Wednesday, December 29, 2010

The Rose Parade is in Sight

My youngest son, Jordan (a.k.a. Jordie), is in Los Angeles, California with the high school band.  They will be marching in the Rose Parade on New Year's Day, so make sure you watch.  Jordie will be in the middle of the tuba line with the Albertville High School Aggie Band.  There's a funny story about that.  Jordan actually plays bass guitar in the band, but he started out his band career playing alto saxophone, just like his older brother, Justin.  The band directors took a liking to him and asked him if he would like to learn to play the bass guitar because they needed another player.  So he plays bass guitar AND alto saxophone.  He even plays the upright bass during concert season.

Since there is not much cause for a bass guitar in a parade, they asked Jordan to march tuba because they needed the tuba line to stretch all the way across the street in the Rose Parade.  At first I thought that he was just going to carry the tuba, but then I saw some tuba sheet music lying on the table.  I asked him if he was going to actually play it, and he said that he figured he might as well, that it would just be another instrument that he could play.  I was so proud of him.  He has complained a little about his shoulders hurting when he would come in after "conditioning" marching.  You see, the Rose Parade is SIX MILES LONG!!!!!  And that's just from the starting line.  They will be lined up about half-way back.  The band directors have been preparing the band member for the 6-mile trek.  They should be on TV about 11:30 CST. 

They flew out from Atlanta on Monday morning.  They have visited the Santa Monica Pier, Knott's Berry Farm, and Disneyland.  Tomorrow they will be performing their half-time show at Bandfest, to be held at one of the local colleges in Pasadena with 8 of the other bands in the parade.  It is offered via streaming webcast, so I will get to watch them as they perform.  It won't be the same as being there, but it will be close.  Friday they are going to Universal Studios.  Saturday is the big parade.  And, Sunday night they should be home around midnight. 

So I leave you now with a video of their half-time show from this past football season.  Enjoy!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

My Hoarding, ADD, OCD, Split Personality

So, I dragged my butt into work this morning...in the freezing cold...snow still on the ground in places. I didn't really want to, but I needed to mail those checks that I ran when I went in last Monday. Being a 12-month employee in the school system has its perks...and downfalls, at times.  We were given a list of all the holidays & days that school would be out for those holidays and were told that we needed to work 8 of those days or take it from our vacation days.  I worked 3 of my days over Thanksgiving week, 1 day last Monday, and half a day today.  I'm probably not going back in until I have to on January 5. It will be here soon enough, and who knows when I'll get another chance to be off for days at a time. I wanted to get those checks mailed so that I could enjoy the rest of my Christmas/New Year's break.  I accomplished that task, thank you very much. 

NOW...I plan to spend the rest of this week decluttering & organizing.  It is something that really needs to be done before I go crazy.  I can tell I have hoarding tendencies, yet I'm also a bit OCD when things are chaotic.  It's an oxymoron working inside me...or maybe I just have a split personality.  I think I have also developed adult ADD, as I have trouble focusing on the task at hand.  There's just so much that needs to be done!  I talk to myself, too.  (Boy, I think I'm more screwed up than I realized!)  Sometimes I have to tell myself to STOP and FOCUS!!  Hey, it works.  Don't knock it until you've tried it.

So now that I've diagnosed myself with a myriad of abnormalties, I'll leave you to your own introspection.  You'll probably feel more normal than ever!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Christmas Afterthoughts

I took down my Christmas tree today. I have most of the decorations all packed up. I still see a few things that I missed, but I needed a break. Taking all that stuff down is hard work! I didn't realize how badly my tree was dried out until I started taking off the lights and all the little green things were hitting the floor. I'll never get all of them up.

Growing up, I had always heard that it was bad luck to take your tree down until after New Year's Day. I began to research this to see when it started, and it appears that there is another old wives' tale out there that says that is is bad luck to leave it up until New Year's. Something about bringing the past into the new year with you, or somethng like that. So, either way, I decided I was in for it. I took it down because I'm ready to get back to normal. We had to rearrange the furniture just to find a place for the tree. So now, I can get back to my normal crafting and decorating.

Enough with all the boring stuff. On to the Christmas pictures:

This year we had a white Chrismas in Northeast Alabama!  I remember that we had a white Christmas in 1989, but that was more of a dusting.  This time it REALLY snowed!!  It was so beautiful.  Just perfect!!


Here's another view.  These two pics were taken at my brother-in-law's house where we had our traditional Christmas Day breakfast.


Here is me with my little family (minus Justin, Chelsea & Millie, who would not be with us until later in the evening).  That's Chase, Hubby Kevin, Moi, and Jordan.

So that covers one side of the family.  More to come later...

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Slow It Down, Please!!!

It's all happening so fast!!  Christmas is just 4 days away, and then 2 days after that Jordie will be on a plane with the band to Los Angeles, California.  Slow it down!  Why does time seem to fly the older we get?  That's just weird.  When I was a little girl, it seemed like Christmas would never come.  Now, I can't slow it down.  Wasn't it just last week that we took Millie trick-or-treating?!  Wow. Amazing.

Oh, how I wish I were going to California!  But, the expense was just too much.  I probably could have swung it if it were just me.  But, I couldn't go and leave the rest of my family behind.  Actually, we did good just to get Jordan paid up to go.  He came home with a $200 check from the band today for spending money.  Not too shabby!  Most of their stuff is included in the price of the trip, but it is always good to have some spending money.  I already miss him, and he hasn't even left yet.  The airplane ride kinda scares me.  He's never flown.  I have flown twice; once TO Californian, and then BACK home.  It was pretty awesome.  I think he will love it.  I just pray that all goes well with the flights.  He is gonna have so much fun.  They are going to Universal Studios, Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Santa Monica Pier, and several other places.  Then the big event will be marching in the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year's Day.  They will also be performing in Band Fest.  All the bands in the parade will be performing their half-time show for each other.  Our band has been practicing diligently for this performance.  I found out last week that there will be an opportunity for us to view Band Fest via live stream on our computer for a small fee.  That will be nice. 

I'm so proud of our band.  They are part of what makes my city so awesome.  I'm proud to say that I was once a part of that band, and two of my sons have gone on to perform in that band.  Now, if I can just get Jordan to try out for drum major next year...

Here they are.  Be sure to watch all the way to the end.  It's the best part.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Friday, December 3, 2010

WAR EAGLE!!



Dear Blog,
   There's a big football game coming up tomorrow.  We are big Auburn fans in my family.  Tomorrow is the SEC championship game between Auburn and South Carolina.  I'm a bit nervous.  It's going to be a tough game.  Auburn has so much to gain if they can pull this one off.  "We" will get to go play for the national championship.  Auburn really needs that because they never get the respect that they deserve.  And, all this trash talk about Cam Newton is about to get on my last nerve.  He has been such a trooper through all the allegations; holding his head high, and smiling that big beautiful smile.  Fans of other teams mistake that for cockiness.  But, he is one class act, in my book.

My family was fortunate enough to attend an Auburn game this year.  Later that weekend we found out that a boy from the city next to us was killed in a car accident on the way back from that game.  Someone in the family emailed Gene Chizik and Cam Newton to let them know of this terrible tragedy and how big of a fan this young boy was.  This family member told them of one of the last texts that this boy had sent.  It said something like, "Just touched Gene Chizik's hand at Tiger Walk.  I'll never wash it again."  And did you know, both Cam Newton and Gene Chizik replied back to that family member with such kind caring words?  Someone from Auburn athletics came to represent Auburn at the boy's funeral.  These are the stories that you don't hear about.  These are the stories that show you what type of person that someone truly is.

How awesome that a quarterback like Cam can come out at Bryant Denney Stadium to a hostile crowd, amidst all the allegations surrounding him, against vendors selling "SCAM Newton" t-shirts, against a University of Alabama employee playing "Take the Money and Run" and "Son of a Preacher Man" over the loud speaker, against members of Alabama's student section throwing made-up money with his picture on it at him, and Cam shuts them up by bringing his team back from a 24-0 deficit to win the game.  "AU"SOME, I say.  But, of course, I am an Auburn fan, and I would see it that way.  But, the NCAA ruled that Cam is & has been eligible to play.  So, I hope he can lead his team to victory during the SEC championship AND the national championship.

WAR EAGLE!!!