This is going to be a half-report because I
won’t be able to write about the best part of my day until tomorrow night. I’m currently getting ready for my teen
Christmas play night that Michael and Rebecca are hosting, and since that
includes a sleepover; I don’t expect to have time to write this update later
tonight – and don’t even plan on taking my computer with me. I will include all of the news with my Sunday
report, and since that’s just a digital page flip for you reading this in my
future; I’ll be the only one waiting around to find out what happens in ‘real’
time.
The rest of my day so far has been pretty
good; so let’s get started on that news.
Tai Chi this morning was by the river and
shorter than usual because Michael and I didn’t have a lot of time before we
needed to be at the school to help out with getting the bus loaded with our
band gear. He stayed for our quick
breakfast; though Mom and Dad made sure it was a hot meal too by whipping up a
quick batch of pancakes for us without any of the usual sides. Hot chocolate helped to warm us up too; so we
were good to go when Rowen first stopped in to meet up with me; and then we
caught up with Michael at his house after he’d gone home to quickly shower and
get ready for the day too. We only had
about a quarter of the band members at the school early to help out with the
work; so we barely got everything done by the time we needed to load up and
head for Maple Valley. Yes, most of us
take care of our own instruments, but we still needed the music stands; music;
and all of the larger instruments. That
includes boxes of percussion gear; and they use quite a few instruments beyond
just the basic drum set for our Christmas parades.
The bus ride was a blast, and while teen
chat time was a big part of that; we also had fun singing Christmas songs and
playing a couple of games. Once we were
in Maple Valley at the staging grounds for the parade it was time to get to
work again, but with the full band there; it didn’t take that long to get our
trailer set up and ready to go. We
followed that blast of work with our warm-up; and then we had time to wander
around, get drinks and snacks, and enjoy the entertainment that always goes
along with every parade set-up. The
actual parade start time was ten o’clock, and while rain was forecasted to
start this morning; it was still dry and comfortably cool when we were back on
our trailer and ready to head out onto the parade route.
Maple Valley’s parade was a bit smaller
than the one in Pinehurst last weekend, but not by much; and the night time
parade feels different anyway. The
crowds lining the parade route were just as large and enthusiastic; and I’m
sure that the weather had everything to do with the great turnout again
today. Once again, yes, I want a white
Christmas; but parades are more fun to play musical instruments in when it’s
fifty or sixty degrees out than when it’s snowing and ten or fifteen degrees
below freezing. As with Pinehurst, our
band gets some razzing from the teens and other football fans because of our
team rivalry, but we have fun with that most of the time; since the boos and
cat-calls are generally delivered for the entertainment value.
My family had a fairly large group of kids
and parents at the parade; and passing them along the way was great too; since
my brother, sister, their friends, and our cousins made sure that we heard
their cheers of support as we played our hearts out for them. Naomi and Aiden were still with Ethan and
Ehlana – and still are now; though Ethan will eventually be spending the night
with Aiden while Ehlana has a sleepover with Naomi. I’ll have to pass on any news from those
sleepovers tomorrow too, and don’t expect to include any news about the
kid-free night that Mom and Dad have ended up with, but instead of going there;
let’s continue with the parade part of the report.
Small town parades are never particularly
long routes, so our actual playing time was only about forty minutes –
including a few bonus minutes at each end of the route. Considering how much time goes into the work
and drive time, that seems more like a break in the rest of the action, but we
did a great job; and it’s nice to be able to play at our best for the entire
parade. That’s probably not possible for
big city parades that have long parade routes.
Once we were finished with the music part of our morning, it was time to
load up the bus again; and then we were set free to go and enjoy the Christmas
festivities going on downtown.
Rowen, Michael, and I stuck together, and
while Tim was there too with his Dad, Uncle, and some of the guys from the shop
that were all driving trucks and trailers or farm equipment in the parade; he
wasn’t able to meet up with us until after the parade had ended and they’d
finished dealing with most of the equipment.
That was before we met up with Mom, Dad, and the rest of my family; but
then we didn’t get to spend much time with them anyway while we were still
there. We played a couple of games with
them and stopped to pick up drinks and Christmas treats, but then Michael, Tim,
Rowen, and I went off to do our own thing until we had to either meet up with
the band at the bus or for Tim to go home with his father in one of the trucks
that were now loaded with one of the tractors that had been used in the parade.
The line-ups to see Santa were too long for
us to have time for that, but we did play more games; did a bit of shopping to
pick up some Christmas treats for our sleepover tonight; and Rowen and I each
bought a couple of little stocking stuffers that were being sold at a charity
booth. It took a while to get everyone
rounded up, and we had a few teens push the limits a bit by meeting up with us
twenty minutes later than ordered; but we did eventually make it home without
losing anyone. After helping out with
the post-trip work too, I still made it home before Mom and Dad were home with
their gang – even after walking Rowen to the computer store and leaving Michael
at the Inn with hugs and kisses before he went inside to get to work.
The rest of my afternoon until now has
actually been fairly quiet. I did some
housework on the third floor; ran a couple of loads of laundry; and had a bit
of play time with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden before they headed out to
Naomi’s house. They’re having dinner there;
and then they’re going to decide what to do for the rest of the evening after
that. While we’d dodged the rain for the
parade and festival in Maple Valley, we have been getting rain for a while now –
as of me writing this – and it’s expected to continue through until late
tomorrow morning or early afternoon.
Hopefully I’ll be able to dodge over to Michael’s house during a break
in that rain; but I won’t know about that for a while yet either; since I’ll be
having dinner with Mom and Dad before going over there to meet up with Rebecca
and help her with getting everything ready for their guests.
I guess that’s really it for now anyway, so
I’ll wrap this up with the Christmas song pick; finish getting ready for my
night out; and then go and help Mom with making the easy-dinner we’re planning
on having so that we won’t have a major clean-up to deal with before I leave.
Let’s not think about what my parents might
prefer to be doing once I’m out of here! ;^)
Christmas chick flicks are going to be part
of the entertainment tonight, and while I’m not going to suggest this
particular movie, I am continuing the Hallmark movie songs with this choice
because I really do love the musical moments in those holiday shows. Add in that I can totally picture Michael
playing and singing this song the same way – and looking just as hot doing
that, and I’m sure that the girls reading this will understand why I like this
version of the Christmas classic. For
the guys that just feel weird about that – including Michael; I am so not
sorry! You are reading my journal; so
sometimes you’re just going to be stuck with the reality that guys occasionally
do not understand girls at all – even though I’d like to think that my journals
might help out with that just a bit.
Anyway, here’s the song; and I hope that
you do like it – even if that isn’t for the same reasons that I do! ;^)
Maybe I’ll see about some music time with
Michael, Rebecca, and our friends tonight too, though what I’m actually
picturing for Michael right now is the two of us having a sofa sleepover later
if we can swing that when his parent are going to have a house full of teens
spending the night there. Some of our
best friends might not have a problem with sneaking into the ‘wrong’ bedroom,
but we’re not in that group of adventurers – no matter how much it might be
nice to think about spending the night cuddled with Michael in his room or
mine.
I’ll let you know whether a sofa sleepover
works out for me tomorrow night too, but that really is it for tonight; so,
until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
