It was still raining when I woke up from my
nap this morning, so Tai chi was indoors; and we got a bit damp on the walk to
school. The good news for the weather,
though, was that the rain mostly ended by parade time; so we didn’t get soaked
while playing with the band tonight – and everyone in Pinehurst had a lot more
fun – even if everything was still fairly wet.
That included all of the trailers and floats, but our group only had one
minor slip and fall with no injuries, and other than one minor medical
emergency; we didn’t hear about any other issues for anyone else in the parade.
There isn’t any news to report from school
today, and while we didn’t need to leave immediately after school for
Pinehurst; we really only had time for quick changes at home before some of us
were back at the school to help out with loading the bus with instruments,
music stands, and the rest of the gear we needed tonight. That little intermission was while ‘our’ bus
and driver were busy running one of the after-school country routes, and though
we were able to work ahead; we didn’t take anything outside until the bus was
there because it had still been raining lightly at the time.
Michael is used to doing bus rides with the
football team, but he assured me that it was a lot more fun getting to do that
with me tonight – especially for the trip home when it was dark; and cuddling
was a fun option for all of the couples in the band. Rowen was wishing that Tim had joined too,
but we really only have the two band trips all year; so it isn’t a huge
deal. We really should do more
considering how much work goes into our practices, but that’s like a lot of
other things that we’d like to do – someone has to be willing to put in the
extra work to make that happen.
Just as Mom and Aunt Leanne have been doing
for the big shopping trips – like the one we’ll be going on in the morning. That doesn’t even go into the cost of band
trips – even if that’s just to local parades and concerts; but let’s save that
kind of chat for another time.
What was great about tonight was that it
was a comfortable night for the parade – or at least it was slightly above
freezing and comparatively easy to stay warm while playing – or for watching
the parade. There was a big turnout, and
while our music had people singing along and having fun; we also had regular
intervals of booing from some of the football fans again this year. Michael and the other football guys in the
band mostly had fun with that, and the Pinehurst players and fans shouldn’t be
that upset – after all; they did get that loss against the two-time
champions. Then again, that probably
doesn’t help when you’re used to being at the top of the division; and then
haven’t been for a few years in a row.
I’ll guess that Michael will be okay with
annually being booed at the Pinehurst parade if that means winning more
football championships.
This update is a bit disjointed, so let’s
back up a bit. The bus ride to Pinehurst
was entertaining, and everyone was fired up about our first ‘performance’ of
the year. When we got to town, we needed
to set up on our trailer first; but then we had time to get something to eat
and have cups of hot chocolate or other beverages before doing our warm-ups
shortly before the parade started. This
year, we had an early spot in the parade column, and I loved that because we
didn’t need to sit around and wait to leave the staging area; and we also got
to watch most of the parade at the other end once we’d packed the bus
again. That was another chance to have
hot drinks and snacks; and then we were on the road for home within ten minutes
of the end of the parade – once we’d seen Santa Claus.
Some of us knew that he wasn’t the ‘real’
Santa, because we couldn’t sense his Magi aura; but Pinehurst does have a
pretty authentic-looking Santa who is very, very popular with the kids.
The trip home – and cuddle time with
Michael – was followed by some work to get everything put away in the music
room; and then Michael, Tim, and Rowen came home with me so that we could wrap
up our night with a Christmas movie in the lounge. Rowen had to go and get Tim first, so Michael
and I had hot chocolate and snacks ready by the time they joined us; and that
gave us a chance to get the daily update from Mom, Dad, the twins, Naomi, and
Aiden too.
I’d missed out on a family dinner at Uncle
Mark and Aunt Grace’s, but they didn’t do a movie too; and Naomi and Aiden were
picked up on the way home so that they could stay for a sleepover ahead of the
shopping trip – mostly to give their parents a few less things to do when three
out of four of them were going to be busy with work all weekend.
While some teen time would have been nice,
I was good with spending that movie time with Ethan, Ehlana, and their best
friends too; and the boys didn’t mind watching ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’
– the live action version; not the cartoon.
The four younger kids opted for pillows and blankets on the floor, and
while I loved cuddling with Michael while we watched the movie too; my favorite
part of that scene was seeing Naomi opt to share a pillow and cuddle under a
blanket with Ethan; and then fall asleep with his arm around her waist. That choice had Aiden and Ehlana together
too; but they weren’t being quite so cozy together.
Mom and Dad thought that Naomi and Ethan
were adorable too when they came up stairs to have all four kids head for bed;
and I’m sure that Liz will love the picture that Mom took and planned on
sending to her in the morning. Being so
adorable earned the kids a little bit of extra cuddle time while Mom and Dad
talked with us; but then Michael and I helped out with getting them to bed – in
the correct rooms and beds – while Rowen and Tim started to work on the
post-movie clean-up.
They didn’t get much of that done for some
unexplained reason; so Michael and I helped out with that once we’d returned to
the lounge. We cleaned up there; carried
the cups and plates down to the kitchen; and washed everything up before Rowen
and Tim went home first; and Michael and I spent a few, non-verbal minutes
saying goodnight to each other in the living room.
It was twelve-thirty by the time I got back
up here to my room, and while I’ve done my basic nightly computer checks; it’s
time for me to get some sleep. We’re
going to have a very busy day of shopping tomorrow; and I want to be at full
power for that! This has been a really
good day; and I’m fairly sure that the rest of the weekend is going to just
keep getting better as we go along.
All that’s left to do now is add a little
music to the mix. My song pick for this
update has been known to make me cry while singing it; and that’s why it makes
my favorites list. I recommend have a
box of tissues handy before watching this one!
;^)
May the Magi Force be with you!
