Masters Audition and a day in Tucson

This morning we all slept in since there was no work for me and no school for Robert today.  Yay for a day off!  It sure was nice sleeping until 0900.  We had a nice relaxing morning.  I did take my trombone out for a little bit and ran through my audition stuff.  Then we headed to Tucson, but stopped at the post office on the way.  My audition went pretty well.  He had some pointers for me already – things to work on and stuff.  And of course, good things too.  I should hear in the next week or so if I’ll be starting in the fall or in January.  He has quite a heavy load of students already, both undergrad and graduate and they each get an hour lesson every week, plus the jazz band that he does, plus 2 hours a week with each of 3 trombone quartets, plus outside gigs.  I totally understand, so we’ll just wait and see.  If I don’t start until January, I’ll probably still go up like once a month for a lesson, and he’s going to keep me in the loop as far as trombone performances – recitals, big names coming in, etc.

Once I was done at the School of Music, we headed to Michaels to get yarn for a 6 ft. long snake for Robert and some cute buttons for some baby bibs I’m making.  I got the buttons, but not the yarn.  They hardly have any yarn left.  I guess I’ll just be ordering yarn online, despite the shipping costs.  Then we went to Party City and Ryan was able to find a wig there for his acting class final.  Then we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner.  After we ate we went to Sam’s Club and stocked up on a quite a few things.  We had brought our cooler, so even freezer and fridge things were ok for the drive home.  Once home, we got everything out of the van and I finally got everything put away.  I had to rearrange a couple of cupboards to do it, but I managed.

Now I’m heading to bed.

Today’s high:  55
Current:  45 – and we’re under a freeze warning for tonight.  Boo.  I hope my plants make it because we don’t have any place inside to hang them.  I did wrap a blanket around them and used chip clips to hold it in place.  My tomato and green pepper plants are all tucked in for the night.  My cucumber plant has already not made it.

Bisbee Law Day and some classes

This morning was a little earlier formation for the Brass Quintet.  Once we had our stuff loaded in the van, we headed to Bisbee for their Law Day celebration.  I’ve never heard of Law Day before, but apparently it’s been celebrated in the US since 1958.  The ceremony was outside on the steps of the Cochise County Courthouse in Bisbee.  It was windy and therefore cold, and the thing lasted an hour and a half.  They had had an essay contest and all the winners (like 9 of them) read their essays, and then they had a guest speaker on top of all that.  Ugh.  And Brrrr.  And I had to pee really bad by the end.  But the ceremony went well other than all that.  And I got an hour of stitching in on the ride to and from Bisbee.  We got back most of the way through lunch, but we were given a little extra time to eat.  Then we had classes this afternoon – a professional development class on how to do developmental counseling and then our annual required suicide prevention training.  After the classes, they had a sequence rehearsal for the ceremony next week, but since I’m Drum Majoring and not playing, I didn’t have to go.  I got some admin stuff done – updated my dry-erase tracking board, did some paperwork, and sent some e-mails.  It was a productive day.  I headed home about 1630 and picked Robert up on my way.  After changing, we went to Walmart for cat food and cat litter and then to Burger King for dinner.  Holy cow have they gotten expensive.  Fast food does not equal inexpensive anymore.  Then we headed home and the guys built Legos for a while and I crocheted.

Today’s high:  71
Current:  49

After walking Robert to school, I finished getting ready for work.  After formation, I spent the morning doing admin work.  Lunch was at Golden Corral for a Hail & Farewell Luncheon.  It was nice being at a buffet place so that we didn’t have to wait for food that we had to order.  He said farewell to one Soldier and Hailed about 8.  It’s been a while.  After lunch we had a short Brass Quintet rehearsal and then I went through my audition pieces a little bit.  I did a little bit more admin work to close out the day.  I headed home and picked Robert up on my way.  Once home, I took about a 45 minute nap – I’ve been wiped out lately again.  After my nap was a shower, and then Ryan made mac & cheese for dinner.  He headed to the Legion for the monthly meeting and Robert and I worked on his homework and reading for school.  And I crocheted for a little bit before we headed to the church for choir practice.  Rehearsal was short today as we don’t have a lot of stuff to work on anymore with only a month left before summer break.  Then it was home to get Robert to bed, and after he was tucked in, I crocheted a bit more and finished a baby bib.

Today’s high:  80
Current:  69

Another day

It was another sleepy day here, but we all go up and going on time.  After walking Robert to school, I didn’t have quite as much time as usual as I had to be at the theater by 0845.  We had our quarterly Garrison All-Hands meeting.  They handed out some awards, both to Soldiers and Civilian employees.  And then the Garrison Commander gave us basically what equates to a "State of the Garrison" address.  Yay.  Yes, the Band falls under Garrison, but I don’t really care about the Garrison budget and stuff like that.   Once we were done, I stopped at my admin higher-ups on my way back to the band hall.  Then once back to the band hall, I got quite a few things done before lunch.  I didn’t get any stitching done at lunch as I checked my e-mail and stuff.  After lunch we had Drill Band again, and it went well.  Each day is getting better and better.  After drill band was a flurry of admin stuff – awards, NCOERs, e-mails, paperwork.  I finally left at 1700 and picked Robert up on my way home.  Then I got changed and went for a 3.03 mile run in 33:00.  It felt great to be out there, and I’m finally back under and 11:00 pace!!!  Dinner was good – one of my Crock Pot Creations.  It was chicken and rice.  It was really good, but I need to figure something out so the rice doesn’t stick to the crock pot.  Then Ryan left for his Caving Club meeting and Robert and I cleared the table.  After that, we played for a while.  After he was in bed, I crocheted on a baby bib for a friend.

Today’s high:  80
Current:  66

Jam-packed day

Today was a busy day at work, but it sure went by fast.  After formation, we had our quarterly alcohol awareness class.  Then when that was done (and it took almost an hour), I did admin work until lunch.  During lunch, I ate and stitched.  Then after lunch we had drill band, so I went out a little early to practice by myself before the band got out there.  Drill band went well – we did 2 Sound Offs, a Pass in Review, and then another Sound Off.  Then we had a bit of a break before Brass Quintet rehearsal, which I ran again today.  Since it was so nice outside, we went and played at the gazebo on the parade field.  Once we were done with rehearsal, I gathered my stuff up and headed out for the day and headed for my allergy shot.  After the allergy shots, I headed home, picking Robert up from Child Time on my way.  Last night after the recital they had had TONS of food and TONS of food left over.  We had taken some sandwiches home, and we had those for dinner.  It was a nice easy dinner and nice that I didn’t have to cook since I was wiped out from the day.  After dinner, I talked to my Aunt Carol for a while – thanks for the phone call!  It was great chatting!  Robert played Mario Baseball for a while before bed.  After he was in bed, I stitched more.

Today’s high:  78
Current:  66

Masters Recital

This morning was early church which was good but tired.  Then home for a while and we got started watching the NASCAR race on Tivo.  Then we went to Best Buy and the Geek Squad guys were able to retrieve Ryan’s resume off one of his old hard drives.  It took about a half hour and so we went into the mall and let Robert play in the play area there.  It was nice when we first got there – he was the only kid there.  He had a lot of fun playing and showing off his handstands to Daddy.  Then we went back to Best Buy and his resume was there – now on a CD so he can redo it.  Then we went to the grocery store and got almost $30 worth of groceries for $20!!  Then home for a while.  I crocheted a couple of fridgies for an exchange and played on my computer.  Ryan grilled brats for an early dinner, and after we ate, I went to the garage and ran through my solo for my audition once.  It went really well with no warm-up.  Hmm. . . .  Then we headed to Tucson to the School of Music at the University of Arizona.  We attended the Masters Recital by BG, a fellow Army trombone player.  He used to be at Ft. Huachuca, but he left before I got here.  I know him because we were in BNCOC (Basic NCO Course) together back in 2006.  His recital went really well, and then there was a reception afterward with tons of food.  And we got to talk to B and his wife and meet his parents.  His high school band director was there, and they hadn’t seen each other in close to 25 years!  That was a cool reunion.  And I got to meet the trombone professor, with whom I will be doing my audition with on Friday.  It was a good evening even though we got home super late.  Robert slept in the car on the way home, and then once home, he got ready for bed and climbed up and went right under his covers.  I read him a short book and he was out by the end of it.

Time for bed for me as well.

Today’s high:  75
Current:  58

Fun Saturday

I slept in this morning until almost 9, and after almost 12 hours of sleep, I sure felt good!  Robert and I had breakfast together – Ryan was already gone on a motorcycle ride with the American Legion Riders.  We just relaxed and played this morning.  Then we went to the park for a while.  I practiced my drum major stuff for a while and then we played catch with his football, and then the frisbee.  He had a lot of fun being upside-down boy – he was even trying (fairly successfully) to do handstands.  It was a lot of fun.  Then it was home and we raced each other in Mario Kart and I actually beat him by 1 point!!!  He was excited that Mommy finally did good.  Ryan took a nap when he got home.  I got dinner in the oven and then went out to the garage to practice my trombone for a while.  Dinner was good and then after we ate, there was more play time before bedtime.  Once Robert was in bed, I crocheted and finished another baby blanket except for tucking in the ends.

Off to bed now. . .

Today’s high:  66
Current:  54

Snow???!!!

When I woke up this morning, it was SNOWING.  This is the end of April in southern Arizona.  HUH?????  It  wasn’t sticking here in town, but boy did it stick on post (higher elevation by several hundred feet).  It sure did put me in a good mood for the day, though!!  Enjoy the two pictures at the end.  After formation, 1SG had to talk to me about a few different things and that took like 1/2 hour.  Then I went and did some admin work for a while before going to get my allergy shot.  After my shot and my 1/2 hour of waiting after, I went to the PX and got a few snacks and a venti dark cherry mocha from Starbucks.  Then it was back to the band hall for extra duty supervision.  We went from noon to 7 today.  At least we were inside the band hall since it was cold out.  I was able to play on my computer, stitch, and I even practiced my trombone for a while.  Eventually 1900 rolled around and I was able to head home to start my weekend.  I went to the Legion on my way home – the guys were there working the steak dinner.  Well, by the time I got there they were just cleaning up.  Robert came home with me and I allowed him to play Mario Kart for a little while before bed since he had been such a big help to Daddy and the other Legion guys.  Now he’s in bed, and I’m heading that way myself.

Today’s high:  53
Current:  46

(Click each picture to see it bigger)
Here is a picture looking from the parking lot to the back side of our "new" band hall this morning:

And this one is looking from our second floor balcony across Brown Parade Field where we do ceremonies.  You can just see the post flag pole near the center at the top.  It was probably a little over an inch on the parade field, and then it was completely gone by noon.

Bsuy day

Today went by pretty fast.  After formation, we had Brass Quintet rehearsal, run by me again.  Since we had an early lunch today, I only had a few minutes for some admin work after rehearsal, but I got done what I needed to get done.  During lunch, I ate and then started a new cross stitch project.  The reason for the early lunch?  We had training at the EST (Engagement Skills Trainer) starting at 1230 and normally our lunch goes until 1300.  So I headed over to the EST to get it signed for and get things set up.  I was in charge over there again.  Things went well, although some people had quite a bit of trouble with zeroing, but I think ultimately everyone did.  The guy that runs the weapons training system is really cool, and he helped a couple of our Soldiers with their shooting.  After we were done at the EST, I headed back to my office and did a few more admin things that had come in during the afternoon.  Then I headed home.  I picked Robert up on my way and he played Mario Kart for a little bit when we got home.  We went to Peter Piper Pizza for dinner as the school district was having fundraiser night there for their summer program, called Summer Bridge Program.  It’s a 5 week program during the summer for students who either need help with reading and/or math or want to learn other subjects – science, technology, and art.  Robert will be doing the art and science classes and he’s really excited about them.  After we finally got our pizza – the place was like a ZOO with kids running crazy all over the place and it was packed in there – and ate, we headed home to get Robert to bed.  He read his books from school and then I read him a bedtime story.  After he was in bed, I crocheted for a little bit.

Today’s high:  53
Current:  40

What a day

Today was a long day back to work.  It started early with the Range Safety class so we can be certified to be safeties on the qualification range.  The class lasted a little over an hour and wasn’t really too bad.  Then it was off to the new band hall to work on making the office areas look like an office.  I managed to piss off one of the members of my admin team (my 2nd in command).  I felt that it only made sense to have the desk (a 6 ft. table) at the end of the row of the admin "desks", but that’s the one he had set his computer up on.  He got all pissed off when I told him we were changing.  But the change was made and I think everyone else in the room enjoyed the little temper tantrum he threw.  Whatever.  

Then we went outside in the wind for an hour of drill band.  We did a lot of counter marches and turns, both playing and not playing.  Things looked a lot better after that hour than at the ceremony last week.  It wasn’t easy marching into the wind, but we can’t control the weather conditions for parades and ceremonies, so we practice in less than perfect conditions as well.  That took us to lunch time.  I went home since I had forgotten to bring a cross stitch project.

After lunch we had Brass Quintet rehearsal at the old building since no one had brought chairs (other than office chairs) over to the new place.  I got to run rehearsal today as our group leader will be gone for a few gigs.  Rehearsal went well and I think we got quite a bit accomplished.  After rehearsal it was back to the band hall to do admin work.  I got mostly caught up, but after I got home I remembered a couple more e-mails that I forgot to send.  Oh well, there’s always tomorrow.  We had a formation to end out the day, with information about tomorrow and the rest of the week and next week.

I picked Robert up on my way home and once home, I just collapsed.  I was too tired to even go to choir practice.  😦  Ryan cooked dinner tonight and WOW was it good!  He made eggs to order (Robert had scrambled and Ryan and I had omelets).  My omelet had chopped spinach and swiss cheese in it.  It was soooooooooooooooo good!!  Then he made bacon in the oven and toast.  It was a really good dinner and I didn’t even have to cook.  My sweetie is so awesome!!

It’s only 2100 right now, but I’m heading to bed.

Today’s high :  71
Current:  52