Alive... barely

Well, I think I have a full blown cold. I'm pretty miserable at the moment. I didn't sleep well last night and now I'm very sneezy with watery eyes just basically miserable. I think I sucked on about two dozen lemon drops today to soothe my throat. I just got home a short while ago. I stayed after school for an Orators meeting. I also had to get ready for my sub tomorrow afternoon. I'm taking two students to a speech tournament tomorrow and then 23 students on Saturday. Tomorrow is my and Josh's birthdays. My kids (speech team), Josh and I will celebrate Saturday after the tournament by going out to dinner.

I just put some leftover pizza in the over for dinner tonight. I've also got a strawberry milkshake that is quite tasty and soothing. I'm writing a blog now while I'm awake before the drugs that I took a short while ago start to take effect and knock me out (hopefully).

I need to make some clarification. I was gone this past Sunday-Tuesday to the state marching band competition and not a speech tournament. Josh's band went to state and I went along as a parent chaperone. The trip down there wasn't bad as I got to ride in an SUV. I was a bit tired since I didn't get much sleep the night before, but managed. We stopped in Abliene on the way down for lunch and I ate at the Spaghetti Warehouse which was very, very yummy. Spaghetti is, after all, my favorite food. After lunch, the band rehearsed at a local school's field. We loaded up about an hour later than planned and got to San Antonio late because of that and the fact that the driver kept getting lost. We turned around twice on the way down.

On Monday I got to sleep in a little bit and was ready to go by 8:00. The hotel had a free breakfast. They had homemade blueberry muffins that were really yummy. I also had some potatoes and sausage. They also had a guy that made pancakes while you waited. I don't like pancakes much so I skipped those. The band stretched at 9:00, then changed into uniform and we left the hotel at 10:00 to go to the Alamodome. The band unloaded and I was given the task of shoe polishing shoes. It was knee-breaking work, but their shoes shined when they went on the field. As a chaperone, I was given pit duty and had to help carry in percussion instruments onto the field. Somehow I ended up with a heavy thing that looked like a bunch of mini-cymbals. I don't know what it was, but I did my job of carrying it in. Unfortunately being a part of the pit crew, you don't get to watch the show in the stands. But fortunately, I had a close-up view of Josh and was able to get a few pictures that I will post soon. I thought the band did pretty well but the directors said there were some things they needed to work on. We left to go to lunch around 1:30. By that time after walking to and from the Alamodome to the parking lot/warm-up area and back again, I was thoroughly hot and tired. Then we had a long walk over to the riverwalk for lunch. Some of the other adults and I went to Tony Roma's for lunch. It was really good. I couldn't make up my mind on what to eat but ended up with a sampler plate that had ribs, barbeque chicken, sausage, corn and mashed potatoes. I ate way too much. But I finally cooled off so the walk back wasn't too bad. We went into the stadium to watch the last few bands and wait for the results.

While I was sitting in the stands this guy came and sat down across the aisle from me. He looked very familiar and I kept staring at him. I finally decided I would ask him if he was the person that I thought he was and when I looked over at him again, he mouthed my name and I knew it was him. It was a guy that I went to high school with named Kyle that was a year younger than me. He lives in College Station and had come up to watch the bands. He came over and sat next to me and we had a nice visit.

When they called out the finalists, they called them out in their performance order for the evening finals. Josh's band was called LAST. I was growing quite nervous as they kept calling other bands but they finally did and they performed last. It turned out that they were in 3rd place going into finals but the placement for finals was by random draw.

We headed back to the hotel so the kids could get a little rest, but they didn't have much time. They had about an hour and were told to wait for dinner. We headed back over to the stadium at 6:30 and the band was performing at 8:45. I thought their finals show was pretty decent for what I could hear and see at ground level, but I didn't think they'd get first. I was surprised, though, that they ended up in 6th place. I think the judges just had a different preference. (But then again, I'm a very biased parent and alumnus of the school.) The kids were disappointed because they placed 3rd last time, but they dealt with it pretty well. Still... 6th place in the state isn't all that bad.

After the contest we went back to the hotel, had a late supper and I took a tylenol p.m. to ensure a good night's sleep. I didn't sleep well the night before because of very loud thunderstorm that came through.

The next morning we left shortly after nine and I had to switch places with another set of parents so I had to ride the bus all the way home. It wouldn't have been so bad except I was in the last seat on the bus which was literally the hot seat. It was right above the engines or something and the longer the trip went, the hotter it got. You also had to sit upright in the seat and didn't have much leg room. I tolerated it, but it wasn't the most fun. I did a lot of crocheting on the way back and used almost two skeins of yarn. I also read half of a cheesy romance novel after it got dark because I bought a book light at the mall.

Overall it was a good trip and I'm glad I got to experience it with Josh although I didn't really talk to him much on the trip. But more about that next time... now I'm going to finish off my pizza, relax and go to bed early.