Band Senior Night

YIKES! How did this happen?? It seems like only a moment ago, 17 was a fresh-faced freshman marching on to the football field with the rest of the marching band. And now, she's a senior, getting ready to march in her last high school halftime show. Tonight is senior night for the band. Husband, 15 and I will escort her onto the field as they pay tribute to the 42 senior class members of the marching band.

Holy crap. That time went by in the blink of an eye. An eye that will most definitely be tear-filled this evening.

She absolutely loves the band and everything associated with it. And while she won't be a music major in college, the memories that she takes with her from high school are going to be filled with band trips, band camp stories, Dairy Queen trips after performances, sleepovers after Friday night games and how unbelievably amazing the band director and assistant band director have been over these past 4 years.

I've still got another 3 years to go with this band while 15 is a member. I will hold on to every moment and try to make them last, because the first 4 years seriously flew by.

17, I love you. I'm proud of you for what you've done, all that you've accomplished, the brave and amazing young woman you've become. And tonight, I will walk proudly next to you on that football field as they call your name. And I will hug you and hold you and never let you go. Well, until it's time for me to go back into the concessions stand and time for you to march in one of the last high school halftime shows.

So enjoy your senior  night, enjoy the recognition and the time you spend this year with your band family. I couldn't ask for a better group of people. Your friends, their families, they are all a pleasure. I think I've enjoyed this time almost as much as you have.

Sayreville High School football hazing.........

I heard about this story yesterday on the Today Show, then I read a Sports Illustrated article about this case and I'm just torn. Allegations against members of the Sayreville High School football team have caused the investigators and the school superintendent to cancel the remainder of their season. 5 games will go unplayed. No senior night. No Homecoming game.

The allegations aren't just about big guys sticking little guys in a locker or giving them atomic wedgies. The allegations are 'lewd'. I had to read this next sentence twice before I physically winced.

"Investigators are looking into whether upperclassmen on the Sayreville football team digitally penetrated underclassmen on the team."

Today, digitally means electronically. But before the iPhones, video games and Google, digital mean 'finger'. Gross. If the allegations are true, this is horrific.

Here's a quote from a female freshman: "Things have been blown out of proportion. We know the players, and hazing, to them, they didn't mean it in that way. It was more like being friends."

Sorry, female freshman who isn't on the football team, but I've got LOTS of friends, and not a single one of them has ever 'digitally penetrated' me. No, this is just wrong on so many levels.

BUT.....

As a band parent, this also leaves me torn. 5 games remaining in the season. Just like our football team. Our team has a better record than they've had in years, which naturally draws a bigger crowd to Friday night football games. Our concession stand is our main source of funding for a band of 172 kids. If our last few games were cancelled, we'd lose a tremendous amount of revenue for the band.

Why are they not just punishing those responsible for this awful issue? I understand that the investigation is ongoing, but in the meantime, everyone suffers.

What are YOUR thoughts on this subject? Are they being fair by cancelling the season because of the actions of a few? Or is it an appropriate action because they don't yet have all the facts? I would love to hear what you think. Because I'm still torn.

So there's this band...

Maybe you've heard of them? They're the Jefferson High School Cougar Marching Band, and they are awesome. And I'm lucky enough this year to have not one but TWO daughters in this band. How cool is that??

17 is my senior trumpet player, and 14 is my alto sax player. 14's been ready to march in this band since she was, like, born. Seriously. Because this band is the best in the state of WV. One of the largest competing marching bands in WV, they were crowned State Champions last year in competition. Don't believe me? Watch this. Here's just a bit of background on this performance: it was POURING DOWN RAINING and they gave their best performance of the season at this competition. No lie, it was iffy as to whether or not they'd even go on because of the weather. There was a break in the storm and they marched onto the field proudly. They had just begun to perform when the skies opened up once again and drenched them. They marched through the gales and kicked some serious ass.

Storms of Africa

Video courtesy of Vox Domini Channel - Youtube.com

Ok, so those 4 people in the front with the umbrellas? That's us, me, hubby, 14 and her bestie Hannah Banana. Just for the record, at 5:22 that's 17's little solo. And yes, that's me screaming right afterwards. You can hear me screaming A LOT in this video. And at 9:35? That's the 'company front' and I swear to God I get chills every single time I watch it. You hear me scream doubly loud after the company front. Yes, I'm a goober but also a damn proud mom.

That's my girl!

My point (and yes, I am getting to it) is that this band continues to increase in size (145 when 17 was a freshman, currently 172) and there seems to be no end in sight. We always say it, every year, that it takes a village to move this band. We are required to have 1 chaperone for every 10 students on trips, we require 4 buses PLUS 2 trucks to move all the equipment. It's crazy. But we LOVE it and we wouldn't have it any other way. When it comes to marching bands, "SIZE MATTERS".

This year's show is Romeo and Juliet: Undead. I've seen some of the rehearsals and it sounds like it's going to be fantastic. Both my girls are so stoked about it. I, however, will not watch a single halftime performance, because I work in the concessions stand at every home football game. Lucky for me and for the rest of the dedicated parents who work every Friday night home game, we do get to see our kids perform at band competitions, like the one in that video. It's really special for us, because we are so unbelievably proud of these kids and the hard work they put in all year to perfect their show. 

They're going to Disney!!

So why do I work in concessions instead of sitting in the stands watching? Because marching band ain't cheap, my friends. No sir. Band fees, instrument maintenance, band camp (no American Pie jokes please), and this year, "We're going to Disney World!" That's right, every 4 years, the band does one major trip, and how excited am I that it falls on a year when BOTH my girls are in the band? I'm freaking tickled. Seriously. But like I said, it ain't cheap. And by working in the concessions stand, we get a small percentage of the evening's profit, so we work to offset the cost of things. This year I'm thinking of taking a part-time job, but sadly, the only skills I have are blogging and wrapping up hot dogs. Any and all donations are accepted.

Know anyone hiring a hot dog wrapping blogger?

And then, I got locked out of my house...

The past few days have been rough at Casa Snarkfest. School issues have taken over our lives and needed to be handled delicately. Add to that the fact that I haven't been feeling well and my husband's been staying later at work so that 16 can pick him up from the train station after she's finished her evening school-related activities and it makes for just an ugly week. Saves us on gas money because we don't have to make the extra train-station trip. But all in all, an ugly week.

I left work a little early yesterday because I was scheduled to work in concessions for a middle school football game that ended up being cancelled. So instead, I hung out and watched the marching band practice (they are freaking AWESOME, by the way) until it was time to pick up 14 from volleyball practice. We drove home, I threw dinner together and we chowed down.

The phone rang around 6:45 and it was an important call I had been expecting. 16 and 14 were watching TV (loudly) and the dogs were barking at a vicious and deadly blade of grass or something in the front yard, so I went out back to take the call. The call lasted for about 30 minutes, and during that time, 14 popped her head out of the sliding door to tell me that they were going to pick up Dad. I half listened, still very much invested in the phone call.

There were lots of mosquitoes out back last night and I was walking around the patio trying to avoid being eaten while on the phone, and when I hung up I went to open the sliding door. Unsuccessfully. We've taught our girls a lot of good habits, and locking the sliding door is one of them. Except when I'm outside being eaten alive by mosquitoes. After several unsuccessful attempts at knocking (during which time the dogs, currently INSIDE the house, barked at my knocking, as if they didn't realize that it was ME knocking on the door, despite the fact that they WATCHED ME KNOCK as they were inside and I was outside. Dumbasses) I gave up and called 14.

The conversation went something like this:

Ring ring....

14: "Hello?"
Me: "Are you inside the house? Because I've been knocking..."
14: "No, we told you, we went to pick up Dad."
Me: "Well you LOCKED ME OUT OF THE HOUSE!!"
14: "Oh gosh, mom! I am so sorry!!"
Me: "............"

Lucky for me, our neighbor, the NaziWhackJobRunningCrackHo has a spare key to our house. I stomped over, still talking to myself about being locked out of my own house, used her combination lock on her house to get in (I gotta get me one of those) and found my house key. I let myself into my own house with my dogs still barking at me (man they're cute but they're awfully stupid) and quickly ran up and put some Benadryl cream on the 36,794 mosquito bites I received while locked out of my house.

And how was YOUR night?

Judgin' Like Judy...

I must make a confession to you 6 fans of Snarkfest right now. I am a judgey mom. A Judgey-McJudgersen, if you will. I joked with a fellow band parent this weekend that while others may try to see the reason behind the decisions people make (or don't make), I very rarely give ANYONE the benefit of the doubt. So I tend to be judgin' like Judy. Judge Judy, for those of you who are scratching your head and wondering. NOT Judy Blume. NOT Judy Garland. Judge Judy. I'm pretty close to being one of the most judgmental people ever.

I will admit, it's not a very nice trait. I wish I COULD be more open-minded and understanding. But I tend to judge first and ask questions.....never.

I read this post from my friend Christine over at Keeper of the Fruit Loops and applauded her for putting up her volunteer pledge. And it got me to thinking. I'm a volunteer. Scratch that, I'm actually an OVER-volunteer-er. It's a thing, I swear. I'm a judgmental over-volunteer-er. I go to meetings and everything! And I usually volunteer to bring snacks.

But when it comes to parents who volunteer for NOTHING, I judge. I judge very harshly. Put it to you this way: 172 kids in the high school band this year. 2 of them are mine. I volunteer as the band booster Vice-President, I volunteer to chaperone trips, I volunteer to work in the concession stand during Friday night football games. I spend one night each summer at band camp and then help out in the kitchen the following morning serving breakfast (remember the Egg Nazi?).  You get the idea. I'm involved.  And I'm of the mindset that if you have a child involved in an activity, you, too, should be involved. But sadly, those of us with kids in the band see the same parents over and over. We work with the same group of parents every Friday in the concession stand, we see the same parents chaperoning band trips, the same parents volunteer at band camp, the same parents come to the monthly booster meetings. 172 band kids. Less than 50 involved band parents. Hashtag frustrating! (did I do that right?)

Last week I attended the parents meeting for 14's high school volleyball team. The team mom that they've had for a few years had recently taken on a new job and needed to be LESS involved. I totally get that. Working full time and having other kids at home, I TOTALLY get that some parents need to back off a little from volunteering. But that's when I feel that it's the responsibility of other parents to step up. Other parents who aren't ME. 14 turned to me and mouthed "You should be team mom!!!" "You should stop talking!" I mouthed back with a smile. No way. There's no way I can take on another responsibility. Not when there are 25 other sets of parents who are more than capable of taking over as team parent. I signed up to work the volleyball concessions stand, to bring snacks to games and to donate food to the stand to sell. But I have to draw the line at taking on being 'Team Mom'. Let someone else do it.

And that's the problem. More and more people are saying 'Let someone else do it' and less and less people actually ARE. And I don't look at the reason behind this lack of stepping up. I just judge. I'm jaded. I judge the parents who show up to football games with their spouse who think they're doing their part by buying some popcorn and a soda. Hey, Sparky, how about coming in so that one of US can go watch our kids perform in the halftime show?

That's my problem. There may be a very good reason WHY some folks can't volunteer to help out. But I'm so jaded by lazy-ass parents who aren't motivated to lift a finger to help out, that I lump ALL parents who don't help out together into one big cluster of lazy. It's something that I need to work on. Someday, when I see lots of different faces stepping up to the plate, maybe then I won't be so quick to judge. But for now, I will accept that I'm judgin' like Judy and then I'll go bake some brownies for the volleyball team's car wash this weekend (which I will, of course, be working).

Crazy Busy Weekend!

Homecoming weekend. Here it is, at long last. 15 is lucky to have made it all week without missing the bus once. We picked up her dress last night and got a bitchin' pair of heels and an adorable little clutch to go with the heels. In these heels she's officially 'an assload' taller than I am. I promise an update tomorrow night when I get the pictures of her all dressed up and ready to go.

In the mean time, tonight is the Homecoming football game. And since 15 is in the band, she's performing during the game. And since the band boosters run the concession stand, and I'm a band booster, I'll be slinging nachos and cheese, hotdogs and popcorn all evening. It's a fantastic program where we earn money for the band and some of the proceeds that the concession stand earns goes into an account for each child of a parent who volunteers to work the stand. I try to sign up and work concessions whenever I am free (no volleyball, no late evening practices, etc) and last year I did end up with a halfway decent amount in 15's account which helped offset the cost of her stay at band camp this summer (stop now. No American Pie jokes. This is my daughter we're talking about. And besides, she doesn't even play the flute).

Anyway I digress (you see that happening a lot with me, don't you?). I'll be working concessions while 15 is out marching and playing.  The stand is actually a lot of fun. One of my favorite people to work with is Keith Stone, who is so smooth. She knows who she is.  But getting back to the band, this band is fantastic. I mean truly a talented and amazing group of kids. I'm so pleased to be associated with them. They were even invited to march in the annual Cherry Blossom Festival parade in Washington, DC this coming April. They are only one of a handful of bands from across the country  invited to march in this parade so we're all pretty freaking stoked.

So that's tonight.

Tomorrow 15's got a cross country meet and we've got our community yard sale. Perfect excuse to dig out all the shit we've got piled up in the basement and sell it to some poor unsuspecting schmuck  sweet, kind folks. Better in their basement than mine. Then I'm getting a haircut at 1:00. THEN we've got a chicken barbeque dinner to benefit our University's womens basketball team. We love those girls and they have been so sweet and kind to my daughters that we like to try to help them out whenever we can.

After we eat our bbq, it's time to get 15 ready for Homecoming, which means she gets her shower, puts on her pretty $29.99 dress that cost me $127 (don't forget the shoes and the clutch!!) and she gets to go to her dance because she did NOT miss the bus this week.

Now we move on to Sunday after a good night's sleep on Saturday night. Sunday the girls have RE (religious education for you non-church-goers). Don't feel left out, I'm not a church-goer myself but sometimes you do what will please the grandparents AND appease the children. THEN I'm going for a nice run with my friend Shrek. I am her Donkey. It's a win-win. Shrek and Donkey jogging along. No better way to spend a Sunday morning.

Sunday afternoon we've got basket bingo, once again to benefit those awesome women who play basketball for our University. Sunday evening will be topped off with a youth mass and pot luck dinner for all the kids who are planning to make their confirmation (15 & 12 are included in that lot). Sunday, after I get home, kick off my shoes and sit on the couch, I plan on popping open a nice bottle of red and maybe trying to get to the bottom of it.

I've told you about my weekend plans. Now, what have YOU got going on this weekend? Last weekend of yard work? Golfing? Bowling? Are YOU yard-sale-ing? Wanna come to my house and buy my junk awesome stuff??