00 last night. When we got back into town we stopped at Amy's house and picked up the dogs. They were very happy to see us. Dexter did not want to leave my side when we got home.

Today I had the day off. I lifted when I got up and then I had to take Morgan to the vet for her shots. The vet told me she has luxate patellas. I guess it means that her knees fall out of the joint real easy. He said that as long as she keeps her weight where it is now we should be okay. She weights a whole 13 pounds. He said that it is when dogs get overweight and put stress on there joints that it will give them problems. So hopefully she will be okay with it. I did some internet doctoring on it and it sounds like most dogs can live just fine with it without having to have surgery. Other then that she is a heathy happy dog.

I am suppose to be doing laundry so I guess I better get to it.

Later Sharon

"Home is watching the moon rise over the open, sleeping land and having someone you can call to the window, so you can look together. Home is where you dance with others, and dancing is life." -Stephen King 11-22-63

The photo shoot

The food

The truck in the lake!

I am way behind on my updates! I had a great New Years weekend. On Friday afternoon all the kids came over so we could have our Christmas. It was lots of fun and we all ate a ton of food. We had steak, shrimp and lobster. It was all so good. Christa decided that she needed some models for her scarfs she is making for her Makin'-It-Mama  site so she had a photo shoot with Cassie. She also made me put on one of her scarfs and model it for her. She is doing a great job on everything she is making and is getting lots of sales.

Saturday we got up and met a bunch of Waseca Archery Club  people and went to a half and half shoot in Winnebago. There was 10 of us that went. It was lots of fun and everyone shot good. We have a lot of new members in the club this year and it is fun to have them come along to the shoots. After we shot we went to a cafe in Winnebago and had a great lunch. By the time we got back to town it was late afternoon so we decided it was really to late to get anything done so we went to Owatonna so we could go to Fleet Farm and get some dog food. Well we go there at 5:20 only to find out it closed at 5:00. So we came home with no dog food but we did stop at Cash Wise and Kohls for a few things.

Sunday was a do nothing day since it was New Years Day. We went to Mankato and I got a new light weight winter/spring jacket. Then we came home and watched a couple of Movies and just enjoyed the day.

Monday Rick had to go back to work but I had the day off. I had a ton of stuff to get done since I did not do it all weekend. I managed to get all my laundry done, pay the bills, get the house clean, run two miles, go to Walmart, clean the storage room, clean Ricks shop and make supper. I needed another day off!

Tuesday it was back to work for me. I was not ready to be back. All the students are now back on campus so I had lots of parking stuff to get done. We had some excitement in the afternoon when a student forgot to put his truck in park and it rolled into the lake. He took it pretty well considering his truck was now totaled. The tow truck driver had to call the dive team in to get it out of the water. Glad I do not have to pay the bill for that! After work we had our annual meeting at the WAC. We wanted to shoot while we were there but the meeting went to long. By the time we got home it was almost 9:00 and I was ready for bed.

Wednesday was another busy work day but uneventful.   After work I picked up Liam, Josie and Eli from daycare. I only had them for just under an hour so we did not even have time to get any toys out. I had wanted to go shoot last night but I was tired from being up late on Tuesday night so I just did the dishes and sat on the couch.

So that brings me to today. I am working again, well really I am updating this......

Later Sharon

A year in review

 January:
The new year started out with a lot of snow and Rick and I spending the best New Years Day ever. We did noting. It was great, we had the best lazy day ever. Sitting around watching movies and eating crap all day. It was just fun to be together and relax!

 We got our new puppy Morgan

 I had a girls night out and went to Minneapolis and saw Girls Only The Secret Comedy of Women

 February:
Liam turned four

 We went to Vegas

 Rick Got his new bow

 Josie discovered glue!

 Cassie and I took a mosaic class

 Grandma Trenda turned 90 and I turned 49

 April:
The month started out with yard work 

 I got my new road bike

 Rick won the MSAA State

 Cassie hosted Easter for the Becker side

 May:
Rick and I biked the Canon Valley Bike Trail 

 Rick built the grandkids a sandbox

 Christa had her baby shower

 We had everyone over for a fire and supper

 Rick put in a new storm door with a doggie door in it.

 June:
Rick and I both got new bikes for trail riding.

 I shot my first outdoor 3-D

 We finished the rock garden

 And best of all in June Eil was born

 July:
July brought hot weather and kept me inside so I did a little sewing 

 Rick did the biking part of the Waseca Triathlon

 August:
We went up to Diane and Rod's up north for a Becker Family vacation. Everyone had a great time.

 We finally got some trees cut in the yard and now have lots of wood for the fire place.

 The best thing about August was that Oliver was born. We now have 4 grandbabies!

 WAC had the Jack Zimmerman Benefit shoot.

 September:
Rick and went to South Dakota and biked the Mickelson Trail 

 October:
We finally finished the bathroom upstairs.

 Rick, Colette and I biked the Mankato River Ramble

 Rick shot a deer

 I shot my first deer with a bow

 Rick got a new truck

 We made apple pies

 November:
Amy and Liam joined Rick and I for a Turkey supper.

 We had a new shed built

 Cassie and I took a cooking class

 We had leaves and acorns everywhere that had to cleaned up

We had Thanksgiving at Jeannie and Mitch's house for the Becker side

 December:
 We got the bedroom done

 Eli and Oliver were baptized

And lastly Christmas. We had Christmas Eve in New Richland and Christmas Day at our house for the Becker side. We are having Christmas with the kids on Friday.

I am sure I left lots of stuff out from the year but this was just some of the highlights. 2011 was a good year and I hope that 2012 will be the same.
Later Sharon