The bearded lady

Someone with a facial hair fascination on her blog sent me this. I think I look pretty smashing. I've always loved a goatee and a 'stache. Hayley says I look like the "Burger King guy."

One paragraph for each child and pictures for three of them

Other Jim: OJ got his "track" assignment for BYU-I. He was assigned Winter/Spring. That means he has three extra months to save money for college. He's not quite happy about it, but I'm sure he'll get used to the idea eventually. It's kind of a good thing for Jim; we were a bit worried about taking OJ to Idaho in early Sept because that's a difficult time for Jim to take off work--the bosses said no vacations late August/early September (at least that's what I heard when Jim was talking. Maybe I heard wrong. You can quote me on it, but be prepared in case Jim says that he didn't say that.)

Paul: He's being targeted by OJ and his Nerf dart gun.

So he decides to protect himself. With a footstool? Hey, it was handy.
Heeheehee! This reminds me of my brothers who used to use the same kind of footstools as a football helmets. I had a good laugh. In other Paul news, his displastic mole, which was removed last August, grew back and he had to have it removed again, this time resulting in three stitches. And I have to provide the wound care for it, since a) Paul can't quite reach back there, b) Jim gets woozy when looking at stuff like this and c) Paul inherited Jim's tendency towards wooziness and almost passed out after the procedure.

Hayley: Band concert picture! (and just ignore the kid behind her) Sigh. She's looking so teenagerish! Where has the little Cheeky-Pie gone?

Matt: I was sitting with him on the couch watching him irritate the cat and I spied something green on his knee.I asked him what it was and he got embarrassed and started laughing. He told me that his pants had developed a small hole and he wanted to patch it up. So that's his patch. It's very loosely sewed on, but I had to laugh that he would take such initiative to "save" a pair of favorite jeans.

Ohhhhh--lympics

Ten things we've done or that I've enjoyed while watching this year's Olympics:

1. Debated whether the US snowboard team's uniform was an actual flannel shirt and a pair of baggy jeans.
2. Developed mantras based on the aerial stunts in ski jumping: "Full full double double full." And then "Hurricane?"
3. Cowbells--'tis a joyful sound!
4. Those are some mighty-high tech gloves that the speed skaters wear. Are there metal knobs on the finger tips? They use them just to drag their left hands on the ice as they turn so they don't fall over; they need high tech for that?!
5. Love the hype over Lindsay Vonn who got her start about 5 miles from my house! Yay for Buck Hill!
6. The sound of skiers slaloming down the icy hills--very soothing.
7. Wondered how lugers keep their heads up. You couldn't get me on one of those sleds for any amount of money. Or a bobsled, or a skeleton sled. (and honestly, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE? Why three different types of sledding? I wanna see NORMAL sledding--i.e. going down a giant hill in a red plastic tobaggon!)
8. Were the US downhill skiers wearing a uniform inspired by pajamas?
9. GO US NORDIC SKIERS!
10. Watching this video (which has nothing to do with hockey, but everything to do with Canada) after US beat Canada in hockey in the preliminaries. Hopefully we'll watch it again after the finals! (the video is from my very favorite tv show of all time!)

Oh, the Humanities!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's the expression of feeling for having just pressed the SUBMIT button on my final Humanities paper (2 essays concerning the plays Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead)

Final test in early March as per my revised goal for this class, at the completion of which, I will celebrate the fulfillment of the general requirements for my Bachelor's Degree for People Who Didn't Stick Around for REAL College. Then I am on to the writing emphasis portion of my fake college career, during which I will spend most of the time in my light blue bathrobe contemplating how best to put down on paper (or on computer screen) the fact that there is nothing interesting going on in my head.

Volunteering

I wanted to go back to bed, but I had a date with the flu shot clinic at Paul-n-Other-Jim's high school. The call went out (or the email was mass-mailed) for volunteers to man (or woman) some stations at the H1N1 flu shot clinic at the high school. I usually don't get to sign up, but, lo and behold, I didn't have to babysit! So I signed up. I had to be there at 7:55 a.m. (normally, I'm in my robe with a bowl of oatmeal to keep me company, and Matt is puttering around the house forgetting to brush his teeth and do his cat job. I can't remember the last time I was showered, breakfasted, and ready to leave the house before 8 a.m.) I was leaving Matt to his own devices, which causes me a few moments of panic only because I still see him as "THE BABY" and babies can't take care of themselves. But he's 11 and he assured me (via the classic method of preteen communication: the eye roll) that he could take care of himself and wouldn't miss the bus.

So off I went to the high school. If I could volunteer at the high school as a career, I would do it in a heartbeat. I find the teenagers very energizing. All of the ones I dealt with today--I located and handed them their pre-filled-out immunization authorization forms--were pleasant and polite. Most smiled. Those who were fearful of vaccines in shot form were still easy to deal with. Those who weren't on the list of approved recipients of the vaccine (those whose parents had filled out a form and sent it in prior to today) didn't argue or get angry. They shrugged it off or waited patiently as the clinic supervisor or the school nurse called a parent. There was no shoving in line; the line-waiters were well-mannered and gracious to others. I was heartened by the overall behavior of the students. We hear so many bad things about youth today; it was nice to spend two hours in the company of teenagers without suffering disappointment.

My boys must have forgotten (or I neglected to tell them?) that I had filled out their forms and sent them in because they didn't come down to the clinic when their time came (the kids were called alphabetically by last name). Fortunately, I knew where Paul was and he had to pass by me to get from one class to another, so I called him over and put him in line. I had to have OJ paged over the PA system. He wasn't happy because I prevented him from taking a math quiz. Sigh. I suppose it is my job as parent to endure many instances of dissatisfaction with my fulfillment of parental duty. If the math teacher has a problem with it, he or she may call me and I'll take the blame. And if OJ is still mad at me later, I plan to placate him with the offer of an oral application of M&Ms.

Even though flu season is almost over, I accepted the offer of a free shot (who doesn't like free shots?) when the clinic was over for the students. And now my shoulder is a wee bit sore.

But I got to fraternize with teenagers and, as I said before, I enjoyed it, so the sore shoulder is a minor inconvenience.

I am not posting today

I haven't got anything to say. And there isn't much going on. Hayley does have a band concert tonight; I'm sure I'll take pictures. This might be the last time she plays clarinet for a band concert. She loves the bassoon; she's especially anxious to use the other seven thumb keys for the left hand. So far she's only used the one little round one. She really wants to use the BIG round one.

I've also been knitting several dishcloths while exercising on the stationary bike. I've found that I get bored very easily if I'm just watching movies while stationary-cycling. So now I knit while watching something and cycling. (so what if it takes me 15 minutes to set everything up and get everything in the right place. Bike placed just so--it bothers me if the bike doesn't look straight on right in the middle of the screen. I notice things like angles--not angels. I don't notice angels so much. Angled viewing doesn't bother me if I'm sitting on the couch, but if I'm on the bike, I have to be viewing it from straight on. Then I have to have the knitting yarn come up over the right shoulder. Left shoulder doesn't like the feel of the yarn snaking over it. All three remotes are placed on an overturned laundry basket to the left on the couch so I can reach them without having to get off the bike. And then I bike and knit in 15-minute increments--not 15 minute increments (correct punctuation is our friend and helps us understand each other).)

It's a good thing we kept all those millions of old Lego sets. Other Jim has a photography project involving stop motion and he wanted a specific set of Legos for it. He spent a good 45 minutes looking for it. I suggested substituting pieces from other sets since he had the instruction booklet, but he would have none of it. Finally Jim (father) found it in the garage (where we'd already looked several times). Thank goodness for OJ's organization (which probably rubbed off from Paul) because all the Legos in the set he needed were in one bucket and it wasn't combined with another set. Most of the other sets are in zip-top baggies with their matching instruction booklet in a laundry basket in the boys' bedroom. But this one was rather larger and so it got put out in the garage.

Speaking of OJ, this particular nickname has started to pop up in real-life situations. When I decided to call him Other Jim, it was only to avoid confusion with his father when using his new preferred version of his name for this blog. And yet, last week, OJ received a valentine from his grandma addressed to O. Jim. Cyber life is creeping in and invading real life. How strange! I always think it's strange when I talk to people on the phone or face-to-face and they say, "I saw on your blog..." or something like it. The internet in my mind is sort of a fake place populated by fake people with fake events and fake stories. I print out coupons that I find on the interweb and use them at real stores, and I always wonder if the cashiers think the coupons are fake because they are obviously home-printed.

OK, enough of this not-posting-anything-today.

Hayley's new friend

Hayley brought the bassoon home yesterday. She put it together and made blatting noises with it. She said that it's weird to have her hands so far apart for fingering, since she's been used to the clarinet. On this instrument, the left thumb has 7 or 8 key options! That'll take some learning for her to get used to.

Another day, another OJ moment

This last night from Other Jim:

"So I'm going on a field trip tomorrow and"

I interrupt. "A field trip? For what class?" I knew nothing of a field trip.

"Photography," says OJ.

"Wait. A field trip? Why do I not know of this? I didn't sign any field trip permission form." I hoped he would say that's because Dad signed it, but I wondered if my hope was misplaced.

OJ smiles. "I know. I filled it out and turned it in without a signature just to see if the teacher would notice."

BLARGH.

(And apparently she didn't notice because he's going on the field trip)

I am so ready to be shut of this child. I had to tell him "You know I love you, dear son of mine, BUT YOU TAX MY PATIENCE AT EVERY TURN!" I tried and tried and tried to teach him manners/civility/obedience/caution but I fear he just used those lessons to see how much fun he could have thumbing his nose at me while he breaks just enough of the rules to be irritating.

To look on the bright side: at least he doesn't get into real trouble. He hasn't had any traffic tickets, he is a responsible employee, he does his schoolwork apparently and gets reasonable grades, goes to seminary without complaint, doesn't stay out late with friends doing who-knows-what, etc.

He just likes to see me get fake mad.

How to irritate your mother at the dinner table

Ten things about table manners that make a mother go "GRRRRRR" very loudly:
1. Eat your last bite of food just as your mother sits down at the table and prepares to eat her first bite.
2. Ask a sibling to throw a tiny potato at you so you can try to catch it in your mouth.
3. Laugh loud and long with your mouth open and full of half-chewed roast.
4. Pick through the fruit cocktail for the peaches and pears ONLY.
5. Insist that you really only like mashed potatoes, but after the mom evil-eye stare, you put the piece of potato in your mouth and place it in your cheek, look directly at your mother and make sure she is looking at you, the take the heel of your hand and use it to squish the lump of unchewed potato through your teeth.
6. Insist that you can't eat anything on the dinner plate because you accidentally forgot to shake the ketchup bottle before using it and hence squirted the runny ketchup water all over your food rendering it "inedible."
7. Cover everything with mustard and, as a bonus, mangle the mustard bottle into a hitherto unknown geometrical shape making it impossible for the last tablespoon of mustard to be squeezed out on mother's hot dog.
8. Drink the leftover fruit juice from the fruit cocktail straight out of the fruit cocktail bowl.
9. When setting the table, place the orphan fork/spoon/knife at mother's place on purpose despite the foreknowledge that she doesn't like those utensils. Ditto the kid-size utensils.
10. Laugh hysterically when mother suggests that you are eating like a barbarian and that she despairs of you ever being civilized.

Other Jim (and one or two other children) will seriously disgrace his mother if he EVER eats at someone else's house with the manners (or severe lack thereof) he uses at home. Fortunately Jim says that there are etiquette classes at the MTC. I'm just hoping that next year OJ will practice what I have been TRYING to preach when he attends BYU-I, and that he will NOT gross out the entire female population in Rexburg.

The chocolate hearts are all gone

Valentine's day is over--whew! Those treasure hunts are taxing, and I made my family late for church. I said I wasn't going to give out the treasure hunt quiz before church, but I guess I lied to myself. I couldn't resist starting the kids on the treasure hunt. Then I wrenched my back and I didn't go to church and everyone else was late.

Next year I think I will start recycling treasure hunt puzzles from years past. I hope it will save some time and reduce the craziness that I suffer through just to give the kids each about $3 worth of chocolate. And next year, perhaps the number of children participating will be whittled down to three. Hopefully Other Jim will be at college.

It was fun to watch the kids puzzle over the quiz questions. The quotes from their early years had them laughing and guessing completely wrong! (and I'm a bit sad that no one tried to guess who said what in my post from Sunday. Oh well, I'll eat the chocolate myself! That will surely cure the blues that stem from lack of people posting guesses)

OJ found the first treat bag, after refusing to help anyone (the quiz was supposed to be a group effort and the treasure hunt clues were all mixed together to encourage WORKING together) and watching over the shoulders of the other kids while they figured out the word scramble puzzle. Then when Matt said "It says 'high box dining room!'" OJ ran over to the dining room and found the treasure inside a box containing some of our nicer drinking glasses. Cheater!

Hayley found the next treat bag in a sewing room drawer, after correctly guessing that some crafty items pointed the way to the sewing room. Matt was next, when he put together the picture puzzle of the inside of the water softener salt container (with a tiny smidge of help from dad in locating the source of the picture). Paul was left with the tricky puzzle--a numeric code with no instructions--and had to go to church before finding his treasure. But he had it figured out when he got home and found his reward in the Star Wars DVD set box. They all laughed and had a good time, which was fun for me to watch.

That's why I put myself through such agony in creating these puzzles--to see them have a good time and laugh a lot together.

How I show love for my kids

I make them work and sweat for their Valentine treat. Yes, the Valentine treasure hunt is very nearly ready to go. By the time you read this, I should have all the clue bags put together. I still need to fill the treat bags and hide them, but that shouldn't take too long. I won't let them start on their treasure hunt until after church, though. They'll get their quizzes then.

Sample question from the quiz:

Who said (out of the kids Katie, OJ, Paul, Hayley, Matt):
1. "If I lose all my hair, I will be blind."
2. After finding some cereal on the floor, this person said, "Mom, I found some breakfast seeds."
3. "Look, we're parked next to a Hot Wheel!"
4. "Can I have a cough drop?" I replied no, you haven't been coughing. This person said, "Then can I have a burp drop? I burped."
5. "How do you know if you buy a kitty that it will be nice? Does it say on the box that it will grow up to be nice?

Can you guess the answers? Chocolate will be sent via mail to the person who gets the most of them right!

Last night Jim and I celebrated Valentine's Day by going to one of my brother's restaurants. The restaurant had a Weekend of Love special and I wanted to try it out. Jim had the porterhouse lamb and I had the scallops scampi, both of which were delish, but the highlight was the polenta pizza and the gnocchi. I've never had polenta before and this was SO good. Who'd ever thought polenta could serve as the "crust" of a pizza?? More, please, Dave! And Jim and I both love gnocchi. Jim had it during while he was in Argentina and it was an end-of-the-month, we-have-nothing-else-to-eat-nor-money-to-buy-food dish that they would spend all day making. Here in the US, it's a gourmet dish! Anyway, the creamed spinach sauce complemented the gnocchi perfectly and we had a wonderful dinner.

Lastly, Happy Valentine's Day to all my friends, family, and people I don't know who happen upon my blog!

How to tell a joke poorly

1) make the subject something very few people understand, or
2) go off on a lengthy tangent in the middle of the story

I am going to do BOTH, so this little anecdote will probably fall flat on its face and fracture its fibula (I love alliteration!).

K. So Matt is in a "special" math class (interruption: he is complaining that saying "special" makes it sound like he needs extra help in math. This is not the case. It's an enrichment class. As in normal math is tres easy for him--true story: he came home at the beginning of the year and said that the teacher wanted him to go to extra classes for both language arts and math. I said, "Oh Matt, they just want to make sure that you can succeed. It's ok that you need some help. We can help you at home too." He looked at me and said, "No, Mom, it's for the gifted kids!" Boy, did I feel stupid. I just basically called my kid SLOW. Really, though, it didn't occur to me that he was...uh...smart) and I asked Matt what they've been studying in this math enrichment class.

He said, "Well, we're studying two kinds of probability, theatrical and experimental."

Theatrical probability? I thought to myself. What's that? Like for performing arts, plays, concerts and stuff?

Then I realized he meant THEORETICAL probability! I laughed so hard!

And the probability that anyone other than Jen in WI getting this is probably pretty paltry (alliteration strikes again!).

Anyway, Matt wanted me to post this. So there you go, Matt.

What's up with Katie?

Some of you might remember that we used to have five kids instead of four. Yeah, there's this girl we had first, the child before Other Jim (the not-so-undetectable food stealer). But she got old and we got rid of her.

HA! (OK, that was in poor taste. But then I'm all about not recognizing when something is in poor taste. Have you SEEN my house?)

Kate still keeps in near daily contact with us, thanks to texting and free long distance on cell phones.

I thought I would post a small update on our long-gone daughter.

This is what she has been doing in her spare time:Yes, it's a skull latch hook pillow she hook-latched. The goth in her has reemerged in her desire to craft. I like the red eyes. She did another one, a latch hook version of "Starry Night" by Van Gogh. It was a gift for someone and I have mislaid the picture she sent me. It was HUGE too. At least four feet wide, I think.

And no she isn't dead,
she's merely sleeping on her couch.

Katie has been going to the gym before work with her roommate nearly every day for a few weeks and likes that very much. She recently cleaned her bathroom and called me to tell me about it. She is the organist at church and the choir accompanist. She takes flute lessons and plays in a flute choir.

And she's currently serving jury duty. She got notice a week and a half ago, and she freaked out, thinking that she couldn't afford to miss work. We assured her that work had to let her go and she would still get paid and all would be well. She was afraid to believe us (I spent the phone conversation with her banging my head on the wall) and didn't calm down until Monday when her supervisor assured her that she would not be penalized in any way. Then she changed her mind and thought that jury duty would be a fun adventure.

And sure enough, today she was picked to sit on a jury. Of course, she can't discuss details, but the case was heard this afternoon and will continue tomorrow. She should be done after that. She's a real adult now, performing civic duties such as this!

I've been called to jury duty twice, but never made it to being on a jury; Jim has NEVER been called to jury duty (well, he was once in CA--or UT?--but he had moved out of the state and was excused from serving).

So that's our update on the child who doesn't live with us anymore.

Busted two different ways.

I didn't realize how much I relied on having a printer until Saturday night (very, very late) when I tried to print out my lesson for Sunday and the printer keeled over and died. We've been without a printer since then. Matt couldn't print out his essays for his Wolf Ridge book; I had to send them to his teacher so she could print them out. I couldn't print out recipes for the meal exchange and for the refreshment desserts I brought to our Relief Society activity last night. I can't print out Valentine coloring pages for fake child. I can't print coupons. I can't photocopy the glute exercises I found in the March issue of Real Simple to send to someone. I can't photocopy birth certificates to put in a compilation of important papers that I am putting together. Bleagh!

In other news that makes me grumpy, I found a bottle of cran-raspberry juice open and HALF DRUNK in my pantry! Someone snuck in there and drank half a jug of juice and, in order to hide it, put it right back where he found it! And he didn't ask if I was saving it for something (you never know, sometimes I am saving stuff and I don't think I should have to LABEL everything that I don't want people to just take for themselves whenever they want).

In news that actually makes me not grumpy (because 100% complainary blog content is irritating), I exercised this morning.

Snowed in

Two hour delay for our schools this morning. The kids were happy to sleep in.

This picture is from last night. I liked the scene. Paul sleeps a lot, and Paul is the only human that Magic really likes. He loves to curl up with Paul.

This is the view from our front window. I like the layered snow hanging over the gutters. It hangs down about a foot.
Here is Matt standing next to the pile of snow built up from shoveling the driveway. As you can see the pile is taller than he is. He's on his way to the bus stop.
And then he had to climb it.

Paulism and pictures from Monday morning between 8:25 and 8:35 a.m.

Paulism: "I was [doing something-can't remember what he said he was doing] yesterday or the day after..."

Think about it. Matt said I had to blog it.

Photo montage from this morning:

Matt didn't know I took a picture of him like this. It's behavior like this that allow me to pretend that he's still a preschooler.
The cat reached up for the brush and pulled it down and rubbed his face on it.
Snow overhang on our garage. Yes, it's snowing again. We're supposed to get 6-12" today. And yet no school delay.
Servo snuck outside and rolled in the snow to make a Servo snow angel.
Then he licked the snow off one of his paws.

Ten things of a Saturday

1. Saturdays were invented for bathrobes.
2. And for child labor. (KIDS, GET TO WORK!)
3. Chapter 17 done. Three more to go. Then the final. I now know "all" about both analytic and synthetic cubism. And I will have to add "Piet Mondrian" to my list of words I like to say out loud.
4. Other Jim is FINALLY starting to work on an Eagle project. Time to add Paul to my list of recipients of Eagle project nagging.
5. ACK! VALENTINE'S DAY IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER! Must get to the treasure hunt.
6. Recently learned truism: if I post old pictures of my mother's basement, one of my brothers will call me to reminisce about it. (Note to self: If I ever have to tell that brother something, post pictures of the basement. It will be like the Batman spotlight)
7. I should make fun of mother less often to her face. (But even Dorothy does it). And it's weird to see my mother treated like a little sister (even though she has a foot in height on Dorothy)
8. Dorothy was impressed with my driving skills in navigating the airport parking lot. One more thing I thought I was bad at but that someone actually thinks I can do well.
9. I made five and a half meatloaves last night...
10. ...for Tuesday. I am so ahead of the game!

Check up

I should have done this on Monday, but I forgot until now. So I made some resolutions for 2010 and I wanted to remind myself what I chose to do and reflect on my progress.

Follow the linky words of a different color to see my original list.

Hmmm. Some are kind of nebulous, which is to be expected when one hates the idea of New Year's resolutions.

1. Voice my opinion, don't be such a wallflower. Well, I voiced my opinion and my feelings once so far this year and it got me into a day's worth of trouble and I yelled at someone that I actually really like. I think I'll go back to suppressing my opinion and my feelings and trying to make myself into more of a doormat. Hello, wallflowerism! (although I did try at church to say hi to more people and that seemed to work--so maybe I'll just change this resolution to say hi to more people)

2. Be more efficient and less lazy. The list thing is sort of helping, although I've had an off day or five here and there. I still haven't written out today's list.

3. Sustain my belief system. It sort of helps that I'm teaching in church this week.

4. Add more strength exercise to my exercise routine. Yep. Although it eats up time!

5. Sew up the bathrobe. Done!!! I've enjoyed much lounging in it.

6. Focus on the kids. Hayley and Matt make it easy. Other Jim and Paul are still just as mysterious as ever.

7. No freaking out. Fail. I kind of enjoy a good freak out.

8. Practice piano. Got one song worked out and am working on the children's choir songs.

9. Homework. Did pretty good through Jan, but am slacking a bit. Today, chapter 17!

10. Exercise. I've done well over the past couple of weeks, but I'm a slacker today.

11. Blog and watch TV. Check!

Retro picture day

I'll call this picture "A Tribute to 80s Big Hair and Glasses" (even though my hair isn't as big as big hair could get back then). A co-worker from my cashier job took this picture during work hours. I'm glad she took it so I could show you my LOVELY brown smock! And the shirt I sewed for myself (although you can only see a little bit of it). If you look closely, you can see the packaging of one of my favorite chocolate truffles.

OK, the big hair is gone for the moment in this picture, ONLY because I washed it. The gigantic glasses, however, are still there.I don't know who took this picture--either Jen or Jake. I could do kind of an I Spy thing with this picture: find the hand with the missing finger, find the clarinet, find the fuse box (that was a joke for Travis who couldn't find my mom's fuse box when he and my sister visited for Christmas and he had to ask ME where it was. Mom either didn't know herself or she was busy. Fortunately, I had stared at the fuse box for many years in my room and the massive changes stepdad Gary made to the house did not include moving the fuse box so I knew right where it was, even though there are now several miles of shelving where my bed, etc., used to be), find Opus the penguin, find my eyebrows, and last of all, get a load of that wallpaper! NOT MY CHOICE of wallcovering, I'll have you know. It was there when my parents bought the house and it was left as it was until Gary came along.

I was in a college roommate's wedding and she specifically asked for me to wear black and white because she thought I looked so European. I don't know what she meant. Anyway, I LOVED the sweater, I loved that skirt and I LOVED LOVED LOVED the shoes. I was very sad when all three wore out (or didn't fit anymore).

Here's the reverse black and white theme. Yes, I was very into black and white during my college years. No, the rose was not from Jim. It was from the guy who made me realize that Jim possessed great husband potential.Ah, that was a wonderful trip down memory lane!

Post #213 in a never-ending series of posts about band concerts

Band concert last night.

This was the weather as we drove over to the school:Very pretty but a bit of a challenge to drive in.

French horn player who "somehow" managed to "forget" to tell his mother that he had a solo in one of the songs so she nearly missed it because she was talking to the friend who sat next to her:
Bassoons. I post this picture because Hayley's band director asked her if she'd like to learn to play the bassoon and she nearly died with excitement saying yes.
Paul after the concert and after the verbal "thrashing" received over the lack of solo notification. As you can tell, he's very contrite, sorrowful, and repentant. Not. I just like pictures of snow falling.