Hey! Guess where I'm going today? The State Jazz competition!! Meri's band is playing in it. I got the t-shirt last night and after trying it on this morning realized I had the wrong size. It hung like a potato sack on a Mongolian grandmother.
Not pretty... So I decided to cut off the hem, shorten the front, slit up the side and make the sleeves tie-able. That was not a cute look on me either... It looked like I was trying to look 14 years old.
With my arms, frightful!
Robb took a look and said, hmmm, a cut off eh?
I am NOT a biker chick.
No offense to the real biker chicks out there, but I didn't want to look like a poser.
He also said if I keep snipping away there won't be any shirt left. and Shouldn't I have started this yesterday or on a different shirt??
SUCH negativity in my life.... ;)
So I trimmed off the sleeves and neckline at the seam, folded them over and top-stitched. I used some double sided fusible tape on the neck and hem to make it smooth. WOW I love that stuff! I also pre-stitched where I wanted the hem to come up to, then ironed in the tape.
Easy peasy! Finishing a project never was so quick and easy!
I might have to finish MORE projects rather than just starting them and leaving them in the UFO piles. "UFO" = UnFinishedOutfits
And I'm really liking how this turned out. It's not too tight and definitely not boxy anymore.
I'm guessing Meri will be wondering why it looks so different than hers...
Meri had a Jazz Band contest last night in a town about an hour away. Of course, Robb and I attended! It was a HUGE auditorium but only parents of the performing students were there besides the judges, so you could sit absolutely anywhere.
Of course, she saw us.
But was she going to smile for me? no.
Still no.
And yet again, no.
She avoided even looking our way.
After their set was done, the judges came on stage and gave them tips for improvement.
THEY were able to get her to smile!
So I couldn't pass up the opportunity to capture that!
Why is it so hard to get genuine smiles from a teenager?
On Friday, Meri's Jazz Band competed with lots of other schools in a town about an hour away. Luckily I'm FB friends with her director's wife, and she posted what time they'd be performing. I thought "What the heck?! I'll surprise her!" So I went. Thinking I'd be late, I actually arrived just as the band was setting up on the stage.
She was surprised!
Here is one video of them. They played four songs. All JAZZY...
Afterwards, I needed to get back to work, but Meri wanted me to wait until after their critique was done. So I did... A half hour later and my phone is at 3.4 percent of 1 percent power left. Yes, it shows fractions... Luckily Meri remembered a cable in the trunk that would work for my phone and the charger that she had along. Whew! I worked, she drove.
Got back JUST in time to see off Leon and Robb. Then I took Meri into town to get her car from the school.
One of my sisters and only three of her kids arrived late that afternoon and I made some homemade pizza for them. We played one of Meri's board games until Melanie and I were about to fall asleep at the table. There is only so much yawning a person can do before dropping off.
During the night, I was awakened by a dog howling from the laundry room. We keep the dogs there if we have company. Plus we had a spare dog in the house that night too. I went downstairs and found the boys partially asleep on the couches and they didn't even have the blankets on them that I'd told them were behind the couch. BURRR! I pulled the blankets out and covered them up.
Then dealt with the dogs. Put the guest dog outside, then while waiting for that one, heard Duke hurling in the laundry room. OH UGGGG... I put them out too and cleaned that up. Brought them all back in put the chair barricades back up so our dogs wouldn't see the guest dog and went to bed.
THEN at 4am, we heard some scuffling in the kitchen. Uh oh. which dogs got out?! I tried to ignore it but it sounded like the dogs were tap dancing and we DID have company! So I went back down and found Reedus had broken down the laundry room gate to check out the guest dog. He'd jumped over the chairs and was frantic, knowing he'd get in trouble and was trying to get back behind the chairs with no luck.
Sigh... I moved a chair and put him back. So morning came too soon. I just felt bad for the boys in the living room! How can you sleep after a dog has ralphed? ick.
Well, as I've proven, you can. but it takes a while.
On Saturday, Melanie's youngest was involved in a Robotic Lego tourney at the local state college. So I met them for a quick lunch and headed over to see him compete. They did well, but the robot really flubbed up on the last test, so they won't go to Nationals this year. Just as well. Melanie was SO ready to just go home and not do these again! I think Jacob was too.
The boy with his back to us in blue is Jacob. and his older brother was mentoring him. He's the one with glasses looking straight at us. He competed in this several years ago.
They did a presentation on their interpretation of how to solve the water problems in California. Pretty clever!
They picked up their sister, who was hanging with Meri all day, after everything was over and headed for home, a 3 hour drive.
It was so fun hanging out with them!
OH! And I got Meri's first pair of leggings done! Well, as done as they can get without another trying on session. As soon as we can confirm how much elastic, then I can do the finishing touches and start stitching on the 2nd pair.
I've got so many plans for cruise clothes that I'm going to be making for myself this year!!!
Robb and I spent part of the early morning attending Meri's Jazz band competition in a town not far from home. It was great! They were the FIRST one of the day, which is bad, because then by 4pm, the judges may or may not remember our group when deciding who was the best.
I hope the standing ovation keeps this band in mind...
An old middle school vocal teacher wished the kids luck before they started.
It's pretty cool. The middle school band and vocal directors always attend this competition, I suppose to see how far these kids have progressed since they taught them these instruments in the early years. Even retired teachers come.
I can't wait to hear how they did, but we won't until later tonight. Meri is there for the day.
Here is one of their songs from this morning.
My feet are hurting from all the walking. Hoping to stay off them for the rest of the day, but that probably won't happen...
I made pizza on Friday night. Got done with dinner around 7 and then crashed on the couch. Is it time for bed yet?? I had planned on sewing and having something to show my sewing group on Saturday, but it went away... So after a little while of feeling blah, I went upstairs and cut out two pieces of Maddy's wedding dress bodice. There were more to do but suddenly decided I needed to lay down... That's enough for tonight.
Made it to the meeting on Saturday and showed the bodice that I'd made for last weekend's fitting with the bride-to-be.
Learned how to do Sashiko and am working on a small bag to keep ASG business cards in my purse handy. Will only work on that on road trips I think. Too much else to sew when I'm not working...
After the meeting, I rushed home to wait for a little while and then Robb, Leon and I headed off to see Meri's jazz band competition. They got first place in their division! So awesome...
Leon was mostly a blur.
We sat in on the band just ahead of Meri's and Leon covered his ears and pitched such a fit that Robb had to take him out until our band was on. Then he was fine.
I'm guessing that HIS pitch is just too fine for mediocre jazz...
Found out that one of his preschool teachers daughters sits right next to Meri! From a distance, when I saw the mom, I said to Robb, "I think that's the dentist in town..." As she walked by, she smiled at us and said Hi to Leon. Leon called out HELLO MRS. XXXX!
I was apparently wrong.
Oh well. We visited with her and other parents a little bit while waiting for the kids.
Got home and crashed on the couch again. It's amazing how just sitting for hours, wears you out!
After church on Sunday, Leon and I attended a birthday party of one of his school friends. They played Lazer Tag, arcade, truck toys, etc. I mostly chased him around to make sure he didn't get lost in the masses of people in this place. Since I wasn't willing to part with an extra $2 for him to bounce IN the bouncy house, he bounced off the outside. And of course hurt himself. He twitched and writhed in agony as I ripped off his shoes and socks to see which ankle bone had broken through the skin. Turns out, all his sweaty foot needed was a massage and for him to calm down. Then he ran off and only milked the injury if it benefited him. That was about the time I lost our arcade money card. Dang. I think I must have dropped it and some kid swooped in and grabbed it. There was a lot of confusion...
Saw my bestie for a little bit, then I spent the rest of the evening sewing. I heard laughter coming from downstairs, so after a little while of feeling guilty hiding upstairs sewing, I went downstairs. Robb, Ryan & Jen were playing some game where you decide if Willy Wonka with a Holy Hand grenade and a cloak of invincibility would beat a wizard who possessed some other wildly ficticious weapon. Willy won. While it was funny, I played one hand and then got back to work. And it appears that I need to rip a few seams over my lunch break today. The bodice is looking quite lovely so far! And you'lll have to take my word for it, because I'm not going to show it here before the wedding.
Next weekend, AFTER Leon's birthday party, I plan to do the same technique on the flower girl dress. THAT I can show you. When I get there...
Enough!!! I hope you have an awesome day and enjoy this gorgeous weather that Iowa has right now. RAIN and thunder in the middle of February. A.mazing... If it were 30 degrees colder, this would be some humdinger of a blizzard!
It consisted of concert band, vocal groups and jazz band. Meri is involved in ALL of them, except the boy's Bass choir group, because that would just be weird.
Leon wasn't able to attend but that's ok. It was a long one and he wouldn't sit still for that long without yelling to Meri to sing faster.
and one of their peppiest jazz pieces because it'll take more than caffeine to keep me going today!
and I know some of you guys appreciate a little jazz.
I've got two wedding showers to attend this weekend for Maddy. It's going to be fun! The first one is being thrown by church people, so it will be big. The second will be for her close college friends and that will be smaller. Meri, as MOH, is throwing that one. There are about 5 bags of supplies on the dining room table for that one. Who knew you needed that much stuff for a shower??
I've got two gifts ready to roll and hopefully I can show you on Monday. I'm really pleased with one of them especially!
It's been a long day already... After waking up at 4am and not really getting much sleep after that, I finally got a call from my boss and had to go into work early.
Crisis Galore this week.
If I was a Bond girl, that would SO be my name... I hope these crisis are done because if they last throughout the weekend I might take back some things I told my boss..
Things have calmed down a bit since then, but yikes. I may go to bed at 7:30pm... Would that be bad? Probably not if you know what I've got planned for tomorrow! And I'll tell you that next week.
As soon as I got off work, Leon and I ate as quick as we could and headed to a town almost an hour away. Well, we ate quicker when I set up the GPS as we ate and saw that we were going to be late if we took much longer...
OUT TO THE CAR!!!
I thought I knew better than the GPS and took a way that I was more familiar with but it turned into a NOT so familiar way and the twists and turns of the old country highway almost made me want to throw up.
Robb beat us there by almost 30 minutes and went in a different entrance.
I went in another one carrying a sleeping child who had insisted on bringing a "man purse" (bucket) of Grossery Gang toys. It was hooked on my arm.
We got inside JUST as Meri's Jazz band started their first of four songs.
Wow, that was cutting it close!
Leon eventually woke up and then wow baby! He was wired. He climbed all over Robb and all over the floor with his toys.
Meri's band did great and I enjoyed hearing their renditions of past songs and of a new one that I hadn't heard before.
Afterwards, we met Meri up in the high school cafeteria and Leon showed her all his little toys while Robb and I met with the parents of a friend of hers. Apparently Meri and said jazz friend are taking a road trip to a concert this weekend and I wanted to feel more comfortable about the situation because Meri didn't want either Robb nor I to drive them. So, yep, we're talking to her parents... We feel better now about it. She's going to have a lot of fun.
Leon chit chatted the WHOLE way home! I love talking to that kid...
Dinosaurs and dragons were chasing our car the whole way.
This morning, Leon was in his skivvies and wanted to do experiments in the sink.
He wanted to do them on the counter, but I said no.
He also wanted me to drink it. As delicious as that looks, I'm going to have to say NO again.
The experiment was over and I was back at my desk... I just heard water running in the kitchen and I called in, "What are you doing with that water?"
FYI: I'm feeling somewhat better today. Thanks for letting me vent yesterday.
On Tuesday, I didn't post with good reason. We attended the State Jazz band competition that Meri's high school had won the honor of performing in.
They sounded great! You'll have to take my word for it because I haven't uploaded any of the videos I took yet to Youtube... But they really did sound good.
After they got a standing ovation from the audience,
Meri said, We're going upstairs to take pictures! Come with us!!
So I did. Robb and his mom waited for me.
I was the ONLY parent following all these students down the long corridors to a sketch elevator. One girl gave me her flute to carry so I'd fit in. I'm sure that worked...
But upstairs there were tons of other people, including parents, so I didn't feel so out of place. Plus the band director quizzed me on the band that performed before us.
On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, the previous band was a -63.2.
He seemed relieved.
Our band ended up ranking 7th place in Iowa out of, I think, 13 or 14 bands.
Not bad...
The focus is strong in this one.
Meri filling out her paperwork for band pictures.
Afterwards we picked up the boy from his mom's and headed home.
I had taken off most of the day so I spent some time with Leon and then put him down for a late nap. Ryan had a meeting to run to so I was it. I did have a short conference call at 3 and Leon's hopeless attempts at napping were pitiful. He kept dragging the blanket and pillow out into the hall, looking through the banister at me, asking if he could get up now.
He wanted to play the computer game he has in the kitchen. I shook my head no.
Then he yelled to me from the bathroom to wipe his po-po (but not in those words).
Where is my MUTE button??
NOW go lay down!
After the meeting, I did a smidgen of sewing. And Leon came in for the bajillianth time.
"I napped."
Um, no one naps in 4.5 minutes and is well rested except for my dad...
So since Leon hadn't and wasn't going to nap, I told him he could play with toys in his room or in the living room. He said ok and ran downstairs.
Five minutes went by and I realized that he'd closed the bedroom door where I was sewing.
???
I went to the top of the stairs and called out his name. There was a scrambling from the kitchen and he ran into the living room to greet me.
Friday night, Robb, Leon and I attended Meri's play at the school. Second time for me! It got better with each performance. We got home just thirty seconds before Maddy and Matthew drove into our driveway, so we ducked down and Leon ran to scare them when they got out of the car.
We visited and admired Matthew's Scoby while they ate some chili and waited until Meri got home. Then they ran off to a late movie of Zootopia. Crazy kids!!
Saturday morning, we all climbed into the family truckster and headed to Des Moines to see Meri's Jazz band perform.
Meri liked that Matthew wore his Meri shirt from the fall play!
UNDER his sweatshirt, but it was the thought that counts!
They got second place! And Maddy got a great video of some awesome dance moves. I had to download it "old school"...
We took the kids out to eat at Famous Dave's before heading home.
At least one other Jazz family showed up while we were ordering.
Leon was acting up... a.lot... during lunch. So after many threats, he finally finished eating.
And they sang Jazzy tunes until they all fell asleep. They were not aware of this recording, and I'm sure I can expect retaliation from at least 3 people from posting this... ;) Bring it.
That afternoon, Robb & I managed to mangle about 7 sheets of iron on transfers. Who knew that my printer was just too HOT for these?!
So using two of the t-shirts from the last Meri play, we added several more this time and we all went out to support Meri in her play. She's got a lot of #1 fans! We'll make her pick the best one. Ryan and Jen came a little later sporting theirs. Meri was so surprised when she saw us arrive with these shirts on.
I got two black and white images made before THAT printer ran out of ink entirely. sigh... So we improvised and I painted messages onto the transfers and ironed THEM on the t-shirts, well... after one false try. The words had to be reversed... That worked SO slick! *once I figured it out*
Since Leon had already attended on Friday night and a lot of the humor was over his head, we let him play on his tablet during the play. Making sure he looked up when Meri was on stage!
Meri came down later for some final hugs and photos before she took off to strike the set and a cast party, which was amusing and I'll tell you about that tomorrow.
Directly from the play, Maddy and Matthew hit the road and headed back to the Minnesota glaciers.
Actually there could be retaliation for a lot more than just the jazzy singing...
