Saturday, October 28, 2006
....oooooouuucchhhhh......
This was the longest game EVER. I think the team forgot what sport they were supposed to be playing for the first quarter. I mean, only one school has let West Florida score this year, and it was Woodham. This was supposed to be an easy game. The paper predicted us to win 38-0. In the first quarter they kept us from scoring, and worse yet, THEY SCORED. What?! The score stayed that way for almost another whole quarter, then our team figured out what the hell was going on and got down to business. The game ended at a score of 43-6. Not too damn bad.

The band part was a nightmare in the beginning. It was very blustery out...a light rain and tons of wind. We performed pre-game (blar) much to the chagrin of the football teams. We got in the stands and sent the kids back to the buses section-by-section to hang their uniform coats up. We didn't want them to get too wet before contest tomorrow. The field was sopping wet, and I made an executive decision to cut out the kneel they do in teh 2nd number. Then one of the tbone players fell down at the end of a particularly fast move. She popped right back up, though, so it was ok. Then one of the trumpet players wore WHITE socks on the field. ...sigh... At least we got all the crap out of the way from the get-go.

There was much t0-do from the Woodham announcers about the "possible" closing of their school. This was their last home game of the year, and possibly the last home game EVER. At one point before the score was much closer the announcer said, "Well, at least this isn't the rout that the local paper predicted. They said we wouldn't even score!" Famous last words, buddy. One person got on and became very emotional when saying that "If this is the last Homecoming I ever announce for Woodham high, I just want you to know that while I attended Washington High, I consider myself to be a Titan now, and forever will be!"

We had one band mom come over to say that her family has decided to take the bull by the horns...they're going to enroll at PFHS next year. Her son will be a senior and has been taking clarinet lessons from MY clarinet prof at PJC for a couple years. Her daughter is a flute player and is in the guard. I actually clapped I was so excited! There are about 8 kids that have said they'll be coming to PFHS from Woodham, so we'll see.

So tomorrow...turns out the staff isn't wearing our standard blue shirt & khaki pants - it's a dressy occasion. So I'm sitting here on the couch waiting for some laundry to wash so I can dry it and then go to bed. I'm going to spend all day tomorrow in dressy clothes. ...sigh... I'll be a mess once I get home. On that note, I'm going to check my laundry and head to bed. Will try to post ASAP to let you know how contest went.
posted by Jen @ 1:03 AM   2 comments
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Blar...
...I'm worn out. It's Thursday, so the weekend is quickly approaching, but it won't bring much rest. We have a game Friday, and a hugely important contest on Saturday. We're marching at the Emerald Coast Marching Classic to qualify for state competition. The following week we have another game - our last home game in the regular season and therefore "Senior Night" - and then the following day ANOTHER contest. That one's also a qualifier for state competition. We're hedging our bets. :)

So tomorrow we play Woodham, at Woodham. We already have the top spot in our district, but the team is still out to obliterate them. :) Today I answered a call in the band room office from Woodham's band director (I think it was - I didn't recognize his name). He asked if we were performing pre-game tonight. Umm...not that I'm aware of...why would we? Turns out that it's their friggin HOMECOMING. The second-to-last game of the season?! Crap! And they're just now calling to let us know. Thanks, pal. I suppose we're playing pre-game, then. What time? This guy goes, "Well, if you could perform around 6:20 it would be great. Our freshmen want to do something on the field pre-game, too." The hell?! I didn't say anything at that point because I didn't want to cuss or otherwise offend the guy. He offered, "Well, if you can't do it that early then you can always perform after the game!" Like that is some amazingly wonderful gift. Perform post-game, while everyone's leaving, and then get home around 11:30...the night before a hugely important contest. ...sigh... Looks like we'll be performing at 6:20, then.

Contest on Saturday is going to be an all-day affair. We're meeting at the school early to rehearse, and then drive for 2 hours to Choctaw. We're doing the contest AND the festival, so we'll be performing first around 3:30, and then again around 7 something. The final award ceremony won't start until 10 PM...then we have another 2 hour bus ride home. I'm tired already...

It's going to be an extra long Friday, with a super-extra-long Saturday on top. I'll get Sunday off, and then start the whole thing over again on Monday. I'll have the added bonus of Senior Night that week...though contest that week will be at Tate and we won't have to drive nearly as far. ...sigh... I'm ready for an all-expenses-paid vacation, so anyone willing to foot the bill, just let me know. :)
posted by Jen @ 12:47 PM   0 comments
Sunday, October 22, 2006
The pics I promised
Here are a couple pics of my new toy. :)















posted by Jen @ 1:03 PM   4 comments
Saturday, October 21, 2006
A busy, busy day
Here's how I spent my Friday.

Get up, showered, and fed. Same for Cam. We get Cam to day care and make it to Pete Moore by 8:15. We get a crap salesman (Nash something...Baker?) and go test drive a yellow 2007 Aveo, standard. It was ok, but the clutch was much looser than I'm used to. I got used to it and no longer made a fool of myself about 3/4 of the way through the test drive. I was going to get that one, until Nash mentioned that they had an '06 automatic marked down less than the one I just drove. It, however, was red. No big thing, I can deal with red for less money. So I have a red '06 Aveo hatchback (5 door). I'll take pics tomorrow if it doesn't rain. :)

We didn't leave the dealership until just after NOON. Meh. I go home, get my game clothes, and haul booty up to school for the last half of an all-day rehearsal before the game. I hang there until just after 3, when I haul booty to work. I worked for just over an hour, and then changed into my game clothes and head back to school. This was a HUGELY important game for the district championship, and it just happened to be the PHS game. For those of you unfamiliar with our little slice of suburbia, PHS games tend to...well, ensure heavy police presence (know what I mean, wink-wink, nudge-nudge). We were crawling with cops.

Billy brought Cam to the game. I told him to sit next to the fence by the band, and if anything untoward should happen in the stands, he was to pick up my child and step over the fence into the band section. Not that I expected anything, but just in case. Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying it's because PHS was there - we have plenty of thugs at Pine Forest. PHS is a big rival, and this was a game that decided the district championship...big stakes.

So...the game was tense. Tons of people there, and nearly everything outside the football part of the game itself went WRONG. The restrooms sit on either side of the concession stand under the home bleachers. Something, somewhere flooded in one (or both) of the restrooms, and everything began to back up. Everywhere. Yeah. So the main concession stand had to shut down just after halftime. That's a big source of revenue for the band, btw. The bathrooms were shut down, too. The ONLY bathrooms in the stadium. Yeeeaaaah. The halftime show was mediocre, AND we had Bellview Middle school's band was there to play with us. Well, about 10 of them showed up. Go fig.

The first half of the game was rough - nobody scored. We finally got a touchdown in the 2nd quarter, and that's all it took. We won 28-0 (woot!) and by the middle of the 4th quarter there was an ENORMOUS crowd of people at the gate - not leaving. Just hanging out. The cops started sweeping the track after the game to get people out, and the sheriff's helicopter swept across the stadium from the start of the 4th quarter. We decided to play through the show in the stands after the game, and then after that, we went out 3 across rather than single file. The helicopter was still sweeping the area as we went in the band room.

So, we won the district championship (as far as I understand...don't quote me on that) and nobody got hurt. Whoo hoo! It was a long day, though. I'm writing this Saturday night after taking Cam to the fair. That's a whole other story. I will say that Cam thinks my new car is the coolest thing in the WORLD. :) More on that later!
posted by Jen @ 10:11 PM   1 comments
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Of new cars and yoga
I got a set of Yoga DVDs today. Yoga Zone. I did the power yoga DVD today, and was actually concerned at the time that I wasn't doing it properly. I mean, I was doing the best I could. I knew I wouldn't be able to jump right in and do it all exactly right the first time. But I was afraid I wasn't stretching properly and such. I've since changed my mind. My abs are very unhappy with me, my arms ache like I've been lifting weight (which technically, I suppose I have been). I am tired and sore, but it's all good.

As for the car thing...TJ filled out an online app for a car loan and we were approved for $13500 at 5.7%. Pretty sweet! And as if that wasn't exciting enough, I found out that we will be going car shopping on Friday. Friday! I could have a new car by the PHS game! Woot! And on that note - especially considering this is my third blog today - I'm out!
posted by Jen @ 4:40 PM   1 comments
The party!
...where I neglected to take a single, solitary picture. Yes, I know, I suck. Chad, Stephanie, Caitlin and I arrived around 9:30. Most folks had a healthy head start, so I got to drinking. I quickly realized I didn't want any of the test tube shots (after I drank one, died a little, and then lied to Caitlin that it was fine-BWA!). I had one lime jello shot (BLAR), and then ended up nursing an enormous buttery nipple for the rest of the night. HA - I just reread that sentence...I considered changing it but decided ultimately against it. Anyway, there was about 20-30 people there, and they demolished about 160 shots, 3 boxes worth of jello shots, and innumerable various mixed drinks. TJ reported to me at various times throughout the night on his ability to see...it was very important to him. "I can only see to HERE (holding his hands out as far as they'll go). Everything past there is all fuzzy." Good job, honey. I'm proud.

I got nice and drunk, but didn't go any further...there are too many lessons burned into my brain about that sort of thing. We had about 7 non-residents of Paulding Manor spend the night, and we served coffee (a LOT, as it turns out - the pot holds 42 cups, and there were 18 left when Kenny poured it out) and breakfast. A good time was had by all...some more than others. Here's the body count as I'm aware of it right now...feel free to add anyone I may have missed. :) I'll leave it up to you to figure out whether these folks puked, passed out, or both.

DeeDee
Tony
Paula?
Caitlin

Anyone I left out?
posted by Jen @ 3:31 PM   2 comments
Saturday DAY
My day didn't start out that well...my van wouldn't start. At all this time. I got up to the 20th try and figured I might be doing more harm than good, so I gave up. I took Jen's car to school...a fact that will lead to much irritation and hilarity later. Keep reading.

We had a rehearsal that morning on the field. It was really more like noon, not so much morning. The kids ran through the show, and then we had them run the show "bopping" all the notes...for those of you unfamiliar with bopping, here's a little explanation: you take any piece of music, and play all the long notes short...your short notes are still short, and the articulation doesn't change. It makes weak spots stand out starkly, and exposes places where the kids are not playing together correctly. So in the opener, the woodwinds usually go, "DA daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa," with the last note lasting about 4 beats. Bopping it, it goes, "Da da". Much more abrupt...

It's also funny as SHIT when you're slightly giddy from being up late the night before, and about 1/3 of the kids had never really "bopped" before. Oh man...it was like getting the giggles in church...you know, when you're trying REALLY hard not to laugh, but that somehow only makes everything that much funnier? So yeah...that was good for a belly laugh.


So they all get ready and pile into the buses. I drove Jen's car so I could scoot out of there and get home to the party faster. Well, I walked out of the band room and couldn't find my van...where did I park? What the hell?! Oh, wait...Jen's car. OK, look for a champagne colored Malibu...how hard can that be, right? HA!! There were two in the parking lot. I did manage to figure out which one I needed, and got on my way.

We get to warm-up, and things are going pretty well. I took one of my bass clarinet players and a sax player to the fix-it table to get their horns patched up...turns out the bass clarinet needed a boatload of work but they got it up and running again. If she didn't play the damn thing so well I wouldn't have bothered to get it done at the last minute like that...but she is good. There are times I can hear the two bass clarinets over the 6 tubas...bwa ha! And just for the record...they're both girls. :)

We leave warm-up and go through the water line...as the kids are waiting to get their water, I walk past and gently remind them to say thank you. Apparently, they all said thank you. The Tate band moms manning the water table told us how polite and nice and sweet all the kids were, and how every one of them thanked them for the water. Heh. On to the field!

We were the first performance after a break of some sort. Once we got the go-ahead, the kids walk out, and the tubas (leading the wind players) very nearly followed the drummers around to the front of the field. We fixed that, and the instructors headed for the front of the field. We ended up sitting in the stands themselves as there wasn't much room on the track. Their performance was probably one of the best I've seen and heard from them all year. The music was good, the marching was good, and there were no obvious mistakes from where I sat. I found out otherwise afterward, though, but that's ok, too.

I was patting my leg along with the beat (I was helping) and honestly didn't think any of the kids could see me - I mean, I performed a lot of halftime shows and don't recall ever actually focusing on any one person in the stands. However...one of my sax players thanked me later for keeping the beat as she couldn't see the drum major. Heh.

They finish off the show and march off the field, with someone in front that didn't know where to go. I point them in the right direction, and we get to the truck. Everyone (including myself) has lost that "oh god I'm gonna throw up" feeling and there's much nervous talk as we wait for the parents to arrive with the columns and open up the trucks. That's when I found out that at least 2 of the woodwinds (both of them Juniors!) ended up on the wrong yard lines at various points throughout the show. They both very coolly marched at the next move to the correct place, so they hoped nobody noticed. Yikes, right? I had a lot of kids say that was the best show they'd ever marched, and that was awesome and such. They felt very good about it.

We go from the truck to the buses, where they gather money, jackets, etc. and then are dismissed into the stands until the award ceremony. I grabbed Stephanie and head to the car - I want someone else to know where the damn thing is so I won't be stuck there till everyone leaves later. We get back to the stadium and stand in an ENORMOUS line to get something to eat. We watched a few performances while we ate, and relaxed a little bit...then began the arduous task of getting the section leaders to the bus and back in uniform. I was ready to THROTTLE them by the time we got there - bunch of drunken monkeys!! They got in uniform (and the guard captain? changed clothes completely in the dark and was dressed and ready before half the band kids...bunch of slackers!) and headed back to the stadium for the award ceremony.

I headed into the stands, and we watched Tate perform. Robert W Smith wrote their show, by the way. It's very typical of a RWS piece, until about halfway through. They all run around in a scatter drill, and suddenly you see two "football teams" playing. Then someone runs in a touchdown, and some poor clarinet player in the end zone does the "touchdown" signal, and all hell breaks loose. The crowd ate it up with a spoon. Then they bust into the fight song. Again, the crowd loved it. So RWS wrote in their fight song to their show. ...sigh...

ANYWAY, the award ceremony. I don't remember the scores and let me tell you how irritated I am to not be able to find them online!!! Anyway again...some other schools got their results, and most everyone was getting various combinations of superiors and excellents. By the time it was our turn, Choctaw was the only school to have gotten straight superiors. None of the guards to that point had gotten a superior (besides Choctaw). I was a wee bit nervous. They got all superiors, though, and then we sat back to enjoy the rest of the results. Pace High got all superiors but one (ahem), and Ft. Walton Beach did, too (I think - like I said, I can't remember exactly). Ha!!

Then we leave...and once again, cannot find the car. We ended up going a different way to the parking lot and I was completely backwards. There were at least 4 Champagne Malibus in the parking lot, not to mention the 2 dozen other cars that looked suspiciously like Champagne Malibus in the dark. On to the party!
posted by Jen @ 2:01 PM   0 comments
Friday
I'm playing catch-up again, please bear with me. :)

Friday night we played Washington at Washington. This was the big game - this was a big deciding point in the district championship. Long story short, we won. :) We won the halftime show, too, as far as I'm concerned. It's not really much of a contest, though, as the marching styles of our two schools are so different. Washington is one of the only local schools that does FAMU style marching, so it's kind of hard to compare. They sure had a good time, though, and that's what counts.

Our kids did reasonably well - my boss was applauding on the sidelines, which rarely ever happens, so I took that as a good sign. It was a little shaky at first as we did NOT use the columns. It had rained that day and they were afraid of getting them wet and squishy before contest the following day. The kids apparently didn't realize this until they got on the sidelines...where they proceeded to FLIP OUT. We got them calmed down and they went about their business and did very well.

I drove to the game so I could leave early. I ended up staying until there were 4 minutes left in the game...I got a little carried away. I hauled booty home to help get ready for the party the following night, and managed to get a little bit done before falling asleep.
posted by Jen @ 10:48 AM   0 comments
Friday, October 13, 2006
Friday again
So here I am, sitting on my behind with entirely too much to get done and no desire to do any of it. ...sigh... I have three events that will eat up 90% of my weekend, and I'm mostly prepared for one, about half prepared for the second, and dreadfully unprepared for the last. What am I doing about it? Blogging. Yeah. I get the irony.

So tonight is a huge game for our football team. We're expected to win, but not by the double digits we're used to. It's going to be a tight game. It's an away game, at Booker T Washington. Never one of my favorite games.

Tomorrow is district marching contest. We did a no-no yesterday and changed some things in the closer for the woodwinds. It took a merely "hmm" sort of moment and changed it into a "ooooooooh" sort of moment. It also sets them up to knock down the columns MUCH better than they were set up before, so it's good all around. We've decided to rehearse before we leave for contest...which is a bigger deal than some folks may know. We're going to meet around noon and work for an hour or so, then load up the truck and head to Tate.

So also tomorrow...our annual Halloween party. I'm going to drive to Tate rather than ride the bus...I'll stay through the award ceremony and then high-tail it home to get ready. No, I still haven't decided what I'm going to wear...I have a few options (yes, my friends; better than "tired assistant band director" and even better than "sleepover girl"...thanks very much) and I refuse to stress over something as trivial as what I'm going to be for Halloween.

I need to get the kitchen cleaned up, clean up my room (it's not nasty, it's just not presentable), cobweb the porch and possibly the deck...I'm not sure. There's a possibility of rain today so I don't want to web up the porch and then come home to a sodden mess later. I'm lazy that way. I'm sure I'll figure it out. I work well under pressure. :) Gonna go rip some spooky music to CD for mood music...see y'all later!
posted by Jen @ 8:16 AM   2 comments
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Ghost Hunters
There's a Ghost Hunters' marathon on today up until 8 when the new season premiere comes on. Go now and turn on your TV to Sci Fi...I'll wait. There, is it on? OK. Kas and I have a bet that tonight's premiere will be a good one as both TJ and Billy are out of town overnight. That's how it usually goes...when we're alone in the house the episode turns out to be good and spooky. Here's hoping! Enjoy!
posted by Jen @ 10:44 AM   0 comments
Monday, October 09, 2006
My weekend; part the second
Oh, I forgot to mention the bagels in my post about Friday. One of our band parents knows the managers of both Bagelheads here in P'cola. They donated 200 bagels to the band for breakfast on contest day. We had to leave at an awkward time, and got there just after lunch, but before we performed...the bagels were very nice to have around. However...they were an assortment of bagels, not just plain bagels. They dropped them off Friday afternoon, and by the time we got back from the game Friday night, the band office REEKED of onion bagels. The band room itself was becoming slightly tainted by the bagel smell, but not enough to be noticeable. By Saturday, the smell had permeated the entire room. I opened the door at 9 AM to walk in, and was assaulted by the smell of onion bagels. It smelled like gym socks. No lie! Anyway, there were bagels, and it was funny. Trust me.

So, I get to school at 9AM. I roll up with the purse Resa brought me from Korea (it was MUCH adored all day, btw) stuffed with dried fruit, 2 20 oz Diet Cokes, a book (yes, I was overly optimistic) and the last $15 of my one dollar bills from my MIL's birthday gift. Road trip! The kids trickle in and eat a few bagels and get ready to go. We're taking charter buses as we're traveling out of state...we get the kids on the bus and head out. I was on bus 2 with the other staff members closer to my age. All you band nerds out there, just guess what we watched on the way up there? No, not DCI finals...Drumline. ...sigh... By the time it was over I was very ready to gouge my eyes out with a dull stick. Then they put in Legally Blond. Which made me appreciate Drumline a little more, but that's another story.

About halfway through Legally Blond, we're there. Where's 'there', you ask? Well, when I said "Dothan peanut festival," I was apparently overly optimistic. This was not even in Dothan. This was one of the "suburbs" of Dothan (I laughed out loud when I typed that, just so you know), called Ashford. Ashville? Ash-something. Regardless, it was a tiny little school with a tiny little field, and away bleachers that made me miss Catholic's. They had the aluminum soccer bleachers I mentioned before. Did I mention how small this was? And the old, abandoned milling factory that stood between the stadium and the road? It would have been ideal for a haunted house.

So...we get there, and the kids troop off the bus. Potty breaks and unloading ensue, and we're ready to go warm-up. As we walk past the back of the home side stands, I see a band on the field made up of about 30 kids. Oooookay.... The kids fell in to attention and walked (didn't make them march) in 3 lines from the buses to the practice field...we got comments such as, "Wow, that's a huge band!" "Look at them!" and such. The only other band in our class was warming up when we got to the practice field (aka, the baseball diamond...which was being torn up to install a new sprinkler system). Andalusia High School. They sounded pretty good, and their guard looked VERY good. The kids start warming up and I see my boss scurrying across the field toward me. Escambia High was performing at this competition, too...the only other band from P'cola to attend. They were in their very own class (no competition) and were scheduled to perform after the dinner break that followed OUR performance.

Well...guess who showed up early? It turns out they were told to get off the bus and head straight to the stands - do not stop at the concession stands or restrooms. Watch Pine Forest. Ahem. A little back story here...in Escambia County, there's always been one band that has been consistently amazing...and that's Tate. Heh, gotcha there, didn't I? Escambia High tries, but doesn't have the same population or financial base that Tate has. Tate has done everything there is to do to be considered a nationally-recognized band. Macy's Thanksgiving parade? Check. Bowl games? Check. Escambia's close...they've done the Philly parade and a few minor bowl games...regardless of that, it's always been a fine band. I graduated from that school, and we practiced hard, played hard, and always got straight superiors. ALWAYS. Anyway, not much has changed along those lines. They have a large band, and a good band. Our band is getting better, and we're aiming the kids not at Tate, but at Escambia. They're an awesome band, but they're attainable, if you know what I mean.

So...not only were they in the stands to see us, but they were sitting on either side of the walkway into the stands from the practice field. I told the kids as they waited to march out that Escambia was there to see THEM. Got them fired up...let them see that you're coming after them, blah blah. They were intense. Then they got on the field... Now, to be perfectly honest, it wasn't a BAD show. It wasn't their best, by ANY stretch. It wasn't their worst, either. It was ok. There was a tempo issue in the beginning that was made worse by the fact that it's a recurring issue...one that was supposed to have been fixed at least 5 times since we started rehearsing. It involves the pit and some tom drums...I declared at that moment that I was going to "fix" the problem by shoving a drumstick through the head of each tom drum to render then unusable...that'll fix the problem for sure. How big a problem? The drum major had to skip two beats in her pattern to catch up to the band once the pit stopped playing. That started me out on the wrong foot completely. There were a few other minor mistakes throughout, and a couple large, glaring ones we've never seen before. A snare drummer and a trumpet player collided at one point...I don't' know the whole story but I'm pretty sure that the snare was in the wrong place entirely. That's unusual because he's one of the best players and marchers we have...I'm talking corp material. I dunno.

Anyway, after the performance we head to the buses to put instruments and uniform coats away, and give them the "You did ok, but not your best...we'll take whatever the judges say and apply it to our rehearsals next week...it's a small competition, and the first one....learning experience...don't get discouraged..." speech. Basically everyone (kids and staff alike) thought that we were going to get diddly at the award presentation. The parents loved it - but that's their job. The kids were turned loose to eat and such during the dinner break. Escambia left to warm up, and we relaxed a little bit. The section leaders came to find me once Escambia took the field and we went back to the buses to get back in uniform and go over salutes. They were all pretty bummed about the performance...we talked a little about it and they knew they hadn't blown it, but they didn't do their best. We get back to our spot in the stands and get the band kids arranged appropriately and the section leaders seated and watch Ashford/Ashville perform their exhibition show. Which I will not critique here, as they were our charming hosts. I will, however, say that there were many announcements during the break of "We need all Ashford/Ashville band students to report to the band trailer right away." ...the band...trailer? Ahem.

The seating arrangements were interesting. Pine Forest and Escambia had the entire away side reserved for band seating, so we had one side and they had the other. They filed into the stands after they performed, with my kids cheering for them the whole time. It was cute.

So anyway, the award ceremony. Our band council heads up front, and fall in on the field with the other band kids. The first few classes (really small bands) didn't' fare too well, but suspiciously there were no scores lower than an excellent. Hmm...I started to feel better about our chances. They got to our class, and the kids went deathly quiet. They announced Andalusia's scores...superiors all the way across. Once they stopped cheering we had the kids stand up, and as soon as they called out the school name, one of the seniors called them to attention. I had told/threatened them earlier that they were not to react at all to the results until after they gave the overall score...then they could hoot and holler their fool heads off if they wanted. And they did! I was so proud. heh Anyway, they reeled off the scores; percussion, superior; drum major, superior; color guard, superior; band (3 judges), superior, superior.....(insert an overly dramatic long pause here)...superior. An overall rating of superior." And they went nuts. Escambia stood up and cheered for us, too. Very touching. Then they announced Escambia's scores...no surprises there - all superiors.

Then came the best in class awards. For our class, Andalusia got best in class drum major, majorette (which we don't have), and percussion, but we got best in class band and guard. They go to announce best-in-class for Escambia's class (the only band in the class) and guess who won? Heh. About this time, rather than cheer for themselves, the Escambia band started doing a wave. We told the PFHS kids to bring it all the way down the next time, and much to Escambia's surprise, they did. Then Escambia stood up and asked us to send it back...and we did. It was actually a lot of fun, and the folks on the home side got into it, too. Then we remembered that they still had awards to announce and sat down and shut up.

Now they had division winners...the top 2 classes were one division, the middle 2 another, and the bottom two, a third. I was unaware of this situation. This put us in the same division as Escambia. This would rank us, Escambia, and Andalusia 1-2-3. I got a little concerned at this point. We hadn't told the kids about this, so they didn't' know exactly what was going on. They got to our division, and when they announced Andalusia had 3rd place, the staff and parents nearly peed themselves. Holy crap! None of us expected to have first place, but at least we weren't last! The kids in the band had no idea what WE were so het up about until they announced us second place. THEN they got it. Oooooooh, I see! Then, as expected, Escambia took 1st. There was much rejoicing, and one of my sax players jumped the fence to get out to the field faster. I yelled at him, and then gave up. They jumped around like a bunch of drunken monkeys for a while, and then it was back to the buses and a long ride home.

It was a long, long weekend. I spent entirely too much time with the kids, but it really did end up well. I spent Sunday helping to clean and decorate the house for the party next week. PFHS has a game this week that will factor into the playoffs greatly, and it's away. Next week is Fall Break...I don't even want to THINK about that right now - it's far too enticing. We do have a game, though...against PHS. That'll be a doozy, too. We have district contest Saturday (then I race home for the party), and then 3 more between then and the Gator Bowl. ...sigh... I told you it was going to get worse before it got better. There's always Fall Break...we only have rehearsal one day that week...even though it's an all-day sort of thing, it'll be fine. At least that's what I keep telling myself...
posted by Jen @ 10:22 AM   3 comments
My weekend, in two parts. Part the first:
Soo...Friday. Friday, Friday, Friday. PFHS had the week off. Just so you know (a little backstory), here's the stats for our district, copied directly from the local paper:

1-3A W L W L PF PA
Pine Forest 2 0 6 0 197 37
Washington 2 0 4 2 205 111
Pensacola High 1 1 5 1 165 102
Woodham 1 1 2 4 101 120
Gulf Breeze 0 2 1 5 121 170
West Florida Tech 0 2 0 6 6 274

So, PFHS is not doing too shabby a job this year. Currently one of two undefeated teams in the 2 county area, they're kicking booty and taking names. Now, for those of you that don't know, my band is made up of students from both Pine Forest and West Florida high schools. The schools are located next-door to each other...West Fl is a technical school, and as such does not have a band. (It's not supposed to have a football team, either, but that's a rant for another day.) The kids at WFHS that want to be in band can enroll in a class through their school, but meet with the kids from PFHS in the PFHS bandroom. They perform at PFHS games and such. It's an interesting situation, and they're VERY good about the whole thing. We perform at WFHS pep rallies, and played for their Homecoming court, too. Well. This week, PFHS didn't have a game, but WFHS did. We decided to play at their game. We can file this under "things that sound good on paper but don't work that well in reality". Shoo.

Scroll back up real quick and take a gander (if you haven't already) at the stats for WFHS. Yeah. Not so good. They've played (and lost) 6 games thus far, and have scored 6 points...all season. So we knew going in Friday that it was probably not going to be pretty, but hey, that's just fine. We're going to support our other school. Who did they play Friday, you ask? Catholic. Yes, Catholic. Anyone that's lived in P'cola for any amount of time can tell you that Catholic High has a history of awesome football teams. Considering their school population is at least half that of the public schools they play...and they don't have a 2nd or 3rd string to send in when the starters get tired...shoo!

My first question was, "Where on Earth are we going to sit?" Catholic's away stands, while VASTLY improved from the aluminum soccer stands from years past, are little things; about 6 or 7 seats high. My next question was, "What about uniforms?" Our new band uniforms say, "PFHS" on the chest. Plus, we had contest the following day...we decided not to wear uniforms that night. The kids wore their band shirt, black shorts, black socks, and their Bando shoes.

So we started out the night with some big changes from our normal routine.
  1. It's a West Florida game.
  2. The kids are NOT in uniform.
  3. Our first contest of the year is the following day.
  4. We performed the show pre-game (it was Senior night for Catholic).
  5. The band was split into two sections in the stands; brass and percussion in one and woodwinds and guard in the other. Pit and the drum major were on the sidelines.
  6. We couldn't rope off the band section and had people running/walking/stalking through the band all night long.
I learned a few years ago that change is not always a good thing, especially when working with a large group of kids. They stayed focused up until after we got in the stands and played the Star Spangled Banner (someone said that Catholic's trumpet players forgot to show up so they asked us to play it...take that with a grain of salt), and then it's like their brains went on vacation. These normally well-behaved band children weren't staying in their seats, they weren't paying attention, they were asking the most assinine questions...it was the most annoying night I've spent with them to date. I was horrified.

The game, as predicted, was a disaster. Any time Catholic came within 4 inches of the football, they scored a touchdown. West Florida was within 10 yards of scoring at one point...we told the kids that we'd play the "NFL on Fox" theme song if they scored, and no sooner had those words left our mouths than they lost the ball and Catholic ran 90 yards for a touchdown. ...sigh...

So...that was Friday. I got home around midnight and dozed off around 1. I woke up around 7:30 in time to realize that everyone in the house was already gone for the day. I got ready to go in relative peace and quiet, and then headed back up to the band room for another full day. That's another post, though, so go rest your eyes and I'll be back in a little bit.
posted by Jen @ 9:03 AM   0 comments
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
I declare a do-over
As I've said a few times already, I've been busy lately. Unfortunately, as I got busier, I started getting lax with my diet. I've pretty much been off the wagon since just before Resa got in the country (so don't blame yourself, Resa, it's not your fault). I haven't been eating the way I did before I started WW, because really...who could? Anyway, I've gained 5 pounds since then. Five, big ugly pounds. My clothes still fit, and nobody's said anything, but I can feel it.

Fifty pounds ago, the one thing I despised more than my weight was the way I felt. I was hungry, so I'd eat...usually something terribly unhealthy, and usually more than once a day. I know people that would say, "No, I can't meet you at McDonalds...I had a burger and fries for lunch." Well, have chicken! "No, I think I'll stay home and have a salad or something." Wha? That was just beyond me. I would eat something awful, and once I was done I'd feel gross, guilty, and fatter than before. I've caught that same greasy, gross, fat feeling creeping in within the past few days, and made the decision this morning to cut that crap out.

I woke up around 4:30 this morning and couldn't fall back to sleep. My brain was racing...what am I going to have for breakfast? What's for lunch? How about dinner? It might be a late night, so I'll need to stop somewhere.... That's when I realized I was slowly but surely becoming completely out of control food-wise again. "Hello, my name is Jen, and I'm addicted to eating." I'm sure there's a 12 step out there for me...lol. I decided around 4:45 AM this very morning that I was going to get back on the wagon wholeheartedly beginning today.

I've made that decision before...at least twice in the past week, actually. I'm announcing it here in the hopes that it will help me stay on the straight and narrow in the "detox" period that's so dangerous. Once I get past a week or so, it will be habit again and I won't have to even think about it. But the first few days are always the hardest, and I need all the help I can get.

I'm setting a mini-goal for myself. I plan (I typed 'hope' first, the deleted it...positive thinking and all that crap, right?) to lose 20 pounds by Christmas. That's very much do-able...that gives me 12 weeks. (Holy crap, 12 weeks till Christmas?!) I'm not making any plans beyond that right now. Wish me luck, and help keep me honest. :)
posted by Jen @ 11:31 AM   2 comments
Monday, October 02, 2006
Absurdly busy
Hey all...thanks for the email and comments checking in on me! I have not fallen off the face of the Earth or been eaten by anything; I'm just crazy busy as of late. It's going to get worse before it gets better, so I can't promise that I'll be here much in the next month, but I'll try!

My new position at work is trucking along...I have a very "not-funny-then-but-almost-funny-now" story to tell about that from Friday. I'll get into that in a later post. Band is gearing up for contest season...our first contest is this Saturday at the Peanut Festival in Dothan. Resa, I know you'll love that. The following week is District competition. I'm a bit blurry on dates and times beyond that point. I'm beginning to think our football team might make it to state this year...mostly because the band is literally booked up through New Year's and probably won't be able to attend. ...sigh... We're 6-0, and have two of our toughest district matches in the next three weeks. We shall see.

Our annual drunker-than-thou Halloween party will be the same night as District contest (again). I've invited some of the staff from school to come over afterward and party...it should be interesting. I expect to spend most of the upcoming Sunday prepping the house for the party - spider webs, cleaning, etc.

Anyway, that's me in a nutshell...busy, busy busy. I've been spending most of my online time using a new chat program that I'm completely addicted to...if you spend more than a few minutes at your computer you really ought to go check it out:
IMVU - The World's Greatest 3D Chat
Be warned...it's like MySpace, AIM, and the Sims all wrapped up in one. It's very easy to spend WAY too much time there. Don't let that deter you, though. Go check it out anyway...you'll thank me later. Heh.

On that ominous note, I'll leave you for today. :) Thanks for worrying about me!
posted by Jen @ 6:19 AM   1 comments
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