We didn’t get any snow for the school
Christmas concert, but it was appropriately cold outside today; so it at least
felt a bit wintry if not Christmassy.
The extra sleep helped me to be
fully-charged by the time we gathered for Tai Chi; and Michael and I had fun
with our new training before enjoying a hot breakfast in the sunroom with Mom, Violet,
Dillon, Ethan, and Ehlana. Michael
stayed for that because it was better than the Pop Tarts on the menu at his
house today; and he helped out with the cooking while I got ready for
school. That meant that I ended up with
the clean-up while he went home to get ready for the day too; but it was a fair
trade-off to have something more than cereal ahead of what I knew then was
going to be a very long, busy day.
Michael and I were on the work crew that
decorated and set up the chairs in the gym for the concert this morning; we had
some lunchtime warm-ups with the various groups of kids we’ve been practicing
with; and managed to fit our lunch break in there too – though part three of
that happened in between those warm-ups as the groups of kids were brought to
us in the music room. The concert was
the highlight of the school day, and while there was too much going on to write
about here; let’s cover a few highlights.
You can always look up the video of the concert on the town intranet
website – or if that doesn’t still exist in your now; then there will likely be
a copy in our archives instead.
My first musical highlight was with the
kindergarten class – and Michael and I got to accompany Naomi and her class for
the first time. They were adorable
singing ‘Do You Want to Build a Snowman’ from Frozen; and their props included
kids on bikes, a large trio of ‘snowballs’ to make the snowman with as they
sang, and all of the accessories to accomplish the task – most of them attached
using Velcro as the non-bikers took turns getting that fun little job done. Ethan and Ehlana were two of Naomi’s biggest
supporters; and another of my best moments came after the show when I was one
of the witnesses to the hug and kiss Naomi shared with my brother once they
were able to spend a few moments together during the post-concert snack
break. They really are adorable, and
while it’s way too soon for him to publicly deal with it; there is no doubt
that Ethan is already off the market for every other girl thanks to Naomi.
Moving along; my next-best musical moment
of the afternoon was my duet with Michael.
We went with our own version of the ‘Winter Wonderland – Here Comes
Santa Claus’ mash-up from Pitch Perfect 2, and while Michael didn’t rap during
the song; what we did come up with was pretty cool – and a hit with our
audience. Since we’re talking about it
anyway, this is also my Christmas song pick for the day; and it’s my favorite
Christmas song from a non-Christmas movie for the year!
We based our version of the song on the
album recording, but replaced the rapping with our own thing; and the sound was
very different with a simple guitar and keyboard arrangement. Michael and I especially loved performing a
fun, upbeat song that was a lot different than most of the duets we’ve done in
public; but don’t worry – we won’t be starting up a rock band; and aren’t
interested in seeking our fame and fortune in the music or movie business! ;^)
Other music highlights included playing for
the kids that picked ‘A Perfect Christmas’ from the Barbie movie; and their
modestly-changed lyrics to fit in better with the hometown audience earned the
hoped-for laughs in all of the right places.
Lights were still tangled, but while the Mistletoe got mangled; the boys
were happy about that. Santa’s sleigh
was flying so low that he wasn’t saying Ho Ho (Ho) anymore; and there were also
holiday-themed mishaps involving the Olde Bakery, Emporium, and our school that
helped to make the performance personal and fun for the kids and their audience. ‘I Do Believe in Christmas’ from the Search
for Santa Paws movie was back again this year, and while Michael and I had fun
helping with that too; we had some music highlights that we were spectators for
too – like Ryan Bassett’s guitar solo and a beautiful A Capella quartet of
girls singing ‘O Holy Night’ that would make an awesome addition to our church
Christmas Eve service – if the girls haven’t already been drafted by the
Pastors to do that.
After the concert ended, the snack break
reception was a fun break; and Michael and I were kept busy with ‘our’ kids;
visits with family and friends; and too much attention for our musical efforts
today. I was actually glad to move on
and help with the gym clean-up. That
blast of busy was just the beginning of our next batch of work time; and we
followed that up with some quality time in the kitchen at the Inn while helping
with the dinner rush there until Michael and I needed to be at the church for
our last Christmas musical rehearsal.
That was a full dress rehearsal except for going through the make-up
stage; so we had to get into costumes first and then we did a non-stop
run-through of the entire show. There
were some glitches that slowed us down a bit here and there, and quite a few
mistakes throughout; but we didn’t stop – and worked on the problems in a
follow-up that only about half of us needed to stay for while everyone else was
set free for the night.
I brought Michael home with me from the
church; we did a Magi lesson with Mom; she went back to work while Michael and
I took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana tucked in for the night once they were
finished their exam writing for the night; and then we enjoyed a bit of alone
time in the lounge that included a minor, moderately hot make-out session while
we watched a Hallmark Christmas chick flick.
Mom called it a night shortly before midnight; so that’s when Michael
went home too – though I was tempted to keep him for a sofa sleepover. I had a lot of studying and work to get done
tonight, though; so that wasn’t really an option for us anyway. Since I didn’t get that computing started
until nearly twelve-thirty by the time I’d had a short chat with Mom and gotten
ready for bed too; it’s made my day even longer than I’d expected it to
be. Only having time for a nap sucks a
lot now, but I didn’t want to time phase tonight; and I can always do a bit of
self-healing in the morning – or ask Mom for a bit of help if I’m too tired to
do that myself.
The work and studying is done now, and I
can take most of the weekend off – except for all of the work I’ll be doing at
the Inn and with some babysitting on Saturday night; so the effort and loss of
sleep time was worth it. We’re down to
one day to the Christmas holiday break, and that’s all going to be fun and
games at school tomorrow; so let’s wrap this up and I’ll get on with that nap
time.
My last bit of news for the night is about
Violet and Dillon. They’re in Woodvale
now, but they did stay for the school concert before leaving town for a long
weekend away. A morning playing at the
lab again was an option for them too; and Ethan and Ehlana did that with them –
though Violet worked with Aunt Grace and Ethan played in the archives while
Ehlana and Dillon played in the lab with Uncle Adam. I didn’t hear about what they did for lunch
today; but that probably just means that they did something easy at home before
coming over to the school for the afternoon.
They – Violet and Dillon – left from the school, and while I haven’t
heard the details yet; their plan was to stop in Crystal Springs on the way to
Woodvale so that they could have dinner and a visit with Dad. I’m sure that was fun for all of them; and
they’ll love spending time with the Rice clan while they’re in Woodvale. Violet isn’t sure when they’ll be back in
town, but it is a home for Christmas year for our family; so they’ll definitely
be here by Christmas Eve – and maybe a day or two early if that works out for
them. I’m hoping that Dawn will be able
to come with them – and early too; but I’ll let you know how that goes for us.
Right now, I really do just need to get
some sleep; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
