Marching Band and Cotton Candy

Justin left Monday morning for a fun work trip to Denver. He got to meet members of his new team, which was a bit nerve wracking for him. He later found out some team members were meeting for the first time after years of working for the company. Several big names came and spoke, like Michelle Obama and . Wednesday night he attended a Goo Goo Dolls concert as a VIP! He came home with a guitar pic a stage hand gave him! He was front and center for one of his favorite bands. Very cool. 

On the Homefront it was a normal week. I was called to be the choir director, I met with Sister Minor (the music chair) for an hour after dinner. Josie came with me, when we walked into her home Josie exclaimed, “this smells and looks like a grandma house!” Made us all giggle! We decided to focus on singing the new hymns in choir for exposure. Then we went over a brief brain storming session about Christmas. Should be fun. 

Amelia had training on Wednesday and then her first day of work at the Farmstead on Saturday. She came home around 10 pm after a long 6 hour shift. Her hips were hurting before work so I cannot imagine the ache after work. She is working in the Cider Stop and the Cookie place again this year. Amelia reported the first day of the season was not very busy at all. 

MCO started up on Thursday. The older singers are learning 9 songs for this concert! That is more than usual, rehearsal times are also 30 minutes longer this semester. Amelia drove the kids up to Eagle for rehearsal. She came by for the girls around 3:50 pm, then picked up Everett at EVMS, and Phillip at Columbia. I don’t get out of work until 4:30 at the earliest (without getting a sub) so I won’t be able to attend very often this semester/year. I made chicken Waldorf salad the night before so the kids would have dinner. I stayed home and cried a bit all by myself…then got to work editing baby Misha’s photos. I will attend the parent meeting and of course the attire check since I am still the attire coordinator.  Sara drove out to get the little girls after Logan’s cross country meet and bring them home. I rather hate not being part of the magic, MCO is a bright spot each week. 

I got a call from the orthopedic doctor’s office, he said not to come in for my Friday appointment. After looking at the MRI he said there was a substantial tear in the meniscus that can only be repaired with surgery. I was grateful he did not request I come in just to get another referral. I will see a new doctor on Monday about surgical options for my knee. Yay. 

Friday was a very busy day. The kids had the day off, I got to go in for a long 2 hour staff meeting then work for another 2 hours. I enjoyed part of the meeting focused on how to teach our ESL students. I worked hard sorting cupboards in my classroom getting rid of all the excess and odd assortments of stuff crammed into cabinets. Right after work I rushed home to finish off 4 more homeschool photo minis. Amelia left around the same time with Ambree and Kiana to paint her Senior Parking Spot! Cost her $30 to get a spot, the senior can paint their parking spot as part of the deal. She went with a pink and blue cow spots theme. Then went grocery shopping with Evelyn and Josie keeping me company. Right after grocery shopping I once again rushed home to cram in another session before heading out to sell cotton candy for the marching band. Phillip had his first marching band performance! Amelia casually told me she was going to sing the National Anthem, my brain translated that to mean she was singing in a group like she did last year. In all the commotion I was late picking up band kids for the carpooling group. Totally missed that opportunity! Justin came along with me to help sell cotton candy. We had no idea what that entailed. Well, we soon learned that entailed making fresh cotton candy, bagging it, and selling it! I volunteered to operate the machine and make the treat. The machine was almost up to my shoulders, I felt like a little kid reaching into a candy bucket. Soon I was covered with wisps of cotton candy. Amelia arrived with the little girls, their new job was to snatch the strands that covered my face and arms. Two years ago the band was lucky to earn $300 a season with cotton candy. Guess what? We earned $500 in one night! Justin had the time of his life heckling high schoolers into buying bags, “don’t be Sigma, buy some cotton candy.” We paused for the opening ceremony to hear Amelia sing…that girl was so brave, got up and sang her heart out alone and a capella. The sound system was so loud she could not hear herself sing, she slowed down a few times just to get her bearings. All in all I was so impressed with her, she was not at all impressed. She started crying a little because it didn’t turn out how she practiced. Earlier in the day the sound system was not loud so it was easier to hear without all the feedback bouncing around. Still, that girl has guts for miles. I went back to my spot, moved the table so I could stand on some wood to get a little higher then cranked out another 100+ bags of cotton candy. We sold it all! The marching band performed at halftime. Phillip is in the front crew that does not march around. He played very well. Tried to play and dance but worked more on playing at this point in his career. I expect him to start jiving like the more experienced players. Amelia left right after Phillip finished. Evelyn and Josie had a lovely time running around under the bleachers with their cute friends. Justin took the girls home toward the end of the game because I still had a group of band kids to drive home. That was a very long day. 

Our RS had a lovely sister’s temple morning on Saturday. I was excited to see the newest batch of changes so that was fortuitous. We started out at the church with a breakfast then carpooled to the temple for the 11 am session. We arrived at 10:15, needing enough time to help those in our group dress and get up to the waiting room. Seems like the changes are a few clarifications and streamlined dialogue, making the session right around 75 minutes. Nice. After dinner Justin and I went to look at another Toyota van with only 70,000 miles on it. We felt pretty good about the van and will pursue purchasing it come Monday morning. It looks almost like our current van, just a few years younger. I am participating in an organ class after church for the next couple weeks. Sister Minor found a bother in Caldwell who is an organ genius. He’s taken many classes at BYU in organ performance. He was so talented most of us just sat back and tried to even think at a base level about what he was trying to teach us. The main takeaway I brought home was to “play to the text, not necessarily the music.” The organ is not a percussion instrument like a piano, it is a wind instrument and should be played accordingly.