The first Friday of May Danny came with the future varsity team to visit the 8th graders during lunch. They invited the future freshmen to the high school's open gyms this summer and played against them during recess. It was a blast to be able to see him but I did warn him afterwards that one of my students fell in love with the entire basketball team while they were visiting.
That same day was the middle school's spring social, which Natalie helped set up for, partied at, and helped clean up from. Since I knew she was going to be there I offered to chaperone our students too and it was fun to see so many kids having fun together.
The next day I got to watch Danny play basketball and that always feels like an adventure. Getting the car to drive a mile away and you have a general idea of what is going to happen but don't really know what you are going to see. Will there be foul trouble? Will they be playing against kids a foot taller than them?Danny and the boys like playing together and are grateful for their coach. It is great to see. They work hard, cheer each other on, and are playing against well matched teams. On Saturday I got to watch them win 52-44, which felt like a close game until I watched them win 55-50, which was even more of a nail biter. And yes, our team got a ton of fouls but in their defense, the head ref was training new refs so they weren't letting anything slip. I was glad that I had gone on Saturday because Hubby got to see DRAMA the next day. I kept getting texts at Church and at home like "the other team just got two technicals" and "there was a post game incident." And then they had to play that same team again in the championship game. Danny's coach literally tried to get out of playing them again and offered to forfeit the game. But the league directors, coaches and refs had a talk and the second game seemed to be a little better. I was not surprised to hear that Danny canceled his plans to go paddle boarding with his friends that afternoon out of fatigue. Sounded exhausting!
Back to Saturday:
To celebrate my parent's birthdays, we took them out to eat at Red Robin. Danny was tired and needed a shower from his two games and Kate was already getting ready for prom with her friends so it was just the six of us. While we were there we ended up talking about Michelle's upcoming trip to Thailand and my mom told us her most embarrassing moment happened in Thailand. On their first visit to Thailand (in 1969) my grandmother helped two men who were having a hard time understanding each other at the airport due them both speaking broken English with different accents so they exchanged contact information. He worked in agriculture like my grandfather and my mom's uncle. Since my grandparents didn't have a home in the US at the time, the man was given the uncle's contact information. When the man and his wife visited America on official business they visited with my mom's uncle and asked for my grandmother to convince their government provided chaperone/tour guide to give them some space. Apparently he wasn't used to Thai customs and quite offensive. So this husband and wife ended up spending a lot of time with my mother's family while they were in Tucson. Turns out he was a big deal and his wife was a Thai princess and they had two daughters, one a year older than my mom and one a year younger. Hence my mother's second visit to Thailand (in 1970) was to stay with this family. One day the daughters decided to show my mom what tourist Thailand was like. The dad said to take the body guards but the daughters convinced them taking their male cousin would be good enough. Well, turns out the American GIs that were on R&R from fighting in Vietnam did not take kindly to seeing a Thai man with an American woman sitting at a restaurant together even with the two other girls there. They were heckled so much the daughters called on the phone for the body guards. My mom said they looked like sumo wrestlers and the four body guards each picked up each one of them and literally carried them out of the restaurant away from the soldiers. She said it was the most embarrassing moment of her entire life.
The day wasn't over yet! Michelle and I attended the LSO "Pops Concert: A Western Hoedown!" and it was so well done. They played Pops Hoe-Down, Grand Canyon Suite, The American Frontier, Overture from The Cowboys, Cowboy Rhapsody, and Rodeo by Copland. Apparently Hubby and I have never had our children watch classic Western movies because much of the music was new to Michelle but familiar to me. The best part was when the performers, in their concert black, pulled out mugs from beside their chairs and acted like they were at an old timey saloon. Great fun. And of course it's great to see her orchestra teacher, her viola teacher, her former viola teacher, and Natalie's former cello teacher all on stage together. We definitely didn't fit the demographic of most of the attendees but I am grateful we were able to have this experience together. Now time to watch some John Wayne movies!
I think Kate wins the prize for having the most fun this weekend! She went to her first (junior) prom with friends on Saturday night through Sunday morning. The girls planned everything from matching pajamas to get ready in to flower bouquets along with setting up car pools to do things like eat at the Cheesecake Factory, go to the dance at the Children's Museum, and getting driven back (by Hubby) to After Prom, which lasted until almost 3am and was for sure her favorite part. I had to laugh when her best friend, AR, won the lava lamp I had donated to the party and said she would give it to her boyfriend's litter sister. I am so grateful for Kate's group of friends, this milestone, the parents who did such a great job putting on the After Prom (there is no way I could stay up that late), and for being able to have Kate tell me all about it Sunday afternoon. I told her she made my day when she sent me prom photos while I was at Church.
Since my mom is turning the big 75 she agreed and I went to her house the next day (Star Wars Day) to make sure to write down some of her birth stories with us as well. This worked out perfectly since I needed to drive Natalie and AH to and from practice so I brought Maisie and my laptop and we hung out over there during softball. Here it goes: My mom was born in Huron, SD because that is where her father was working for the Social Conservation Service at the time. After her dad had come back from WWII in January of 1946 my grandparents had been trying to add to their family. Eventually her mother was part of the second test group for fertility hormones (rumored to be held in Huron due to having the highest education rate in the Midwest at the time). My grandmother finally believed the doctors that she pregnant in early December because her skirt's button didn't line up with the button hole. They told their son, Perry, at Christmas that he was going to have a baby brother or sister. He was nine years old and wanted to call her Christmas Carol. And so my mom was named Carol but spelled Karyl because between Christmas and the time my mom was born in May there were other baby girls they knew named Carol and Carole. And yes, all 3 Carols ended up being in 1st grade together.
My grandmother's water broke while she was paying the paper boy (the boy that delivered newspapers to their house). To say the labor and delivery was difficult would be an understatement. The doctors kept my grandmother and mother in the hospital for a week. When the newspaper came by the take pictures of newborns for a Mother's Day piece my grandmother wouldn't let them take pictures of my mom because she was still black and blue from being born. During that week a hail storm that tore siding off the back of the house and was followed by a snow storm so my grandfather was trying to make a temporary fix to his house and the neighbors house while school was canceled due to snow while his wife and baby girl were still in the hospital. I have a feeling he wasn't bored that week. Between hearing about this and how my grandfather cut his finger off I had to tease my mom she's been a pain since before she was born. Yes, my grandfather built my mother a crib from scratch. He worked in the half of the basement that wasn't heated so he was wearing gloves -- and one of the gloves got caught in the rotary saw -- and the top of his pinky finger got cut off. He went up the exterior exit to go take himself to the hospital, where they cleaned it up and sewed it up without any numbing because it was still so cold. The doctor did warn him that when his finger warmed up it was really going to hurt. All my uncle and grandmother knew was that he had left the house. When Perry heard what had happened he took a plate downstairs, stacked up the slices of the finger in order, brought it upstairs to show to his mom and she fainted! Oh, to be a boy mom.
My mom asked my dad if he had any birth stories and he said, "All my mom ever told me was that I was born at 11:00 and was really ready for lunch." lol. It was fun to tell the girls these stories on the way home. Yes, after softball practice we picked up Michelle from volunteering at a huge A Wing Fundraiser at the Bingo Hall. I was originally going to take my mom there to play Bingo as an early Mother's Day present but it turns out this was a very special Bingo day and required a $200 entry so my mom and I talked on the phone on my way home from Church and decided not to go. But Michelle was there from 9:00 in the morning until almost 7:00 in the evening! Wowzers!
My parents, Hubby, and I got to be at and Natalie and Michelle got to perform in the amazing Ms. Fisch’s final concert before she retires. Words cannot express how lucky my daughters are to have had her as their orchestra teacher. To teach students sooooo much while helping them fall in love with music and create lasting friendships is truly the feat of a master. This middle schoolers sound incredible every year! There were plenty of tears, flowers, cards, tributes, and a line of students to take photos with her. Ms. Fisch will be greatly missed and we will always be grateful to her.
6th Grade Orchestra
Guldfaxe:Andrew H. Dabczynski
Chasing the Storm: Deborah Baker Monday
Velocity:Brian Balmages
7th Grade Orchestra
Electric Sinfonia:Lauren Bernofsky
How Does a Moment Last Forever (From Beauty and the Beast):Arr. Sean O’Loughlin
Turning Point: Robert Longfield
Here is the portion of the program Natalie and Michelle participated in. Yes, those robotics kids were at an out of state competition again so Michelle helped the 7th graders.
Comments