The Gift of an Ordinary Day

A friend sent me this video a couple days ago. Within the email she wrote a few kind words about the teen & how much we will be missed next year.

The closer graduation gets, the more I will realize how much WE will miss them. After 4 years of being involved in the boosters it will seem odd not to be a part of those planning sessions. Not to be a part of the behind-the-scenes crew that makes all of our fundraisers so successful. Not to be with the band when they celebrate their wins & mourn their losses.

It's making me a bit teary eyed and since no one one likes to cry alone, grab a tissue & watch this video.

It was so worth the soggy hot dogs...

This Halloween I played the part of the proud band parent. (Although I did wear a halo, it wasn't that much different from everyday life since I'm always a complete angel. Right S?)

On Saturday the teen's marching band competed in their first USSBA State Championships and...

WON!

The teen is on the end in the red uniform.

Our show this year is called "Phobias". At first I wasn't in love with it, and it's still my least favorite of all four seasons the teen has done marching band. (The first year we did Disney's "Fantasia"; second year was Frank Sinatra; last year's show was the music of Blood, Sweat & Tears.)

But it's grown on me. This little snippet of their opening is one of my favorite parts. (The sound isn't the best so turn up the volume to get the full effect.)



This year we have props that are a huge pain in the ass, but pretty cool looking on the field.

This one is my fav. That's claustrophobia if you were wondering.

For those who may not know what a "band competition" is basically several bands perform their show and they are judged on several different criteria. Typical categories include music, marching, percussion, drum major, general effect, and color guard. Those scores are then combined to determine overall place.

Saturday we took 1st in every category except percussion.

Who's your daddy?!

From the mind of Me...

*The teen's Jazz band rocked the house on Tuesday.



*Those LATISSE commercials scare me. Why would anyone want longer lashes SO bad that they would risk having their eye color change?! "...there is potential for increased brown iris pigmentation which is likely to be permanent." Um, no thanks. As they say be careful what you wish for.



*I may not know sweaters but I know socks. I'm wearing these today & loving them.



*Counting down the days until December 1st. That's when Virginia goes smoke free. Can I get an amen?! I love playing darts but coming home smelling like an ashtray is not my idea of fun.



*For those naysayers that claim video games are bad for the kiddos, please point them in my direction. The teen is excelling in percussion and I'm attributing it to the hours spent playing Rock Band.



*I totally carved these for our competition tomorrow. Crossing my fingers that the rain holds off.



*Tonight's football game is Senior night. That means S & I are walking the teen down the track in front of everyone, so if you could give a little nod upstairs that I do not trip and fall I would really appreciate it.



Have a great weekend ya'll!

It was a good week.

At least it was a good week for some of us. My week was pretty bland but the teen had a GREAT week.


He got his first grades of the year - all A's except for physics, which was a B.

Not too shabby.

Then he found out he was nominated to homecoming court. Although he ended up not being one of the final 4 guys, the best news of the week was still to come.

On Friday we received THE LETTER.

And when I say "we" I really mean the teen, since technically it was addressed to him.


He got his acceptance letter into college. His first pick college.

Oooh la la.

Then he rounded the week off nicely with a SUPERIOR rated, FIRST PLACE performance at Saturday's competition.

Booyah.


So the teen is college bound in 2010 and we are about to be college broke.

And when I say "we" I really mean S & I.

Makes you wonder why the teen is the one with the "serious face"?!

You know you love it

When I talk random!

Before I get too far I need to give a WARNING because I'm PMSing and I tend to be a teensy, weensy bit bitchy during that time.

We have been out every night this week when I just want to be at home snuggled up on the couch watching hours of DVR. Monday & Tuesday I had band booster meetings, Wednesday I went to the high school's talent show and then of course last night was darts. (We won!)

Tonight I will be back at the school getting ready for our annual Craft Show. It's one of our big fundraisers...we sold out of spaces over 2 weeks ago and since it's free admission there is always a ton of people shopping. So tonight we will set up tables and then be back in the morning by 7:15. Have I told you how much I hate getting up early?

It's okay though because I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. This is the last band "thing" until the Christmas parade and then I will get a break until at least January.

That's the good news. The bad news is that I relented and told S that he could be VP next year if he wanted. I know, I know. I've said for months that I was just going to relax and enjoy SS's last year. And I still plan on doing that.

So S if you are reading this (and I know you are!) if you take the job, it's YOUR job, not mine. I've done my duty, paid my dues and I need want to take a back seat. I want you to take a back seat...sit with me at the games and enjoy the fruits of our labor. K? Love you, hugs and kisses!

Speaking of S I think he won the lottery when I wasn't looking. He just bought me a FLIP and then on Tuesday he got me this from Harley Davidson:



He said it was to thank me for everything I do. Awwwwwwwwwwww!

Now onto the bitching segment of this post.

I cannot stand school buses.

There I said it. I get stuck behind this bus every other day and it stops on every FREAKIN' block to pick up kids. High school kids. With all this talk about obese kids, can they not walk ONE block? Instead it stops at each block, sometimes right in front of their house for one. kid. at. a. time.

It drives me nuts and I admit that I curse the bus the entire way down the street.

Speaking of things that drive me crazy - do NOT answer your cell phone during a performance at the talent show. I assume you came to watch the people on the stage but then I think not when you LOUDLY answer your phone while someone is singing. That is why you deserved to be snapped at and I don't feel a bit bad about turning around and saying something to you. IT WAS RUDE. Simply rude that you had the phone on RING to begin with and then to ANSWER it? Over the top.

That wasn't too bad huh?!

Bless you if you are still hanging with me. As a reward I will remind you to go enter Kat's In The Pink weekend giveaway today. And while you are there make sure you jot down this Chicken and Dumplings recipe that was posted especially for ME.

Then pop over to Mommy Gossip - GNO to see the some great holiday recipe posts, most better than mine but that didn't stop them from featuring me again!

Most of all have a great weekend! And leave me some comment love. Lots of comment love. I need it! I am after all a comment whore.

My bad...

I know I never posted yesterday but it was pretty busy around here. Then after work we had darts.

I'm still a good person though.

I promise I am.

Look I can prove it.

I made cookies for the boosters bakesale and snack mix for the hospitality tent. There were other ways I could have spent my Friday night but instead I did my duty at the stove.



I bought and delivered 20 plastic & 20 real pumpkins to Bratty Nephew #3's school for his Halloween party.


Delivery included carrying all the pumpkins to the classroom. And while I'm a good person, I'm not too smart. I didn't think to put them in some sort of container or bag so Sis and I had to carry 40 pumpkins and a baby through the school hallways.



Totally was worth it. Just look at his face.



Then I stayed for lunch. Sat in a little chair, at a little table with my knees near my chin while little kids gawked at me. I'd say that makes me good right?



Tomorrow morning I will be up before the sun in order to sell pancakes to the masses at our local Applebee's. In our community Applebee's provides us with a fundraising oppurtunity by selling tickets to a pancake breakfast. They provide the facility, the food and the cooks. The students (& parents) will collect money, serve and bus tables. We get to keep all the ticket sales; last year we raised $3000+ for about 4 hours of work.

I'm not a morning person so I'm being good by volunteering to work the early shift.



I took this one to the doctor a couple weeks ago. For FIVE shots. For sure that makes me a good aunt.



On Sunday I bought SS an IPOD touch for his 17th birthday. On Tuesday I found out that our WV pals are coming in so I've planned to have a surprise gathering at a bowling alley with his friends to celebrate.



I changed this one's diaper on Sunday.

I'm good because I'm sharing this adorable picture with you guys. Just try to look at it and not go "awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww"...


And finally I'm good because I did not get out of my car this morning and physically assault the lady that rode straight through a stop sign. Causing me to slam on my brakes, throw all my stuff to the ground and give myself a sore neck. I'm good because I didn't proceed to follow this lady to wherever she was going and give her a piece of my mind and taking with me a few pieces of her hair. I'm good because I'll refrain from finding her house and slashing her tires as I've fantasized about for the last hour.

I'm good because S told me I need to be. TGIF!

Monday again...

I have been thinking about what to post all morning. My brain just doesn't seem to be functioning up to par this morning for some unknown reason. Saturday was crazy busy with the band competition but I didn't do much of anything yesterday so you would think I'd be well rested and ready to go.

Nah. It ain't happening.

Friday night I baked cookies. Cute cookies in the shape of candy corn and then peanut butter blossoms complete with Hershey kiss centers for the bake sale. I also made a trail mix with candy corn to put out at the hospitality tent.

My friends stopped by and so we ate "reject" cookies and talked for a few hours while I was baking. It was nice to have a Friday night off especially because I knew Saturday would be a long day.

And it was.

I got there later than I wanted to, but it was raining and I just knew we would hold the competition indoors. Wrong. Our band director decided that it was clearing up and we would set up outside.

So after getting there late I discovered the tent for my area was still packed away and I needed to get that up, get the tables out and have everything ready to go before leaving to pick up the food.

Thank goodness a local restaurant donated all the food for our hospitality tent. I cannot even imagine having to cook on top of all the other things going on. The hospitality tent is for all the band directors and staff...we had baked ziti, pasta salad, breadsticks, garden salad, brownies and cookies so they were really pleased with our area.

I was there from about 11:30 until 9:30 that night.

There were a few snags (all concession stand related, but didn't I tell you guys that would happen) but the rain did stop, the sun came out and it seems we made a tidy profit with little to no complaints from the visiting bands. I don't think we could ask for any more.

I was pretty busy but managed to sneak a few pictures of the crowd and my tent.







Yesterday the only thing I managed to do was make dinner and dessert, a yummy apple cider cake. Later in the week once I get my mind working right I will post the cookie recipe from Friday night and maybe, just maybe if you're good I will post my apple cider cake recipe too.

But only if you ask nice.

We're the cool parents...

This weekend S unveiled the new Pit shirts. For three years we've tossed around the idea of having "special" shirts for the pit crew, but never got around to it.

This year we did...


See all the guys with their lil' matching shirts...


The kids (and parents) thought the shirts were awesome. And even though I'm not subjecting myself to physical labor to get one, I do too.

Plus it was lots of fun to yell at the pit crew...woooo pit crew...look at them HAWT shirts...go pit crew!

They love when I do that.

Homecoming Weekend...

It was a fabulous weekend. My friends from WV came in, we actually won a football game and it didn't rain on us too bad during the game.

Saturday was the homecoming dance. The kids got all gussied up and went to dinner before the dance. Trust me when I say you do not want to see them after. The guys come out sweaty and the girls have wilted curls and shoes in hand by the end of the night.

Thankfully, I have enough sense to snap a few pictures before...


SS & his girlfriend Mallory


The guys


The ladies


Couples


This was completely posed


My friend's daughter, A aka Lil' Miss Attitude


Finally they had enough of the paparazzi parents taking pictures


Didn't they look great?

It's something of a miracle to see Mallory in a dress. She's not a girly girl at all, which is okay by me. She loves to be outdoors, she never wears makeup and she carries a pocket knife.

I like that she's her own person. It's a rare thing to find in our high school.

But girlfriend does need to learn to sit in a dress.



We're working on it.

Meet the band & my punkin' cake

Saturday was our first competition of the season and we placed 2nd overall. Not bad considering we moved up a group and we have a lot of new students this year.

Let me introduce you to the Marching Cavaliers.


Here is our main stand; we also have one on the back side for the 2nd drum major. Notice that nifty keyboard stand in the back. The VP painted our "logo" for the season on it.



Marching in...


...onto the field


Pit and color guard setting up


Second tuba belongs to me-it's SS.


Colorguard getting a little risque with the chairs.


Oh yeah!


Sassy, but classy ladies!


Pit crew loading up; see the design on the back of the shirts...yep it matches.

Oh and I baked this scrumptiouslicious dessert yesterday....Pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting so I thought to snap a picture before we ate it all.



Mmmm...it was even better tonight!