Welcome back!

Hi, Karen!
Welcome back.

I have a dresser top that needs reclaiming. It's been a VERY long time since I could consider having been claimed the FIRST time, but it was, once. For about 2 weeks.

Ah, Talley Sue,
Ongoing maintenance!!!! I do tend to keep it up as long as I organize smartly --- until illnesses intervene. Then it just dominoes so quickly! Then it's a job to catch back up.

I'm also putting on my thinking cap to find the 'right tool for the job'. In the case of my dresser, the right jewelry box configuration to fit my lifestyle.

I haven't conquered each area just yet, but I think the dresser is. As the song goes, only time will tell.

Hey, it's been slow on the Organizing forum, but you have been missed.

Reclaiming the dresser top is my next project. I got rid of a huge bag of clothes, which made room in the drawers, so now to get rid of the junk on top!

Welcome back, Trekaren.

Trekaren,

I'm sorry you have been ill.

I have that same DD, but she just started college this year. One day over winter break she went through a bunch of her things, called a few places, and ended up taking a bunch of toys and stuffed animals to the women's shelter. All while I was at work one day! They grow up.

Marching band is the best. By her senior year you'll be sad it's over. Even though my dd is out, I went to a couple of the big competitions this year. It was still wonderful. I had so much fun talking to the parents sitting around me as I enjoyed their kids' shows.

susanjn,
DD definitely has her moments....I hope to see more in the future. She does seem to need motivation to do it.

RE: Marching band: I'm hooked!!!! She is, too. She loves it. I can't seem to stay away from youtube vids of good bands. If you want to have a band fix, and see our awesome group, my youtube channel is BindiJune.

**Read no further if you aren't interested in marching band.**

trekaren,

I watched some of your videos on YouTube. They are wonderful! My daughter's school was the Trojans, too.

I've linked below their 2010 performance at the state (TX) competition at the Alamodome. Of my daughter's four years that was the show that got them the highest scores. The school hovers around 2000 students so is often the smallest in their classification of 2000+. They got to the state finals that year.

If you want to see some amazing shows look at some of the giant schools in the DFW area, like LD Bell, Marcus, and Flower Mound.

Does your school ever go to Bands of America competitions? Even if they don't, treat yourself to the Atlanta Super Regional on Oct 25-26, 2013. (I have no connection to BoA - just a fan.)

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Anderson Trojan Band - Waterways - 2010

Mr. Watkins has been to BOA and won -- I think twice in his 25 years as director. I hear that he may want to try and go back very soon, before he retires. Your band is great! Love the music selections. Stylistically, they are similar to my trojans. How many kids are in the band?

With the dance guard, I think there are about 175-200 kids in the band.

BOA is great because you get to see bands out of your immediate area. And, at least in San Antonio, it's in an indoor stadium so you aren't freezing to death. In 2012 they also went to BOA in St. Louis.

My daughter chose a college that doesn't have a marching band. But her main instrument is bassoon, so she still plays that in the concert band. College marching band is all about crowd pleasing. It looks fun to me! Below is a link to one of the schools she considered.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ohio University Marching 110 (no dance guard needed)

DD's marching band is 225 right now, so they are similar in size. 225 is a low for this school. I think the economy makes joining the band (and especially marching) a challenge.

My daughter plays alto sax, but loves soprano. She visualizes doing alto for marching, and soprano for concert. I am just trying to figure out if I want to start renting another instrument or try and find one on craigslist (which can be risky).

They spent yesterday in symphony camp, with representatives from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and directors from other schools. I will be interested to hear her thoughts since concert is definitely a different perspective for her, after 6 straight months + of marching.

I am kind of hoping she chooses UGA. Or even Jacksonville State (in Alabama) - they have great band programs. But it's early yet. She isn't really sure what she wants to major in, and I'm sure where she goes will depend on scholarship opportunities as well.

My dd played tenor sax for marching. She didn't feel as competent with it as she felt with the bassoon. In high school that was OK, as they spend the whole season perfecting one complex show. I guess in college they prepare a new show every two weeks or so just for football games. She didn't feel she was a good enough sax player to do that. I would have happily paid for a blitz of private lessons to correct that, but she didn't want to. It was one of those points in time where I had to back off as mom and let her make her own decisions. We are very happy about the college she chose, so it was one of the never ending trade-offs you make in life.

We were very blessed that the high school had bassoons and tenor saxes to lend. In middle school we paid $25/semester, but in high school there was no charge. They did that for all the bigger instruments, I guess. Did I mention that I'm well aware of how wonderful that was?

After all this talk about band, I've marked my calendar for the San Antonio BOA, and I'm really annoyed that one of the local contests hasn't posted its dates yet. It's only eight months from now. What's the hold-up? The fan base needs to know! :)

Hey, if I win the lottery I could even go to the BOA Grand Nationals in Indianapolis. Do you think I could convince my dh that Indianapolis in November is a fabulous vacation spot? No, probably not. :)

Seriously though, I know now how much work goes into those shows. And when I think about what it means to those kids and their parents sitting in the stands, I am very enthusiastic with my applause.

Indy in November? Sure!! The cold weather definitely lends itself to football-stadium weather.

I was just reflecting on the amount of work when I was watching your video. It's very physically and mentally demanding to put these shows together. It is rewarding as well, though. In my case, it was something to watch my daughter become so driven about something. She was much more casual and less driven with her other activities. From day one with band, she dove into the deep end and I'm very proud of her.

The music the band did for halftime was college-level material, and they pretty much had it down by the end of September. Then they just worked on fine-tuning. Once November arrived, it was parade practice - tapering up from 1 mile marches all the way to 6 miles. As the director said, they went from being sprinters to being marathon runners. A 5.5 mile parade is far different physically than a 9 minute halftime show.

Now, each concert band is learning two new numbers - a march and a ballad - for Festival in March. (i.e. each band is learning a different pair of songs). So they don't get much time to get bored or lazy.

It'll be football season again before we know it!