Superpaige's Pad

The Trials of a Busy Mom

Category: Bells (Page 5 of 7)

Christmas parties

December 22, 2008 / / 0 Comments

I love a good company Christmas party! It’s a night out with good food that you don’t have to pay for, and there are usually gifts or prizes. And on top of that, there’s a good chance that you’ll get to watch someone else make a fool of themselves when they are drunk! What could be more festive than that? Since I don’t actually have a job, I’ve had to rely on Ryan’s job for my company party fix. For the past couple of years, though, I’ve had choir commitments on the same night as Ryan’s company Christmas parties, so we haven’t gone. I encouraged Ryan to go without me or to “take a date”, but he would have nothing of it, and if I couldn’t go with him, he didn’t want to go alone. If the situation were reversed, I would TOTALLY go without him.

This year was different, though. For some reason Ryan’s company planned their party for a Thursday night when I didn’t have choir stuff, and I was excited to go! But then, with the slow economy, the company had to let some people go, and decided that to host a company party would not be a wise idea. I have to agree that it’s a better idea to not have a party, than to spend a bunch of money on an open bar. But still, then we’re out of a company party! My friend Kristy describes the disappointment perfectly in her post called “The Economy – Stealing More Than My 401K.”

As it turns out, I DID have a choir commitment the night of the party, after all. We had to rehearse for the Music and the Spoken word for this last Sunday. And if you didn’t catch the MSW this week (shame on you! You should have been watching!) you can find it, or last week’s wonderful program, and look for my bright smiling face at the BYU TV site. Yesterday’s program will be on next Sunday at 8:00am or 4:00pm, I think. I was kind of relieved that I didn’t have to try to make it to both a rehearsal and a party that night.

But never fear, we still got to go to the Choir Christmas party. It’s quite a lovely affair at the Grand America. I think they set up for about 1000 people, and the food was great this year, and the company was so much fun.

When I was signing up and registering my guest, I decided to mix things up a little bit. Instead of “Ryan”, I registered that “Dirk” would be my date. Just for fun. A day or so before the party, I did mention to Ryan that he “may or may not have to go by a different name at the choir Christmas party.” He was open minded about the whole thing, and when we got there to pick up our name tags, there was his–Dirk Erickson. “Dirk?” he said to me? “I’m Dirk?!”
“Well, yes, I guess you are,” I replied, “Isn’t that fun?”
“Whatever.” Thankfully we were in party mode, and he didn’t get too annoyed with me.

So, when we sat down to eat and laugh and joke with the people at our table, we wondered if the others at our table would notice my husband’s name change. Maybe they don’t know his real name? About 15-20 minutes into the dinner, Ryan commented to me that maybe no one notices name tags, anyway, because there had been no comments on his new name. But never fear, my friend Maranda was the one to notice.

“What the heck?” she said when she looked at his name tag, “Dirk? Who’s Dirk?”
That got everyone looking and asking why his name tag said Dirk. “Oh, because Paige is just weird,” was the best answer we could come up with. And we all got a good laugh out of it. Maybe next year we’ll Both have different names. We could be Rhett and Scarlett or something like that. Or Bonnie and Clyde, or Lea and Luke, or…. but one of us probably has to be a choir member. Darn. But it was a fun little way to see if people actually notice what your name tag says.
It was a lovely night, with good friends, good food, and the dessert was good this year! And it’s always nice to have President Monson attend the party!

So we still had our “company party”. On Saturday we had two family parties. One with Ryan’s family in the day. There was tons of yummy food, a talent show and some gift opening. It was very fun, of course. Then my family had their party at night. There was lots of yummy food, a craft, a giant twister game, a puppet show, and Santa came. It was probably the quietest family party we’ve had in a long time, since several families didn’t come. It was a wonderful mix of visiting with family, fun for the kids, and presents from Grandma.

This week we have our neighborhood party, which is a WHOLE different atmosphere. I’ve had to miss this one for the past couple of years, too, but this year I am lucky that they scheduled it later, and I can go. Ryan has no problem going to that one without me, by the way. I’m working on our white elephant gift, because that is the highlight of the party! Nothing too personal and embarrassing, like some people do, but I do want something original and fun. One year I gave away tickets to a U of U game that was in SanDiego. I don’t think they got used, but it’s a fun idea. Another year I gave away tickets to some show that was playing in Wendover the next night. I don’t have any quirky tickets to give away this year, but I do have a nice Manheim Steamroller gift basket with Halloween music and light up teeth in it. I think that might be my gift of choice this year. That or some just for men hair color. Maybe both.

What’s been your most exciting white elephant gift? My brother-in-law once took a tarantula to one of these things.

Today brings making and delivering the neighbor’s gifts. Last night we baked up three different kind of treats, and today we need to finish up the packaging and send the kids out to deliver them all (hopefully before the storm comes in). And my brother and his family are coming to stay with us for a couple of days. I hope they don’t mind that the house is a mess. With all the party attending, bell ringing, and baking, I haven’t gotten around to much house cleaning. Oh well, it will just get messed up when they are here, right? So we are just starting out with the house pre-messed!

If I don’t get a chance to wish you all a Merry Christmas, please know that I do wish you all the most wonderful Christmas week. Let’s all try to enjoy our families and the fun and excitement that is Christmas, and not worry so much about the details that we all think need to be perfect. There’s only a few more days to drink in the wonderful feeling of Christmas, so let’s all enjoy it!

We made it

December 15, 2008 / / 3 Comments

Well, it was quite a week, with the Tab Choir Christmas concert.
It was a wonderful experience. If you didn’t get to go and you didn’t catch the mini version on Sunday morning’s Music and the Spoken Word, you can always get the CD and DVD or watch it on PBS next Christmas, or read these reviews Just don’t read the comments left on the article, because you will be scratching your head in wonder at the people who chose to comment and why. There’s a fabulous recap with pictures on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints Website here.

Mr. Mitchell stopped to talk to us for a minute backstage, and I shook Mr.Herrmann’s hand, and they were both gracious and warm. We are so lucky to be able to have such talented performers come and join us each year.

Ryan did a great job of holding down the fort while I was gone every night of the week, although some things still make me laugh. I “glued” up the little gingerbread houses on Friday so that Ryan and the kids could decorate them that night. I figured the kids still need to do some fun Christmas things even if Mom is gone. When I came home Friday night, I was so thrilled to see all the houses (well, all except Cole’s since he was gone to a party that night) decorated so cute! And the big house that Ryan decorated was Much cuter than the one I did last year! They did a great job! But next to the houses was a huge pile of candy wrappers sitting there on the counter. And a great big pile of dishes in the sink. When I asked the kids the next morning why they didn’t throw away their wrappers, they said, “Dad didn’t tell us to! He told us to go to bed.” Well, that sounds like Dad, but haven’t I trained you children at ALL? If I’m not here telling you to put your dishes in the dishwasher or to throw away your wrappers are you not going to do it? At least I’m needed here at home, I guess.


Saturday I took the kids over to our neighbor’s cabin to see Santa and ride the train. It was so well done and magical. And a snow storm came in just then to make it really feel like Christmas, and to make us really appreciate the hot chocolate. Of course we didn’t appreciate the snow a little later, when we had to drive up to Salt Lake in the snow. Thankfully, the worst of it was here at our house, and once we were on the freeway, it wasn’t too bad.

Saturday was long day, as it the taping day, in order to get a clean recording of the songs for the CD or DVD without an audience. But we had a lot of downtime, too. After a fabulous dinner, we had some time to kill and played Spaz Uno, Ziggety and the signs game and I was laughing so hard I was crying. After our performance that night, my friend Maranda and I were happy to not have to drive all the way home. We stayed with my wonderful friend, Marguerite, who had graciously offered to let us stay overnight at her house, which is only a few blocks away from downtown. It still took us about a half an hour to get through the concert traffic, but it was nice to have a warm comfortable place to stay and not have to drive home and then back in the early morning. Thanks, friend!

Sunday, we woke to MORE snow and icy roads. I worried about my family, and how the drive would be for them, but they made it up to the conference center in plenty of time. Ryan brought the three oldest kids up for the broadcast, and the youngest two got to have their own overnight vacation at Julene and Italo’s house! Lucky kids!

The broadcast and mini concert went very well, but what you don’t see from the audience is the show backstage. Imagine 100 plus bell ringers breaking out into a FULL RUN as soon as they get off stage. The thundering sounds of all of those feet on the stairs was a bit scary! We all had to run to where our bells were, put down the bells from one song, and find the bells for the next song (no, we don’t ring the same bells for every song) and then run back up three flights of stairs in time for our next entrance. If I weren’t panting so hard, I would have been laughing. We figured that between the rehearsal, the broadcast and the mini concert afterwards, we ran up and down roughly 24 flights of stairs. So, yes, we were sweaty and tired when we were done.

As we were walking out to the parking garage, I said, “My wish is that the snow has stopped and the sun is shining.” Someone walking near me laughed, and said, “Right, and that there’s only snow on the grass!” Was she mocking my wish? I think not. When we pulled out, sure enough, the sun was shining! The drive home was clear and dry. My Christmas wish!

I have to say it was a marvelous week and a wonderful experience. I am so thankful that I could be involved in such an amazing concert. At the end of the mini concert, when the choir and orchestra all sing “God be with you till we meet again”, tears were running down my face. It was an emotional day, and one I won’t soon forget.

What a week, what a week

November 22, 2008 / / 1 Comment

Where do I even start? There’s been so much going on this week that I haven’t had any time to blog, or even compose a well thought out sentence. But I’ll try. For you, the faithful reader.

REFLECTIONS–With 140 entries, and having done the PTA reflections contest 5 times before, you would think I would have been more organized and paced myself. Not so. I ended up with hours and hours or work to do, in this, the last week. Ugh. I called upon my neighbors and friends to help, and they did. I called my friend on Thursday and said I was having a breakdown and needed some help, and she willingly stepped up and called the parents of the winners so I wouldn’t have to to do it. My family spent Monday night helping Mom with reflections. We had a movie night and watched all the film and video entries, then stuffed 100 prize bags with Nerds, del taco coupons, Wendy’s coupons, Boondocks coupons, etc. until we ran out of bags. I called another friend and asked if she had more cello bags, and lo and behold she did, so I didn’t have to make a run to the craft store. Later we stuffed 45 more with other coupons and prizes.
But Friday morning, with the help of Ryan, the PTA president and two of my best friends, we got the assembly set up, and made it through. There were some glitches, like I had the wrong age group on a child’s certificate, therefore it was on the wrong table. Some kids were confused that they were winners, but they weren’t moving on to the council level. Why? Well, because I like to give out as many medals as I can afford, even though not ALL of them are moving on. I should have been more clear on that fact. But all in all, I’m glad it’s over (well, it’s not OVER until I get all my paperwork done, get entry forms signed on the few that don’t have it done already, and deliver all the winning entries to the council person, but it’s Mostly over).

BELL CONCERT–We rehearsed on Tuesday, had a dress rehearsal with an audience on Wed, and then had a concert last night. We have another one tonight, too. But last night’s concerts was FANTASTIC!! The tabernacle was completely full! We had packed the house. We felt like rock stars! It was amazing. No, we weren’t perfect and still made mistakes, but we did very well. We hope as we play that we convey not just our love for the music, but also our testimonies of the Gospel and our love for our Savior Jesus Christ. We were set apart as musical missionaries, and our hope is that we can share the Gospel through our music. Our director always tells us to wear our testimonies on our faces, and that is what we strive to do. I can only hope that tonight’s concert goes as well.

WEIRD SYMPTOMS–Thursday at around 4:30, I began to feel like I had a canker on my tongue. Dang! I thought. I don’t have time for a canker. Within a half an hour, my tongue was covered with red bumps, and so was the inside of my bottom lip. What the heck? Thinking I may be having an allergic reaction to something ~but what, I don’t know~, I looked for a benadryl or antihistamine. In my whole box of medicines I could not find any benadryl or even generic for benadryl. I found a “Dayhist”, which is like “Tavist”, and I took that. Non-drowsy? I don’t think so. By then it was time for me to go to my Book Club dinner, and even though I was worried about my progressively swelling mouth, I went. My mouth felt like it was on fire. Or like I had taken a chili pepper and smeared it all over my tongue and inside of my cheeks. I told my friend in the car about my troubles, and warned her that if I stopped breathing, to take me straight to the hospital for a dose of epi. “What have you eaten?” she asked me.
“Peanut butter crackers….I had a salad from Kneaders, do you think that was it? And I had a flu shot this morning.”
“Flu shot? Are you allergic to eggs?”
No. Never have been.
I was a little disappointed that no one at my book club had any knowledge of strange mouth rash. Usually when we get this group together, someone has had or knows someone who’s had experience with whatever it is we’re discussing. This time, they just looked at me and said, “That’s weird.” Thanks, gals.
I enjoyed the dinner as much as I could with hardly any working taste buds, but I was quite dozy, so I didn’t enjoy it as much as I would normally have.
When I got home, I called our local doctor (neighbor), but he didn’t call me back. As I went to sleep, I told Ryan, “If you come up and I’m not breathing, take me to the hospital.” Always the comforting one, he said, “If I come up and you’re not breathing, it’s probably too late.” Thanks.
After a night of thrashing about and having bad dreams, I awoke to a less swolen, less inflamed mouth. Now it feels like it does AFTER you’ve had cankers and it’s getting better, but it’s still raw.

How weird is that? Of course if I look up “mouth rash reaction to flu shot?” I get all kinds of horror stories of people who’ve had TERRIBLE side effects from a flu shot, and I decide I’m not going to read any more. Maybe it was the flu shot, maybe it was stress, maybe it’s some new allergy I’m just developing. Who knows?

AND TO TOP OFF THE WEEK– Last night I was just about to leave for my concert. I was dressed up with makeup and hair done, and as I came downstairs I could smell an awful smell. What is that smell? I said aloud. Then I saw it. Someone had tracked in dog poop on their shoe, and had walked from the back door to the bathroom, then through the kitchen. AAARRGGH! I enlisted Ryan, and he found the offending shoe (along with it’s unlucky owner) and put her to work cleaning it up. I gave her the mop with the disposable pads, as that’s the easiest and most sanitary way to clean up such a mess. But me? I was out the door. Have fun with that, folks!
Thankfully, they DID take care of it, and there was no offensive oder in the kitchen when I came back home.

THE BIG GAME Today the family is doing a bunch of clean up work, before the big game. We’ve got lawn to mow, Christmas lights to put up, and a garage to clean. The inside of the house is not much better, with disasters in almost every room of the house and a HUGE pile of laundry to tackle. So much for “resting up.” I’ve got my concert tonight, too. But the real event of the day is the BIG BYU vs. UTAH game. I’m sure that’s what most everyone I know will be watching this afternoon.

But we’ve made it through most of the week, and although it’s been rough, we’ve survived.

Let’s hope the Cougars can say the same! BYU!!! Go Cougars!!!

Utah State Capitol Re-Dedication

January 5, 2008 / / 5 Comments

Yesterday I had the great opportunity to be a part of the re-dedication of the Utah State Capital Building.

capitol

(And yes, I am actually in that picture. I’m the first tiny black dot just to the right of the men’s section of choir. On the balcony. Behind that pillar. Yes, that’s it! You found me!)

The 92 year old building has undergone a 4 year remodel, and was dedicated yesterday, on Utah’s Statehood day. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra at Temple Square, and Bells on Temple Square were there to help celebrate, along with the International Children’s Choir, the 23rd Army Band, the Cathedral of the Madeleine Choir School. It was quite an event! You can read about it here, or if you want to watch the whole program, you can view it here.

I must admit that I had a little bit less than a good attitude about the whole thing when we first rehearsed on Sunday. The bell part for the one song that we were asked to play was not extensive, and I rang less than 10 times. “And we are going to spend how many hours this week to do this one little song?” I grumbled. But after rehearsing with the choir in the beautiful capitol building on Thursday night, I was more excited about it. The whole effect was going to be amazing. They also added a few bell parts to other songs, and we got caught up in the realization that this is really a once in a lifetime opportunity to be there at this historic occasion.

“My friends and fellow Utahns, today we celebrate Utah’s 112th birthday. How appropriate, therefore, that we have gathered to rededicate this great symbol of statehood: our Capitol,” Gov. Jon Huntsman said.

So, even though it was a long day away from my family, and I felt like a bad daycare mommy in the morning when I dropped John off at his friend’s house and he cried, “I don’t want to play with Hunter! Mommy, don’t go!”, it still turned out to be a marvelous experience. Each person in attendance got to ring a little bell, and it was indeed a grand affair.

I really felt bad for the Choir. As you can see in the picture above, they were just crammed onto the stairs like sardines, with hardly room to read their music, and definitely no room to sit down. And they had to stand there for the entire program! I talked to one choir member who did sit down, as she would rather sit down than pass out. She was light hearted about it, though, and she said, “If someone had to go down, it might as well have been me, since I was in the back and could actually sit.” She made it back up for the Battle Hymn of the Republic, and was fine. We at least got to leave after our part was over, then come back for the very end.

It was quite a spectacular experience. I feel very lucky to have attended. Now that it’s done, I want to take my kids up there to see the capitol building. I’ve only actually been there a few times myself, and my kids have never been there, so I think it would be a good field trip for us.

I was shocked and saddened, however, when I watched the news last night to hear that the body of a construction worker was found just as the dedication ceremony was getting under way.

That was one amazing week!

December 17, 2007 / / 2 Comments

Wow! I survived the past week, and it was incredibly busy and amazing. As a member of the Bell Choir, we got to perform with the Tabernacle Choir in their Christmas concert. The guest artists were the King’s Singers! Here’s an article from the Deseret News about the concert. It was truly a wonderful experience. I loved hearing those songs every night, watching all the dancers in the twelve days of Christmas number from our very high vantage point up by the organ pipes was really fun.tebernacle choir
Can you spot me there in the picture? Maybe in this one?
paige at concert

I loved the King’s Singer’s “Oh Holy Night” that they sang with the choir. It was simply beautiful! I’m so glad they did that song on the broadcast so that I can listen to that song every day! Mac Wilberg’s arrangement was heavenly! We would listen every night from our perch on the steps going up to the choir loft and I felt like I had been transported to heaven. I hope they put that on a CD so I can really listen to it all the time.

And the King’s Singers weren’t just amazing singers, they were nice, as well. When they weren’t on stage, they would often chat with people backstage. I got two autographs, and they were happy to do it. They were complimentary and told US how great we sounded, when we were telling THEM how amazing and awesome they sounded. It’s nice when you meet “stars” and they really are nice and gracious. On Sunday morning they all took a minute to thank us all for an amazing week, and Stephen Connolly even said that this experience was the highlight of his 20 years with the King’s Singers.

If you didn’t get to go and see the concert, never fear, you can buy the DVD sometime in late October of next year, or watch it on PBS next December. You can see the Music and the Spoken Word broadcast again next Sunday on KBYU if you didn’t see it yesterday.

Of course the 40+ hours I spent with the choir last week did take it’s toll. I’ve been sick all week with an annoying cold and cough, and it was hard to leave my family every night. Ryan did a great job as the sole caretaker, and I’m so grateful that he can step it up when he needs to. He took the kids out to dinner on Saturday, let they sleep under the tree in sleeping bags, and even got everyone ready for Church on Sunday. There was no fancy hair or anything, but they looked ok.

So this week, I’m happy to have a little bit more down time. Time to clean the house, do laundry, wrap some presents, and attend a few Christmas parties. Time to be with the family and actually make dinner! It was a Fabulous Experience, and I feel so very lucky to have been a part of the concert, but honestly, I’m glad it’s over.

Shameless Plug

December 5, 2007 / / 3 Comments

I’d like to invite all of you to a Wonderful concert on Friday night! It’s the Bells on Temple Square Christmas concert in the Conference Center at Temple Square.
bells
There are still tickets available, and I have several with me. It will be a fun evening. Come see the lights, and listen to some wonderful music. At least I hope it’s wonderful.

Last night’s rehearsal was a bit rough for me, and I don’t think I could have played “God rest ye Merry Gentlemen” any worse if I had been trying. Which I wasn’t, really. But I’m hoping that tonight’s rehearsal goes better, and that Friday night is the best of all.

Speaking of tickets, I have today become an official ticket broker, it seems. A lady from my ward called and told me she had gotten tickets to the King’s Singer’s concert, and wanted to know who else had been wanting them because she had a few extras. Isn’t that sweet? But she was lamenting the fact that they were on a bad night for them and they would miss their family party. I offered to trade tickets with her, as either night was fine. She was SO happy, because then she could attend both the concert and her family Christmas party. Good! I’m glad I could help her out (season of giving and all that, remember?). Not 5 minutes later a lady called and said her name, and said we had met at Curves the other day, and she was wondering if I had Thursday night tickets (she had talked to that other lady from Curves who I had given a ticket to). They had a ward Christmas party on Friday, and something else on Saturday…… I told her I would look into it, but I was pretty sure I could find someone who wanted to trade. Voila–I found someone in the choir who needed to trade his Thursday tickets for some other night. I’m like a ticket matchmaker! And let me tell you, it’s exhausting.

So, please don’t ask me for tickets to the Mormon tabernacle choir concert. But if you’d like to come to MY concert on Friday night, we’d love to have you!

***
By tomorrow I should have some Christmas pictures to post. I’ve been decorating!

***
Oh, and for today’s stuff to give away, I’ve filled a bag full of size 5/6 girls’ clothes to give to a friend of mine who’s daughter is younger than mine. How are you doing? Are you de-cluttering? Are you getting into that giving spirit? Don’t worry if you’re not– there’s still lots of time.

October 9, 2007 / / 2 Comments

I don’t usually read Intermountain Catholic, but there’s a nice mention of our performance for their fundraising dinner the other week. Check it out.

(No, that’s not me in the picture, but everyone looks pleasant and is smiling, so that’s a good thing.)

Random, disjointed thoughts. But at least I have thoughts.

September 25, 2007 / / 6 Comments

Any of you who know my friend Robin know that she’s got a little obsession with Vanagons. Well, I must have been channeling Robin in my dream last night. I dreamed that I was garage sale shopping (also something the Robin is a pro at), and I was buying some things from one family. I noticed they had a white vanagon sitting there, and I asked how much they were asking for it.

“Oh,” said the guy, thinking, “if you really want it, you can just have it.” Well, I couldn’t pass that one up, even if it didn’t run very well. He gave me the keys, and I drove it away. At home, I looked it over, and it was spotless! There was a cool kitchen in the back, and places to store everything. I couldn’t believe my luck. I called Robin immediately to tell her what I had found. (Of course, my dear husband was NOT pleased that I would bring ‘that junky thing’ home, and asked what we were going to do with it, where we were going to store it, who was going to insure it, etc.) I think the cold medicine might be affecting my dreams, y’all.

So, Robin, if you’d like to take a look at my dream vanagon, it’ll be parked at the end of the driveway in my dream last night.

***

My friend Lisa mentioned that she’s going to have to start potty training her twins. I do not envy her that job, because as you may know, I’m a failure in that department. How’s that going? you may ask. Well, let me tell you. The other day, I sent John in to use the potty before preschool. I had helped him take his shorts off and he was pulling down his pull-up, when I walked away and gave him some privacy (sometimes he wants me to stay there, sometimes he wants me to go–I never know). Soon I heard the little splashy sound that could only mean he was using the potty. So I walked back in there, but noticed the wood floor was wet. I was looking down at the floor, wondering if something was dripping or we had spilled something on the floor in the hall (I know, I know–how dumb am I?). When I looked up, I saw John on the floor trying to wipe up his little “accident” with Kleenex. The whole floor was wet, and there was nary a drop in the potty. “What happened?” I asked him in an unexpectly calm voice. He looked up at me with confusion on his face, and said, “I was just standing there, and stuff came out on the floor!” He honestly had no idea what was happening. So, no. We’re not really all the way there on the potty training front. Although this morning he did say to me ‘I want to use the potty’ instead of ‘I want breakfast’. So baby steps, people. Baby steps. Maybe by the time he’s a senior in high school he’ll have both number one and number two down.  We hope.

***

Heros?  Did you watch it?  I was kind of confused, with all this time between episodes (and I missed the first few minutes.  Do you think that might have helped?  I’m excited for all the new shows that are starting, and all of our old favorites that are coming back on.  Our tivo runneth over.

***

We have a little concert-ette tonight for the bell choir.  It’s a benefit dinner for the Cathedral of the Madeleine held at the Grand America Hotel.  We’re only playing four songs, so it should be fun.  Not the pressure of a full out concert, although we won’t have any time to rehearse or warm up before, so we’ll be starting cold.  I guess I’ll have to run through the music in my head today.  I’d invite you, but I believe it’s about $150 a plate.

***

I saw both Becoming Jane and Hairspray this weekend.  While I enjoyed Becoming Jane, and thought it was visually beautiful, I can’t say I loved it like I did Hairspray.  I wanted to get up and dance with that cutie Zac Efron, and sing along.  When each song was done, I felt like clapping and cheering as if it were live theater.  I think I’ll have to be getting that soundtrack!

***

Ryan had to take the amplifier in to work today.  I’m not sure why.  He probably told me, but in my cold medicine induced state, I don’t really remember.  But that means I have to listen to radio through a crappy little boom box thing.  I have to tune with this silly little round thing and try to figure out what station I’m listening to.  No nice button on the keypad that instantly brings me to the station. And when I go upstairs, it’s even worse.  All I have is my 20 year old clock radio in my bedroom that only tunes into about two stations.   Man, do I feel sorry for those of you who don’t have a whole house audio system.  And I feel sorry for me, that I don’t have one today.  If I didn’t have two or three contests I’m listening for, I wouldn’t worry about it.  I know, you really feel sorry for me, don’t you.

I’ll stop talking now.

Where have I been? Don’t you wish you knew.

August 28, 2007 / / 0 Comments

Where have you been, Paige? You post three posts on Friday and then you abandon us for three days–what gives?

Well, don’t you wish you knew! I’ve been kind of busy here, folks. Since I blogged last, we’ve: driven up to Smithfield for Ryan’s nephew’s “mission farewell” on Sunday, then drove back in time to go to a neighborhood potluck dinner (too much food!); went to a friend’s 40th birthday party and the kids ended up playing in the ditch until they were soaking wet; I went to see the Nanny Diaries with some friends; John and I went to the zoo with friends Melinda and Will.

I’ve also been working on a skit for the reflections kick off assembly. I’ve got one written now, and I’ll tell you it’s a riviting script with four witches and a fish. Stellar writing, that one is. I’ve also got to get the handouts ready, figure out when the due dates are, and get everything ready for Friday. Am I remotely ready? Nope.
I’m also planning John’s birthday party for Saturday, and we finally went today and bought the invitations and filled them out. We’ve delivered 6 of them, and he’s bugging me to deliver the last two. We’ll be going to the fire station to take a look at the trucks. I’m sure I’ll tell you all about it and include pictures of the excitement.
And, I’m working on writing an article for the upcoming “Keeping Tabs” newsletter. That’s the tabernacle choir’s semi-annual newsletter, and for the last couple of issues, I’ve written an article about the bell choir. Have I not mentioned this before? Oh. I don’t even really remember how I met the editor, but we started talking, and I must have emailed her a picture she asked for, or something. But later she emailed me and asked me if I wouldn’t mind writing an article about what we are doing in the bell choir. And she just keeps asking me to write one. Probably because she doesn’t know anyone else to ask to write it, but I’m ok with that. She even listed me as an “associate editor”.

Can you believe that? Me an associate editor? You can actually read the whole little article I wrote here, if you are interested. But I’m rambling (what else is new?). So, like I said, I’m working on another article for that.

So, I’ve been a little bit busy and haven’t gotten to the blog. And my son seems to think he needs to use my computer every moment that he’s home.  School project?  Whatever.  What’s your excuse?

Strange Dream

July 28, 2007 / / 3 Comments

I’ve been having really disturbing dreams lately. The kind where I wake up with my jaw clenched and my eyes squoze shut and my hands in fists. Not really restful, I tell you.

Most of you know I play handbells in a bell choir. In my dream we were at a sort of “hand bell retreat” or something up in the mountains. There were cabins, and a bunch of bell choirs came together to learn, practice, and perform together and for each other. But it wasn’t the choir I’m with now, it was more of a high school level choir. And we weren’t the cool choir up there. There was another choir who was more of a “show choir” only with handbells. They did skits, musical numbers, singing, handbell ringing, and had flashy costumes. Everybody thought they were the coolest and wanted to be like them.

There was a fire threatening the canyon where we were, but not having radios and phones left us kind of out of the loop. People kept talking about an evacuation, but then it didn’t really happen. There were some tractors up there, and they were doing some work (on what I don’t know), and broke into a water pipe that threatened much of the large meeting cabin area, but we got out the food and things that seemed to be at risk, and then went back to our group’s area.

Eventually, it was time to get out, and get out fast. I had my car up there, only it wasn’t my high school car or my current car, it was my Mazda GLC from college. (Too bad I hadn’t driven my suburban that I currently own, as I could have fit a lot more into it.) We were gathering up as many bells as we could. I even took them out of their cases and put them in bags to try to save as many as I could. I figured they would be better scratched or damaged then totally melted, right? Teresa and Courtney, two members of my current bell choir, were pushing a huge wheeled case up a hill, trying to save as many bells as possible. I’m not sure where they were going to put all those bells or if they just planned on pushing the case all the way home, but they were determined to save as much as they could. I remember thinking “Where is Alex (our very capable stage manager) when we need him,” come to think of it, where was Mr. W? Where were any ‘adult’ authority figures? Well, remember, friends, it was, after all, a dream. My friend Liz and I (both a high school friend and a friend in my current bell choir, so it stands to reason she would be in my dream) loaded up as much as we could get in my car, and drove as quickly as we could to safety.

That’s when I woke up.

There are so many reasons why this is illogical (bells in the mountains? Why?) and irrational, and I can piece together where certain fears are coming from if I wanted to analyze it, but I guess I just wanted to get it all down so I won’t forget it. And to let you in on just how psychotic I really am.

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