Eighteen

That's how many years we've been married, my Mr. and I.
Today.
I would do it all over again.

This weekend was a whirlwind but I just have to tell you all about it.
I'll start with Friday afternoon.
3:15 - retrieve #1 from school bus. Bus is late. Arrives at 3:24
3:25 - get LLB from school. School is 15 min. away at 65 miles per hour. The roads are icy. Do you see a problem here?
3:35 - I arrived at school behind my friend K who had Dancing Princess whom I needed to put into my car along with LLB. Oh - did I mention I was driving the civic? 1 six foot boy, 1 LLB and an 1 DP along with all their school bags, dancing bags, instruments, and general junk. It was quite a sight in that back seat. My trunk was full - it had a small chair for the ballet lady, #1's swim bag, LLB and #1's rehearsal clothes and #1's costume...
3:55 - Arrive at McDo in nearby town. Feed children.
4:30 - Arrive at high school for dress rehearsal for Nutcracker
5:30 - Mr. arrives from Honda dealer where my car had it's oil changed and we go to dinner.
7:30 - Mr. removes #1 from dress rehearsal and takes him to the high school swim meet (fortunately it was across the street). I stay and take dress rehearsal pictures.
9:30 - LLB is released from rehearsal. We head home.
10:00 - Take Zeb out. Feed Zeb. LLB runs off to bed.
10:30 - Zeb is under my bed. I'm falling asleep.
11:30 - Mr. arrives home with #1

Are you ready for Saturday?
6:30 - get up and get everyone else up. Dress in layers.
6:55 - go through McDo drive thru for breakfast
7:35 - arrive Manassas for District Band Auditions. Mr. and #1 head for high school line. LLB and I stand in Middle School line with R, HP, my friend G and her daughter A. Toes get cold. We are outside.
8:30 - door opens. We register. LLB, HP and A warm up in an auditorium with 200 other musicians in it. Parents become deaf rather quickly.
This is where the story gets hairy...
Mr. comes and tells me that none of the kids from our high school can register because their teacher isn't there. Their teacher isn't supposed to be there today another teacher (who is also the clarinet judge) is supposed to take care of them. She is not there. The check from the school is not there. I head out to fix this foolishness. I make some waves. Mr. makes some waves. They finally let the kids register. The teacher arrives at 10am. She was supposed to be there at 8am. Do you see a problem??? Hmmmm??????
LLB has #1 for trumpets - this means she auditions first. This could be good... or this could be bad. She sets the bar. She comes out confident. #1 should have had #4 or #5, but ends up with #18. This puts our schedule at risk for this afternoon.
He comes out confident, but knows he made a couple of mistakes. We shall see....
We run home. I get hair gel and brushes ready. #1 shaves and heads to shower. I put LLB's hair in a bun. #1 comes out of shower and gets his hair gelled. We head out. It is 12:45. Rehearsal starts at 12:30. I have been trying to reach the ballet lady since 11am to tell her we would be late. No luck.
12:59 - head through drive thru. Again. Yes, they know us by name now. We make relatively healthy choices.
1:30 - arrive at HS for Nutcracker performance at 2:30.
Set up tables for star grams, tickets and concessions. Mr. sets up his video camera to film for the ballet lady.
2:30 - The show starts. It is lovely!!!
#1 is Drosselmeyer. He does a fantastic job. LLB is everything from a soldier, to an angel, to a snow flake, to a flower. She is graceful. She is gorgeous!!!

4:30 - show is over and children are ready to go. We need to be back at 6:30 for a 7:30 show. #1 has homework. He stays at school to study. We head out in search of food. It will NOT be McDo. We decide on a small pizza for the girls and a crab sub for Mr. We bring back a meatball sub for #1.
7:10 - The kids' private instrumental teacher, Mr. H, arrives to see the show. He asks how the children did that morning. We chat. I tell him about the teacher who didn't show up until 10. He is not impressed with her. It seems she is trying for the same HS teaching job he is at the new HS in our county. I hope he gets it - even if it means the private lesson schedule becomes messier. I do not want that irresponsible woman to get a primo teaching spot in the new high school - even though my children will not be attending that school.

7:30 - curtain goes up. The performance isn't as smooth as the earlier one, but it is beautiful. #1 and LLB did great!!! Mr. H. is impressed with both of them. It is sweet.

10:15pm - arrive home.
10:30pm - children are asleep. They are pooped out!!!

It was a very very long day...

6:50 am this morning. I check my email. There is an email from LLB's band teacher.
LLB has made District Band!!
She will be so excited - when she wakes up...

We have another busy day today, but it is all fun.
We have Cotillion Holly Ball today.
LLB and HP are looking forward to "letting their hair down" and "boogieing the night away".
More on that later --- News at 11.