2nd Weekend, Winter Carnival Thursday...

We headed back up to McCall on Thursday afternoon for the second and last weekend of the Winter Carnival.  Things at the main stage were pretty much the same with the exception of about 6 inches of new snow and 8 new ice sculptures where tall ice columns used to be. . .

We didn't need to set up any audio at the main stage until Friday but we had plenty to do over at the ice skating rink.  Kurt ran lights for an event there back in December and he did such a great job that they asked us to run lights AND sound for a two night gig in February.  It worked out great that we would already be up there for Winter Carnival.  We were very limited on time to hang lights from the rafters as well as run all of the cables and LED lights that would help transform the rink for a Starz on Ice event. (This photo was taken from the Genie lift up in the rafters).  Everything had to be done between the hours of 10 pm and 4 am.  There was a lot to do in a short amount of time.  It was a little stressful but nothing we couldn't handle. . .

This is the dry ice machine that fills the arena with a low-lying fog at the touch of a button. . .

Once everything was set up, Kurt got the "fun" job of programming everything for the show.  The arena already has quite a bit of lighting so we had to tie in all of their fixtures with ours and put them all into one program.  It's way over my head so I can't begin to explain how it all works, but (writing this in hindsight!) it all worked out beautifully!!

This is the promo video for the show that was made a couple of years ago.  It's not the show from this year but still gives a good idea of what we experienced:

Mechelle...

I think I've told this story before but its worth repeating. When Zach was 3 or 4, my friend, Sam, told me about the lady she had found to cut her hair. She worked at a little salon on the corner of Linder and Pine, just a few blocks from our house so I decided to give her a try. Not only was she a very talented stylist but we also grew up in the same home town of Mtn. Home. We had tons of things in common and I knew that I had found a new stylist AND a new friend.

Over the last 16 years or so, she is the only person who has cut my hair with one exception, one time but that's a story for another day. She started cutting Zach's hair when he was a preschooler and she started cutting Gloria's hair as soon as she had hair to cut. Mechelle knows hair and she knows us. In all of those years, I can honestly say I've never had a bad haircut.

She eventually moved into another salon in downtown Meridian and, of course, we followed. My sister and her family even started seeing Mechelle on a regular basis. About three years ago, Mechelle opened her very own, very fancy salon: Rain Salon and Spa. It's the kind of place that I would probably never go to if it weren't for Mechelle. Her business is very successful and she's doing really well but she's still one of the most down to earth and genuine people I know.

Yesterday the kids had back-to-back appointments so I dropped Gloria off and went to pick up Zach. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was a little late getting back for Zach's appointment. When we walked in, Mechelle was passing the time waiting for us by giving Gloria a make over. It was very sweet.

I've told Mechelle that if she ever stops cutting hair I will stand on her home doorstep until she agrees to cut my hair! She's told me not to worry because she'll never give it up...

Handsome...

Zach has a big weekend coming up next month. He'll be spending a few days with other scholarship hopefuls at George Fox University where he was recently accepted as a transfer student. He's been pretty excited, to say the least. I'll be more excited when the financial part of this private university is figured out but until then, I'll do what needs to be done to get him there.

Today was makeover day. Mechelle gave him a great haircut and her personal recommendation that he shave off the beard. He decided that maybe he would trim it up nicely but didn't really want to shave it off completely.

The next order of business was to shop for "business attire". We all know that I'm not a shopper and Zach is even less of a shopper than me but, thankfully, my sister is a GREAT shopper and is especially good at choosing business attire.  She said she would be happy to meet us at Kohls.

It took a few tries but he finally found dress pants that fit (as long as we cut another notch in the belt so he can tighten up good!) He chose a couple of ties from the selections my sister chose for him and we ended up with a nice outfit complete with new shoes.

When we got home he had to try everything on for Gloria's inspection and realized that Mechelle was right: the beard had to go.

When all was said and done I think this makeover revealed a very handsome man hiding behind all that facial hair!

Kitty Meets Krabby

It's a lame attempt but I didn't take any pictures today and this was the first interesting thing I saw. . .

Winter Carnival Sunday...

The weekend flew by and this is the only photo I took of an ice sculpture in McCall.  I'll try to do better next weekend!

Considering the fact that I didn't post the pictures from last year's festival until the middle of March, I would say I've definitely turned over a new blogging leaf!!

Winter Carnival Saturday...

This is just one of the reasons that I like working the Winter Carnival:

Part of our pay is the housing provision.  It's been interesting to see what they come up with for us but it's always nice and comfortable. Can't complain. . .

The two bands for Saturday were Innocent Man and Ophelia.  Two of my favorite bands and I would consider all of the band members friends or at the very least good acquaintances.  They were all great to work with. . .

It had been raining most of the time we were in McCall but the rain turned to snow while Innocent Man was playing.  It was a nice change. . .

The crowd never seemed to be put off by the weather. . .

The second band, Ophelia, is a girl group with the fiddle player from Innocent Man.  They did a great job- this is the kind of band I would be in if I were in a band.  Maybe someday. . .

It snowed most of the time the girls played.  They were a little chilly. . .

Eventually the firemen showed up and started a huge bonfire. . .

The second (and last) evening of the first weekend of the festival ended before 8 and we packed everything back into the truck so we can take it all out again next weekend!!

 

Winter Carnival Friday

This Winter Carnival gig really isn't that bad.  Sure, it's cold and it probably could pay more but I love McCall and it was much warmer than Boise has been for the last month.  PLUS we didn't have to put up our stage and roof like last year so that was a bonus.

These are the pics from last year's festival:

This tent and stage were already up when we reached the park on Friday morning.  All we had to do was set up our tent next to the stage and add sound and lights. It was a bit of a contrast from last year. . .

The first band started around 6:00 and it was easy-peasy. . .

It was chilly but we had a heater in our little enclosed tent on the side of the stage so it wasn't too bad.  The band was good and the crowd was large. 

The first night of the carnival was a success!

Winter Carnival Thursday...

We spent the last four days in McCall for the Winter Carnival. I had no Internet and very sketchy phone coverage.  And I survived without it!! 

When we woke up Thursday morning at home, it was an ice covered world.  The news said we could get several inches of snow so I was surprised to look out the window to see that everything looked the same as it did when I went to bed.  But then I went outside and discovered the thick layer of ice that covered everything.  It was the weirdest thing.  Turns out we haven't had an ice storm like that in about 30 years. 

The pictures can't do it justice but imagine an ice skating rink.  Everywhere:

 

 

 

 

It didn't seem like the best day to be driving the Uhual to McCall for the Carnival but we didn't have much choice.  We left in the late afternoon with Rob in the Uhaul and me about 15 minutes behind in the Jeep.  It actually wasn't too bad of a drive and the Uhaul made even better time than the Jeep!  (I suppose it could be the amount of caution the drivers of the vehicles had rather than the vehicles themselves. . . )

It was dark when we arrived but we had a nice cabin provided for us so, in spite of the fact that there wasn't a bit of wi-fi to be found, it wasn't a bad place to be. . .

Ignorance is Bliss?

No picture today except possibly a word picture of a conversation that I was a part of this afternoon.

First, a little background:
Over the last year we have slowly developed our little retail space. A "music store" I guess. We've sold pro music gear for years but didn't have a store front where people could actually come in and see the product before they bought it. We stock speakers, amplifiers, microphones and accessories, cables and so much more. Everything we bring in, we pay for. We don't have a line of credit or a rich investor at our disposal; we just bring stuff in, pay for it and hope that someone comes in and buys it.

Slowly but surely our retail sales are picking up. Just this week, we sold a mixer, a feedback eliminator, two rack mountable CD players and a hardware bag. Doesn't seem like much but it builds hope that we are growing and might eventually be able to make an easier living than working our behinds off setting up stages all summer.

But this is where that conversation comes in that I mentioned earlier. I'm always trying to cultivate people connections. I talk to people that we work with on events, get in touch with them on Facebook and then let social networking do the rest. I've made many new friends this way as well as kept in closer touch with old friends. Anyway.... At some point in the past year, I made "friends" with someone on Facebook who has since become a "customer". Mostly that means he has come into the store a few times and we recognize each other at events and say hello.

He came into the store today to buy a custom cable that Kurt built for him and we had a very interesting conversation (finally getting to my point!)

Turns out he owned a popular mom-and-pop music store in downtown Boise that recently went out of business. There have been several stores that have followed suit during this bad economy but it was interesting hearing the history of pro retail music stores from someone who lived it.

He opened his store in the early 80's. Before the Internet. Before on-line shopping. Before free freight with no sales tax. Before big box stores. Back when a healthy profit margin was actually attainable. When online sales became all the rage, he knew it would not bode well for the local economy. He began to hear people complain about paying sales tax. When you order from out of state, no sales tax. He made a great point that eventually not putting that sales tax back into the local economy will come back around and cost more in the long run. I believe that has been a factor in what we are experiencing today. The other problem online sales caused him was that online retailers could buy very large quantities of an item, for example guitar strings, and then sell them for just slightly higher than the local stores could buy them for.

The online competition along with a poor economy finally forced him to close his doors. You could tell he enjoyed what he did and that he had poured time, energy and money into his business for over 25 years. And now he has nothing to show for it.

He wasn't telling us these things to discourage us and I believe he's very hopeful that we will succeed but it really shed light on many of the road blocks we face as we forge ahead with pro audio sales. If people would understand the importance of shopping local, myself included, maybe we would be more willing to pay a bit more so that we can all benefit in the long run.

It was a good conversation even if it was a bit sobering...

Archives...

My photo for today will have no meaning for anyone but me. It's too time consuming to explain the significance but when I look back on this post, I will know exactly what I mean!

I am a filer. I file papers. In fact, I love to file papers. Love may be too strong of a word but I definitely enjoy the order that comes with having a place for things and being able to locate it fairly quickly.

This is the part that I can't really explain but I'll give it a quick effort. I have a filing cabinet that we bought at the auction several years ago and I think it's absolutely perfect. It has two long drawers and it holds 4 years worth of business receipts. When we started Committed Events with Kurt in 2009, I had to keep files for two businesses so I started color coding- pink for Committed Events and purple for Committed Caseworks. (i can already tell that if you've made it this far, your eyes have glazed over.)

ANYWAY... Today I finally got around to getting my files set up for 2013 and realized that I would have to remove the 2009 files to make room for the 2013 files. No significance whatsoever to anyone else. But to me it was kind of a milestone. 2009 is going in the archives. We've been in business long enough to ARCHIVE!

I've had 8 years worth of Committed CASEWORKS files archived but this is a first for my Committed Events files. It was a moment for me and, like I said before, I think I'm the only one who understands it. And that's O.K.

In Memory of ...

Seems like I've been singing at a lot of funerals lately.  Too many.  I always come away from the services with a certain sense of regret.  Regret that I didn't know the person as well as I would like to have known them.  That was especially true of my brother-in-law and I continue to have a sense that I should have had more conversations with him, should have spent more time hearing his stories, should have asked him more questions.  I knew him but I didn't know as much as I wish I would have.  Hearing stories at memorial services is really one of the best parts, in my opinion, and often it is cut short due to time restraints.  I think it's a great way to honor someone and to encourage the family by giving examples of how you were impacted by the person's life.  I often ponder what will be said about me and if I've done enough to make a difference in the lives of others.  It's a morbid thought, but it crosses my mind. . .

Today the service was for Roger Bissell.  He was born the same year as my dad: 1939.  I've known Roger as long as I've attended Boise Friends which is getting close to 19 years. My image of him is one of integrity, responsibility, intelligence and devotion to friends and family.  This was a theme in the service today.  People that he knew from all walks of life shared similar memories of a man who stood by what he believed in, loved the outdoors, was as generous as a person can be and loved his family.  It was a great testament to a great man. 

It was a privilege to be a part of his service and to have known him even just a little bit.  It was good to hear his stories from other people but I wish I would have heard them from him. . .

We cannot know how long someone will be with us.  This has been proven to me in a harsh, unimaginable way this year.  I've been changed by this experience in that trivial things don't seem to matter so much anymore.  And yet, I still haven't made the effort to really spend time with the people I care about, to really understand who they are and where they come from.  I think it's time to stop regretting and start asking. . .

The Fog Is Lifting. . .

I think my post yesterday spurred me on to find a way out of the funk I've been in lately.  It's too early to tell, but I had a very productive day. 

First of all, I went to church.  I haven't done that much so that was definitely an accomplishment.  It was well worth getting up for- we had a room full of high school students from YM who were here for Midwinter, including Elsie and Hayley!!  It was great to see all of them and I was inspired by the young-ish man who played his guitar and led worship.  Other people make it look so easy and I want to be able to play like that so I just keep plugging away at it.  I came home and spent a couple of hours learning new songs.  It was good. 

We had a potluck after church and I had a chance to visit more with Scott and Katie and that was good.  I think Scott is a good fit for this place and time and it just might be worth my time to stop putting up walls and start re-engaging.  His preaching is a little too convicting, though. . . Today he was all, "live at peace with everyone. . . be humble. . . don't be prideful and judgemental. . . bless those who persecute you . . . focus on the right stuff. . . be a good example. . . "  I know, I know. . .

My girl stayed the night at Megan's for her birthday and showed up with the cutest hair-do.  I snapped a quick picture of the girls with Scott's and Katie's sweet toddler.  I've looked at this picture several times today and I'm struck by the way Gloria looks so nurturing; the way she's holding Maddox and the way her arm is draped protectively around Claudine's shoulder. . . I love these girls!  Megan turned 14 this week- time flies. . .


This afternoon I spent a little bit of time checking on Jeanie after her recent knee surgery and then came home and spent time with my guitar and on the treadmill (not at the same time- I haven't figured that out yet).  It was good.

And now, it's almost 9:30 and my house is (mostly) clean and I'm ready for tomorrow.  I've made a list of ways I can focus and stay on task so we'll see how well I apply it this week. 

For the first time in awhile, I'm looking forward to Monday. . .

 

To Do List. . .

As I was scrolling through Facebook this morning, the following picture jumped out at me:

I had to "share" it because, too often, it's exactly how I feel.  I suppose I could change the second item to "spin my wheels" and it would be more fitting, but I often go through my days without a goal and without a sense of accomplishment when it's over.  I'm not sure why and I'm not sure how to change it. 

It's not that I'm not busy.  I'm plenty busy.  Just today, I woke up, drank 3 cups of coffee, took Gloria to Gymnastics, came back home, drank 2 more cups of coffee, picked Gloria up from gymnastics, came back home (the coffee was gone by this time), packed up a few things, drove to my computer guy's house and picked up my repaired laptop, took the kids to lunch (drive-thru, of course), dropped Gloria off at Megan's house, went to the shop, took Zach to BSU to purchase his books for this semester, went back to the shop, made a play list for a memorial service on Monday, helped Zach revise his schedule since his biology books alone were $400, went back to the bookstore to buy a sociology book for about a third of the cost of the biology books, went back to the shop, finished my playlist, went home, did the dishes, did a load of laundry, checked Facebook, wrote in my Blog. 

Granted, this is Saturday but the other days are pretty much the same song, second verse. 

Not sure where I'm going with this, but for now, it's food for thought.


On a related, yet unrelated note, we had a couple of interesting events this weekend.  Same venue, vastly different "entertainment" and audience.  I prefer not to be Googled so I'll post the event poster along with a picture for the two events instead of typing the words. . .

Friday Night:

Saturday Night:

Saturday evening's menu:

I had my fill of excitement on Friday night so I skipped out on Saturday's event.  Rob is there, as I write, and recently sent me the following text:

"I think someone threw up on my salad."

He just doesn't know good food and my only response was to call him a Redneck.  Other than that, he seems much more comfortable with Saturday's crowd than Friday's.  And that's all I can say about that. . .


Well, it seems that I have survived another day.  Almost time to go back to bed and start all over again tomorrow. . .

A New Generation...

I don't want to ever be the person who looks down my nose at another generation's music. I don't want to refer to them as "Whipper Snappers" or say that the music that speaks to them isn't music at all. But the older I get the more tempted I am to fall into the generation gap. I'm reminding myself tonight that this is art and it belongs to this generation and it's good...

Stupid-Cold...

Three degrees. It feels like I can never get warm enough. I don't remember Boise being this cold in a long, long time. Looking forward to July...

Laundry...

I have a love / hate relationship with laundry. I love when the piles of clothes are clean and put away and I hate to see any piles that are dirty. I complain often that no one will help me but I've come to realize that I'm to blame. I do at least one load of laundry everyday unless I'm out of town. I've mostly come to terms with the fact that unless I'm willing to let the rest of the family do it their way and let the clothes pile up, i'll just continue to do it the way it makes me the least crazy.

However.... I've been on strike for quite sometime when it comes to socks. I hate to match up socks so I finally decided that the rest of my family can dig through a basket of clean socks everyday or they can match them up themselves. I've even put the basket of unmatched socks in the middle of the family room with the idea that they can sort while they watch TV. Nope, doesn't help.

I finally got tired of looking at not one, but TWO, baskets full of mismatched socks so I spent the evening sorting them.

Living the dream, you know....

The Kiddos

I have much to say about today but I'm too tired. This sweet pic will have to do for now...

Guitar...

Music has always played a key role in my life. I don't know when I first started listening to music but one of my earliest memories is listening to a radio station (am, of course) while I played paper dolls in my room. Some of the songs that I remember playing on the radio were Afternoon Delight, Bye Bye Miss American Pie and The Cat's in the Cradle. We also had records- my early memories of those are Crosby, Stills and Nash and The Captain and Tennille. In junior high I had albums by Barry Manilow, Leif Garrett and Shaun Cassidy among others. My dad had Crystal Gayle and Dolly Parton records and I would listen to them all.

I took piano lessons in the fifth and sixth grade (I think) and loved every minute of it. I even have an award for being student of the year! It was the year I played Fur Elise. I also remember playing Send in the Clowns. I can't remember why I stopped taking lessons but I continued to play all the way through junior high and high school. I even played for my 9th grade choir for a Christmas concert. It was Frosty the Snowman and I think I choked.

All through high school I accompanied myself on the piano when I sang in church. I admit I wasn't the best pianist but I managed to get the job done and relied on myself to learn the tune and to be prepared to perform it. My sister and my mom both played, too, and I envied their ability to play by ear. I could read music pretty well which my sister said she was envious of but I couldn't just sit down and play by ear like she could.

(I could say so much more about how music influenced my life and all of the different groups I sang with but this is a post about my guitar so I'll save the rest for another day.)

The point I'm getting to is that for years I played for myself when I wanted to sing. When I met Rob, I made a subconscious decision to stop. It was just so much easier for him to play while I sang. It was my decision and not something that he really had anything to do with except that he was an exceptional piano player and I gave myself an excuse to stop playing. (Just one of many regrets that I have about decisions my younger self made...)

For years we performed music together: weddings, funerals, church services, our band...

But at some point, we got busy. And I began to lose something very important to me. So I waited for something to change. But it didn't. And it wasn't anyone's fault, it was just life.

So... Last January I picked up a guitar and decided to teach myself to play it. It was time, past time, to do something about it. In October I started taking lessons. The lessons taught me pretty quickly that I would have to re-learn most of what I taught myself but it wasn't ever a waste of time.

I don't have nearly as much time as I would like to practice and I'm frustrated at how big the learning curve is but it's something that I am doing just for me. I have no idea where it will lead but right now it just feels good to pick up the guitar and learn a song that speaks to me without waiting for it to speak to someone else.

I had guitar lessons tonight for the first time in about a month and it was encouraging to see how far I had come during the month I practiced but didn't have lessons. My plan is not to plan but to just keep on keeping on while enjoying the process along the way...

Cousins...

Four of the cousins had a snow day at Grandma's this afternoon.  With all the illness in the family over the last month and a half, the kids haven't been able to see their grandparents as much as usual.  Grandma planned a snow day complete with pigs in a blanket for lunch and hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows for dessert.  Right after lunch, the kids went out to play in the snow. . .

Unfortunately, Max has a no snow policy and didn't want anything to do with the white stuff. . .

Fortunately, Zach brought the Hot Wheels. . .

It was an afternoon of memory making. . .