2018: The Year that Was
Here we are at the last couple of weeks of 2018. Here is my reverse bucket list for the year 2018. It will undoubtedly revert to being a bucket list as I fail to reign in on myself for being bitter about the things I didn't have time to do this year.
1. Spanish Club: Trip to Western Illinois Museum in Macomb, taco supper in January, Valentine's Day party in February, Cinco de Mayo party in May. Once again, we had a lot of fun at our Spanish Club events. A lot of fun! I particularly enjoyed having the iced tea spill at Valentine's Day, having to keep the freshmen girls sane after the seniors started yelling at them, and having a wonderful last party of the year... even though someone's North Face went missing. And I ultimately had to offer ten extra credit points to everybody in order to get the culprit to return it. They did so, by way of the lost and found box. This fall brought us our Mexico's Independence Day party, a second trip for me to Western Illinois Museum so that we could take the people who didn't make it in April; a Day of the Dead party, and a Christmas party. In many cases, my spending lots of money on food led to me having some leftover food that lasted me for weeks. The Pizza Hut we got in Macomb in April, which not everyone ate, because they were content to order their own items, amounted to my having almost three whole pizzas to spread out over work days. This tided me over almost to graduation. And I had my fill of Pizza Hut.
2. Mason's baseball tournaments. I got to see him play in lots of tournament games this past Spring and Summer. I took him to Coralville two weekends in a row. He got to enjoy some Zombie Burger on that first visit. I also got to accompany him to Des Moines, or rather meet up with him. I had to bring his cleats to him at the Raccoon River Park. I hope that he didn't get into too much trouble from not having his cleats at the very outset. They did put him in in the third inning. And they won both games from Day 1. Then they won a couple of games in Urbandale on Day 2. Then they dropped two games on the last day, during bracket play. I got to discover a giant Hy Vee in Urbandale. Cole helped me mix and match rootbeers. We watched the World Cup. I believe that was Japan vs. Mexico. I also discovered the nice big Hy Vee in West Des Moines.We stayed at the Sheraton in West Des Moines, the high rise that's visible off of Interstate 80. I got to go to the Caribou Coffee combined with an Einstein's Bagels for no less than two meals! It was awesome. Breakfast came from the Casey's. I got a free breakfast sandwich from one of the other players' parents.
3. Annie. I had the opportunity to take the most involvement yet in a spring musical at Lewistown Community High School. I was the Assistant Director of Annie. Responsibilities included: helping with the casting, learning the choreography with the students, learning the music with the students, working on some of the character development with the students, filling in as President Roosevelt, filling in as Rooster, filling in as President Roosevelt, helping recruit guys to audition, helping build set, running a music rehearsal with a small portion of Hooverville individuals, running a music rehearsal with some of the members of the presidential cabinet, singing from the back of the auditorium with some of the chorus numbers as a tenor, and running one of the spotlights. Also, I took t-shirt orders and placed that. We had wonderful actors in the roles of Annie, Oliver Warbucks, Grace Farrell, Miss Hannigan, Rooster, Lily St. Clair, Roosevelt, Mr. Bundles, Bert Healy, Lt. Ward, and the orphans Molly, July, Duffy, Tessie, and the other two.
4. Getting Sara home to California for Thanksgiving. We had a great trip to California over Thanksgiving break. We enjoyed a delicious meal of turkey with cranberry, potatoes, dressing, and pumpkin pie. I had a little wine as well. I was just happy to be back in that house at Rancho Drive in Sonoma. I'd followed the news closely last year when the Santa Rosa fire's flames came licking unnervingly close to their home. I can't say how emotional it was to see the house still standing. I was happy to take the crystal goblets to the sink and rinse the thin layer of soot that had been left behind from the air getting into the home. I also took some role in the turkey ppreparation, helping move the turkey into the oven in the morning. I also helpe set out the plates, cups, napkins, knives, forks, and spoons. I nursed along a glass of Brut Champagne, another glass of Brut, a glass of cabernet at dinner, and then a dessert wine. I wasn't driving anywhere, don't worry. We were very well taken care of by Sara's parents. It was wonderful to also have Grandma Carol, Eric, and Nils come over to join Ed, Linnea, Sara and me for Thanksgiving dinner. The rest of the trip consisted largely of me reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling, and a little of Brooklyn by Colm Toibin.
5. Going to Peoria to see Caleb Johnson in Newsies. Sara and I actually got a road trip in edgewise this year! We made it to Peoria to see Caleb Johnson perform in the Christian Bale role of Jack Kelly in the Cornstalk Theatre's production of Disney's Newsies. It was a lively production with a cast of over a hundred, crammed onto the thrust stage underneath the green and yellow tent. Caleb's voice projected so well that not a line was lost. Same for the actress who played Katherine Plummer. It pulsated with energy. We could feel the vibration of the floor when the dancers danced, all in sync, to "King of New York" in the second act. I cringed when Krutchy got beat up. And Caleb got the emotions, the turmoil, the wrangling with self absolutely spot-on correct. And he had spectacular chemistry with Katherine. Dinner beforehand at Avanti's. An adventure finding our Budgetell behind the Northwoods Mall. Me being stuck with a New York accent for several days.
6. Scholastic Bowl! I coached another season of Scholastic Bowl. I personally drove the activity bus with the team to meets at Bushnell, West Prairie, Cuba, the Fulton County tournament at VIT, and the regionals at Athens. Also, hardest of all, I organized our home meet. I had da bad cold. I had to go to a sectional seeding meeting at MEndon Unity. I had to go into Quincy to buy envelopes, pencils, binder clips, and copies of the NAQT questions for all of the coaches. I had to make sure that we had ethernet cords to connect our buzzer kit. I had to get snacks and drinks for the hospitality room. Hire readers, time keepers, and scorekeepers. There were a million little things that had to be done. And it was all on my 36th birthday. I could have had a spectacular failure on my hands on my birthday no less. But we pulled it together. I was sick. I was exhausted. I had no voice. I was in poor health. But my team helped me out. We pulled it off. And as we got to round 2, which we won, facing Cuba, I found myself starting to cry. It would not be a legacy-making failure. It would be another benchmark.
7. Busybody at Richmond Hill Players. I auditioned for two of Richmond Hill Players' summer productions. I got into Busybody. I had a wonderful time working on this show. I made some friends. I played Detective Constable Goddard. I got to wear a badge and a uniform. I learned at the read through in May, which I had to rush up from Lewistown to make, that I would have over a hundred lines. I got to work on my Queens' English accent. I had some stunts onstage, including doing an honest to goodness somersault over Nathan Johnson while he was rolled up in a carpet, helping hoist the Superintendent Baxter from the wardrobe closet to his chair, half-carrying, half-walking. Also, I had to keep all of my entrances and exits straight. I had lots. Also, I got to make the coffee. Peet's Coffee! :) Also, I got to eat lots of pizza from La Roma, lots of custard from Culver's, a little to drink at Barney's, a little to eat at the Sweet Pea's, and a lot of Richmond Hill Popcorn.
8. Jesus Christ Superstar song at the Quad City Music Guild Annual Brunch- I enjoyed the annual brunch very much this year! I would say that it was my best! And I wasn't even involved in a Music Guild show this past summer. Heather Beck contacted Sara over the summer and asked her if I would be interested in singing Herod's Song from Superstar at the brunch in August. I ran out and bought the 2-disc soundtrack at Barnes and Noble. It gave me some music to study. And another Andrew Lloyd Webber musical to become engrossed with. I had always loved the song "I Don't Know How to Love Him." It was meaningful when I was in college, senior year, right after my dad had requested the Helen Reddy version on Greatest Hits Volume 10. It became meaningful again when I happened to parallel Mary Magdalene's experience with Jesus Christ and her strong emotional reaction to him with probably meeting my own guardian angel. It was very special experience to sing anything from that show! Did I mess up? Yep. But I had an awesome time. Sara was there. My parents were there. And the other singers did awesome songs from Miracle at Bedford Falls, Beauty and the Beast, 42nd Street, and Sister Act! I wish I could try out. But I will experience it vicariously through Sara, hopefully, as she auditions.
9. Finishing Nathan Jones and The Cubbies Season 1. These were some long-term writing projects. Nathan Jones only took six months to write. But I was extremely happy to get it done. It's a play about a guy named Nathan Jones who had bailed on his fiancee to go seek out a career as an investment banker on Wall Street. He decides, after giving out some bad investment advice, to return to his hometown of St. Louis. To try and win his ex-fiancee Samantha back. The problem? She's fallen in love with a nice guy who happens to be rich. So Nathan will spend three-quarters of the play acting like an idiot trying to win her back. As for The Cubbies, I finally got it to the cliffhanger ending at the end of episode 6.
10. Watching Alaina graduate from 8th Grade. I did get left out of most of the pictures. But I got to be there. I got a good picture of the rest of my family. And I got to take a selfie. And I got to watch a 14 year old niece whom I'm very proud of, who is very smart, kind, and decent, walk the stage and get a diploma for which she has worked so very hard. It was emotional for me, because I made her a video to watch of her whole life, a slide show on Windows Movie Maker. It spanned fourteen years of her life, set to the songs "This is the Time" by Billy Joel and "Just a Game" by Birdy from The Hunger Games soundtrack. I dedicated three days at the beginning of the summer to getting that slide show complete. The fact she wasn't humiliated, and thanked me for making it, that made me emotional. Love you Alaina!
Other high watermarks for 2018:
Finishing Greatest Hits Volume 40
Getting to a Cubs game, which we won, something like 3-2 over the Padres
Finding our motel in Pekin after bringing Sara down to see Annie, along with my parents
Scholastic Bowl Awards night
Spanish Club Cinco de Mayo Party
Getting this laptop I'm typing on fixed, twice
Nearly being done with the edTPA, hoping to get an assessment administered to another student soon
Getting to cheer my wife on for her work onstage in Catch Me if You Can, Bingo the Winning Musical, Baby, and The Laramie Project, also rooting her on with her choreography work in Miracle at Bedford Falls
Hopefully making it to Beardstown tomorrow for the Lady Tigers' Holiday Basketball tournament
Hopefully having Greatest Hits Volume 41 done by tomorrow
1. Spanish Club: Trip to Western Illinois Museum in Macomb, taco supper in January, Valentine's Day party in February, Cinco de Mayo party in May. Once again, we had a lot of fun at our Spanish Club events. A lot of fun! I particularly enjoyed having the iced tea spill at Valentine's Day, having to keep the freshmen girls sane after the seniors started yelling at them, and having a wonderful last party of the year... even though someone's North Face went missing. And I ultimately had to offer ten extra credit points to everybody in order to get the culprit to return it. They did so, by way of the lost and found box. This fall brought us our Mexico's Independence Day party, a second trip for me to Western Illinois Museum so that we could take the people who didn't make it in April; a Day of the Dead party, and a Christmas party. In many cases, my spending lots of money on food led to me having some leftover food that lasted me for weeks. The Pizza Hut we got in Macomb in April, which not everyone ate, because they were content to order their own items, amounted to my having almost three whole pizzas to spread out over work days. This tided me over almost to graduation. And I had my fill of Pizza Hut.
2. Mason's baseball tournaments. I got to see him play in lots of tournament games this past Spring and Summer. I took him to Coralville two weekends in a row. He got to enjoy some Zombie Burger on that first visit. I also got to accompany him to Des Moines, or rather meet up with him. I had to bring his cleats to him at the Raccoon River Park. I hope that he didn't get into too much trouble from not having his cleats at the very outset. They did put him in in the third inning. And they won both games from Day 1. Then they won a couple of games in Urbandale on Day 2. Then they dropped two games on the last day, during bracket play. I got to discover a giant Hy Vee in Urbandale. Cole helped me mix and match rootbeers. We watched the World Cup. I believe that was Japan vs. Mexico. I also discovered the nice big Hy Vee in West Des Moines.We stayed at the Sheraton in West Des Moines, the high rise that's visible off of Interstate 80. I got to go to the Caribou Coffee combined with an Einstein's Bagels for no less than two meals! It was awesome. Breakfast came from the Casey's. I got a free breakfast sandwich from one of the other players' parents.
3. Annie. I had the opportunity to take the most involvement yet in a spring musical at Lewistown Community High School. I was the Assistant Director of Annie. Responsibilities included: helping with the casting, learning the choreography with the students, learning the music with the students, working on some of the character development with the students, filling in as President Roosevelt, filling in as Rooster, filling in as President Roosevelt, helping recruit guys to audition, helping build set, running a music rehearsal with a small portion of Hooverville individuals, running a music rehearsal with some of the members of the presidential cabinet, singing from the back of the auditorium with some of the chorus numbers as a tenor, and running one of the spotlights. Also, I took t-shirt orders and placed that. We had wonderful actors in the roles of Annie, Oliver Warbucks, Grace Farrell, Miss Hannigan, Rooster, Lily St. Clair, Roosevelt, Mr. Bundles, Bert Healy, Lt. Ward, and the orphans Molly, July, Duffy, Tessie, and the other two.
4. Getting Sara home to California for Thanksgiving. We had a great trip to California over Thanksgiving break. We enjoyed a delicious meal of turkey with cranberry, potatoes, dressing, and pumpkin pie. I had a little wine as well. I was just happy to be back in that house at Rancho Drive in Sonoma. I'd followed the news closely last year when the Santa Rosa fire's flames came licking unnervingly close to their home. I can't say how emotional it was to see the house still standing. I was happy to take the crystal goblets to the sink and rinse the thin layer of soot that had been left behind from the air getting into the home. I also took some role in the turkey ppreparation, helping move the turkey into the oven in the morning. I also helpe set out the plates, cups, napkins, knives, forks, and spoons. I nursed along a glass of Brut Champagne, another glass of Brut, a glass of cabernet at dinner, and then a dessert wine. I wasn't driving anywhere, don't worry. We were very well taken care of by Sara's parents. It was wonderful to also have Grandma Carol, Eric, and Nils come over to join Ed, Linnea, Sara and me for Thanksgiving dinner. The rest of the trip consisted largely of me reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling, and a little of Brooklyn by Colm Toibin.
5. Going to Peoria to see Caleb Johnson in Newsies. Sara and I actually got a road trip in edgewise this year! We made it to Peoria to see Caleb Johnson perform in the Christian Bale role of Jack Kelly in the Cornstalk Theatre's production of Disney's Newsies. It was a lively production with a cast of over a hundred, crammed onto the thrust stage underneath the green and yellow tent. Caleb's voice projected so well that not a line was lost. Same for the actress who played Katherine Plummer. It pulsated with energy. We could feel the vibration of the floor when the dancers danced, all in sync, to "King of New York" in the second act. I cringed when Krutchy got beat up. And Caleb got the emotions, the turmoil, the wrangling with self absolutely spot-on correct. And he had spectacular chemistry with Katherine. Dinner beforehand at Avanti's. An adventure finding our Budgetell behind the Northwoods Mall. Me being stuck with a New York accent for several days.
6. Scholastic Bowl! I coached another season of Scholastic Bowl. I personally drove the activity bus with the team to meets at Bushnell, West Prairie, Cuba, the Fulton County tournament at VIT, and the regionals at Athens. Also, hardest of all, I organized our home meet. I had da bad cold. I had to go to a sectional seeding meeting at MEndon Unity. I had to go into Quincy to buy envelopes, pencils, binder clips, and copies of the NAQT questions for all of the coaches. I had to make sure that we had ethernet cords to connect our buzzer kit. I had to get snacks and drinks for the hospitality room. Hire readers, time keepers, and scorekeepers. There were a million little things that had to be done. And it was all on my 36th birthday. I could have had a spectacular failure on my hands on my birthday no less. But we pulled it together. I was sick. I was exhausted. I had no voice. I was in poor health. But my team helped me out. We pulled it off. And as we got to round 2, which we won, facing Cuba, I found myself starting to cry. It would not be a legacy-making failure. It would be another benchmark.
7. Busybody at Richmond Hill Players. I auditioned for two of Richmond Hill Players' summer productions. I got into Busybody. I had a wonderful time working on this show. I made some friends. I played Detective Constable Goddard. I got to wear a badge and a uniform. I learned at the read through in May, which I had to rush up from Lewistown to make, that I would have over a hundred lines. I got to work on my Queens' English accent. I had some stunts onstage, including doing an honest to goodness somersault over Nathan Johnson while he was rolled up in a carpet, helping hoist the Superintendent Baxter from the wardrobe closet to his chair, half-carrying, half-walking. Also, I had to keep all of my entrances and exits straight. I had lots. Also, I got to make the coffee. Peet's Coffee! :) Also, I got to eat lots of pizza from La Roma, lots of custard from Culver's, a little to drink at Barney's, a little to eat at the Sweet Pea's, and a lot of Richmond Hill Popcorn.
8. Jesus Christ Superstar song at the Quad City Music Guild Annual Brunch- I enjoyed the annual brunch very much this year! I would say that it was my best! And I wasn't even involved in a Music Guild show this past summer. Heather Beck contacted Sara over the summer and asked her if I would be interested in singing Herod's Song from Superstar at the brunch in August. I ran out and bought the 2-disc soundtrack at Barnes and Noble. It gave me some music to study. And another Andrew Lloyd Webber musical to become engrossed with. I had always loved the song "I Don't Know How to Love Him." It was meaningful when I was in college, senior year, right after my dad had requested the Helen Reddy version on Greatest Hits Volume 10. It became meaningful again when I happened to parallel Mary Magdalene's experience with Jesus Christ and her strong emotional reaction to him with probably meeting my own guardian angel. It was very special experience to sing anything from that show! Did I mess up? Yep. But I had an awesome time. Sara was there. My parents were there. And the other singers did awesome songs from Miracle at Bedford Falls, Beauty and the Beast, 42nd Street, and Sister Act! I wish I could try out. But I will experience it vicariously through Sara, hopefully, as she auditions.
9. Finishing Nathan Jones and The Cubbies Season 1. These were some long-term writing projects. Nathan Jones only took six months to write. But I was extremely happy to get it done. It's a play about a guy named Nathan Jones who had bailed on his fiancee to go seek out a career as an investment banker on Wall Street. He decides, after giving out some bad investment advice, to return to his hometown of St. Louis. To try and win his ex-fiancee Samantha back. The problem? She's fallen in love with a nice guy who happens to be rich. So Nathan will spend three-quarters of the play acting like an idiot trying to win her back. As for The Cubbies, I finally got it to the cliffhanger ending at the end of episode 6.
10. Watching Alaina graduate from 8th Grade. I did get left out of most of the pictures. But I got to be there. I got a good picture of the rest of my family. And I got to take a selfie. And I got to watch a 14 year old niece whom I'm very proud of, who is very smart, kind, and decent, walk the stage and get a diploma for which she has worked so very hard. It was emotional for me, because I made her a video to watch of her whole life, a slide show on Windows Movie Maker. It spanned fourteen years of her life, set to the songs "This is the Time" by Billy Joel and "Just a Game" by Birdy from The Hunger Games soundtrack. I dedicated three days at the beginning of the summer to getting that slide show complete. The fact she wasn't humiliated, and thanked me for making it, that made me emotional. Love you Alaina!
Other high watermarks for 2018:
Finishing Greatest Hits Volume 40
Getting to a Cubs game, which we won, something like 3-2 over the Padres
Finding our motel in Pekin after bringing Sara down to see Annie, along with my parents
Scholastic Bowl Awards night
Spanish Club Cinco de Mayo Party
Getting this laptop I'm typing on fixed, twice
Nearly being done with the edTPA, hoping to get an assessment administered to another student soon
Getting to cheer my wife on for her work onstage in Catch Me if You Can, Bingo the Winning Musical, Baby, and The Laramie Project, also rooting her on with her choreography work in Miracle at Bedford Falls
Hopefully making it to Beardstown tomorrow for the Lady Tigers' Holiday Basketball tournament
Hopefully having Greatest Hits Volume 41 done by tomorrow