Happy Monday. Welcome to this week’s edition of the MMP. Pull up a seat and stay a few days.
As promised, I shall recount what went in to putting on this year’s show. Many months ago, our director told us of this idea she had to have a Coney Island themed show. We all shouted YAY. Thus began months of meetings, headaches, scrounging supplies and volunteers, and of course learning new music.
When this director stepped in, back in ‘03, we knew things would change. Little by little, we’ve grown from fewer than 30 members (most of home rejected change), and a repertoire of maybe 15 songs; to now over 50 members (all of whom embrace anything thrown at us), and a repertoire of well over 40 songs (of course, we only use about 20 at a time, and every year we add 5 more).
Our director is also a certified arranger, so she’ll either take a song and arrange it for our skill set (we are a C+/B- chorus, and still have skills to hone), or tweak an existing arrangement to better suit us. Also she’s a bass, so my part is always fun, like in this number, which is our competition up tune.
For the show, the music committee picked out 16 songs; some we’ve been singing for years, others were new to us. Choreography was designed, and costumes were bought.
The show committee saw to it that all aspects of the process were covered; I was in charge of PR and putting together the program book (we call it a journal). PR I’ve been doing for years, and I have a good committee working with me. But putting a journal together was a new experience. Now, i am adept at Photoshop, but I knew that was not the best software for a multi-paged booklet.
So, I looked at past years’ journals. “Oh!” thought I, “This is easy, I’ll do it in Word! And won’t the printer be happy that he won’t have to resize or rearrange anything!” Four weeks and 7 versions later, I finally had the ads and show related pages all placed in an aesthetically pleasing order. So I emailed it to the printer . . . only to realize I’d left out an ad I’d obtained by accepting a donation to our door prizes in lieu of payment. Yikes! I hurried home, shifted things around, resized other things, and managed to get that ad into the centerfold. phew.
Meanwhile, the show chair is slowly turning grey, the chapter president is hoarse from asking for things we need, and the director keeps tweaking the tags (the last several bars of a barbershop song, usually with vocal flourishes) to better show off our voices.
This last week, easily 200 emails passed between the show committee and the chorus members with last minute instructions, directions to the venue, corrected directions to the venue, reminders that DST ends, and reminders of the little things we were not to forget.
So, we arrived at the venue about 90 minutes before the doors open. Along the walls were poster sized prints of turn-of-the-twentieth-century Coney Island scenes; on a wall next to the stage, a slide show of more photos entertained the audience as they file in. In keeping with the spirit, we also had Nathan’s Hotdogs, popcorn, and cotton candy available for the audience to nosh. For the side show attractions, we had a mermaid on a rock, a Strong Woman, and Madame Olga, who could look into her crystal ball and tell the future (well, I made most of it up, saying things like “I see many many people descending on you home . . . in about three and a half weeks” or “I am sorry to tell you - I see a Monday in your future”).
In the first half of the show, the songs were separated by the recounting of Coney Island memories as recalled by the chorus gal whose tale it was. During intermission, audience members visited the various “attractions”, and enjoyed the themed treats. Then the second half was more of us showing off our best numbers in our new costumes. For the very last number, we asked all the veterans to stand and we sang “God Bless America” to them.
Then the clean up began. I’d have helped, but my physical limitations excused me from striking the set. So, instead I went to a diner with a few friends for some real, and very welcome, food.
I got home at a reasonable hour, but was too wound up to sleep, so I uploaded photos and videos, and wrote this.
And guess what? We get to do all again next year!
Have a great week, all. Hijack away.
Not bad anyrose! I’m a little exhausted just reading all y’all did. One of my aunts does Sweet Adelines and it always looks effortless-- but it’s not!
Keep your fingers crossed the orthopedist won’t find anything about my knees that can’t be fixed with exercise.
HAPPY MMP SLEEPYHEADS!
Haven’t had a chance to follow the links (posting from work) but this sound like it was 7 flavors of awesome! 
I’ve been more-or-less reading the past few MMPs but not posting, and I don’t remember quite who deserves hugs for what (well, I know about **Bumba **for CHF, **Ivory **for days without power, **mmmmmm **for the ground mmmmoving beneath, **phouka **for meds-related woes… and hugs and gropes for anything and anyone I’ve missed in the blur)
Hope I can keep up more this time. But I wouldn’t count on it 
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffienatin’. YAWN 'Tis 58 degrees Amurrkin out with a predicted high of 78. So, this relatively warmish out already. No rain predicted which is unusual when the weather is like this.
Great OP Rosie. I mean Ashes[sup]2[/sup] got tired readin’ it, so you know it was a busy time! 
I’ll check out the links later when I have more time.
In other news, MOG is takin’ us out to the good Eyetalian place for dindin. YUM! I foresee a bellini (belini? belinni? I never can remember) in my future.
Now I seek more caffiene and brekkie for rumbly tummy. Then, alas, irk purtification must commence.
Happy Monday Y’all!
Blurf.
The Standard Time shift is messing with people’s heads, as usual. I counted 3 people who got to work before me because they haven’t adjusted yet. I’ll admit to rolling around in bed for an hour meself, 'cuz I was too lazy to get up when my Greek godlike body said to.
The Greek god I most resemble is the short, fat god of wine…
Happy Nov 7 to one and all!! For some reason, this date stood out in my memory, but memory failed to remind me why. Till this morning. On this date in 1974, I soloed an airplane for the first time.
Back in those days, I was a noob in the Navy - barely over a year of service - at my first non-school duty station. I had decided to take flying lessons because of a roomie I’d had in Memphis, and after the first flight, I was hooked. But I wasn’t very good. Most people solo with about 10 or so flight hours. I had 21.6 and yes, I remembered that without looking it up in my flight log. Turns out it wasn’t a problem with flying skills as much as a little timidity and a lot of not being able to see. My instructor suggested I sit on a cushion so I could see over the forward cowling a bit better, and all of a sudden, I could land!!! Which is kinda necessary when you fly… 
I was working mids and I got off work at 7, so I used to meet Dick, my instructor, before he went to work for early lessons. That particular morning, he’d already decided he was sending me out on my own. As an aside, while the flying club was based at NAS North Island, all we could do was take off and land there. All practice landings and other training had to be done elsewhere, usually at Brown Field, just east of San Diego. So we headed over to Brown, I did a couple of practice landings, then Dick had me pull over to the taxiway.
I was a little terrified and a little excited as I left him on the ramp and taxied out myself. And I locked my eyes straight forward - if I didn’t see the empty seat beside me, I might not be alone, right?? Altho as soon as I got airborne, I knew - that little Cessna leapt off the ground. In a 2-seater plane, being 150# lighter is most definitely noticed. Still, as I went around the pattern to line up for my first solo landing, I could hear Dick’s voice in my head, talking me thru the process that I knew perfectly well. And I did my touch-and-go exactly as I was supposed to.
In fact, I did 3 landings, taxiing over to the ramp after the 3rd to pick up my beaming instructor. Sometimes I think he was happier about it than I was! We flew back to the flying club, and he performed the traditional ritual of cutting off my shirt tail. I was in uniform, but luckily, it was a cool morning so I had a sweater and I didn’t have to go home with a nekkid back. :eek: He wrote my name, the date, and N10568 - the number of the plane I soloed (which would later be crashed in the desert by a less competent club pilot - he survived, but I think they might have kicked him out of the club.)
And since I needed a pillow to fly, I knitted one, stuffed it to the right thickness, and embroidered the date of my solo: 7 NOV 74. I still have that pillow, although I haven’t piloted a plane since late 1978. I had about 275 flight hours when I quit. Those included some fun hours and one landing gear failure :eek: but all in all, I don’t miss it. It’s funny to think I used to cringe at spending $11 per flight hour. I just looked up one flight club near here - the planes I used to rent for $14/hr go for $125/hr now. Yep, I definitely don’t miss it.
Anyway, that’s our walk down memory lane for this date.
I’m all showered, dressed, breakfasted, and waiting for the firewood guys to come in just under an hour. I need to mosey out and open the side gate for them. It’d be great if they’d also stack it for me, but I expect they dump and go. Oh well, it’s gonna be a pretty day - I can stack firewood. It’ll give me something to whine about!
Happy Monday!!
My firewood is here! Luckily, I caught them just as they were starting to back up the driveway and I got them to come in the side gate. They literally dumped the wood in the back yard between the two places I want it piled, then drove out the gate to the front drive, so it worked out pretty good. Now I just have to stack the stuff. When it warms up a bit - it’s barely 40 out there right now.
I need to do some grocery shopping - maybe I’ll do that now, and stack wood when it’s less freezing out there.
Hi all! I’m between projects this week, but already got some leads, including a local one which “values immediate availability”. It’s for an as-yet-unnamed consulting company, let’s hope it’s not the same one I had during August and September… not only do they not want me right now, but I do not want them 
There’s a smoke alarm chirpin’ right outside my door. My kingdom for a nine volt battery!
Obviously I’ve got you fooled. Most days I’m flying by the seat of my pants…
I wrote a long diatribe here about dogs, Sebastian and Bart, and mental health issues but I don’t think any of it was relevant other than to say ‘been there, done that.’ And it’s all damn hard to deal with, some days more than others. If you ever want to chat about anything at all please feel free to send me a PM.
Ok, I’ve got to get back to work. Busy week 'round these parts!
: passes battery to swampy:
:grumble: too early, etc.
So we had a math quiz on Wednesday. Our math instructor likes to review before the quiz, so we spent Monday and Tuesday going over the concepts. The quiz had ten questions. No big deal, I thought.
Friday. Instructor comes in and she looks pissed. she sets her bag on the desk, parks herself in front of the class, and just glares at us. For like ten seconds she gives us the stink eye. Finally she starts talking.
She says that she puts a lot of effort into review because the facts and applications we are learning is vital for understanding more advance mathematics. She points out that there is tutoring available for those who wish to utilize it, however, nobody has seen a tutor.
She pulls out the stack of quizzes. She then tells us that she is so disappointed in the scores that she is going to review the material one more time, then she will give us a fresh quiz, which we will take home and complete over the weekend. She will grade the quiz, and whichever one one is has the highest grade will count toward the final grade.
So we review. I’m sweating because I know this stuff. Why did I get such a bad grade?
After another lecture about the importance of basic mathematical skills, she hands the old quizzes back, face down.
I turn it over.
Written on the top is “95%. You don’t have to re-take”
I was the only one in the class that didn’t have to do a do-over. Awesome.
Awesome indeed Fiat!
Finally a new battery was installed in the smoke detector. No more chirp chirp!
:: Happy Bear Dance ::
Yay, Woody!! Obviously our smarts is rubbing off all over your mathematical self!!
I’m back from the wilds of the California WalMart. Apparently Monday morning is “Block the Aisles Day” - between slow pedestrians and shoppers parking on opposite sides of the aisles just close enough that no one could pass, I was getting really grrrrrrrrr. Then I picked the checkout line with the n00b who rang up everything except the great big container of cat litter that was sitting there in her face! So I ended up with 2 reciepts - that much more paper to haul in my pockets. sheesh.
But groceries are unpacked and mostly put away. I’ma make me a sammich, then go out and start stacking firewood. It’s been split in various sizes so I’ll put the big logs on one pile and the smaller ones on another - that’ll make it easy to pick out what I need when I start a fire. I need to get one of those slings for carrying firewood, or I need to make one. Either way…
OK, lunch beckons…
Good stories this MMP.
Been working on writing for NaNoWriMo. Making good progress, although I’m a little bit behind. Otherwise, blurf.
I opened this window to say something and I forgot what it was. :smack:
Morning everyone!
rosie - Awesome story! I like the video, you all look like you’re having so much fun. Those blue shirts are pretty.
moooooooooom: I like your story too! I’d never be brave enough to fly. I’m afraid of flying but I suck it up when we go to Disney.
Today is November 7 and that means it’s my mumsey’s birthday! She’s 61 today so she’s back to being 30 years older than me (a fact which I love to remind her of). She and my step dad are spending the day at Cape Cod so I can’t spoil her today. But that’s ok, I already gave her her pressies. She got a bright pink 4 wheeled suitcase thing with a collapsing handle. I have no clue why she wanted one but she has - for years. She was thrilled when we found it. I also made her 2 bracelets. Today Sweetie will make her a crockpot full of his chili and she will get it tomorrow. She ADORES his chili. Everyone likes it but she looooooves it. It’s the only thing she goes back for seconds for and sometimes thirds! So she gets a pot of her very own for her birthday every year.
Today is the first day of Iggy school! I have to cook up the chicken livers I got yesterday so he’ll have treats. I found out we got the class for free because she needs 4 dogs and only had 3. I volunteer at the center and I make her jewelry so she thinks of me when she needs a free student, which is really nice because we can’t afford training right now. This class is Reactive Dog with agility and obedience. Only two dogs attend each week and they swap weeks so they don’t work with the same dog each time. Hopefully by the end of the 7 weeks, Iggy wont be such a maniac. The girls calmed down way more than he has just before their first birthday. He is still like a deranged puppy.
I have a wicked pain in my neck. I really need to wash my second pillow because I think sleeping on one pillow is causing my neck pain. Need to go on a search for some muscle relaxants.
Gotta go buy Iggy a new walking harness because he grew out of his old one. He needs a sweater too.
You’re radioactive?
At work working on a boring contract then I get to work on yet another boring presentation. Rah.
mr ems has his annual physical through work tomorrow but they only clinic they had is 3 hours away and his appointment is at 8am so he is leaving tonight and staying over. Being the good wife I am I booked him a nice hotel room.
While he is gone I am going to go grocery shopping. I know I am a wild woman!
You make me imagine we are all in adjoining tenament buildings, leaning out the windows to chat like Fibber McGee and Molly. (Yes, I am that old!) How fun!
Remember my flood a few months ago? Well, all of our stuff was in storage at the cleanup company. This morning, without notice, they showed up to give it back. Some one had called a week or so ago to ask if we were ready for it. We aren’t but, the insurance, said we are, so, I said let’s set a date. We can’t afford $300/month to continue to store it. He said he’d get back to me.
No one did, but here they are. I was awakened at 8:00AM by pounding on the door, then the door opening. (When hubby leaves in the morning he doesn’t re-lock the door.) I bailed out of bed, shouting. The door closed. I jumped into a coverup. Now they are piling everything into my glass studio, since we don’t have carpet yet in the family room. Sigh.
Dang, picu, talk about a rude awakening!!! :eek: I think a strongly worded letter or two just might be in order. Dang…
I’ve stacked close to a half a cord of wood so far. Unfortunately, where the rest has to go, there is no rack. I’m thinking I should probably stack it jenga-like with the logs going in opposite directions on each layer. Then maybe I can just pile it between the jenga stacks. We’ll see how that goes.
It’s perfect weather for log-stacking. In fact, I don’t think I’ll wear my sweatshirt when I go back out. I’m actually sweating! And I’m glad I’ve got work gloves. After I finish my sammich, I think I’ll have some ibuprofen for dessert - preventative medicine, yanno?
Ah, the joys of retirement…