Hail, No!!

The last couple of weeks have brought all kinds of weather our way.  Nothing new for Spring in Idaho but it seems a little more wild, intense and unpredictable this time.  Two weekends ago we had balmy 70 degree weather.  The first day of spring we had snow.  Rainy days have been mixed in with sunny days and it seems like the poor weatherman can't make a correct prediction to save his life! And today??

Hail. . .

And just the other day, Zach and I spotted a full double rainbow!!

Who knew that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is actually Sizzler???

Yep. . .

Makin' It Count. . .

So it's no secret that we are busy.  Mostly because I complain about it here all the time.  In all of the busy-ness I DO manage to see my kids and get them where they need to go and hug them as we pass in the hallway but I DON'T always live in the moment.  Gloria told me not too long ago that I always give her a few pats on the back when I'm ready to move on from a hug.  Quick squeeze, pat, pat, pat, move on.  She wants me to hug her like I mean it.  I think about that now when I hug her and try to just enjoy the moment instead of rushing to get on to the next thing.  The next thing can wait.  It won't be long before the hugs and moments spent in her company will be few and far between. 

This week I had a few chances to "practice what I preach". 

A few weeks ago Gloria signed me up for a field trip and looked at me with those eyes when she asked me to sign the form that said I would be willing to accompany her entire class on a full-day field trip.  I'm sure I rolled my eyes a few times before signing and then I began to silently dread it.  As the date grew closer I did a lot of self talk, "It's my turn. . . It's important to Gloria. . . It won't be so bad. . . It's just one day out of my life. . . It will be an adventure. . . yada, yada, yada. . . "  Part of my problem, honestly, is that I'm not a big fan of small talk.  If I'm around people that I know and am comfortable with, I can talk about all kinds of stuff.  But if you put me in a room full of strangers, there is only so much I can come up with about the weather. 
But the biggest thing was, I didn't think I could miss work.  And actually I think I got to the heart of it when I told Rob the night before that I just didn't want to spend the day thinking about work instead of being fully present on the field trip.  I'm a multi-tasker and I'm not good at being in the moment.  There is always something else to do, something else to think about, somewhere else to be.  And believe me, I know that things will not fall apart if I don't show up at work.  But I made Rob a big list just to make sure. . .  (I have a problem, I know. . . ).
Friday morning, bright and early, Gloria's class, her teacher and 3 other parents besides myself, walked to the bus stop and waited for the City Bus.  We had a 45 minute bus ride that would take us down town. . .
Once we arrived downtown, we walked from 8th and Main to The Discovery Center on 2nd and Myrtle:
(You can see it on the map right here)

After the Discovery Center, we walked through Julia Davis Park to BSU for a tour of the chemistry lab.  We looked at cancer cells through a microscope and heard about the research that is being done to cure it. . .

And then we took the long walk back down Capital and along 9th Street to the bus stop at 8th and Main. . .

And another 45 minute bus ride. . .

By the time we arrived back at the school it was time to head back out to Meridian and The Boys and Girls Club so Zach could put in his service project hours (he is really enjoying it, by the way).

This brings me to the next chance I had to enjoy the moment.  A couple of weeks ago, the Hutchings had invited us out to their house to roast dogs and marshmallows but the weather had not been very cooperative.  We made plans to make it happen Friday night and, in spite of my tired, dragging feet, we headed out to Columbia Village and had a great time with Hutchings and Hickersons!!

Gloria had a chance to love all over Eva while the rest of us sat around the fire and talked about everything.  No agenda, no plan and pretty much nothing was off limits.  Seriously.  It was lovely!

And THEN, if that wasn't enough living-in-the-moment, I had also made plans with Steph to go to Corri's play at Capital High School on Saturday night.  My mind has a tendency to find excuses to not make plans because it seems like I always disappoint people when I can't make it but this time I was determined to make a plan and stick with it.  So glad that I did.  We went to the play, Corri did a great job AND it was fun hanging out with Steph!

And THEN, when I got home, Zach texted and asked if I wanted to play a game.  That's something that I rarely turn down.  He has so little time to play Catan anymore with his busy school schedule that, even though we didn't start the game until 11 p.m., I agreed.  We played until after 1 a.m. . .

And now, I'm sitting in my office on a Sunday afternoon attempting to do my taxes but mostly just enjoying the silence.  Making it count is exhausting.  But worth it. . .

Cluttered. . .

I overheard someone say the other day that her mind was cluttered.  I immediately decided that "cluttered" is the perfect description for my state of mind lately.  I don't know that I am necessarily busier than usual or that I have more on my plate but I feel like I'm in a constant state of I'll-Never-Catch-Up. . .

We have a lot going on.  Several big projects at work, the new "retail" space, the upcoming festival season, taxes.  And that's just the business.  The kids are busy, too, which means I'm busy trying to keep up with them and earn that ever elusive Mother-of-the-Year Award. 

No matter how hard I try, the house is never clean enough (for me), the paperwork is never detailed enough (for me) and the hours that I sleep are never long enough.

All of that to say, well, nothing really.  Just that my mind is cluttered these days but I'm sure it's only temporary.  Right?

However, a couple of things made me smile today.  Silly things, really. 

Like the Self-Serve copy machine at Kinkos.  Did you know that you can put a flash drive right into the USB port on the copy machine and custom print a document and pay for it all right there without needing help from anyone????  I didn't before today but now I do.  And it makes me happy.  I couldn't push the door open when we left the store but I totally conquered the copier!!

And. . . Playing the guitar.  I started playing in January as one of my New Year's Resolutions.  Well, my ONLY resolution because I've always said SOMEDAY I'm going to learn to play the guitar.  Someday came in January of 2012.  For me and the guitar, at least.  I've taught myself.  And I'm not good.  But I can play good enough for now and it makes things better.  Things in general feel better when I play.  You know, a little less cluttered. . .

Three. Weeks.

(I've started this post half a dozen times and this may not even be the final draft but I'm leaving the wording as is. . . )

I will now attempt to explain the crazy three weeks we had earlier this year.  I think enough time has passed that I can write it with a little more clarity and a little less crying.  Just kidding.  There wasn't any crying.  Well, not very much anyway.  Oh, who am I kidding.  There was crying.  But I'm not going to talk about it!

The beginning of this story begins on Tuesday, January 17th, 2012.  When I dropped Gloria off at school she boarded a school bus that would take her and her classmates to an Outdoor Science School in McCall.  Obviously I wasn't there so I have no Blackberry pictures.  I will, however, post her pictures at a later date. . . (She had a great time, by the way). . .

After dropping her off at school, I headed out to the Civic Center where the guys were already setting up for the evening's concert. . .

We packed up after the show, leaving most of the gear there for a show later in the month, got a good night's sleep (I think) and left on Wednesday midday for California.  We decided to take turns driving and go straight through with a few stops to stretch and to eat along the way. . .

It's a looooong way from Boise to Anaheim, California!!!

But we made it!!  We arrived on Thursday afternoon, checked into our rooms and went to the Anaheim Convention Center for the Namm Show. . .

This is a little blurb from the website that tells what it was all about in one short paragraph, explaining much better than I could:

"NAMM Show Wrap-Up
The 2012 NAMM Show brought together industry professionals from around the world to see the latest musical products, network with their peers, and gain business-building insights and ideas they can use to "Make It Count" in the year ahead."

This video is about 4 minutes and it gives probably more information than you'd ever want to know about The Namm Show. . .


I counted.  There were 50 bazillion people there.

At the end of the first day, we walked through nearby Downtown Disney and picked up a few trinkets for the kids.  The Lego Store at Downtown Disney is the coolest. . .

Day 2 at Namm- Friday, January 20th.  More of the same.  Actually it was a little different each day because there was so much to see.  It was a little overwhelming. . .

One of our goals while we were there was to visit Penn-Elcom, our case product vendor.  We decided to save on freight charges since we would be in the neighborhood and took a trailer to haul it all back. . .

After our short break to pick up our Penn order, we were back at the Convention Center. . .

We all went our separate ways much of the time since we all had different interests.  And some of us like to spend a lot of time talking to vendors and some of us don't.  It was kind of interesting walking around by myself; gathering information, people-watching, taking pictures. . .

Day 3 (not at Namm) . . . It turns out that two full days of Namm can be kind of exhausting.  We needed some kind of break from the crowds and noise.  Hmmmm. . . What kind of entertainment is there in Anaheim, CA that can make you forget your troubles for a little while??? 

Yep, the Happiest Place On Earth. . .

Although it was fun, we decided Disneyland just isn't the same without kids tagging along. . .

We started the long drive home on Sunday morning, January 22nd.  It was a loonnnggg day. . .  Apparently I was too tired to take any pictures besides this lone castle somewhere in Nevada. . .

After making a few stops to rest along the way and switch drivers, we arrived in Salt Lake City sometime Monday morning.  I think I took my turn sometime around 2 am to 5 am.  Ish.  At any rate, we made it safely there and loaded a few more pre-arranged things into our trailer from a music store in town before heading on to Boise.

Tuesday, January 24th is forever lost to my memory.  It was also Rob's birthday but I'm pretty sure it was skipped over that day.  (We did celebrate later so he wasn't totally forgotten!)

It was great to be home with my kids even if it was only for a couple of days.  Gloria's class had a program at school that Wednesday to talk about Moss Camp (McCall Outdoor Science Camp).  I have more pics and a video that I may eventually post. . .

Wednesday night was quiz practice. . .

And Thursday afternoon (January 26th) we loaded truck and trailer and headed for McCall. . .

Winter had been pretty dry up until about a week before the McCall Winter Carnival but the snow finally came and left the mountains blanketed in the white stuff. . .

It was quite a change from the 70 degree weather in California. . .

I have to skip most of the details but when we arrived on Thursday afternoon, the organizers realized that the space that was set aside for us was way too small. . .

There wasn't anything we could do until Friday morning so we found the (very fancy) house that was reserved for us and waited for morning. . .

This put us a little under the gun since the first band of the Winter Carnival played on Friday around 5:00 and we had about an 6 hour build. . .

Luckily I've made friends in McCall and after just one phone call we had a 5-man crew ready to help. . .

We couldn't have been ready without their help. . .

There was only one band on Friday night and we've worked with them on several occasions so we all knew what to expect.  It was good.  But so COLD!

The lead singer's dad rented this big diesel heater and it was my best friend. . .

The opening night fireworks were great. . .

And then I was on the news. . .

Channel 2, KBOI with Natalie Hurst.  Just filling time. . .

Saturday morning was freezing.  That was pretty much the theme of the weekend.  We were outside from morning til night without much relief from the cold. . .

More bands on Saturday. . .

We buttoned everything up and left McCall around 10 pm on Saturday night so we could be at the Civic Center bright and early Sunday morning for another event.  It was indoors.  And warm.

Monday and Tuesday were taken up with meetings and catching up on all the things we couldn't do from out of town. . .

We also had to wrap up the details for the second weekend of the festival where we would be running a SECOND stage a few blocks away from the main stage. (I think I also hugged my kids a couple of times).  Luckily, these guys were in charge of bringing a stage AND a tent:

Back to McCall on Wednesday, February 1st.  The first weekend we were there, it was clear and sunny (and freezing) and then the mountains received a good snowfall on Monday and Tuesday and continued to fall on the drive back up on Wednesday. . .

When we left the stage after the 1st festival weekend, we took the "roof" off but left the truss.  We packed away all of the audio gear and put large tarps all over the stage.  This is how we found it when we arrived Wednesday evening:

We had a similar house for our second weekend so at least we had a nice warm place to un-thaw before and after the event. . .

We spent the day on Thursday re-setting the main stage. . .

. . . as well as setting up lights and audio in the big tent a few blocks away for the Ale Fest. . .

So. . . you'd think it would be warm INSIDE the tent, right?  Well, you'd be wrong.  It was like a walk-in freezer.  It wasn't too bad when the sun was out but this was our only heater and we were setting up late into the evening. . .

Friday morning, February 3rd.  Yep, the temperature gauge in the jeep says it all.  2 Degrees.

(In the meantime, Gloria went to the airport sometime on Friday for a trip to Portland.  And I wasn't there. . . More on that later. . . )

Back at the festival on Friday morning, we finished up the set up while it rained.  Inside the tent.  All of the moisture that had frozen along the walls and roof of the tent the night before began to melt as the large propane heaters warmed up the tent for the festival goers who would soon be flocking to the Ale Fest. . .

We were ready in plenty of time for the first band. . .

There were bands in the tent all day Friday and most of them were groups we had worked with before.  That almost always makes things easier. . .

On Friday evening, there was a Disco Party in the Ale Fest tent.  Rob and Kurt ran sound and lights for that. . .

. . . and I hung out at the main stage with the Karaoke Machine.  For future reference, I should not be left alone at the Karaoke Stage.  And that's all I'm going to say about that . . .

Saturday morning, February 4th.  The biggest day of the festival.  Also maybe the coldest.

We had bands on both stages all day.  Rob ran sound on the main stage outside. . .

. . . Kurt ran sound on the indoor stage at the Ale Fest. . .

. . . And I ran back and forth and helped set up the bands. . .

I honestly think I had the best job of all.  I was never in one place very long and going back and forth between stages kept me moving which kept me warmer!!

Closing ceremonies on the main stage. . . Once again the fireworks were great!

Sunday morning, February 5th.  Although it didn't snow during the weekend, the snow that had fallen when we arrived on Wednesday was deep and soft.  We knew it would take some work to free the Penske from the drift she was parked in when we were ready to load up. . .

We set to work taking everything down. . .

We were tired.  And cold.

It was early evening before we were ready to pull out of the park and head for home.  Just as we were leaving, feeling too tired to even stop somewhere to eat, a friend of ours in McCall that helps with summer festivals showed up with a pizza.  A big, hot, cheese covered combination pizza.  His timing was perfect and the pizza hit the spot.  We were home well before 10 (I think. . . it was a long time ago).

As I finish up this post, on March 15th, I'm amazed at how quickly January and February flew by.  Those three weeks would be a total blur if not for the pictures I took on my phone and the extra effort it has taken to make myself re-visit it via the blog.  I still don't think I have recovered from those weeks.  My paperwork feels like an endless pile of papers that will never get sorted out, my house is clean but only because I hosted peeps for the quiz meet and every evening I come home too weary to be a productive member of my family.  I'm sure I'll catch up sometime, though, just in time for the summer festivals to hit. And believe me, I won't be complaining about the heat. . .