Somewhere on the far right toward the bottom is my kid playing her trombone. It's one of the last times I'll get to see her play because she has officially decided to drop band next year. I'm OK with it, but her dad is taking it pretty hard. There was still that chance she would change her mind, but then she enrolled in her classes for next year and band was nowhere on the list. I can't say I'll miss cramming into a seat in the bleachers to watch 950 area kids play. This is just one shot. There were band students all over that gym floor. The concert was a couple of hours, but it only felt like ten. :) I kid. I really will miss band concerts and marching events. Mostly.

Speaking of band stuff, we have been working for months on the big fundraiser event for the band. It's called Blues and BBQ, and not only does it involve blues music from area student bands, and barbecue from a local restaurant, it has a live auction and huge silent auction. John and Shona went to tons of area businesses and got an awful lot of donations for the auction. The Kia dealer even loaned us the cardboard rodents. We hope to hear soon how well the event went. The live auction alone brought in over $8500, so I think their totals will be pretty good. For the items Shona was able to get donated, she gets 60% of the auction amount in her band account. Since she is not coming back to band next year, and we paid a pretty penny to send her to NYC last November, we will get a refund check. So that will be worthwhile. We'll probably put it toward her choir trip next year.

At the end of the evening last night (which was around midnight), I thanked Shona for quitting band, because I cannot do another night like that night. I was on my feet for eight hours, walked 6.5 miles, and didn't even get to eat the meal I purchased, and I paid $50 for my seat, darnit! I feel cheated. But what really irks me is that all the kids who were in the kitchen and served the meal didn't even get fed. Shona and I finally got McDonald's around 10:30, and by that time I was shaky hungry. So I'm glad the band had a great turnout, but I'm done.

Now that it's over, I hope to have the energy to post more. And I hope no more family drama goes on to prevent it! Right now I'm trying to plan a summer vacation for five, and it's stressing me out. Shouldn't vacation be fun and relaxing?