Pre-Tour Panic
Sunday's hat:
It's my no-trim Kathy Jeanne straw hat, with one of the store's elastic trim bands attached. Disney-themed, with a cotton candy-colored castle and blue and pink feathers. The band is too tight so I only wore this hat for four hours, then switched to a fuzzy winter hat so I wouldn't get a headache.
Customizing the trim on this hat should be fun and easy. While on tour I'll check thrift stores for scarves, belts, or ribbons.
Ah yes tour...that thing I'll be doing IN A WEEK.
And they STILL haven't gotten us the music!! :(
I mean...I've been practicing the original score, so expect I'll be fine. They're overnighting us the books today or tomorrow, which means I'll have to find room in my luggage for a binder full of music.
Anyway, Monday I woke up mildly annoyed about all that there is left to do. But grateful that I might still be able to do most of it.
Today's Stuff:
- A load of laundry
- Trip to bagel shop (French toast, cinnamon raisin, egg)
- To Publix for a roll of quarters for tour laundry
- Transcription
- Practicing Christmas Disney stuff + a little Elf
- Prepping mutes for possible shipping to Kentucky tomorrow
- Planning dinner tomorrow
- Finding Pumpkinhead beer for Jameson (one is for meeee)
- More transcription
- A nice walk with Jameson :)
I didn't get as much done today as I wanted to, but there is still time and every little bit helps.
Technology-Is-Cool Sidenote: Pumpkinhead Ale is really difficult to find around here. Publix gets a limited amount but it sells out VERY quickly. Today I could only find it at Total Wines an hour away (two hours of driving round-trip.) But then I remembered that you can order alcohol via DoorDash! I checked, and there was a small liquor store that had it in stock a 30-minute drive away. I ordered some and it showed up right as we were finishing dinner. The Dasher scanned my ID, and that was that.
It only cost slightly more than the in-person price, and saved me a HUGE long drive to get something nice for Jameson. Yay!
(stock image)
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Tuesday, Jameson was up early for Jollywood rehearsal.
After he left I had breakfast and did transcription until my Elf music showed up, at which point I stopped to check some other things off my to-do list:
- Booked a rental car for Candlelight rehearsal in November
- Printed a gift card to add to Jameson's birthday presents
- Ran and emptied dishwasher
- Put recycling out
- Deadheaded the petunia
- Shipped my mutes to the hotel in Kentucky (I hate doing this but each one is the size of a wine bottle, and there are FIVE OF THEM, they take up SO MUCH SPACE in my luggage!!)
- Target for dinner ingredients + last-minute tour items
- Practiced and marked mute changes in my new Elf book
- Ordered more crap for tour on Amazon
- Cooked pork chops for dinner
- Voted!
Preparing for tour always costs more than I expect. This time I had to get new black socks, some new toiletry bottles, and music editing materials since I have to deal with a PAPER book. The original plan was to scan the music to PDF, and I probably still will. But when I got the book there was a not inside implying that they REALLY want us to use the physical book. Plus, whoever arranged it actually did a really good job with the page turns. So...okay. I'll try using the book :p
This year I voted by mail. The ballot didn't show up for two weeks so I thought it was lost and requested another. And today the other one showed up! I spent a solid 40 minutes researching the candidates and the amendments up for consideration (because I'm a centrist and don't believe in voting for someone just because of their party affiliation)
Vote, y'all.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday I woke up mildly panicked, thinking about all that's left still to do.
What's still on my To-Do List:
- Weeding front yard
- Thorough cleaning of whole house (vacuuming, mopping, dusting, cleaning the bathrooms, scrubbing both showers, washing bedsheets)
- Finish packing
- Wash trombone
- Pumpkin carving with Jameson
- Finish final transcription project
- Leave plant care instructions for Jameson
This may not seem like a lot, but "thorough cleaning of whole house" is many tasks in one. And I still have two hat shop shifts, and need to practice not only the changes to my Elf music but also Main Street Philharmonic music and Candlelight music. Plus there's cooking final meals for Jameson, and roasting the pumpkin seeds after carving. It's all stressing me out tbh, and the last two days have not felt like days off at all.
Today's activities:
- Putting ballot in mail
- Transcription
- Practicing new Elf part and making notations
- Ordering Pub Sub for dinner and picking it up.
- Getting ingredients for crock pot oats for Friday
- Transferring dish soap and olive oil to new Nalgene bottles
- Watering petunias
- Moving some things to garage for storage while I'm gone
Transcription ended up taking longer than expected because I had a lot of questions, but I did finally get it done.
Practicing also took a long time because I had to stop and practice the new parts over and over.
As I type this, the Nalgene bottles just showed up so I'll be filling them momentarily.
Soon it's time for my second-to-last hat shop shift.
Thursday's hat will be in the next post.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday: Scrambling to get more tour stuff done, editing and submitting transcription project, buying pumpkins for carving, practicing the other half of Elf (I only got through half the book today), making overnight crock pot oats
Friday: Crock pot oats and pumpkin carving with Jameson, making pumpkin seeds (or at least starting the process,) washing bedsheets, practicing if needed, finishing packing, any chores that I can knock out
Saturday: Any and all of the household cleaning. Hoping it will go faster than I think. Last-minute tour prep. Possible trip to the thrift store to drop stuff off.
Sunday: I'm hoping to mostly rest, but also anything I haven't done yet. Because Monday...off I go.
It's my no-trim Kathy Jeanne straw hat, with one of the store's elastic trim bands attached. Disney-themed, with a cotton candy-colored castle and blue and pink feathers. The band is too tight so I only wore this hat for four hours, then switched to a fuzzy winter hat so I wouldn't get a headache.
Customizing the trim on this hat should be fun and easy. While on tour I'll check thrift stores for scarves, belts, or ribbons.
Ah yes tour...that thing I'll be doing IN A WEEK.
And they STILL haven't gotten us the music!! :(
I mean...I've been practicing the original score, so expect I'll be fine. They're overnighting us the books today or tomorrow, which means I'll have to find room in my luggage for a binder full of music.
Anyway, Monday I woke up mildly annoyed about all that there is left to do. But grateful that I might still be able to do most of it.
Today's Stuff:
- A load of laundry
- Trip to bagel shop (French toast, cinnamon raisin, egg)
- To Publix for a roll of quarters for tour laundry
- Transcription
- Practicing Christmas Disney stuff + a little Elf
- Prepping mutes for possible shipping to Kentucky tomorrow
- Planning dinner tomorrow
- Finding Pumpkinhead beer for Jameson (one is for meeee)
- More transcription
- A nice walk with Jameson :)
I didn't get as much done today as I wanted to, but there is still time and every little bit helps.
Technology-Is-Cool Sidenote: Pumpkinhead Ale is really difficult to find around here. Publix gets a limited amount but it sells out VERY quickly. Today I could only find it at Total Wines an hour away (two hours of driving round-trip.) But then I remembered that you can order alcohol via DoorDash! I checked, and there was a small liquor store that had it in stock a 30-minute drive away. I ordered some and it showed up right as we were finishing dinner. The Dasher scanned my ID, and that was that.
It only cost slightly more than the in-person price, and saved me a HUGE long drive to get something nice for Jameson. Yay!
(stock image)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, Jameson was up early for Jollywood rehearsal.
After he left I had breakfast and did transcription until my Elf music showed up, at which point I stopped to check some other things off my to-do list:
- Booked a rental car for Candlelight rehearsal in November
- Printed a gift card to add to Jameson's birthday presents
- Ran and emptied dishwasher
- Put recycling out
- Deadheaded the petunia
- Shipped my mutes to the hotel in Kentucky (I hate doing this but each one is the size of a wine bottle, and there are FIVE OF THEM, they take up SO MUCH SPACE in my luggage!!)
- Target for dinner ingredients + last-minute tour items
- Practiced and marked mute changes in my new Elf book
- Ordered more crap for tour on Amazon
- Cooked pork chops for dinner
- Voted!
Preparing for tour always costs more than I expect. This time I had to get new black socks, some new toiletry bottles, and music editing materials since I have to deal with a PAPER book. The original plan was to scan the music to PDF, and I probably still will. But when I got the book there was a not inside implying that they REALLY want us to use the physical book. Plus, whoever arranged it actually did a really good job with the page turns. So...okay. I'll try using the book :p
This year I voted by mail. The ballot didn't show up for two weeks so I thought it was lost and requested another. And today the other one showed up! I spent a solid 40 minutes researching the candidates and the amendments up for consideration (because I'm a centrist and don't believe in voting for someone just because of their party affiliation)
Vote, y'all.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday I woke up mildly panicked, thinking about all that's left still to do.
What's still on my To-Do List:
- Weeding front yard
- Thorough cleaning of whole house (vacuuming, mopping, dusting, cleaning the bathrooms, scrubbing both showers, washing bedsheets)
- Finish packing
- Wash trombone
- Pumpkin carving with Jameson
- Finish final transcription project
- Leave plant care instructions for Jameson
This may not seem like a lot, but "thorough cleaning of whole house" is many tasks in one. And I still have two hat shop shifts, and need to practice not only the changes to my Elf music but also Main Street Philharmonic music and Candlelight music. Plus there's cooking final meals for Jameson, and roasting the pumpkin seeds after carving. It's all stressing me out tbh, and the last two days have not felt like days off at all.
Today's activities:
- Putting ballot in mail
- Transcription
- Practicing new Elf part and making notations
- Ordering Pub Sub for dinner and picking it up.
- Getting ingredients for crock pot oats for Friday
- Transferring dish soap and olive oil to new Nalgene bottles
- Watering petunias
- Moving some things to garage for storage while I'm gone
Transcription ended up taking longer than expected because I had a lot of questions, but I did finally get it done.
Practicing also took a long time because I had to stop and practice the new parts over and over.
As I type this, the Nalgene bottles just showed up so I'll be filling them momentarily.
Soon it's time for my second-to-last hat shop shift.
Thursday's hat will be in the next post.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday: Scrambling to get more tour stuff done, editing and submitting transcription project, buying pumpkins for carving, practicing the other half of Elf (I only got through half the book today), making overnight crock pot oats
Friday: Crock pot oats and pumpkin carving with Jameson, making pumpkin seeds (or at least starting the process,) washing bedsheets, practicing if needed, finishing packing, any chores that I can knock out
Saturday: Any and all of the household cleaning. Hoping it will go faster than I think. Last-minute tour prep. Possible trip to the thrift store to drop stuff off.
Sunday: I'm hoping to mostly rest, but also anything I haven't done yet. Because Monday...off I go.