Pardon us while we take a break from getting our house into shape to attend a Marching Band Invitational.
I've been anxious about it for the last few days because of several things that happened. First, we had to find a new semi-truck driver because the Company (which shall remain nameless) who normally provides a driver, said they would not pay their driver overtime (actually double-time) to work after 6 pm on a Saturday. We even said that we'd be willing to pay him ourselves, but that's against company rules so they wouldn't go for it.
The Band Directors put out a plea to the community for someone to step up and volunteer, and we found someone who was not only willing to drive, but able to convince his boss to let him borrow one of the company trucks!
It was great how that turned out, but it took a day or two of anxious nail-biting before everything was resolved, and my blood pressure wasn't doing well.
Meanwhile, I waited too long to get together with the guy who was driving the van which was pulling our little trailer, and only on Friday night -- last night -- the night before our performance! -- found out that the hitch on his van was rusted tight and we wouldn't be able to mount the trailer hitch in place of his original hitch (the two hitches are quite different). We were at the school, banging on the hitch with hammers and spraying it with WD-40, all to no avail. So I had to send him back home to try applying some heat (via propane torch) to try and loosen it up; meanwhile, I asked him to call me early in the morning to let me know whether it had worked or not, because if it didn't, I needed to reserve a 1-ton truck (with hitch) as soon as possible.
Luckily, applying heat (and some other techniques) worked by the next morning, so we were able to use his van. And not have to rent a truck!
So by Saturday afternoon, my blood pressure was spiking and the anxiety was palpable and my brain was a flurry of mixed-up checklists and last-minute panic moments, and the only way I could find to relax for a few minutes was to -- you guessed it! -- re-hang the basement door frame. Somehow doing carpentry work relaxes me. I'm not sure why. Blame my dad. But the door frame got re-aligned, the door was re-hung, and other than the trim, it works fine.
All the paraphernalia required for the pit crew was loaded into my car, the car was driven to the school, the trailers were opened, the band did their last-minute practice, the tires on the carts were pumped up, the tires on the trailers were pumped up, the hitches were mounted to the semi and to the van, the band kids filed into the buses, and we all drove over to the school across town which was hosting the Invitational.
We arrived and un-packed, loading the instruments on the carts, got the kids warmed-up, marched out onto the field at 9:15 p.m. sharp, and performed our show. Then an hour later, after a couple more bands played, we sat and listened to the results: 1st place in our division! Yay!
Then we packed up and headed back to our own school and unloaded the kids (but not the carts or instruments) and waited a while for the parents to pick up their children and then headed home and collapsed into bed and awaited sleep. Which took about ten seconds.
And after Sunday School and worship this morning, we came back home and crawled into bed and finished our nap which was so rudely interrupted by the silly alarm-cat.
Now we've re-awoken and had our lunch and are ready to relax for a few minutes before heading out to our Life Group for some more Bible study.
Only two more weeks of Marching Band. Unless the football team does really well. In which case it might be another month!
I've been anxious about it for the last few days because of several things that happened. First, we had to find a new semi-truck driver because the Company (which shall remain nameless) who normally provides a driver, said they would not pay their driver overtime (actually double-time) to work after 6 pm on a Saturday. We even said that we'd be willing to pay him ourselves, but that's against company rules so they wouldn't go for it.
The Band Directors put out a plea to the community for someone to step up and volunteer, and we found someone who was not only willing to drive, but able to convince his boss to let him borrow one of the company trucks!
It was great how that turned out, but it took a day or two of anxious nail-biting before everything was resolved, and my blood pressure wasn't doing well.
Meanwhile, I waited too long to get together with the guy who was driving the van which was pulling our little trailer, and only on Friday night -- last night -- the night before our performance! -- found out that the hitch on his van was rusted tight and we wouldn't be able to mount the trailer hitch in place of his original hitch (the two hitches are quite different). We were at the school, banging on the hitch with hammers and spraying it with WD-40, all to no avail. So I had to send him back home to try applying some heat (via propane torch) to try and loosen it up; meanwhile, I asked him to call me early in the morning to let me know whether it had worked or not, because if it didn't, I needed to reserve a 1-ton truck (with hitch) as soon as possible.
Luckily, applying heat (and some other techniques) worked by the next morning, so we were able to use his van. And not have to rent a truck!
So by Saturday afternoon, my blood pressure was spiking and the anxiety was palpable and my brain was a flurry of mixed-up checklists and last-minute panic moments, and the only way I could find to relax for a few minutes was to -- you guessed it! -- re-hang the basement door frame. Somehow doing carpentry work relaxes me. I'm not sure why. Blame my dad. But the door frame got re-aligned, the door was re-hung, and other than the trim, it works fine.
All the paraphernalia required for the pit crew was loaded into my car, the car was driven to the school, the trailers were opened, the band did their last-minute practice, the tires on the carts were pumped up, the tires on the trailers were pumped up, the hitches were mounted to the semi and to the van, the band kids filed into the buses, and we all drove over to the school across town which was hosting the Invitational.
We arrived and un-packed, loading the instruments on the carts, got the kids warmed-up, marched out onto the field at 9:15 p.m. sharp, and performed our show. Then an hour later, after a couple more bands played, we sat and listened to the results: 1st place in our division! Yay!
Then we packed up and headed back to our own school and unloaded the kids (but not the carts or instruments) and waited a while for the parents to pick up their children and then headed home and collapsed into bed and awaited sleep. Which took about ten seconds.
And after Sunday School and worship this morning, we came back home and crawled into bed and finished our nap which was so rudely interrupted by the silly alarm-cat.
Now we've re-awoken and had our lunch and are ready to relax for a few minutes before heading out to our Life Group for some more Bible study.
Only two more weeks of Marching Band. Unless the football team does really well. In which case it might be another month!
No comments:
Post a Comment