Concert #5 ("Why did you quit?") and Christmas-y stuff
Work had been hectic all week in preparation for yesterday, when our regional manager came for a visit. How busy were we? I lost weight. No kidding. We even have junk food in the house (Sam's Club turnovers and some other things) that I've eaten pretty much every day, and somehow I still lost about four pounds. Hmm...I can see it now: How to Eat Junk Food and Still Lose Weight, or the Bookstore Keep-You-Busy-'Til-You-Can't-Help-Customers-No-More Diet. Appearing on store shelves everywhere soon!
The visit went well. I'm curious as to what the RM thought of the kiosk, seeing as I consider it my baby. Upstairs in the bookstore, we made one change while I was there and that was it; I believe we're waiting until after next week to do the other things she suggested. Thank goodness there's just one more week left until Christmas. My poor legs can't take this anymore. It's been a while since I've worked like this, and I haven't missed it. (I was supposed to go shopping today, but I spent a good portion of today on my bed letting my legs and feet rest and get some feeling back in them.)
I had an hour and a half between when I got off work and when I had to leave for Barrington, so I went across the street from my mall and did some shopping. I stopped by Cost Plus (cool place if you've never been there!) and Hallmark. I got a number of gifts at both, which is great, and I finally got Christmas cards. Now all I have to do is write 'em up and send 'em out. Right.
Up to Barrington. The ride up 59 is so easy; it's virtually the same route to three of the other schools, except I stay on 59 instead of turning east on Dundee. The school is less than ten minutes north of there--more like five. The only things you have to watch out for are the trains, and most of the time you miss them. They're right at 59 and Lake-Cook Road (known as Hough and Main Streets at that point), so I can't get to the school without crossing the tracks. Even though I tried to stay shopping as long as possible, and I tried to drive slowly and behind semis, I still got there early.
No kids graduated from this band last year. Any kids that dropped out were replaced by last year's fourth graders, so there were still 20 kids in Senior Band. There seemed like there would be a lot of kids in Junior Band--including a trombone!--but when the band set up there were four flutes, five clarinets, a sax, and three drummers (who were also the only boys). Hmm. Stranger still: Larry wasn't there. Mr. C explained that he was home with the flu, and later one of the kids said he was throwing up all night (great). So the concert didn't have the same flow as the others. It was still okay. Senior Band played four songs, then Junior Band did its set, and then back to Senior Band for two Christmas pieces. Before the concert, some of the kids saw me back in the bleachers and waved; even some of the Junior Band kids were pointing at me. I definitely recognized one of the clarinet players. (I remember all the little red-haired kids, because there's only about one per grade per school. Yes, she's a red-head.) Senior Band sounded pretty good. Last year there were so many flutes--nine out of twenty. Now they're down to seven, but one of those girls broke her arm and is now playing bass drum, which works out well; they also lost a drummer, and the one who's left can't keep a beat. They gained a trumpet and a sax, roughly, so it sounds more balanced. The last song they did, two of the flutes had jingle bells and shook those the whole time. It was pretty cute. The Junior Band, overall, was fine. The one issue? This little flute who was on the end. It's one thing if you're a little clueless, lose your place, and just start blowing and wiggling your fingers; it's another when you're so loud while you do that that you drown out the rest of the band. I so wish I was kidding. All the others did well; in fact, the sax player totally rocks! Her older sister plays flute, so I think that influence and an obvious natural talent will keep her in band.
After the concert I stayed and talked briefly with Mr. and Mrs. C. This is their son's family's parish, so they're no strangers to the area. While I talked with Mrs. C while Mr. C attended to the band equipment, one of my former students and her mom came over to talk. This student went to camp...and, it turns out she's the cousin of two former counselors. I had no idea. We talked for a good five minutes before we dispersed. As I walked out into the hall, I saw another former student. This was a girl who seemed unsure of herself and, honestly, I thought was a little whiny. Well, she was excited to see me and gave me a hug, then said, "I miss you." I said, "I miss you guys too!" She then asked, "Why did you quit?" Oh, my goodness. That's the kind of thing that breaks my heart and makes me want to cry. It also immediately changed the way I felt about her--I was mad at myself for thinking she was whiny. I looked at her and said, simply, "I didn't quit." I then told her that Mr. D (Larry) was looking to go back into teaching, and that he and Mr. C had known each other since they'd gone to teacher college together (yes, I used that term...couldn't come up with anything else at the time), so Mr. C gave him the assistant job. I kind of wondered what the kids would think when I didn't come back, particularly the ones I didn't see over the summer. At least I set the story straight with one of them...but now I worry that she'll be mad at Mr. C for getting rid of me. They're out of school now and won't see him for three weeks, so maybe she'll forget about it by then. After talking for a couple minutes with her, I left. On the way I passed another former student and said goodbye to her. On the first day by myself with this second girl's sectional, they all changed their names to confuse me; she wrote on her practice card that her name was "Henrietta," so I called her that as I walked out. She remembered and smiled.
The ride home was uneventful. I do have to say, the downtown area of Barrington was nice-looking, with the lightpoles decorated with lighted trees and even a creche on the northeast corner of Hough and Main. Oh, and I meant to mention this Monday: On the drive home Monday, I saw a deer standing on the side of the road munching on grass. It freaked me out because I was trying to keep an eye out for the house with the lit-up backyard at the time, but I didn't see it. I remembered that on the way to Barrington when I saw this raccoon watching the cars go by while standing on the shoulder of the road. Then, on the way down 59, there was this...dog-like animal laying just off the road. I'm still not sure what it was, but I'm pretty sure it was dead. I took a couple detours on the way back to my area. First, I wanted to see how far the intersection of Dunham and Rt. 25 was from the junction of Dunham and Stearns in St. Charles Township; they're practically in sight of each other. I'd always go through one on the way to the schools, and sometimes I'd go through the other on the way home, but I'd never stayed on Dunham between the intersections. It's about a quarter-mile, which is nothing. Then, I wanted to go past the 88.5 FM house again, this time when the lights were on. Okay, yeah, the guy must be broadcasting from his basement, as from more than a mile away I couldn't get the station in. My radio tuner would zoom right past the station. It would go between my college's radio station, 89.1, and this Spanish-language one, 107.9 (I think). It wasn't until I was practically in sight of the house that it started coming in, but because of traffic I still didn't get the full effect. Bleah. It may be easier to just grab a headset and walk over there.
I went to Target afterward. Oh my word. My Target underwent reconstruction and reconfiguration, and this was the first time I was there since they finished. Whoa. Okay, going there for Christmas was *not* the right time to basically go there for the first time. It was annoying because, for eleven years, everything was in a specific place. Remember: I'm anal-retentive and don't do well with change. I used to be able to find things without trouble; now...eek! I seriously went back to the same place three times because I either didn't realize stuff was there, or I'd forgotten I'd needed it. This was a combination of Christmas shopping and general shopping (toiletries, basically), so after just a little while I was well loaded down with stuff...and I'd only been in the new part of the store. I didn't even look at the middle part at all. I also skipped over the new grocery store area, as well as most of the far part. By then I was tired and sweaty and said, screw it, I'm just going to check out and go home. I'd gotten pretty much everything I could get there except clothes, and I figured I could always come back.
Today was spent at home. The only time I left the house was to get the mail and garbage cans. I'd really wanted to go shopping today, but my legs wouldn't allow that. Well, okay, I hate shopping and enjoyed the excuse to stay home. :) The only bad part about that is I have to get my goddaughter's gifts into the mail, and aside from still needing a couple more things for her (which I could theoretically pick up early tomorrow), I have to get them in the mail. It's either tomorrow or next Friday...and that would be Christmas Eve. Yeah. At this point, I'm not too worried if the package gets there late. However, I've never sent it off late, so I'm feeling a slight bit of pressure from that.
Okay, I am officially sick of the stupid "Mojo Box" jewelry commercials. Just thought I'd add that.
Anyway, I'm not done with shopping for anyone, but I've got a good start now. I just need one more thing for Laura and my grandparents, and a couple more for my parents and my goddaughter. I spent the day wrapping gifts and--gasp--cleaning my room. I even cleared off much of the floor and sent Roomba in there. Unfortunately, when I discovered Roomba wasn't picking stuff up, I had the honor of cleaning out its dustbin for the first time. I also left Roomba alone while I put my toiletries away in my bathroom (this was after it had been running for a while already), and when I finished Roomba's power button was this mournful shade of orange and I believe it was beeping a bit. Time to go home and recharge.
The visit went well. I'm curious as to what the RM thought of the kiosk, seeing as I consider it my baby. Upstairs in the bookstore, we made one change while I was there and that was it; I believe we're waiting until after next week to do the other things she suggested. Thank goodness there's just one more week left until Christmas. My poor legs can't take this anymore. It's been a while since I've worked like this, and I haven't missed it. (I was supposed to go shopping today, but I spent a good portion of today on my bed letting my legs and feet rest and get some feeling back in them.)
I had an hour and a half between when I got off work and when I had to leave for Barrington, so I went across the street from my mall and did some shopping. I stopped by Cost Plus (cool place if you've never been there!) and Hallmark. I got a number of gifts at both, which is great, and I finally got Christmas cards. Now all I have to do is write 'em up and send 'em out. Right.
Up to Barrington. The ride up 59 is so easy; it's virtually the same route to three of the other schools, except I stay on 59 instead of turning east on Dundee. The school is less than ten minutes north of there--more like five. The only things you have to watch out for are the trains, and most of the time you miss them. They're right at 59 and Lake-Cook Road (known as Hough and Main Streets at that point), so I can't get to the school without crossing the tracks. Even though I tried to stay shopping as long as possible, and I tried to drive slowly and behind semis, I still got there early.
No kids graduated from this band last year. Any kids that dropped out were replaced by last year's fourth graders, so there were still 20 kids in Senior Band. There seemed like there would be a lot of kids in Junior Band--including a trombone!--but when the band set up there were four flutes, five clarinets, a sax, and three drummers (who were also the only boys). Hmm. Stranger still: Larry wasn't there. Mr. C explained that he was home with the flu, and later one of the kids said he was throwing up all night (great). So the concert didn't have the same flow as the others. It was still okay. Senior Band played four songs, then Junior Band did its set, and then back to Senior Band for two Christmas pieces. Before the concert, some of the kids saw me back in the bleachers and waved; even some of the Junior Band kids were pointing at me. I definitely recognized one of the clarinet players. (I remember all the little red-haired kids, because there's only about one per grade per school. Yes, she's a red-head.) Senior Band sounded pretty good. Last year there were so many flutes--nine out of twenty. Now they're down to seven, but one of those girls broke her arm and is now playing bass drum, which works out well; they also lost a drummer, and the one who's left can't keep a beat. They gained a trumpet and a sax, roughly, so it sounds more balanced. The last song they did, two of the flutes had jingle bells and shook those the whole time. It was pretty cute. The Junior Band, overall, was fine. The one issue? This little flute who was on the end. It's one thing if you're a little clueless, lose your place, and just start blowing and wiggling your fingers; it's another when you're so loud while you do that that you drown out the rest of the band. I so wish I was kidding. All the others did well; in fact, the sax player totally rocks! Her older sister plays flute, so I think that influence and an obvious natural talent will keep her in band.
After the concert I stayed and talked briefly with Mr. and Mrs. C. This is their son's family's parish, so they're no strangers to the area. While I talked with Mrs. C while Mr. C attended to the band equipment, one of my former students and her mom came over to talk. This student went to camp...and, it turns out she's the cousin of two former counselors. I had no idea. We talked for a good five minutes before we dispersed. As I walked out into the hall, I saw another former student. This was a girl who seemed unsure of herself and, honestly, I thought was a little whiny. Well, she was excited to see me and gave me a hug, then said, "I miss you." I said, "I miss you guys too!" She then asked, "Why did you quit?" Oh, my goodness. That's the kind of thing that breaks my heart and makes me want to cry. It also immediately changed the way I felt about her--I was mad at myself for thinking she was whiny. I looked at her and said, simply, "I didn't quit." I then told her that Mr. D (Larry) was looking to go back into teaching, and that he and Mr. C had known each other since they'd gone to teacher college together (yes, I used that term...couldn't come up with anything else at the time), so Mr. C gave him the assistant job. I kind of wondered what the kids would think when I didn't come back, particularly the ones I didn't see over the summer. At least I set the story straight with one of them...but now I worry that she'll be mad at Mr. C for getting rid of me. They're out of school now and won't see him for three weeks, so maybe she'll forget about it by then. After talking for a couple minutes with her, I left. On the way I passed another former student and said goodbye to her. On the first day by myself with this second girl's sectional, they all changed their names to confuse me; she wrote on her practice card that her name was "Henrietta," so I called her that as I walked out. She remembered and smiled.
The ride home was uneventful. I do have to say, the downtown area of Barrington was nice-looking, with the lightpoles decorated with lighted trees and even a creche on the northeast corner of Hough and Main. Oh, and I meant to mention this Monday: On the drive home Monday, I saw a deer standing on the side of the road munching on grass. It freaked me out because I was trying to keep an eye out for the house with the lit-up backyard at the time, but I didn't see it. I remembered that on the way to Barrington when I saw this raccoon watching the cars go by while standing on the shoulder of the road. Then, on the way down 59, there was this...dog-like animal laying just off the road. I'm still not sure what it was, but I'm pretty sure it was dead. I took a couple detours on the way back to my area. First, I wanted to see how far the intersection of Dunham and Rt. 25 was from the junction of Dunham and Stearns in St. Charles Township; they're practically in sight of each other. I'd always go through one on the way to the schools, and sometimes I'd go through the other on the way home, but I'd never stayed on Dunham between the intersections. It's about a quarter-mile, which is nothing. Then, I wanted to go past the 88.5 FM house again, this time when the lights were on. Okay, yeah, the guy must be broadcasting from his basement, as from more than a mile away I couldn't get the station in. My radio tuner would zoom right past the station. It would go between my college's radio station, 89.1, and this Spanish-language one, 107.9 (I think). It wasn't until I was practically in sight of the house that it started coming in, but because of traffic I still didn't get the full effect. Bleah. It may be easier to just grab a headset and walk over there.
I went to Target afterward. Oh my word. My Target underwent reconstruction and reconfiguration, and this was the first time I was there since they finished. Whoa. Okay, going there for Christmas was *not* the right time to basically go there for the first time. It was annoying because, for eleven years, everything was in a specific place. Remember: I'm anal-retentive and don't do well with change. I used to be able to find things without trouble; now...eek! I seriously went back to the same place three times because I either didn't realize stuff was there, or I'd forgotten I'd needed it. This was a combination of Christmas shopping and general shopping (toiletries, basically), so after just a little while I was well loaded down with stuff...and I'd only been in the new part of the store. I didn't even look at the middle part at all. I also skipped over the new grocery store area, as well as most of the far part. By then I was tired and sweaty and said, screw it, I'm just going to check out and go home. I'd gotten pretty much everything I could get there except clothes, and I figured I could always come back.
Today was spent at home. The only time I left the house was to get the mail and garbage cans. I'd really wanted to go shopping today, but my legs wouldn't allow that. Well, okay, I hate shopping and enjoyed the excuse to stay home. :) The only bad part about that is I have to get my goddaughter's gifts into the mail, and aside from still needing a couple more things for her (which I could theoretically pick up early tomorrow), I have to get them in the mail. It's either tomorrow or next Friday...and that would be Christmas Eve. Yeah. At this point, I'm not too worried if the package gets there late. However, I've never sent it off late, so I'm feeling a slight bit of pressure from that.
Okay, I am officially sick of the stupid "Mojo Box" jewelry commercials. Just thought I'd add that.
Anyway, I'm not done with shopping for anyone, but I've got a good start now. I just need one more thing for Laura and my grandparents, and a couple more for my parents and my goddaughter. I spent the day wrapping gifts and--gasp--cleaning my room. I even cleared off much of the floor and sent Roomba in there. Unfortunately, when I discovered Roomba wasn't picking stuff up, I had the honor of cleaning out its dustbin for the first time. I also left Roomba alone while I put my toiletries away in my bathroom (this was after it had been running for a while already), and when I finished Roomba's power button was this mournful shade of orange and I believe it was beeping a bit. Time to go home and recharge.