Marching Band Snow and Misery
Friday morning, I had to go into the office and finish up what I was working on Thursday evening. My processes that I was running did end around 12:30 AM, but I wasn't able to stay up that late to get the next segment going. It had been a long, frustrating day on Thursday. I was tired when I went in to work and had a headache from getting too little sleep. I did finish everything out that needed to be finished out before leaving work for Boondocks where our department was having a retreat.
At the retreat we saw some of the processes that are ongoing at work. We saw a little bit about the finances of the company and that we are having another good year (not as many accidents as anticipated). We had a break where we broke up into four teams and went in (two teams) to play lasertag. My team lost, but I found out later that they didn't tell our team about shooting the others base, and they did tell the other team. I think we did pretty well without having that knowledge. We then went in for the rest of the presentations that were to be given and had lunch (oh, we had a continental breakfast to kick all this off).
Just a little after 1:30 we were released to be able to go play anything we wanted to play at boondocks. I went with most of the crowd to the go-carts. We all had a pretty good time messing around in those, and thankfully, nobody was kicked out of the park. Like most people, I went home fairly early. I was kind of tired from the activities, and they were getting to be a bit boring to me.
A little later, one of the ladies from the Marching Band (actually her daughter is in the color guard) showed up to give us some pork to cook overnight. We didn't do too much for the rest of the evening.
I sat down with our daughter so we could write her talk that she has to give on Sunday. It is the same topic that they had told us (wrongly) for our son two weeks ago. That topic was "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven". I was amazed that I was able to come up with a totally different way (with my daughter) to tell the same type of things. In both cases personalities were pretty well matched up.
Saturday morning we all got up to start getting ready to go for the Marching Band competition in Payson. We got the meat all wrapped up and in the car, and then grabbed a bunch of other stuff as well. We had to have our son to the school by 9:45 AM. The buses ended up leaving the school at around 10:45. It was raining almost the entire way down there. When we arrived there was only a small drizzle. We went into the school and kind of explored the school because it was cold outside.
We finally decided we had better find the rest of the band. We got over to where they were, and the rain wasn't coming down too much. It did get worse, and we added our canopy to two others that were already up. No sooner did we get it up, then it seemed that the whole Marching Band was under it. That lasted for awhile, and then they all had to go practice. Since it was raining, I went and handed out plastic rain ponchos to each of them.
When I got back, we decided to fire up the Coleman stove so we could start heating some water up for hot chocolate. This was a good thing to have brought with us, as it allowed to get the water just a bit hotter than it was. The band went and played, and then came back. We did not go to watch it because we felt that we needed to help out with the lunch as well as it was raining pretty hard. The weather made the instruments go a bit flat, but I guess we did as good as anybody else because we took first in our division. My son tells me that fingers were feeling frostbitten, and that the drummers fingers were so cold that he couldn't even do a drum roll. The color guard were not dressed as well as the band and were practically forzen to death.
Anyway, they all changed their clothes and came in to have some of the pulled pork sandwiches that were made for them. Thank goodness the Gassers (pronounced Gosser - I learned this from the sad experience of calling the name as I thought it should be) had taken the meat we had prepared and put some barbecue sauce with it, and they also did the shopping for all the rest of the groceries. This made it relatively easy for my wife and I to simply help. One of the problems that we had was that we couldn't get the generator started up again for awhile. I did finally get it going, and my wife told me that now I could call myself a manly man (as others had tried and failed). I don't think my wife saw me try the first time I had tried it.
By the time the band came to eat, the snow had started up. All of the band was trying to stay dry and warm as their gloves and shoes didn't give much protection from the wet. It was also quite windy. We hit down into the 30's as far as temperature goes. That was strange because the day before we were in the upper 80's. Anyway, the lunch went off without too many hitches. My wife and daughter helped in the serving of the food.
Driving home was an experience too. There were times when we were in whiteout conditions. It was a bit scary and my wife said a prayer that all would be safe. When we talked to the guy driving the trailer he told us that he had to hit the brakes hard because traffic had come to a stop and that he kept on praying that he would actually stop before he hit something else. All arrived at the school safe. I was glad that I had taken all the things that I took. We didn't end up needing the battery that I had taken, but that would've been an option if we weren't able to get that generator to work. The Coleman stove was indispensable as was the canopy (although I am wondering if the wind ruined it anymore than the one broken piece on it).
After we got home, my wife and I went out to the store to get a few things that were needed for our dinner tonight. We got home from that and were a bit tired. I did have to get things put away, and dry out the canopy in the basement.
This morning, my wife got up and started to prepare the roasts that we were to have for dinner tonight. After priesthood meeting, I headed home and helped my wife with a few odds and ends and then we got back to church for Sacrament meeting. My in-laws came, as well as Pam, Anne and Zach. Zach is more interested in the way that an LDS meeting goes. I think it was interesting to him to observe all of us.
Sacrament meeting was actually enjoyable. All of the talks went over quite well, and I think my whole family was impressed. One of the speakers (Sister Peebler) told of the sacrifice of losing her son, but that other more valuable blessings were in store from that. Pam told us that they should've handed out tissues before church for that story.
Well, once home, we had the final preparations and then we ate. Dinner was superb. My wife really did a great job at everything that she had done. I hope she knows that her sacrifice was appreciated. We were able to sit around and talk for awhile, and then everybody but our family left. My wife and I relaxed and watched an LDS flick called "Anxiously Engaged". It was kind of a cute show.
At the retreat we saw some of the processes that are ongoing at work. We saw a little bit about the finances of the company and that we are having another good year (not as many accidents as anticipated). We had a break where we broke up into four teams and went in (two teams) to play lasertag. My team lost, but I found out later that they didn't tell our team about shooting the others base, and they did tell the other team. I think we did pretty well without having that knowledge. We then went in for the rest of the presentations that were to be given and had lunch (oh, we had a continental breakfast to kick all this off).
Just a little after 1:30 we were released to be able to go play anything we wanted to play at boondocks. I went with most of the crowd to the go-carts. We all had a pretty good time messing around in those, and thankfully, nobody was kicked out of the park. Like most people, I went home fairly early. I was kind of tired from the activities, and they were getting to be a bit boring to me.
A little later, one of the ladies from the Marching Band (actually her daughter is in the color guard) showed up to give us some pork to cook overnight. We didn't do too much for the rest of the evening.
I sat down with our daughter so we could write her talk that she has to give on Sunday. It is the same topic that they had told us (wrongly) for our son two weeks ago. That topic was "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven". I was amazed that I was able to come up with a totally different way (with my daughter) to tell the same type of things. In both cases personalities were pretty well matched up.
Saturday morning we all got up to start getting ready to go for the Marching Band competition in Payson. We got the meat all wrapped up and in the car, and then grabbed a bunch of other stuff as well. We had to have our son to the school by 9:45 AM. The buses ended up leaving the school at around 10:45. It was raining almost the entire way down there. When we arrived there was only a small drizzle. We went into the school and kind of explored the school because it was cold outside.
We finally decided we had better find the rest of the band. We got over to where they were, and the rain wasn't coming down too much. It did get worse, and we added our canopy to two others that were already up. No sooner did we get it up, then it seemed that the whole Marching Band was under it. That lasted for awhile, and then they all had to go practice. Since it was raining, I went and handed out plastic rain ponchos to each of them.
When I got back, we decided to fire up the Coleman stove so we could start heating some water up for hot chocolate. This was a good thing to have brought with us, as it allowed to get the water just a bit hotter than it was. The band went and played, and then came back. We did not go to watch it because we felt that we needed to help out with the lunch as well as it was raining pretty hard. The weather made the instruments go a bit flat, but I guess we did as good as anybody else because we took first in our division. My son tells me that fingers were feeling frostbitten, and that the drummers fingers were so cold that he couldn't even do a drum roll. The color guard were not dressed as well as the band and were practically forzen to death.
Anyway, they all changed their clothes and came in to have some of the pulled pork sandwiches that were made for them. Thank goodness the Gassers (pronounced Gosser - I learned this from the sad experience of calling the name as I thought it should be) had taken the meat we had prepared and put some barbecue sauce with it, and they also did the shopping for all the rest of the groceries. This made it relatively easy for my wife and I to simply help. One of the problems that we had was that we couldn't get the generator started up again for awhile. I did finally get it going, and my wife told me that now I could call myself a manly man (as others had tried and failed). I don't think my wife saw me try the first time I had tried it.
By the time the band came to eat, the snow had started up. All of the band was trying to stay dry and warm as their gloves and shoes didn't give much protection from the wet. It was also quite windy. We hit down into the 30's as far as temperature goes. That was strange because the day before we were in the upper 80's. Anyway, the lunch went off without too many hitches. My wife and daughter helped in the serving of the food.
Driving home was an experience too. There were times when we were in whiteout conditions. It was a bit scary and my wife said a prayer that all would be safe. When we talked to the guy driving the trailer he told us that he had to hit the brakes hard because traffic had come to a stop and that he kept on praying that he would actually stop before he hit something else. All arrived at the school safe. I was glad that I had taken all the things that I took. We didn't end up needing the battery that I had taken, but that would've been an option if we weren't able to get that generator to work. The Coleman stove was indispensable as was the canopy (although I am wondering if the wind ruined it anymore than the one broken piece on it).
After we got home, my wife and I went out to the store to get a few things that were needed for our dinner tonight. We got home from that and were a bit tired. I did have to get things put away, and dry out the canopy in the basement.
This morning, my wife got up and started to prepare the roasts that we were to have for dinner tonight. After priesthood meeting, I headed home and helped my wife with a few odds and ends and then we got back to church for Sacrament meeting. My in-laws came, as well as Pam, Anne and Zach. Zach is more interested in the way that an LDS meeting goes. I think it was interesting to him to observe all of us.
Sacrament meeting was actually enjoyable. All of the talks went over quite well, and I think my whole family was impressed. One of the speakers (Sister Peebler) told of the sacrifice of losing her son, but that other more valuable blessings were in store from that. Pam told us that they should've handed out tissues before church for that story.
Well, once home, we had the final preparations and then we ate. Dinner was superb. My wife really did a great job at everything that she had done. I hope she knows that her sacrifice was appreciated. We were able to sit around and talk for awhile, and then everybody but our family left. My wife and I relaxed and watched an LDS flick called "Anxiously Engaged". It was kind of a cute show.
posted by Craig's Blog at 11:30 PM
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