Fiddle Express Concert 2025

The girls put in a lot of practice time into their upcoming recital with Fiddle Express. We had a long session Tuesday night with the Beck family and another student, Gracie, working on the studio songs. It is one thing to practice with mom at home and quite another to practice in a group. One of my assignments was to accompany Josie for two of her songs. We practiced at home with strum machine (an accompaniment app) and me on piano. On Tuesday it was just Josie and I, we struggled because I practiced the chords completely differently than needed for her recital. I don’t know all my chords, it was embarrassing to have Emma pull out the circle of 5ths and try to explain what chords were which and how to play them on the piano. My musical education is riddled with holes, from afar it looks okay but please do not inspect up close. The same can be said for my role as choir director. I just move with the music, making up my own rhythms and harmony. Good thing I’m not paid. I may have shed a few tears during the drive home. 

Our family has a new Nelf. Nyleveju was born Wednesday by pure accident. The Nelf saw something Santa wrote on his work computer and forgot to close. Josie found glitter all over the floor. There must be a connection between glitter and Nelf inductions. The new Nelf is proud to be on team Santa. She is going around asking all the questions as Santa’s Nelves show her how to be a Nelf. It was a sad and happy day. 

Thursday we had combined MCO rehearsal in Middleton at their high school. That first rehearsal is always chaotic and exciting. The singers finally get to hear how their voices meld with the orchestra and other instruments and choirs. Josie and Evelyn were stoked to see their teacher, Andrew Beck, who got a special assignment playing guitar in Riu, Riu, Chiu. I worked on attire snafus and getting the spreadsheets updated with Cara while we waited. I am supposed to organize the robes, costumes, and props this year in addition to attire. I caught up on all the emails and procedures for that new role. Somehow I am supposed to have a team of 3-4 at each concert. Hopefully, we can scrape up some extra hands to help out. Anyone want to come help? 

Friday felt like a very-bad no-good day for me, with pops of goodness to lessen the blows. I left home quite early in the morning to get grocery shopping done. I did not go last week hoping we could rely on all the Thanksgiving leftovers. I had a photo session at 3:30, so needed to get done before noon. The client rescheduled for 12:30 pm late Thursday night. I needed the kids to do their chores and set up my photo stuff. I got home at 11:45 with chores done and the TV on, no studio stuff. I busted their chops as we unloaded groceries and tried to get it all set up before Faye arrived. I was in a mood by the time Tarah and Faye arrived. My trigger was not working, we ran out of aaa batteries, gah! I grabbed my tether cable and went that route. The cable works but misfires every 5 photos, drives me nuts. Faye was tired and not interested in photos as most 2 year olds are wont to be. I somehow grabbed my camera incorrectly and it crashed to the floor. At first I was not worried because it looked like just the filter cracked. Nope. My $1,500 lens is cracked down the side where the lens is held into place. Looks like the focus was also knocked out of alignment if it even works. I grabbed my back up prime lens and finished the session with tears threatening to spill. I cried alone while waiting for Phillip during his session with Austin. Stupid. Stupid. We got home at 3:30 with just enough time to get the girls and I all dolled up for their recital. As we drove into Melba everything was dark and quiet. Turns out someone was in an accident and knocked out the power for the town. Those performing crowded into the Beck’s living room for the only jam session with everyone. Justin managed to order pizza and get it to the theater before the concert started. He was frustrated the Melba pizza place and later me were not answering our phones. I had no service at all, even the satellite coverage was spotty. He swooped in with a few flashlights to help light up the space. The concert went on powered by battery and flashlight. It was quite intimate and different. The girls did their very best! I am so proud of Evelyn for memorizing Away in a Manger in 2 weeks. The power came back on 5 minutes after the concert ended. Hooray! Back at home I opened the front door to the floor littered with cotton from some gnomes the dogs tore into. Those rascals chewed through some legos, several ornaments, a light cord, three gnomes, and some of my front room decorations. Eve is fired. That girl dog and Fergus make a perfect storm of shenanigans. I held a eulogy for my poor gnomes, just fabric, sand, and fluff left to gently repose in the trash bins. Josie had a birthday party the next day, I decided to go shopping at 9 pm for the party and some things Phillip needed for a choir gift exchange. Shopping with Phillip and the girls is an experience everyone needs to enjoy. Those kiddos lift my spirits. You can’t help but smile when you look over your shoulder to find Phillip’s hand shoved down the throat of a “Fuggly” doll with a look of pure delight on his face. 

Josie quite enjoyed her birthday party at Lucy’s home. She loves this little Schleich pony Lucy has, I looked up the pony and of course it is a rare item worth over $65 for a figurine. No thank you.  The kids worked on the garage while I dropped off Josie. I finally trimmed the rose bushes so the boys could hang Christmas lights. The kids spent some time writing letters to Santa. Phillip asked for bay-gull and a fuggly doll, Everett wants a Lego and a yam, Evelyn wants an Echo Dot and a new Bluey blankie the dogs shredded up, and lastly, Josie asked for a Blastercorn and that dang ultra-rare pony figure. She believes Santa can do all things magical. I gently explained that she can ask but Santa might not be able to make her wish come true. 

Choir this afternoon was on the side of terrible. It sounded like we had never practiced before. I’m clutching to the hope that our hours practicing will catch up next week and once we sing in the program that angels will chip in. Amelia went on a date with a young man her cousin Jacob served with in Peru! She said they had fun and trying to make small talk was not a chore. Phew! Good job Amelia asking out a boy.