Range Day

Today was M-16 qualification day.  But I had PT first.  We did a total of 60 crunches and 40 pushups before heading to the track for 2 miles.  It was a decent workout, but I miss my 3-4 mile runs.  After PT, I headed home to change and get breakfast/pack my backpack/etc. before heading out to the range.  I was in the first firing order and I zeroed my weapon in 12 shots.  Then I had to wait for the second firing order and then we had to clean that range up and close it with Range Control.  We moved to the next range over for qualification, since we were qualifying with pop-up targets today.  Again, I was in the first firing order and I shot a 25.  It’s not my best score, but at least I qualified this time.  And it was my first time on pop-up targets since I think 2001, so I was a little nervous.  But I did ok.  I actually missed 50m targets, but I was able to hit the 300m ones.  Go figure.  Before my eye surgery, I couldn’t even *see* the 300m targets, let alone hit them.  Now I could see them AND hit them!!  After I was done firing, I took out the crochet project I had brought with me, and I managed to get another bib done.  I couldn’t completely finish it as I hadn’t brought my crochet case with me so I didn’t have scissors or a yarn needle.  Oh well.  It’s ok.  After we had finished cleaning and closing that range, we headed back to the band hall to clean the weapons before they went to be turned in.  I headed home and had a much-needed shower before going to pick Robert up.  We had supper and he played Wii for a little bit before we headed to church for choir practice.  Rehearsal went well and I always enjoy singing.  Then it was home to get Robert to bed and now I’m heading to bed as well.

Today’s high:  91 (tied the record)
Current:  75

Moving Day!

Today was a long, but productive day.  I had the weekly pregnancy education class to start the morning off.  This week’s topic was infant oral health.  Then I headed home to change from ACUs into my PT uniform and get some breakfast.  I headed back to work and got some awards taken care of – they had come back with some corrections for us to make before being signed.  So I made the corrections and got the signatures and got them submitted.  That took me to our early lunch – the rest of the band had been in at 0630, so we had lunch from 1030-1200.  I headed home and crocheted for a little while during lunch and then headed back to the real band hall.  We got probably 90% of everything moved today, mostly due to everyone pitching in and helping wherever needed.  Each shop still has at least one computer up and running in the temporary band hall because we don’t have internet at the band hall yet, but for the most part, everything is out of the temp. place.  At the end of the day, we had a formation for information about Thursday’s ceremony and tomorrow’s rifle qualification range.  Then I headed home and had some me-time before picking Robert up from Child Time.  I finished the baby bib that I started crocheting at lunch – stuff for the Holiday Bazaar that is the first weekend of November.  I’m thinking of a price for them, and I’m thinking of $3 each or 2 for $5.  Any thoughts??  After I picked Robert up, we came home and I made frozen waffles for dinner.  He played Wii for a while and I talked to Ryan when he called.  I enjoy our daily phone calls, but I can’t wait until he’s home again in 3 1/2 weeks.  After he was in bed, I made another bib – 3 complete now!

Today’s high:  87
Current:  68

Family Fun Fest

I kind of slept way too long this morning and we didn’t make it to church.  And the choir anthem was a good one, too.  😦  Robert and I watched part of the race that Tivo had recorded before heading to the park for the Family Fun Fest.  It was a big carnival and all kinds of stuff.  I got Robert a wristband so he could ride all the rides that he wanted.  Partway through the afternoon we took a break for snow cones and a funnel cake.  We shared the funnel cake and still didn’t eat it all.  The snow cones were really good – in regular styrofoam cups and LOTS of flavoring.  It’s nice being able to enjoy your snow cone instead of having it soggy through the flimsy paper cone and barely any flavor.  We stayed until the carnival closed at 5 and then we made a stop at the post office on our way home.  After being home for a little while, we went to Dairy Queen for "dinner".  Ryan called while we were finishing up eating, so we talked to him there before heading home.  Mom called just as I was finishing talking to Ryan, to let me know that the company they had had left.  So I called them back on their house phone and we talked for a while.  Robert and I finished watching the last 35 laps of the race – Ryan had seen the finish earlier and he told me to let Robert stay up and finish watching it.  Robert’s favorite driver, #48 Jimmie Johnson won, so Robert was pretty excited about that.  Then he went to bed and I did some more crocheting while watching the Amazing Race.

Today’s high:  84
Current:  72

Here’s a picture of the results of Robert’s blue snow cone:

Reid Park Zoo

Robert and I slept in this morning, but as usual, he was up well before I was.  But he did super good this morning and I didn’t hear him at all until I got up shortly before 9.  We had breakfast and I did my e-mail and other computer stuff and about 1030 or so we headed to Tucson to go to the Reid Park Zoo.  It’s a really nice zoo, and they even have elephants.  Lots of zoos we’ve been to in the past don’t have elephants.  We got to feed the giraffes and watch the otters being fed.  Robert had fun (twice) in the Kenya Get Wet area – a water play area.  We just took his socks and shoes off and he played in his shorts and shirt.  It was like 95 or so degrees out, so he dried fairly quickly as we were walking around.  Oh, and when we went in, instead of paying a one time admission of $10 for the 2 of us, I bought a family membership that is good for a year (and they’re open 364 days a year) for only $40!!  It’s actually $50, but they have a 20% military discount only on the memberships.  So all we have to do is go two more times with our whole family (once Ryan gets home) and the membership will have more than paid for itself.  And it doesn’t matter when you buy your membership, it is good for a full year from the date you purchase it.  I’m sure we’ll go to the zoo at least twice more between now and next September.

We stopped at A&W for supper on our way home since we both were hungry at our usual potty stop gas station – the A&W is in the gas station.  Then we got home and got the mail and called Ryan and watched a little TV before Robert went to bed.  Once he was in bed, I crocheted for a little bit, but I was too tired to do much.  I’m off to bed now as well – early church tomorrow.

Today’s high:  88 (Sierra Vista), 98 (Tucson)
Current:  76

Another week

Tuesday morning was my first Pregnancy Education Class – part of the PPPT program.  It was on oral care during pregnancy.  I had explained to Robert that I was going to have to go to classes on Tuesdays, so he’d be going to Child Time before school.  He asked me what kind of classes they were and when I told them they were classes on how to be a Mommy and how to care for a baby, he replied, "But Mommy, you already know all that."  I know.  But I still have to go to them.  After the class was done, I went and got my weekly allergy shots.  I think that’s the one benefit of the classes – they go from 7-8 and I don’t have formation until 9, so I have that time to kill and I’ll do it by getting my allergy shot.  I did admin work most of the day Tuesday, and after lunch we had marching band practice.  I finally got to get up in front of the band as Drum Major again since we had to practice for Wednesday’s ceremony.  After work was dinner and time with Robert and after he was in bed, I crocheted.

Wednesday was a Change of Command ceremony, so I didn’t have to go to PT.  It was a rainy, miserable day all day and the ceremony ended up going indoors and seated.  So I ended up playing trombone instead of Drum Majoring.  At least I still got to earn my pay by doing the ceremony.  I spent the rest of the morning doing some admin work and I got some stitching done at lunch.  After lunch I finished up the admin work I was doing and then headed to another baby appointment.  It went ok and then I headed home after.  Robert was scheduled to have a soccer game at 1730, and Coach hadn’t called yet at 1710 when we left the house.  "They" finally decided to call the game at like 1720.  Robert wasn’t really too disappointed.  It was POURING when we got to the field, so I’m glad they called the game.  However, there was an 80% chance of severe thunderstorms in the forecast for all day, and it had been raining most of the day.  I would have made the call a lot earlier in the day.  But that’s just me.  So we went home and had dinner and Robert did his homework for the week and after he was in bed, I did some crocheting.

Today was Thursday.  I missed choir practice last night because I guess I didn’t realize it was Wednesday since we didn’t work Monday.  My days were all mixed up.  Oh well – it happens.  LOL  I was able to walk Robert to school this morning, and that was nice.  At least I still have one day a week (most weeks) that I can walk him to school.  Work was a pretty normal day today.  Brass Band tried to have German Band rehearsal this morning (we morph into German Band for Oktoberfest time of year), but we have a severe lack of music.  We have our speculations as to what happened to the music, but no proof.  So we didn’t really get to play much.  We have calls and e-mails into several other bands that we know have German Band music, so hopefully by Monday we’ll be good to go – we have a gig next Friday.  I spent the rest of the morning keeping busy in my admin office.  I got more stitching done at lunch, and then after lunch I headed over to the old band hall.  We’re going to be moving back there next week, and we finished prepping our office area today – moving desks, cleaning, etc.  Once we were done with that, the admin team was done for the day, so I headed home.  I finished the book I was reading and then I took a nice long hot shower.  That sure felt good.  I went and got Robert from Child Time, and since he didn’t have soccer practice this evening, we had a nice relaxing evening.  I had ordered pizza from Papa Johns online earlier in the day and that was delivered around 6.  It was nice not having to think about dinner when I got home.  My friend H stopped by for a bit with her baby – she was out for a walk while B, her husband, was cooking dinner.  They only live about 1/4 mile from us.  I work with both of them.  After she headed back home, Ryan called and I talked to him for a while and Robert played Super Mario Brothers on the Wii.  Then after he was in bed, I got some crocheting done.  Yes, it’s a crocheting kind of week.

Today’s high:  82
Current:  66

PT. And more PT. And an appointment. And another appointment.

Think you’re seeing double???  Well, you may very well be!  I dropped Robert off at Child Time on my way to PT and after checking in at the facility where pregnancy PT meets, I headed over to the pool.  1st Trimester and postpartum will be meeting at the pool on the 1st and 3rd Mondays now.  We did a few laps with kickboards to warm up and then we did some upper body strengthening with underwater dumbbells – we worked our biceps and triceps and deltoids and pecs.  We ran in a circle in the pool.  We put the dumbbells under our legs and kind of like sitting on them, we used our arms to go down the pool and back – try it – it’s not as easy as it sounds!!  We had a pretty good about 45 minute workout in the pool.  Then when we were done, since I had the day off from work, I got changed into running clothes and went and ran 2.77 miles in 29:35 on the track.  I would have gone farther, but I had a time constraint with an appointment at 0850.  So I got changed again and headed to my appointment – steroid injection for my keloid on my shoulder.  Probably one or two more and it will be flat. 

Then the "fun" began.  NOT.  I had an ultrasound scheduled for 1030 and I had to drink 16 ounces of water at 0900, 16 more at 0915, 16 more at 0930, and 16 more at 0945.  Yes, that’s an entire day’s worth of fluids in less than an hour.  But I needed a full bladder for the ultrasound.  I knew I couldn’t drink that much water, so I went to the shoppette and got a 32 oz. gatorade.  Much better.  And I got some breakfast at the new little bakery next to the shoppette.  Really good!!!  I had a book with me, so that helped kill the time.  After my last bit of fluids at 0945, I headed back to the clinic to the radiology department and got checked in.  WOW was I ever hurting by 1030.  I had to pee sooooooooooo bad.  But the ultrasound went pretty well and part way through I was able pee some – not all of it, but boy did I feel better after that.  The u/s tech was trying to find the baby’s heartbeat, but mine was too strong so she wasn’t able to get the little one.  Not necessarily a bad thing, but I do have to go back for a transvaginal u/s on Wednesday and they should be able to get the baby’s heartbeat that way.  

After that was done, I was finally able to enjoy the rest of my day off.  I went home and had a little bit of lunch and did my e-mail and other usual morning computer stuff.  And I was getting sleepy, so I took about a 45 minute nap.  During the rest of the afternoon, I got some stitching done before going to pick Robert up for soccer practice.  He had a lot of fun at practice – his coach is great with kids and always makes practice fun.  Then it was home to make chicken nuggets for supper.  We had grapes with them.  Then more stitching after Robert was in bed.

Today’s high:  89
Current:  76

Here’s our first picture of our little alien, as we’ve been calling the baby (remember, Ryan’s from Roswell, NM. . .)

Oops. Several Days again

Thursday was our sort-of dress rehearsal at the Centennial Pavilion at the park.  We didn’t run through the complete show, as each group has been rehearsing on our own, but we did get sound going and we rehearsed the transitions between the groups.  So basically each group played the beginning of their first tune and the ending of their last tune so we could practice going between groups.  I think we went through it 4 times and then we were pretty much given the rest of the day off.  If we had shop work to do, we did need to take care of that, but other than that, it was a nice relaxing day.  I came home for lunch and even took about a 20 minute nap before heading out to post to do a little bit of admin work that needed to be done.  I picked Robert up for soccer practice and then after practice we went to Sonic for supper.  Boy did the mosquitos get their dinner while we were eating.  My legs were all itchy the rest of the night.

Friday was the annual POW/MIA walk on post at 0600 and that was our place of PT for pregnancy PT.  We could go in civilian clothes if we wanted (I did) and bring our families (I did).  The band was playing while all the Soldiers and family members and veterans were gathering on the field, and the morning started with a live (and very good) version of Reveille.  Then there were a couple of short speeches and then the walk began.  It was 2 miles and we went a pretty good pace.  Robert did really well and walked most of the 2 miles.  I put him up on my shoulders for a little bit at two points, but it wasn’t for more than maybe a tenth of a mile total.  After the walk was done, we headed home and I changed into uniform and he had breakfast and then I walked him to school.  I finished getting ready for work and headed out to post.  It was a short morning and I did a little bit of admin work and that was about it before heading home.  Once home, I had lunch and then got the laundry going and played on my computer.  I took a 45 minute nap and that really helped.  I picked Robert up from Child Time and we came home and had dinner and watched a little TV.  I got some stitching done.

Saturday was a busy day.  Robert had a soccer game, but before the game they had team and individual pictures, so we had to be there an hour early.  The game went well although we "lost" – the quotes because they don’t keep score at this age.  Robert scored 3 goals and his friend J scored 1!!  I took a lot of pictures and I’m going to put together a CD at the end of the season and give a copy to all the parents.  There are only 7 kids on Robert’s team, so it won’t take that long to burn the CDs.  Then we came home for a little while before heading to the park for sound check.  They had  a little bit of trouble getting the sound system to cooperate so sound check took a little longer than anticipated.  I was able to leave shortly after our scheduled dinner break started, but there was still one more group to do sound check when I left.  Robert just hung out and played while I was playing with Brass Band.  I made spaghetti for supper for us and got changed into uniform and then we headed back to the park for the concert and grand opening of the new band shell, the Centennial Pavilion.  Ceremonial Band played some marches for pre-music and I’m in that.  Then the people from the city said a few words, someone from the city sang the National Anthem, and they did a ribbon cutting for the pavilion.  Then Brass Quintet opened with a fanfare piece.  Then it was Jazz Combo, followed by another Brass Quintet tune, followed by my debut with the Brass Band, then another BQ tune, and then the Rock Band closed it out.  There were probably 300 or so in attendance and it was a really good concert.   It was nice being able to feature all of our groups and show the wide variety of musical genres we can perform.  After the concert, I talked with some people that came up to me and then Robert and I headed home.  (He hung out with one of the band wives and her 3 kids during the concert.)  We called Ryan and Robert fell asleep in the chair while I was talking to Ryan.  I carried Robert to bed and woke him up enough to have him climb the ladder to his bed and then he wanted a bedtime story.  So I started reading – he was sound asleep by about 3 paragraphs in.  All the running and fresh air from the day tired him out.  It tired me out as well, and I was in bed less than half hour after Robert was.

Today was Sunday School and Church.  Robert sat with the choir during the service again, and again I got lots of compliments from people on his behavior during the service.  And of course the choir members love having him sit with us.  After church, we went to Denny’s for lunch, but we both had breakfast.  Then we went to Big 5 Sporting Goods to get Robert a new soccer ball.  His went missing at the game yesterday.  We found a green one, so he’s excited about that, and the manager was talking to us and I told him that Robert’s ball had gotten stolen yesterday at the game, and he told us to tell whoever was up front to give us the best discount she could on the ball.  That was really nice of him!!  We ended up getting like $5 off!  Then we went to Target for kleenex, paper towels, juice (this was Robert’s idea – he knew I needed juice from the grocery store, and he saved me a trip when he suggested I just buy it at Target – smart kid!!), and a bigger water jug for Robert for during soccer.  Then we headed home and Robert played Super Mario Brothers on the Wii for a little while and then we watched the NASCAR race that I had Tivo’ed.  I called Mom & Dad and then Ryan and had good talks with all.  Robert and I were still full from lunch, so we didn’t have dinner.  Robert got a bath, and I got a ton of cross stitching done today!  Time for bed now. . .

Today’s high:  90
Current:  76

Home and back to work

Yesterday morning before my flight home, I had time to take the tour through the Mary Todd Lincoln House – that’s the house where Mary Todd, the wife of Abraham Lincoln grew up.  It was really interesting and our tour guide was very knowledgeable.  My flights home were uneventful, except for the lady sitting next to me on the DFW to Tucson leg.  If someone puts headphones on, there’s a good chance that person would like to listen to music or whatever and not talk.  Apparently, she never figured that out as she kept wanting to talk to me to whole flight.  The USO center at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport is really nice.  Wonderful volunteers and lots of free food.  I had a turkey sandwich (the frozen kind you heat up in the microwave), chips, a root beer, and a brownie thing for dinner and then I got a water and a Snickers for on the plane.  At no cost!!  But I did leave them a $5 donation before I left.

It was nice being met at the airport, and Robert came running for me as soon as he saw me.  That’s always nice!!!  We ate dinner on our way home and it was nice to be home and sleep in my own bed again.

This morning it was back to PT where I gave a PT test to some of the postpartum Soldiers and then off to work from there – I had brought my uniform so I could change at the gym.  We had formation a little early as the Colonel was coming to present an award to a Soldier who is leaving.  After the award presentation, we had a small ceremonial band rehearsal for Saturday evening’s gig and then Brass Band rehearsed the rest of the time until lunch.  I headed home at lunch and had a yogurt and changed clothes before heading to my first baby appointment.  As I expected it took almost an hour, but they had to do my medical history and my previous baby history and all that fun stuff, as well as the "poke and probe" exam and that kind of stuff.  After that was done, I headed out to post to schedule the 1 hour diabetes test, but I ended up doing it right then.  At least I got that over with.  I’m just glad I had brought a book in with me, so I had something to do for the hour after I drank the icky sweet liquid.  Actually, it wasn’t too bad – just like super sweet gatorade.  Once that was done, I headed home and got more caught up on my e-mail and got my mid-month bills all taken care of.  Then I got Robert from Child Time and came home and made mac & cheese for dinner while he worked on his homework.  Then we headed to the church for choir practice which went well.  I’m sure liking these hour practices instead of an hour and a half like they used to be.  Once we got home, I got Robert to bed and then I crocheted for a little bit while I watched the season premier of Survivor: Nicaragua.

Today’s high:  91
Current:  72

Professional Fraternity Association conference

I am at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Lexington, KY.  I got in late last night after 2 really good flights (Tucson to Dallas-Fort Worth and DFW to Lexington).  The hotel is AMAZING and the staff is very friendly and helpful.

This morning I was up early and headed down to the 0730 breakfast.  I was finally able to meet some Delta Omicron National Officers in person!  I met Past President Ann  – she was the first President I served under when I started working as the editor of the alumni newsletter – and I met current President Jennifer as well as our Executive Secretary Debbie.  What awesome ladies!  Breakfast was wonderful – a yogurt station with plain yogurt and tons of stuff to mix in – granola, coconut, raisins, nuts (I think); TONS of beautiful and yummy fruit; an omelet station where you picked your toppings off one table and then they made the omelet for you; pancakes & french toast; fresh squeezed orange or pineapple juice; and of course other juices and coffee and sodas.  Oh, there was a pastry table as well.  And bacon and sausage and potatoes.  Breakfast was sponsored by Herff-Jones, one of the companies that does the jewelry and badges for the fraternities, including Delta Omicron, and they gave all of the attendees a gift when we left.  All the ladies got a beautiful silver necklace with a horsehead (we’re in Lexington – Horse Capital of KY, if not the whole US) and the men got pins that can be used as a tie pin or lapel pin.

After breakfast, I headed back up to my room and did some computer stuff for a little while before laying down and taking an hour and a half nap.  That was really refreshing!!  Then I got changed into my dress and headed down for the luncheon.  More amazing food – croissant sandwiches, homemade potato chips, and a pickle (and a cold pasta salad, but I don’t care much for those and I had plenty to eat without it) and a really yummy chocolate cake-like dessert.  I received my award during the luncheon – Outstanding Volunteer of the Year.  And this wasn’t just professional music fraternities.  PFA is ALL professional fraternities – music, pharmacy, law, engineering, nursing, business, etc. – so it’s quite an honor to receive an award!!  After I gave my speech (which I wrote on the plane on the way here yesterday) thanking PFA and talking a little bit about what I do musically and volunteer-wise, this guy came up to me and kind of introduced himself and congratulated me and asked if he could put me on the spot for a little bit and tell everyone about my experiences as a musician in Afghanistan and Iraq.  It caught me a little off guard, but I obliged, and everyone enjoyed hearing about what military musicians do during deployments.  I had people coming up to me all afternoon when they saw me congratulating me and thanking me for sharing the after-the-speech stuff.  I talked more to the guy later, as well, and caught his info this time.  He’s a retired Air Force Colonel and used to be the Commander and Conductor of the Air Force Band.  Wow!!

Once the lunch was done and we were done with pictures, I headed back to my room and got my iTunes going and I did some stitching.  Around 1600 I headed back down to check out the exhibits and I got some free stuff, of course – several things for Robert.  It took me over an hour to peruse the maybe 20 tables because everyone wanted to congratulate me and thank me for my service and stuff.  Once I left there, I headed back up to my room (9th floor out of 16 floors) and got changed into running clothes and went back down to the fitness center.  VERY NICE!!  2 treadmills, 2 ellipticals, 3 bikes, free weights, a few machines, yoga mats, etc.  I got on a treadmill and did 3 miles.  I did a ladder run – miles 0-.5 was at 5.7 mph, .5-1 at 6 mph, 1-1.5 at 6.3 mph, 1.5-2 at 6.6 mph, 2-2.25 at 7 mph, 2.25-2.5 at 6.7 mph, 2.5-2.75 at 6.4 mph, and 2.75-3 at 6.1 mph and then a 5 minute cool down.  It was a really good workout – and much needed after all the food I’d already eaten today and with dinner still to come.  After my workout, I had enough time to shower and change back into my dress before heading back down for dinner and more awards presentations.

The dinner, as the rest of the food, was awesome.  Steak, potatoes, veggies, bread – and a salad before.  We never got dessert, but that’s ok.  Didn’t really need it anyway.  Another member of Delta Omicron was awarded the Faculty Advisor of the Year.  Dr. Betty is an amazing & beautiful woman.  She’s 83 years young and just passed her brown belt in Tae-Kwon-Do.  Make note – don’t mess with Delta Omicron.  You’ve got Brown Belt Betty and Army Lani!!  LOL  We had a great time visiting and we took some more pictures after the dinner was over. 

Once I got back to my room, I called Ryan and talked to him for a while and then I called and talked to Robert for a little bit.  I also got a little bit more stitching done.

This has been an awesome experience and I’m so glad that I was able to come.  I’m even more excited about continuing my position as alumni newsletter editor for Delta Omicron, and maybe someday (after the Army) move on to bigger positions within the fraternity.  It was great meeting some of the National Officers, and I really hope that I’ll be able to attend the next Delta Omicron conference in 2012 so I can met all the National Officers – and they, me.  It’ll be back at this very same hotel, so that’ll be fun!

Pictures are forthcoming.  I packed my camera before thinking to get the pictures off it.

It’s been a week again.

I’ve been really worn out in the evenings and haven’t had the energy or awakeness to write.  It’s been busy at work, and then busy at home being a single mom.  Only 6 more weeks and Ryan will be home!!

Tuesday – We started the morning off with another 100% urinalysis so I ended up not being able to walk Robert to school.  I had to drop him off at Child Time on my way to formation and I wasn’t too happy about that.  Oh well.  Such is the life of a Soldier.  I hadn’t eaten breakfast before I had left and I was hungry.  There was a little bit of time between the urinalysis finishing and our next thing, so I went to Burger King for breakfast.  Their breakfast chiabatta clubs are REALLY yummy!!  We had a ceremonial music rehearsal in the morning, but our UPL (unit prevention leader – the person who runs the urinalyses) had to be tested and since the UPL is female, I went with her to the ASAP (Army Substance Abuse Program) building to observe her while she made her donation.  Yes, we are observed while we pee when we have urinalyses.  I think I got some stitching done and lunch and some admin work before heading home to pick Robert up and make supper.

Wednesday – We "played cards" at PT again – red = pushups, black = ab something, and the number is the value of the card.  And then we hit the track for a mile and a half run after.  I rode the Harley to work and spent the day doing admin work.  We had drill band in the afternoon, but I let the Secondary Drum Major take rehearsal today since our major ceremony that had been scheduled for Friday has been postponed.  And then we had our weekly staff meeting and that took up most of the rest of the day.  Then it was home for dinner and then choir practice.  I’m liking rehearsals getting done shortly after 8.  They’re much more focused and productive than they were last year.  After I got Robert to bed, I crocheted for a little bit.

Thursday – I actually got to walk Robert to school this morning, even though formation as at 0800.  I just showed up a little bit late – I had cleared it ahead of time.  We spent the first part of the morning watching a video about how to make a show more than just a bunch of music strung together, but to make it an experience for the audience.  It was really interesting and I learned some stuff from it.  Then we had brass band rehearsal for the rest of the morning and timed our pieces for an upcoming performance, which will be my first in brass band.  I did a little bit of admin work before heading to lunch with my friend J.  After lunch I only had about half hour before I had to leave again.  We’re halfway through the first marking period and had progress report parent/teacher conferences.  I had a very good meeting with Robert’s teacher and she had lots of good stuff to say.  He is already meeting all the standards at the 1st grade level, is 12 words away from the 100 sight-words (words that he can look at and know without sounding out) that he needs before 2nd grade, and he’s in the top reading group!!  I’m so proud of my little guy!  I came home for a little while after the conference before picking Robert up from Child Time, soccer practice, and then dinner.

Friday – We ran Reservoir Hill and Huachuca Canyon Road for PT this morning.  We didn’t get the full 3.25 miles in because we got a late start, but it was still a pretty good workout to start the day.  Once I got to work, I had a VERY productive morning and got a ton of admin stuff done.  I think I’m all caught up for now, and maybe even a little ahead.  I was even able to start training AK on a few things, so that was good.  We were released for the day at 1130 and I only stayed an hour late to get caught up.  It was nice getting so much done for a change.  I also had a productive afternoon at home and with errands.  I folded laundry from last week, washed more laundry, got bread going in the bread maker and then went back out to post and found a really pretty dress at the PX, got $18 worth of groceries for the week at the commissary, and got gas in my van.  Then I picked Robert up and we had an early dinner before heading to the Opening Ceremonies for his soccer league.  It was really neat that during the ceremony they introduced all the teams.  There are over 1000 kids playing soccer this fall!!  Once we got home, K came over and "kidnapped" Robert for a while and the notary came over to my house and I did the closing on my refinance on our house in New York.  I only had a stack of papers about 2 inches thick to sign.  I lowered my interest rate by almost 2% and lowered my monthly mortgage payment by almost $300!!!  That sure will help with things now that we’ll actually be making money from the rent income!

Saturday – Today was Robert’s first soccer game.  He did really well and even scored 2 goals!!  The Under-6 kids play 8 minute quarters with 2 minutes in between and an 8 minute half time, no goalies, and the ball is kicked in from out of bounds instead of thrown.  I had volunteered to bring snacks for the game, and I had a huge bowl full of orange slices for them.  There was even enough to share with siblings and parents.  All the kids had a lot of fun.  They don’t keep score at this age.  After the game, I took Robert for Blizzards at Dairy Queen and then we went to Target where he used some of his birthday money to buy some Legos.  Then we went and I got my nails done.  Once home, I finished up my e-mail from the morning since I didn’t have time, and then I helped Robert build his new Lego kit.  I called home to Mom & Dad since we’ll both be away from phones during our normal phone call time tomorrow.  Then we had dinner and after dinner Robert got a bath and I called Ryan.  I also got some stitching done today.

Today’s high:  84
Current:  67

Here’s a video of Robert scoring one of his goals!