Jumbled Thoughts

Oh what a crazy time we've had the past couple of weeks! School has started for both kids, and Chris is looking forward to his first performance with the Houston High School Marching Band at a football game on Friday. He's also having an interesting time with his Spanish class, though he has trouble rolling his r's.

Samantha's really excited about some new mini classes her school is offering. As an 8th grader, she got her pick of most classes. She chose journalism, debate, and improv. Ah, those nights of watching "Who's Line is It?" will finally pay off! On the medical front, Sam still has some issues. The ortho doc was certain she had chondromalacia (roughness under the kneecaps), but despite the appropriate treatment, she's gotten worse. The knee is puffed up to the point where it sticks out from her knee sleeve and she can barely put weight on it. And that's with Celebrex and ibuprofen! The ortho doc called us back in this morning saying he's concerned about the change in her condition and wants her to see a rheumatologist. Thank goodness I had already made the appointment with the University of Tennessee months ago when talk of her having fibro began.

I feel so bad as a parent to see her hurting so much. The poor kid seems to have everything I've got, only about 30 years sooner. Hopefully the doctor will have a better course of action, but in the meantime, it looks like Sam may have to give up marching this year. Hopefully concentrating on trying to audition for All-West Band will distract her from what she's missing.

My osteoarthritic knees have been killing me with the hurricane whirling around. I think it's definitely time for shots, and that's saying a lot coming from me (laughs). I thought hotter weather would make them feel better, not worse. Oh well...

He Survived!!!

For six days in a row, CJ marched his butt off in 99+ degree weather for eight hours each day. Why? As a member of the Houston High School Marching Band of more than 270 kids, well, it's just what they do to get ready for the school year.

Their first football game is August 24, and beginning in the end of September he travels to competitions every weekend until November. Louisville, Kentucky; Vanderbilt in Nashville; Murfreesboro, Tennessee; and Tiger's Stadium here in Memphis are among the destinations. But all the work leads up to a major competition and trip to Orlando in April.

We're so proud of him. Joining the band--THIS band in particular--was a huge commitment, and he followed through without so much as a single complaint. He's looking mighty tan, too (laughs)!

Today we got to watch the kids do a runthrough of the first two-thirds of the show. Let me tell you, they sounded like many college bands would HOPE to sound. It's amazing what they accomplished in a week and a few random summer rehearsals. The HHS band kids are truly a dedicated bunch. But they work hard and play hard. Next Friday they have a rock-a-thon fundraiser. They'll rock in chairs all night while eating pizza, watching movies, and playing games with their buddies to raise money for the band.

And Samantha got some good news from her ortho doctor. She's been cleared to do colorguard or marching band. After further evaluation, he feels the activity will not cause permanent damage to her knees. She's wearing a funky sleeve on the worst knee now that really seems to help with the pain.

So that's all the band/colorguard news from Memphis! Thanks to dad sending me his camcorder, I can digitize tapes of the performances and put them on YouTube for you to see. I'll try to get previous colorguard, jazz band, and concert band movies up there soon. That way you can watch if you want, or ignore if you wish (grins).

Living in Luxury

On our last day at the "fancy hotel", we let the kids order room service for breakfast just to say they had done it. Wayne and I were down at the conference's continental breakfast when they had their big adventure.

CJ ordered pancakes and Sam ordered a croissant with butter. They were thrilled to get the domed plates and flowers in a vase on their tray. And Sam LOVED how the cute room service guy kept calling her "Miss Freeze". Of course she was later mortified to learn she was wearing the "What a Hottie" t-shirt grandpa had bought for her in Las Vegas!!!

Since I had the camera on me, they couldn't take pictures when it arrived so I snapped this one later. Sam kept the fancy little jars of jam as souvenirs and tried some funky juice they put on the tray as a freebie. She couldn't identify the thick substance so she ended up leaving it alone (laughs).

Nerds Rule!

At the romance writer's literacy signing/fundraiser, Vickie Lewis Thompson, author of the nerd series of books, agreed to pose with MY nerd. That night, romance readers raised over $57,000 for literacy efforts, and Samantha even got to meet some of her favorite young adult romance authors.

Nora Roberts was there, too, but people were lined up to meet her hours before the door opened. Worked for us. We literally met dozens of authors we enjoy reading, and even managed to snag a few autographed books that were made available before their release date.

The place was swamped, but it was definitely a reader's paradise.