Paul's turn

Paul had a band concert last night. (We have four concerts this week--Katie's on Monday, Paul's last night, Paul's Jazz band Thursday, Katie's Normandale band on Friday. I'll be full o' music at the end of this week)

Here is the picture of him with his horn. When his band came into the gym to sit down before the concert, I went over to take a picture. But before I reached the band, several of his friends called out to him, "Hey Paul, here comes your mom to take pictures again!" Paul was embarrassed, but not so much that he wouldn't smile for me.
Paul's band did well and he even had a solo in one of the songs. He sounded pretty good for only having started on the French horn a year ago.

Katie's last band concert in high school

Last night was Katie's last band concert as a high school student. She and a bunch of other senior girls, to mark the occasion, wore formals. As you can see, Katie's formal was her prom dress. The concert featured the three bands for 10th-12th graders: the two varsity bands and the wind ensemble (of which Katie is a member).

There was a special part to the program too; Katie played a solo--as in she played flute with the band director accompanying her on the piano and nobody else played. She played one of her contest pieces (one of the two which earned her a "Best in Site" award at Solo and Ensemble contest), "Carnival of Venice." She brought the house down and got a standing ovation (paradox--"house down" and "standing ovation"? Discuss). I had forgotten to tell Jim that she had this solo in the middle of the concert (I am ashamed of this egregious oversight). Luckily, he was there to see it.

I have no pictures from her solo because I was recording in on VHS tape, in hopes that she can use it as part of an audition tape for the school of music at the U of U. But maybe someday soon, I can get it copied to a DVD, then to the computer and then maybe figure out a way to get it up onto youtube so I can link you to it. She did a wonderful job--all through the piece when she was playing notes all over the place, I heard whispers of "amazing," and "wow" and "incredible". And after the concert, she got many many compliments. I am a proud mom!

Step #1: Admitting you have a problem

My problem is that I like to make lists (especially lists of things to do, then I ignore the list)

Here is my list for today.

1. go to gym
2. clean the sink
3. make the bed (DONE IT--I like to include on my lists things that I've already done so that I can feel some sense of accomplishment)
4. fold laundry
5. mail a package
6. shower (I also include things I do regularly already, again, so I can feel some sense of accomplishment)
7. go grocery shopping
8. make dinner
9. blog (DOING IT, for reason expressed above)
10. pick up Hayley from school at 4:30
11. go to Katie's band concert
12. wonder why the cats' collars are on the desk and not on the cats
13. find the cats, put collars back on them
14. not babysit (yay!)
15. hear a strange noise and wonder if the cats are getting into something they shouldn't or wonder if there is something not launderable in the the washing machine.
16. investigate
17. get sidetracked from my list of things to do
18. moan to Jim about not getting anything done today

1. Done!
2. Done! Don't anyone use the sink now, please. I want it to stay clean for a little while.
3. All ready did it
4. Ignoring! Later--making the kids do it!
5. Done!
6. Done and I feel clean and happy!
7. Will do as soon as I write out my list. Later--Done!
8. Ignoring! Later--doing in a minute!
9. Editing!
10. Don't have to do yet
11. Ditto
12. Still wondering!
13. Done! But now I'm covered in cat hair.
14. STILL DOING! YAY!
15. Done!
16. It was the lawn service spraying dandelion killer. I thought we canceled the service! I guess not.
17. Done a little of that--still lots more to get sidetracked about!
18. He has conveniently gone AWOL today. I'll have to wait until nearly bedtime to whine about not getting anything done. Wait, I DID get lots done today! Jim, you are off the hook!

Cinderella is home from the ball

...but she stayed out way past midnight.

And so her limo turned into a little green sedan, her carefully coiffed hair turned into a tangle, and the dress turned into jeans, tank top, and hoodie sweatshirt. The shoes managed to stay on her feet though, but I, the evil not-step-mother, did find a lone sock on the driveway this morning. But I don't have to search the kingdom for the foot that fits this sock--I just tossed it in the laundry.

Katie came home at 4:30 a.m. I was vaguely aware of the front door opening and feet shuffling downstairs, and the basement door opening and closing. When I went downstairs in the morning, I saw that she had just dropped her pretty dress on the floor and crashed on the couch. And her car wasn't in the driveway. I had to wake her up to investigate the alleged disappearance of her car. She explained with bleary eyes and not-quite-coherent wording that she was so tired on the way home that her friends just dropped her off at home rather than taking her to her car and letting her drive home. We picked up her car on the way to church--all ended well.

The kids in the duct tape outfits got all kinds of comments and stares. One person approached them and asked if he could take a picture of them for his fashion blog. Another, a purse designer, offered them a summer job! The girl wore her duct tape dress to church! Katie wore hers too.

Anyway, Katie had a great time. Now she needs to sleep, but probably won't get it any time soon. She needs to work on a public speaking project this evening.

Prom!!!

So Katie and Taggart are off to Prom. We gathered at another friend's house (who they are double dating with) for pictures and limo. Taggart looks quite handsome in this tux. His mom said the tux place salesperson was very glad to have a swatch of fabric to match (Katie gave the swatch of fabric to Taggart's mom so there would be no question in the specific shade of yellow to match).

All of us parents were making more of the occasion than the kids were, but so far, for three of them, this is the only time they will be going to Prom. And the next time we get to look upon and take pictures of our children dressed so beautifully will be when they get married. Hopefully that day will be far off...

A word about the other couple. They made their dress and suit ENTIRELY OUT OF DUCT TAPE. It was very cool.

On to more pictures. As always, click on the pictures for larger view.

It's snowing on Prom day

This is my front yard this morning. And we are supposed to get another inch! ARGH.

Katie just left on her pre-Prom breakfast date. She'll come back here around noon to get ready for the dance. She and her date were going to spend the whole day together, but he has to work this afternoon. They will meet up again at the house of the guy they are doubling with and we will take pictures there. It'll be crummy weather for outdoor pictures, dangit.

I was a bad picture-taking mom and didn't get a picture of her and her date leaving the house. So I have nothing to show you for that. I am ashamed.

Jimmy Evans' Day Off

Ferris Buehler took a day off school illegally. Jimmy waits until school isn't in session to have a day off (parent-teacher conferences at the high school, which I am not going to because Jimmy is getting mostly As).

What does our protagonist do on his day off?

He does not use his stereo to fake like he's snoring or really sick. He doesn't have a stereo. But he does have an mp3 player, which he uses to listen to Third Eye Blind with outside noise reducing headphones so he can't hear his mother telling him to make his bed.
Jimmy does not call up his friend to get him to skip school with him. He emails his friends and tells them he's awesome.
Jimmy doesn't go to a restaurant in Chicago with his friends, nearly running into his own father. He has to unload the dishwasher. Then he threatens his mother with the measuring cup. She is not scared.
Jimmy does not infiltrate a parade to sing "Danke Schoen" with a bunch of women. He reads sci/fi-fantasy books by Brandon Mull.
Jimmy doesn't go to the museum and look at pointilist paintings of parks. He has to fold his clothes and put them away. Tom Servo the cat watches to make sure Jimmy does it right.
Jimmy also doesn't try to fake out the school principal regarding his absence from school. Nor does he get his girlfriend an excused absence so she can take part in the skipping-school shenanigans. He does accept phone calls from people wanting to hire him as a day laborer to help them pack up books.
He doesn't swim in other people's pools when they aren't home. He only comes when he's been invited and and he works. These are the boxes.
And these are the books to go into the boxes.
Jimmy was slightly annoyed with me for following him around with a camera this morning. The lady who hired him on as a packer of boxes thought it was strange, but funny. And I didn't stay long. I have no point to this post other than to up Jimmy's numbers in the labels section.

Jumping on the accent bandwagon, eh?

Yah, so I copied Jen's accent quiz, eh? You betcha. No surprises there. So I'm gonna make some hotdish and head out to the lake.

It's hard to WRITE OUT a Minnesota accent (which is NOT an accent, it's a way of life!). Anyway, my mom's accent is way Minnesota-er than mine.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: North Central   "North Central" is what professional linguists call the Minnesota accent. If you saw "Fargo" you probably didn't think the characters sounded very out of the ordinary. Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot.
The West
The Midland
Boston
The Inland North
The South
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I love technology

But not as much as you, you see,
but I still love technology
Always and forever

OK I'm over my griping about my computer and my phone. I tried the connection again and it worked! I had tried emailing or texting the picture to myself, but couldn't figure out how to do it.

So here are some random pictures from my phone. This first one is the one I wanted to post of Matt at Feed My Starving Children. He is grimacing because he had to reach really far to dump the soy protein powder into the funnel. Or he needed to sneeze.

Contest time! Guess what this is? Well, not the garage--that's obvious, it's my garage. Guess what the thing in the foreground is. Clicky on the picture to see it a little larger. Be the first to correctly guess what this is a picture of and I will send you an odd assortment of stickers, several paper clips and a single earring that I found while cleaning out my junk drawer. And a cassette tape of me playing the intro and all four verses of "Lord, I Would Follow Thee."

Wake me when I'm less tired

*YAWN*

Ten more things:

1. I'm doing "ten things" again today because my brain is still chugging along in sleep mode and refuses to think of anything interesting to post. I stayed up too late last night trying to get my minimum number of visits to the gym to get the discount for this month. I'd regret the procrastination of early in the month, but I'm sure I had very good reasons not to go to the gym those days. (eye roll)

2. I'm also tired because not only did I go to bed late, but I had to get up early because fake child came at 6 a.m.

3. Are Hayley and Matt up yet? I hope so. They better be getting ready for school.

4. I hear Matt making weird noises. He's up.

5. I like those mandarin oranges that come in a mesh bag and are called "cuties."

6. Matt has informed me that Hayley is, in fact, awake, and is readying herself for school.

7. I volunteered at school yesterday and I made a poster for the teacher that says "Pleasing Poetry." I also removed Post-It notes from a pile of books and returned some of those books to the school library.

8. Katie thinks she's being considered for the role of Gabriella in Applause Theater's version of "High School Musical." She'll find out tomorrow.

9. I want my pillow

10. ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Tooting the horn (or clarinet)

So: band performance tonight.

They played such fun songs! They have improved over the course of this year and are sounding so together! They are doing harmonies now and doing some interesting rhythms. The very last song was the theme from "Star Wars" and the director used a lightsaber as her conducting baton! Matt liked that.
Here is Hayley with two friends. The friend on the right was in the choir, which also performed. One of the songs they sang was "Glow-worm." Sadly, the kids did not hold one of the notes long enough for me to stand up and yell, "Turn the page, you fathead!"*

After band, we went back home and had a little bonfire in our firepit. Hayley has been bugging us to roast marshmallows, so we indulged her. Now we all smell like we've been hickory-smoked with vile-smelling hickory. No wonder no one sells barbecue sauce flavors like "lilac-wood-smoked" or "old-logs-from-under-the-deck-smoked."


*If you don't know what I'm talking about, go here. You need to know this stuff.

Greased Linking

A link for anyone who might be the slightest bit interested in the Greased Lightning car which was used for the play. The theater dept borrowed the car from the Chanhassen Dinner Theater. It's a reworked golf cart. The link I will provide has a video clip of the car actually being driven around the high school parking lot. And I must be the dutiful parent and express my "outrage" that the band director and vocal director would be so careless as to set this bad example for the teenagers by driving around with the vocal director playing stuntman on the hood of the car. My inner teenager, however, wants to express her excitement in watching adults do something COOL.

Greased Lightning

Ten things

1. Yesterday was very nice out. I even walked barefoot out to the mailbox and wore shorts to the grocery store. Mmmmm, 70s....
2. First thunderstorm of the year last night! I do enjoy falling asleep to distant rumbles and periodic flashes of light out my window.
3. My kitties REALLY want to chase the bunny that they see under the deck. Too bad though, my kitties are indoor kitties and have little experience bringing down a vicious beast like the garden variety brown bunny. Plus there's that pesky window between them and the bunny.
   
4. Hayley has a band concert tonight! Our evening is going to be fun!
5. Katie has a second round of auditions for High School Musical at a nearby community theater. She sang well last night. I had to drive her because she didn't know where the school was where the auditions were being held. Tonight she will drive herself.
6. I think Paul has a band concert or jazz concert coming up soon--next week maybe?
7. Katie too
8. Matt is still asleep.
9. Jimmy's lowest midterm grade is a B+ (in Spanish). He's actually getting an A in English. This from the boy who HATES to write even a simple sentence.
   
10. I should probably wake Matt up now.
    

Random picture moment

I was going to volunteer today, but the kids are testing--the big see-how-the-schools-are-performing kind of testing. I roll my eyes at those tests. So there! But my morning is less event-filled and that is a good thing. I might even be able to go grocery shopping. Just this morning, Matt complained that there was nothing good to put in his lunch for school. I rolled my eyes at him (lots of eye-rolling already today and it's not even 9:30 a.m.), but he's got a point. The yogurt is gone, the cheese sticks are gone, the carrots are almost gone, there are no "cuties" left (tangerines), and the bananas were finished off yesterday. Must replenish the fridge.

Have a random older photo to amuse yourselves while I'm at the grocery store and the gym. This was taken in August of 2006 in Itasca on a footbridge alongside a very narrow (we're talking 3 feet wide) Mississippi river. Matt and Hayley were enjoying the river barefoot and ran down the bridge in anticipation of further excitement (either from the river or their own invention). To me, the picture is the essence of the transitory and fleeting nature of youth and exuberance.

Nearing the end of this strain of "stage mom" fever

Yes, I went to "Grease" again. Fourth (and last) time. The show ends tomorrow, but I won't go because someone has to play the organ at church while the regular organist is singing "Mooning Over You" and "We Go Together" onstage. Jim will be there though.

I promise this will be the LAST time that I post pictures of Katie in "Grease." But actually these pictures are mostly of Katie and other cast members after the performance. I had to take lots of pictures because this is Katie's last high school musical. As always, clicking on the picture brings up a bigger version of that picture. Oh, by the way, Katie lettered in Speech this spring! Another patch for the letter jacket!

Pink Ladies: L to R Sandy, Rizzo, Jan, Marty, Frenchy
Katie and the guy who played Danny Zuko:
Burger Palace Boys and Pink ladies:

And because I love shoes, this is a picture of Katie's footwear throughout most of the show. And this is the pose her feet are usually striking.

Grease again.

I'm posting this kinda late at night. Jim wants me to sit on the couch with him and watch a movie so I'm not going to comment on the pictures. Thanks for coming to the play, Dad and Sharon!

Can't wait for summer (and baseball season)

This video was taken last summer. It's nothing special; I just wanted to post something about Jimmy, so this is of him at bat.



In a few more weeks, the PLAY baseball season starts up. Jimmy and Paul will be on the same team this year--no more having to keep up with three teams, YAY!

Random Photo: Episode Jim

L to R: Jim's mom Anne, Jim's sister Michelle, Jim's sister Tammy, Jim, and Jim's dad Jim. The thing Tammy is holding was part of the graduation processional. All the flag girls had them and they held them up to form a sort of archway for the seniors to walk under.

Having spent much time considering Katie's upcoming graduation from high school, I kind of fixed on this picture. Obviously I didn't know Jim back then, but probably would have liked to (despite my having only just finished 7th grade at the time. Plus he had a girlfriend back then, so maybe it's better than we didn't know each other). I'd ask him to share any memories of this picture, but he's at work. Jim, if you read this, COMMENT on it (and don't say "Don't post pictures of me.")! I'm trying to get him to participate in this blog thing, but so far he hasn't seemed overly anxious to share his two cents.

Mile of smile

Paul's first track meet was today. He ran the 800 and the mile. When asked how he did on the 800, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "I felt kinda sick halfway through so I thought I'd hold back a bit because I still had the mile to run." Then I asked about the mile. He said, "I came in third out of the 14 8th graders who ran." He said that he was 7th through most of the race, but once he got to the last lap, he started to sprint and passed up 4 people to come in third! And he was the fastest mile runner from his school at this meet. He said it was really a boost to pass people up near the end. Might he be getting an ego? But with the boost, came the urge to vomit too. He said he ate too much of his bag lunch (or snack) before the meet and regretted it at the end of the mile run. I told him that most runners hurl (heave, yack, blow chunks, hork, ralph, etc) after a long race.

I'd post a picture of him running but I don't have any. Need to rectify that soon, but the meet I go to isn't until May. So you'll just have to wait until then.

Frowny face

Got a call from the school nurse about a sick Hayley. She wasn't running a fever, but was feeling tired, cold, and dizzy after lunch and she promptly fell asleep on one of the beds. Poor li'l girl was pale and mopey-looking. When we got home, she went to bed and she's still asleep. She feels a little warm now, but I don't know if that's because she's bundled up or what.

She was fine last night, as seen here. She was having a good time rollerblading.

Big!

It's another episode of "Random Picture" here at the Shoebox Castle. Nothing exciting happened yesterday so I have nothing to share about the life and times of my children, other than Paul needed a stopwatch for track so I bought him one and took it over to the school because I'm a nice mom and didn't have anything better to do yesterday afternoon.

My random picture today comes from a time in my life when I was pretty good at fixing my hair. I also used hydrogen peroxide in it, which I am tempted to do again, although I wouldn't actually use hydrogen peroxide. I'd just buy a box of hair dye. Straight peroxide does nasty things to hair, especially if you have a perm. I do like that color of hair, though.Anyway, my hair is stylin' for the those times. I kinda miss those times. I don't like how my hair looks when I use a straightener! I'm used to BIG HAIR with lots of curls. BRING BACK BIG HAIR! And when you have biggish hair, you need big glasses so your facial features (especially your eyes) don't get lost.

Notice the thick black eyeliner. I did that with acrylic paint! Every morning I literally painted on the makeup. Sometimes, I even make the black lines extend halfway to my hairline, just to be more dramatic. I was so "dramatic," I should have carried a fainting couch with me at all times. I did a lot of "Woe is me"-ing.

Notes on a Saturday

Edited to add: These pictures were all taken on Saturday, hence the title of the post referring to Saturday instead of Monday, which it is today. Except the picture of Paul. That was taken a week or so ago or maybe longer than that. Does it matter? Probably not.

I looked at my labels and I have twice as many posts about Katie as I do Jimmy, more posts about Katie than Jimmy and Paul combined. This post won't rectify that, but at least I'll mention Jimmy and Paul, my oft-neglected subjects of the blog. But I still have a Katie picture so she'll get another tick by her name in the labels section.

Did I already post this picture? I can't remember. Despite his facial expression, he really is glad to have this shirt. Skullcandy is COOL at school. And even if everyone has the headphones or earbuds, NOBODY has the shirts. He gets comments on the two shirts he owns. Thank you, aunt Jen for the shirts! Paul's first track meet is this week. I'm not going to go because it's too far away. The one that I will go to is in May so I'll take pictures then. Paul has chosen to run the long distance races.

What is with these boys and their refusal to smile? They are both happy boys! Here is Jimmy in his newest Skullcandy shirt. He too loves having kids comment on it. Jimmy didn't make the school baseball team but he seems fine with that. He wants to focus on getting a job now.

Matt just wants to say hi and that he likes piano lessons. There was a talent show at church on Saturday (which I didn't go to because I went to "Grease"). Jim took the kids and Matt did sort of a standup comedy routine. He had a list of jokes to tell and got a pretty enthusiastic response. He can't wait to try out for high school plays.

Katie's dress is almost done. I am going to try not to post anymore pictures of it until Prom. Then I will probably post tons of her and her date. I've already warned them that THERE WILL BE PICTURE-TAKING--lots of picture-taking!

Reason #1 to keep your room messy

Because sometimes, during an intense craving for chocolate, you just might find a couple of stray Nestle's Creamy Caramel Treasures that must have dropped out of the last bag you bought two weeks ago into the pile of mostly clean clothes by the bed for you to find later. If the room had been CLEAN, you would have eaten them immediately after they dropped onto the floor. This way, they were hidden until such time as you might have needed a pick-me-up but didn't have time to go to the store. Two lost Treasures were enough to tide you for the moment!

I shall let the pictures speak for themselves.

But one note before I start the picture parade: As a biased parent, I focused on my own child.

Katie in "Grease" (she played Jan)

Glasses: A Retrospective (for my nieces, who are amazed at the size of glasses frames from the 80s)

This was painful to do. I admit it, I was an ugly child and an ugly teenager (all because I was an ugly baby). But I try to embrace my hideousness; plus my incredibly charming personality more than makes up for it, right? Right? (crickets chirping) Anyway, I've heard talk that large frames have incited more than one giggle out of a current crop of teens and preteens, and being the type of aunt who tries to amuse, I have put together a little collection of pictures featuring ugly glasses (and as a bonus, the pictures also contain examples of ugly wallpaper, ugly carpeting, ugly robes, ugly hairstyles and ugly clothes).

As usual, you can click on the pictures for an enlargement, although making them bigger might not be better; doing so might damage your retinas.

Picture #1: My first pair of glasses, second only in infamy to the much-maligned "Battlestar Galactica" glasses. I still have these glasses. Sadly, I do not still have the moccasins. Note the sliver of visible ugly carpet. Yes, it is burnt orange.

Picture #2: Frames are getting larger, but nowhere near the football-field size ones that appeared in later years. I shall not make fun of the dress I am wearing--I thought it was beautiful then and I still think so. Katie wore it for a year or two. I shall, however, diss the haircut. Whoever let me get a mullet???
Picture #3: Why am I holding socks? Here we have the previously mentioned "Battlestar Galactica" glasses--the reason I got detention during Science class in 7th grade. Yes, these glasses got me in big trouble. Alexis H. teased me MERCILESSLY in 7th grade, and because most classes were seated alphabetically, I had to sit next to him all the time. Science was my last class of the day. Alexis was teasing me again and I finally could not take it anymore. As we were putting our chairs on our desks in preparation for heading out to the bus, Alexis made one more crack about my glasses, and I shoved him hard into our table. He hit so hard that the chairs fell off the table and he sustained a pretty good bruise to the head. The science teacher gave me detention, but also gave Alexis an earful about teasing me. It wasn't until 8th grade I think that I finally broke these glasses--I was so relieved when they broke.

Picture #4 Same hideous glasses, different hideous wallpaper. The previous picture was taken in the basement. This setting is in the dining room. (By the way, both wallpapers have been replaced. Praise the mighty redecorators!) Jake is on the left, in the middle is my best friend of my youth and neighbor, Julie. I believe that this picture was taken only weeks before the "accident" wherein my BG glasses were finally beaten. We were sledding and Julie ran over me. My arm was hurt enough to warrant a cast (don't think bones were broken, just bruised), but HALLELUJAH, the BG glasses suffered breakage!

Note to those who don't know: The reason the glasses were called "Battlestar Galactica" glasses was because on either side of the glasses, there was a little metal rectangle with the words "Battlestar Galactica" on them. Yes, after the ORIGINAL TV show. Why did I have them if I hated them so much? Because when I trying them on, I didn't notice the metal logos. I didn't see them until the glasses were paid for, lenses installed, and delivered to me. I cried buckets over those glasses.

Picture #5: Transition lenses before they were popular. It took a good 15 minutes for them to get dark outside, and twice that long to undo completely when I went back inside. I had to have them (as well as bifocals) because I was on medication that kept my eyes dilated. I suffered that medication (atropine) for 8 years.
This is my light blue swiss dot dress that I wore to play at Northrup Auditorium. I still have the dress although it's just a teensy bit too small for me these days. Har.

Last picture: A close up of some big glasses. And of my mullet. I am wearing a pretty cool jacket THAT I SEWED MYSELF, although you can't really see it. I loved that jacket.

Commence laughter at the myriad awful styles featured in this post. I hope you enjoy laughing at me.