4th game and day before 1st contest of the season.

It is the fourth game of the season and it is my first away game. As my readers know, I absolutely despise bus rides. They are loud and stinky and hot. At least this year fall has basically set in so it should be a pleasent ride. We head to a school a couple of our director friends work for. I enjoy going here because for a smaller school they have a nice stadium. Even though the seats are metal they are surprisingly comfortable. We usually go here for a contest, but because of scheduling conflict we won't be able to attend this years contest. Now the scheduling conflict is another contest in a different town. We enjoyed it last year and decided we should go back. Unfortunately I am not off tomorrow so I won't be able to attend, and since I am dog sitting my brothers dog this weekend I can't head up there after work. So I will stay home with the animals and stay warm. The meteorologists are calling for a cold, wet day tomorrow so I will stay warm and dry and fix dinner. I just hope it stays away til evening so all the contests around the state can be finished and be enjoyable. I remember those cold wet parade days answer weren't outside nearly as much as these kids have to be on contest days. I will update more on the bus ride and the game itself once I get that half of the day started. 

On the bus headed to the game. Even more crowded than normal because a roadie decided to sit with me. Oh joys of all joys. The bus the give us is already crammed full because of the seats being so close together. I truly believe they forget people over 5 ft sit on these things also. They design them with elementary kids in mind and forget adults and teenagers also sit on these buses. My knees are digging into the back of the seat. Yes I am whining but I have a right. I will deal with it til we get there. At least it is fairly close and I hopefully deal up until we get there with my ankle on fire. Oh well. Ok I believe I am off my pity party for now. I will post more once we get there because see bus rides are boring and not much happens. That was for those that have never had the pleasure of sitting on a bus with teenagers. 

Week 3

It is game 3 of the season. It actually feels like a football game tonight. I love cool football games that make it feel like fall. This week is a lot less stressful than last week. My husband isn't nearly as stressed out as normal. The kids sound great tonight and I am excited to see the added things and know the show will look great. Yes I am knocking on wood as I type that. We are missing one of our percussionists tonight but it will sound great without him. Now granted I pray it is just tonight that he is missing because we will still need him next as our first contest is next Saturday. 

There are times I wish we could put the brakes on the year. It is moving by way to fast. I am glad it is moving because my favorite time is concert season and hearing the music the learn during the spring, but it means one more class is leaving ad one more class is getting older and moving up a grade and getting ready  to move on. So this year needs to slow down just a little bit. Maybe I will have a better title after the game. Doubt it because our opponent doesn't have uniforms tonight. 

Fall

So the blog is about my life as a band directors wife. I have noticed I have been really nice about things and sometimes not do nice. Well this posting might not be do nice. 

Fall is one of my favorite times of year. From football games and cheering for the Sooners, going to band competitions every weekend from the end of September to Regionals in mid-October, high school football games and cheering for the boys and secretly hoping we are good, just not good enough for playoffs (sorry I know all of us band wives feel that way) and the cooler temperatures. There are also things that I don't like about fall and that is waiting. To some of you, you might not understand why that would be a reason to not like fall, but if you are band director or a wife, you understand this. We have to wait for parents to pick up their kids after games and contests and also after practices to showing up in time for the yearly rental meeting. This is a staple in the lives of band directors. The instrument is a school supply that all beginners need and even some older kids might need. I hate waiting for my husband to come home after these. There are nights that I actually get upset with parents. I think do they not realize that he has a family and would probably like to go home to them. We don't get to go directly home after the last kid is picked up. We have to go to the gas station and fill up the bus and if we take the suburban, which we usually always do, we have to unhook the trailer, and then go gas up the suburban. Most rental meeting last for 3 hours. I remember one year it lasting for four because people just kept trickling in slowly but surely. There are days that I absolutely love being in this ministry with my husband, but there are times I am tired and just want to go home and I know he does also. 

This is a confession that I have been wanting to talk about for awhile. I understand that there are things out of the hands of parents or the kid waits til the absolute last minute to call, but understand that a lot of this time is extra time we put in so please be courteous of that. 

Don't forget your bunny costume.

Well it is our first home football game and the first game I will be attending. They will be playing two of the three tunes for the show tonight with some marching on the field and playing some stand tunes. These are the nights that are most stressful. It is for our fans and the town. Right now I am in the office listening to them practice some tunes. I shouldn't have come up here with a headache. I guess I forgot how loud they can be in this small of a space. Oh well you live and you learn. I swear I always forget how difficult some of these tunes were to play. Well I guess when you play nothing but the melody it is hard to remember that. Playing the flute was at times cake walk. Well the music was easy at times, but being musician most music came easy to me. As I sit here and watch my husband play the trumpet to help keep tempo I forget how sexy he is playing it. Hey he is my husband and I can say that. This is confessions so that is a confession to me. Most confessions I will keep to myself. I will probably post more as the game goes on. I will probably also leave early because I am dog sitting my brothers dog Maxi this weekend and I am afraid my dog will hurt himself trying to get out of his crate and to her. 

This picture has absolutely nothing to do with band, just wanted to show the alumni and former directors the new score board donated by sports boosters. It is tall wish they would have had it that tall when we were in school. 

Pregame

The game is over so now I am home relaxing next to my husband and thinking on the night and know there were wonderful memories made. From the drummer with the bunny costume on the opposing teams band to one of our kids tripping to my friend and fellow director telling her drummer "Don't forget to grab your bunny costume" Definitely something I never thought I would hear a band director say. So that is why I made the title what I did. 

First football game

WTonight marks the beginning of football season for our hometown. It is an away game, but I have decided not to go. With working a full shift today and then a full one tomorrow, I thought it would be smart to not go to the game. This won't be the first game I have missed. It will be the first one I have missed since we got married. There probably won't be much of an update later, but knowing me there will be.

Well I sent the kids off to the game with pizza in their bellies and excited for the first game of the season. I am hoping they do a good job on the field tonight. I do wish I could be there but with my job giving me such an early shift I need my slept so I am not cranky in the morning. It does happen. Next week is a home game and that excites me because see I can leave when the mood strikes. As of about 10 minutes ago from checking the score online our team is losing. I hope they do better and pull off a win.