Tomorrow is Shane's Eagle Court of Honor, and I can't freakin' BELIEVE how much work it is to get everything ready! We're making good progress but there is still a LOT to do to tie everthing up.
I ordered a cake from Costco yesterday then went and picked it up today and went to Wal-Mart AGAIN (I feel like I'm living there again lately), got home and realized I had forgotten the plasticware and paper plates. grrrrr. So guess where I'm headed later!
I think it's going to be really nice, though! Kelly put together a slideshow to the themesong from the TV series Enterprise that just fits Shane and his experiences perfectly. I still have a lot to do with pictures (decided that putting a scrapbook together this late in the game is insane so I'm just saying no to that, but I need to put something together that showcases his Eagle project) and we're fine-tuning the programs.
My brother Fred is going to read the story of the eagle and the chickens, and we're framing a copy of it to give to Shane. If you've never heard it you can find it online, and I will also post it here sometime in the next few days. It's very inspiring to anyone, not just an eagle scout.
Well, I'm going to catch a quick catnap and then jump back into the madness!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Swingin' Times at the Senior Center!
Yesterday I had a phone message from a grandma in our old ward who is very involved at the Senior Citizens' Center in our community. She hosts a variety show every month and was having trouble getting a pianist and asked me if I could help out--TODAY. I got the music last night, went over it this morning and decided what I could handle on such short notice and what would have to be done A'Cappella.
I have to tell you about this lady. She is absolutely hysterical; it usually takes her 5-10 minutes to answer a question because when she starts talking she gets reminded of something else that she then talks about and sometimes she ends up back round to the original subject. She likes to sing for her testimony on Fast and Testimony Meeting. She totally cracks me up! In some ways she reminds me of my Grandma Thompson (Grandma didn't sing but she was a hoot in other ways) and I think that's one reason why I feel so much affection for Margaret.
So when I got to the Center I couldn't find her because she didn't think to tell me where they were practicing; it wasn't in the gym where they serve lunch and they had two ladies with guitars already performing. Finally tracked her down, and when I came in she was going over the program with the performers. One of the men was particularly full of himself, shaking his head at everything, and informed me that I was NOT accompanying him. I was like, "You're right; I'm not!" He was looking pretty sharp with his pressed black pants, white turtleneck and cell phone holder attached to his WHITE BELT WITH MUSICAL NOTES PRINTED ALL OVER IT!! After the group cleared out I sat down at the piano to run through a few songs and he treated me to an impromptu performance, after which he said, "No offense to your piano playing, but if you're the kind that just plays as it's written it won't work because you're supposed to follow me." So spunky me, I said, "Ahh, you like to take artistic license! I do follow the singer, but I was given this last minute so I would have said no anyway because it wouldn't be fair to me OR to you." He then proceeded to tell me that he and his wife are professionals because THEY get paid for singing at the Centers, and told me of an audition he went to for a musical many years ago where the pianist was just terrible and so he requested to sing without the piano. The director said, "So you think you're that good, huh?" and he said, "Yes, I am," smoked the audition and landed the lead role. And I thought male ego peaked during the teenage years! :)
I was sitting in the lunchroom for about 15 minutes before the variety show and it was so touching to me to watch the people around me. Some of them just cracked me up--they had decorated the tables with Mardi Gras beads and masks because today was Fat Tuesday, and one little old lady sat there with one of the huge feathery masks on the whole entire time. A lot of them were wearing the beads. Every now and then when a favorite song was played, one or two couples would get up and dance, and at one point a couple of ladies got up and danced, too. They really respond to the music!
I played old love songs for about 15 minutes as they got their lunches, and after finishing one of the songs I heard, "That was beautiful," and looked over to see a little man with an oxygen tank seated close to the stage. It really touched me how much a simple thing like providing some meager piano playing out of a simplified book can lift someone's spirit.
As I watched the little couples dance, I thought what a beautiful thing it was to see those little men still holding their wives tight and dancing with them. THAT is true love!
It was a really neat thing to see Margaret in her element. She spends every day socializing at the center and talks about it a lot at church. People giggle a lot when she raises her hand in church because of how she rambles and some of the funny things she does, but I have to say that watching her today was really something. She is a leader there, and people look to her. I saw faces light up as she greeted people, she got a more comfortable chair for the man with the oxygen tank. She looked absolutely beautiful in her dress. She really shines, and it's wonderful to see her doing what she can in her way to reach out to people!
I have to tell you about this lady. She is absolutely hysterical; it usually takes her 5-10 minutes to answer a question because when she starts talking she gets reminded of something else that she then talks about and sometimes she ends up back round to the original subject. She likes to sing for her testimony on Fast and Testimony Meeting. She totally cracks me up! In some ways she reminds me of my Grandma Thompson (Grandma didn't sing but she was a hoot in other ways) and I think that's one reason why I feel so much affection for Margaret.
So when I got to the Center I couldn't find her because she didn't think to tell me where they were practicing; it wasn't in the gym where they serve lunch and they had two ladies with guitars already performing. Finally tracked her down, and when I came in she was going over the program with the performers. One of the men was particularly full of himself, shaking his head at everything, and informed me that I was NOT accompanying him. I was like, "You're right; I'm not!" He was looking pretty sharp with his pressed black pants, white turtleneck and cell phone holder attached to his WHITE BELT WITH MUSICAL NOTES PRINTED ALL OVER IT!! After the group cleared out I sat down at the piano to run through a few songs and he treated me to an impromptu performance, after which he said, "No offense to your piano playing, but if you're the kind that just plays as it's written it won't work because you're supposed to follow me." So spunky me, I said, "Ahh, you like to take artistic license! I do follow the singer, but I was given this last minute so I would have said no anyway because it wouldn't be fair to me OR to you." He then proceeded to tell me that he and his wife are professionals because THEY get paid for singing at the Centers, and told me of an audition he went to for a musical many years ago where the pianist was just terrible and so he requested to sing without the piano. The director said, "So you think you're that good, huh?" and he said, "Yes, I am," smoked the audition and landed the lead role. And I thought male ego peaked during the teenage years! :)
I was sitting in the lunchroom for about 15 minutes before the variety show and it was so touching to me to watch the people around me. Some of them just cracked me up--they had decorated the tables with Mardi Gras beads and masks because today was Fat Tuesday, and one little old lady sat there with one of the huge feathery masks on the whole entire time. A lot of them were wearing the beads. Every now and then when a favorite song was played, one or two couples would get up and dance, and at one point a couple of ladies got up and danced, too. They really respond to the music!
I played old love songs for about 15 minutes as they got their lunches, and after finishing one of the songs I heard, "That was beautiful," and looked over to see a little man with an oxygen tank seated close to the stage. It really touched me how much a simple thing like providing some meager piano playing out of a simplified book can lift someone's spirit.
As I watched the little couples dance, I thought what a beautiful thing it was to see those little men still holding their wives tight and dancing with them. THAT is true love!
It was a really neat thing to see Margaret in her element. She spends every day socializing at the center and talks about it a lot at church. People giggle a lot when she raises her hand in church because of how she rambles and some of the funny things she does, but I have to say that watching her today was really something. She is a leader there, and people look to her. I saw faces light up as she greeted people, she got a more comfortable chair for the man with the oxygen tank. She looked absolutely beautiful in her dress. She really shines, and it's wonderful to see her doing what she can in her way to reach out to people!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Sweetheart Ball
As I'm writing this, both of my children are at the Sweetheart Ball at school (not with each other of course--I would have said, "Like gag me with a spoon," at the idea back in MY 80's high school days; no personal offense to my brother, but seriously!). It has been quite a week in more ways than one, and it's fun to see them having these experiences.
Brittany's date just picked her up a few minutes ago, and he seems like a very nice young man. He brought her a beautiful corsage. He looks a lot like Clark Kent to me, except with curly hair. :) Going dress shopping with Brittany was so much fun; we found a dress that is very modest and attractive, and she looks absolutely stunning! It's a black print; it's totally unfair how great she looks in black!
Shane's group left awhile ago; the guys stopped by here to get dressed before picking their dates up, and he looked sharp as well--black and red. I'll post pictures if they give me copies of their dance pix.
They are both out with people they haven't gone out with before, and I am glad. They both went through breakups recently, and it's good to see them having fun with and getting to know other people. It's a nice change from the drama that's been going on around here for the past few weeks. Teenage relationships make me tired; I'm thinking that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that I didn't date in high school. The drama in college was almost too much for me at times, and that was with people who were supposedly more mature!
Brittany's date just picked her up a few minutes ago, and he seems like a very nice young man. He brought her a beautiful corsage. He looks a lot like Clark Kent to me, except with curly hair. :) Going dress shopping with Brittany was so much fun; we found a dress that is very modest and attractive, and she looks absolutely stunning! It's a black print; it's totally unfair how great she looks in black!
Shane's group left awhile ago; the guys stopped by here to get dressed before picking their dates up, and he looked sharp as well--black and red. I'll post pictures if they give me copies of their dance pix.
They are both out with people they haven't gone out with before, and I am glad. They both went through breakups recently, and it's good to see them having fun with and getting to know other people. It's a nice change from the drama that's been going on around here for the past few weeks. Teenage relationships make me tired; I'm thinking that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that I didn't date in high school. The drama in college was almost too much for me at times, and that was with people who were supposedly more mature!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Thank Goodness for Small Miracles!
Today I had a jolting experience. As I was coming home from the grocery store and hit the last block or so from our home, frozen snow started sliding off the roof of my van in large chunks. As I pulled into the driveway and stopped, an AVALANCHE fell on my windshield! I cleared it with my wipers, backed up to reposition the van and pulled up again, and even more covered the windshield. It has been frigid the last two days along with snowfall, and today we have had lots of sunshine. Thus the frozen chunks (HUGE) sliding all of a sudden! I'm so thankful that that didn't happen while I was driving, because I couldn't see a think for those seconds before I got the windshield clear. That could have been a very bad situation on the road.
It's amazing how many sudden, unexpected things can happen and have scary consequences. I definitely felt like I was being watched over! I'm glad I prayed for safety this morning.
It's amazing how many sudden, unexpected things can happen and have scary consequences. I definitely felt like I was being watched over! I'm glad I prayed for safety this morning.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Shaking Hands and Heart in My Throat
Yesterday was ward conference in our new ward, and I was asked to play a piano solo for Relief Society. This was only our 3rd Sunday in the ward, so the RS president referred to it as my baptism by fire. :)
I had a little over a week to prepare, so I opted to play one of my own pieces. Well, sort of. So far I haven't completely anything COMPLETELY original, but I have written arrangements of and accompaniments to hymns for choir. The first one I ever did is a medley of the hymns on prayer, and with a little tweaking it works as a piano solo as well. I figured that my nerves would probably kick in pretty good since I'm not in a comfort zone anymore, so I chose that one (I performed a not-my-own-work solo of Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing in our old ward a few months ago and getting it ready gave me fits, so I figured that taking nerves into account it would be a bad choice this time).
Practicing went well and I actually got pretty bored with it. Didn't feel nervous at all the morning of, not in Sacrament Meeting or anything. I went to the RS room during Sunday School to run through it a couple of times and get the feel of that piano, and it went fine; even with people walking in and out and setting up for RS. (The tone on that piano is so lovely that it really smacked me in the face how badly our piano needs to be tuned!)
Then Relief Society started and I about had a stroke! Something that always worries me is blanking out while I play. Sometimes I'm able to get into this "zone" where I'm not consciously concentrating on what I'm doing and I get lost in the music, and that's when I play best. But if that gets broken by a distraction I can find myself staring at the music without it registering where I am, even though I've been reading it the whole time. It's horrible when that happens! That worry, coupled with seeing again all these sisters whom I don't know, really got me going. It didn't help that as the RS president was introducing the program she said that she had heard me practicing and I was "amazing." I sat there thinking, "Well now I'm jinxed for sure!" I said a few prayers and was able to enjoy the speakers and found myself relaxing. My hands didn't get cold or anything. Then, when it was time I started playing and it was fine. Then halfway through the piece, as I got into the more involved parts that also call for more emotion, my freaking hands started trembling, and my heart literally moved up into my throat! Through that, though, I actually was able to pull off one of my better performances and made few mistakes--more obvious to me than them, I think.
I ended up happy with the performance, and so many people were so kind and complimentary. That was a good feeling. I was even happier when I was able to stop shaking about 20 minutes later!
I had a little over a week to prepare, so I opted to play one of my own pieces. Well, sort of. So far I haven't completely anything COMPLETELY original, but I have written arrangements of and accompaniments to hymns for choir. The first one I ever did is a medley of the hymns on prayer, and with a little tweaking it works as a piano solo as well. I figured that my nerves would probably kick in pretty good since I'm not in a comfort zone anymore, so I chose that one (I performed a not-my-own-work solo of Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing in our old ward a few months ago and getting it ready gave me fits, so I figured that taking nerves into account it would be a bad choice this time).
Practicing went well and I actually got pretty bored with it. Didn't feel nervous at all the morning of, not in Sacrament Meeting or anything. I went to the RS room during Sunday School to run through it a couple of times and get the feel of that piano, and it went fine; even with people walking in and out and setting up for RS. (The tone on that piano is so lovely that it really smacked me in the face how badly our piano needs to be tuned!)
Then Relief Society started and I about had a stroke! Something that always worries me is blanking out while I play. Sometimes I'm able to get into this "zone" where I'm not consciously concentrating on what I'm doing and I get lost in the music, and that's when I play best. But if that gets broken by a distraction I can find myself staring at the music without it registering where I am, even though I've been reading it the whole time. It's horrible when that happens! That worry, coupled with seeing again all these sisters whom I don't know, really got me going. It didn't help that as the RS president was introducing the program she said that she had heard me practicing and I was "amazing." I sat there thinking, "Well now I'm jinxed for sure!" I said a few prayers and was able to enjoy the speakers and found myself relaxing. My hands didn't get cold or anything. Then, when it was time I started playing and it was fine. Then halfway through the piece, as I got into the more involved parts that also call for more emotion, my freaking hands started trembling, and my heart literally moved up into my throat! Through that, though, I actually was able to pull off one of my better performances and made few mistakes--more obvious to me than them, I think.
I ended up happy with the performance, and so many people were so kind and complimentary. That was a good feeling. I was even happier when I was able to stop shaking about 20 minutes later!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Teenage Drama=Headaches for Me
Oh my, what a zoo it has been around here the past few days. It's quite the experience to witness your children deal with the complexities of dating relationships as teens. Brittany has been dealing with this kind of drama this week; not sure if it's resulting in a breakup or in a better relationship as they are learning to communicate better. The past two days it has seemed "over," but tonight they're out together with a friend.
It's been a little exhausting for me, but I've been happy that Brittany is speaking up and communicating how she wants to be treated. A couple of nights ago when things came to a head, I got a text from her boyfriend and ended up texting him for about 30 minutes clueing him in on why she was upset. I never imagined THAT would happen! I've always made a point of trying to establish a comfortable relationship with my kids' friends and dates; I never imagined that that would result in being enlisted by the one who ISN'T my kid to help with a misunderstanding. It was pretty surreal!
I'm so glad I'm not a teenager any more.
It's been a little exhausting for me, but I've been happy that Brittany is speaking up and communicating how she wants to be treated. A couple of nights ago when things came to a head, I got a text from her boyfriend and ended up texting him for about 30 minutes clueing him in on why she was upset. I never imagined THAT would happen! I've always made a point of trying to establish a comfortable relationship with my kids' friends and dates; I never imagined that that would result in being enlisted by the one who ISN'T my kid to help with a misunderstanding. It was pretty surreal!
I'm so glad I'm not a teenager any more.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
So Far, So Good!
I am happy to report that the way we are approaching Brittany's school schedule this semester seems to be a good solution.
True to the pattern of the past two years, her migraines and days not feeling well have increased in frequency, with the worst of it being first thing in the morning. I vowed after last year that I would not do the home and hospital option again; it was hard on both of us and we really didn't like each other too well by the time spring rolled around. She's been doing better mood-wise with the medication she's been on, and I was hoping against hope that we wouldn't have a repeat of last year. Last week was the first week back to school and also the end of term, and it was a hard week. Having her schedule changed so that 1st period on both days (block schedule--A and B days) is released time like seminary turned out to be an easy adjustment to make since she had Geometry 1st period, and the other 1st period class was one that she never signed up for and would have had changed anyway.
So this week we have been operating on this modified schedule, and it is making a big difference. I am very hopeful!! She is still in quite a bit of pain when she first gets up, but it allows her to sleep a little later and take a bit longer to get ready if she needs to. I still have her take her meds early so that they are in her system, then let her go back to sleep. The only drawback is that I have to take her since it's later, but I'm happy to make that adjustment. She has been a real trooper! Brittany is my hero in so many ways; I'm amazed at what a strong person she is.
True to the pattern of the past two years, her migraines and days not feeling well have increased in frequency, with the worst of it being first thing in the morning. I vowed after last year that I would not do the home and hospital option again; it was hard on both of us and we really didn't like each other too well by the time spring rolled around. She's been doing better mood-wise with the medication she's been on, and I was hoping against hope that we wouldn't have a repeat of last year. Last week was the first week back to school and also the end of term, and it was a hard week. Having her schedule changed so that 1st period on both days (block schedule--A and B days) is released time like seminary turned out to be an easy adjustment to make since she had Geometry 1st period, and the other 1st period class was one that she never signed up for and would have had changed anyway.
So this week we have been operating on this modified schedule, and it is making a big difference. I am very hopeful!! She is still in quite a bit of pain when she first gets up, but it allows her to sleep a little later and take a bit longer to get ready if she needs to. I still have her take her meds early so that they are in her system, then let her go back to sleep. The only drawback is that I have to take her since it's later, but I'm happy to make that adjustment. She has been a real trooper! Brittany is my hero in so many ways; I'm amazed at what a strong person she is.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
