Joining the reindeer games ...

It’s raining today and the wind is blowing so hard that it’s finally blown ALL the leaves off ALL the trees in ALL of Sacramento … and onto the legs of my beige slacks as I walked from the parking lot to the front door of my office building this morning. Charming.

I’m still looking for my holiday mood to emerge. Confusing because my little tree is up and decorated, I’ve donated my unwrapped toy to Toys for Tots, I’ve dropped a $20 in the Salvation Army bucket, I have presents figured out and a whirlwind shopping extravaganza planned for this Saturday, the weather is doing its part nicely and I’ve gathered an impressive collection of holiday goodies from coworkers and clients. So (swings head back and forth) where’s my holiday mood? I’m thinking once I leave work this Friday and am looking at twelve uninterrupted days of holiday “cheer” ahead of me at home watching cheesy holiday movies and drinking chai lattes that the planets will align properly and the holiday mood will envelope me like a warm slipper. Well, it better >(

Last week I had a turn and burn to Phoenix for a company meeting. It now feels like a dream that I couldn’t remember once I woke up. I believe the reason I’ve “forgotten” the whole day is because I really thought I was going to die on the plane ride home. I’m so serious. It was raining heavily the entire way and it’s the first and only time I was certain that the plane I was on was going to fall out of the sky like a rock. White-knuckle ride doesn’t begin to cover it ... and it wasn't just me ... lots of folks were white-knuckling it. The captain told us “don’t worry” so many times I wanted to kick him in his cock … pit door. Some lady a few seats in front of me actually had to be sedated by an attendant. I took to sedating myself with a couple of free drink coupons until the captain told the flight attendants to discontinue the beverage service and strap in … and 30 minutes or so later when the plane suddenly lost a lot of altitude really suddenly I’m pretty sure everyone on board was wishing they had clean underwear in their carry on. Future flying is a necessity of life … so … much like child birth, dentist drills and income tax I’ve chosen to banish the memory so that life can go on … at least for now. Needless to say I’m not looking forward to my next flight … and screw the free drink coupons … next time I want a Southwest Valium before take off!

I spent last Saturday relaxing in Redding on Di’s couch and chatting with her and Ross. We played games and drank hot chocolate and ate way too much edamame (however you spell that) and before I knew it, it was time to drive home. It was a nice relaxing day with good friends and a gentle launch into the holidays. The drive was well worth the company.

On Sunday we had our first Elkies winterguard camp and an ab-fab time. I love camps as opposed to 3-hour rehearsals because there’s less pressure which means more time to be creative, more to laugh and bond and more time to let the natural learning and development process happen instead of force-feeding them stuff. We had fun finding the groove and the personality of the song as well as the performers. We managed to put together about a minute of the opening already and yet have several “tricks” up our sleeve to incorporate. Suddenly I find myself worried that the song is too short. A common freaky worry = no problem. There are two rehearsals to get through before the long Christmas break so we’ll probably add another minute or so at those. The challenge then will be for them to all still remember it when they come back in January. Fingers crossed.

The Elkies are repeating their Christmas concert this Friday for “the entire school OMG” … at least that’s how the message was relayed to me. The girls are pretty excited to have a chance to do it again and they understand that this is a terrific opportunity to recruit for the guard and grow their program …. well, and to sport their skin tight unitards in front of the football team … ahhh young love. Anyway, the two performances they did for their parents netted them a lot of parental tears, pats on the head and whispers of “you were so great”. That was the goal. Mission accomplished!

Last night I visited the incredible shrinking Stubert. Have I mentioned how proud I am of him!! We snatched bits of Terri’s baking projects as I gave him a bleach renewal, then we pondered winterguard music arrangements and finally settled down to watch some wg videos for inspiration in front of his really big, really big, REALLY big, Christmas tree. I left way too late and am paying the price today with the sandman sitting on the bridge of my nose.

Going to sleep tonight as early as possible.

zzzzzzzzz

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