Some People...

I went to a band competition to see #1 march. They did well and the show was terrific. I'll tell you all about it when I get the pix uploaded.

I was leaving - along with a gazillion other people. I was stopped behind one lady and there was another behind me -- this is what happens when a gazillion people try to leave a parking lot all at the same time. There is a group of cars on the way in for the next group of competitions. This woman in a blue car with Maryland plates pulls up. I hope she's reading!!! She is perpendicular to me. She wants an open spot that she can't get to because I am in the way.

I open my window to tell her that there are tons of great spots right by the gate if she just keeps going. This particular spot is at least 1/4 mile away from the gate. She tells me she wants that one. I explain - very nicely - that there are great spots right next to the gate and that she really should keep going.

She yells, "I want THAT spot!"

I can't back up. I can't pull forward. The lady has two choices here -- wait for the traffic to move or continue on towards the gate and the better parking spots. I roll up my window. There is nothing more to say.

She flips me the bird and drives away! She gave me the finger!!! This is a band parent, people!!! I told Grambug, "I hope she finds a terrific spot right next to the gate and then feels bad about what she did."

So - if you know a woman with no class who drives a blue car with Maryland plates and who went to a band competition in Herndon yesterday - tell her I said to have a nice day and that I hope she enjoyed that great spot next to the gate I told her about! Oh, and you could tell her that band people don't give other band people the finger.

Now we know why some people's kids are the way they are.

Crushed...

She's going to be crushed.
LLB wanted to march with the 8th graders on Friday when they go to the High School to march with the Band. The HS band director emailed me today and told me she couldn't participate because she's a 7th grader.

It seems totally stupid. You want the kids to want to join marching band. If you have a younger one who can actually play AND is interested, why tell them No? Next year she might think twice and change her mind.

It's left a little bit of a bitter taste for me, too. Probably because I'm the one that has to tell her that she can't do it. She won't get upset, but I know it's going to sting.

Stupid People Tricks

Some people are just plain old stupid.

Like a lady who lives in our development. She is FEEDING the BEARS! What turnip truck did she just fall off? Everyone knows you don't feed the bears! Doesn't she watch the news or Animal Planet? We all know that if one of these six - yes you read correctly - 6 bears ends up in her house eating her food, using her phone or sleeping in her bed, they are going to blame it on the bear. I'm sure it will have nothing to do with her feeding them -- daily.

The bears around here are not Yogi and Booboo! They aren't Smokey or Gentle Ben! They are real - 100% - black bears. We've seen the teenaged bear on our street. He's not afraid of people. Heck, he's not afraid of cars, either!!

So do me a favor - don't feed the bears, k?

Cotillion

For those of you who don't have this word in your vocabulary, cotillion is a class that kids take to learn manners and ballroom dancing.

LLB and #1 went back to their respective Cotillion classes yesterday. LLB had fun, but #1 had a fabulous time. He is in Year 3. When he called to check in with me on the way home, he said, "Mom, year 3 is the best! I don't care what people think! This was awesome. I love it! There were lots of gorgeous girls, too!"

Yeah.. that helps...

Oh To Have A Social Life...

LLB and HP are good friends. They hang. They chat.
He annoys her. She irritates him.
They are like a little old married couple. It's quite funny to watch, actually.

Yesterday, they went to the first middle school dance of the year. They didn't dance much because the 8th graders were being 8th graders and the 6th graders were running around. (Trust me when I say my lifeguard training came in handy. I spent the afternoon yelling, "WALK! HEY!, WALK PLEEEASE!)

Then we went to dinner. LLB, HP, and I met Gram, Grandpa, and Mr. for dinner at our favorite little chinese place. We ate our fill and headed out to the football game to see #1 march. HP's younger sister, the Dancing Princess, ended up sitting down the row a little bit with her friends. (We were just off the 50 yard line, so I suppose that is why we sat near so many people...)

Gram and Grandpa took LLB and HP home after the half time show. LLB and HP have a busy day planned today. (It must be nice, really...) They have their cotillion class and then they are going out to dinner. Yes, you heard me. They are going out to dinner. These two have a better social life than I ever did!

As Mr. says, HP is setting up an impossible scenario for any future dates LLB might have. No boy can ever compete with this one. He wines and dines, he chats, he's funny, he's a genuinely nice guy, and he takes her to really nice places.

I can see it now. LLB is in college. Some boy asks her out and takes her for french fries at McDo. She will say to him, "Listen pal. You call this is a date? This is unacceptable. When I was 12, I was wined and dined at real restaurants. I was taken to movies and football games. You've really got to crank it up a notch!!"

Memememeeeee

1. Who was your first prom date?

Chris. It was the senior prom. I told him to get a black tux and he showed up in a baby blue one. I should have run for the hills! I drove. We sat with friends. The boys didn't have any table manners. They kept asking what they were supposed to do with all those forks. There were only 3 at each place setting.... Then, Chris told me he didn't dance. Are you even kidding me? It's a prom. That's what you do. You dance, MORON!!! We left early. Dad drove him home.

2. Who was your first roommate?

Jill freshman year. She was a math/education major. Sweet girl!!

3. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane?

I was about 3 - we went to California.

4. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was it with?

Sneak out of my house? You obviously don't know my mother...

5. Whose wedding were you in the first time?

My own. Haven't been in another one yet.

6. What was the first concert you ever went to?

Hewie Louis and the News on Boston Common.

7. First tattoo or piercing?

Got my ears pierced at age 8. That's it. Nothing else. But I went with MommaK to get her tattoo spruced up. That was fun!!

I’m supposed to tag 7 other people, but I’m not gonna. Maybe 7 people will throw themselves under the meme train and tag themselves.

The Black Hole...

There's got to be a black hole following LLB around.

The conversation this morning goes like this:
LLB, where is your new red fleece jacket?
Which one?
The red Lands End marinac jacket. The one I bought you last spring. The one you loved oh so much.
Oh. I remember that one. Um... I dunno.
You are going to need it for tonight.
She disappears for 31 seconds.
I haven't seen it. It's not in my closet.
Oh... where do you think it might be?
Ummm... I dunno. Can you find it?

Who am I? The jacket fairy?? I'll snap my fingers and see what happens.
Nothing... Nada...
Snap snap snap...
Zilch...

Fast forward an hour.
I've been through her closet. I found a ton of clothes on the floor. Some she's been looking for...
I've been through her drawers.
I'm still snapping... I'm getting nothing.
I've been through my closet.
I've been through #1's closet - where I found his brand new jacket with the tags still on it balled up in a corner. Do these children have no idea what a hangar might be or how to use one?
I've been through the coat rack.
My fingers are getting raw now. Maybe I need a wand.
I don't have a basement and I don't put clothes in the attic.

Any ideas? Anything, people?

Have any of you seen it??

You know, I didn't pay much for that jacket, but I loved the color on her. It was a true bargain like less than $10... I'm thinkin' it is GONE. UGH!!!

So far this year we are down a jacket, a lunch box, and a protractor...
That black hole better cough some of this stuff back - and it better do it soon - this snapping isn't workin'.