Honors Chorus

Little One was invited in February to participate in the County-wide Honors Chorus program. All the music teachers in the county selected small groups from each school, representing 10% of the school's population. The program involved only fifth-graders; Little One's school had 8 students. I believe our music teacher expected more dropouts than we actually had; so in the end we had more than our 10%.
Beginning in March, the kids stayed after school two afternoons a week to learn the songs and practice. There were 8 songs representing several cultures around the world. There were 2 American songs: "Turkey in the Straw," and "Glory Bound."
On Friday of this week all the kids boarded buses at their respective schools and traveled to a high school out on the edge of the county to practice for the first time on the stage as a large group. There were 200 students. The county, thanks to a generous grant, had hired a fantastic children's music director to come in for the weekend. She had written or arranged many of the songs they performed. She was there on Friday to teach them movement for the songs and direct them vocally. The kids practiced on Friday from 12 to 5. How exciting -- to ride the bus 15 miles and practice at the high school!

Yesterday they practiced all day -- from 9am to 3pm. They were provided lunch and snacks. The performance was at 4pm, with the doors opening at 3:15. I had noticed on Friday that the auditorium did not seem big enough to hold families for 200 kids, so I got in line for the door at 3pm and saved a seat for DH. Good thing! We were on the 3rd row, right by the aisle and diagonally across from Little One's position on the stage, so she could see us. Many, many families wound up standing up in the back.
I was familiar with the songs due to her having practiced singing, and she had played them on the piano. (They were loaned the sheet music from February through yesterday.) Each child had also been given a CD to practice with, I guess in case they forgot the tunes and could not read music.
The program was awesome. It's quite a weird feeling to clap, yell "Woo Hoo," and cry, all at the same time. She clearly enjoyed it, with smiles and laughter and intense concentration throughout the program. ALL the children seemed to have a blast, and I hope the county will continue this worthwhile program in the future.
We are thankful she was included. I believe she'll always remember the experience.


Little One and one of her best friends, after the performance.

Another Interlude

On the day after September 11, 2001, I wrote a piece called, "Interlude in Wonderland." Some of my friends who read this blog might remember it. I had a lunch date with Little One on September 11, and I went from the chaos and tension of the middle school where I worked at the time, to the blissful innocence of Little One's elementary school, where the administration had wisely decided it was up to the parents to decide whether or not to tell their children what had happened, and how to go about it. The school was amazingly normal, calm, peaceful, and full of little smiling faces. It was amazingly healing for me. What a gift from God to allow me that time!

I have had another interlude this week. Friends/neighbors/members of our church had a death in the immediate family and had to travel 3 states for the funeral. Taking their 2-year-old and 4(and-a-half!)-year-old sons seemed a daunting task. Having a pretty flexible schedule, and loving to Nana (verb) any children available, I offered to move in for 3 days and keep the boys so the young wife could go down and be with her husband. DH and Little One generously went for it, despite some minor inconveniences.

Staying in this home with the boys was my pleasure and delight. The mom is THE best housekeeper I have ever observed, and I had 3 whole days to study her organization. The boys are sooo sweet and unspoiled -- meaning, unspoiled by the world. They are basically sugar-free, commercial-free, sweet-spirited and happy little boys. I was away from the distractions of my life (ie, email and politics) for 3 days, wrapped in a happy little cocoon.

I am back home now and very pensive as to what changes I can make here so that the things that distract, bother and worry me here, can make a big EXIT from our life.

I did not realize that this simple gesture to the family would become a gift to me, but it did. How cool is God.

Haunting Day

Today has been totally weird. There are some commercials on TV where the characters have things hanging over their heads. In one commercial, it's a fast-food logo. In another, it's a dark cloud. I guess today I had fog.
It started well enough. I have made a commitment to have my morning coffee on the porch in the mornings, instead of in front of the computer looking at the news. The goal is to set the tone of the day with nature instead of .. well, the computer and news. This morning was very very foggy and everything seemed ethereal. Well, can things seem ethereal? I guess they either are, or they aren't. To seem ethereal, somehow that seems to be an oxymoron. Or maybe redundant.
But I digress. Had a lovely morning drinking coffee and watching the fog.
We are "redo-ing" Little One's room. Out with the twin beds, back in with her old iron bed. Right now, no beds are in there, as we are in the process of removing the carpet. Today I spent about two hours pulling staples out of the hardwood floor with a long pair of pliers. Got the blisters to prove it.
When the mail arrived I learned of the suicide of a member of our church. I won't go into the "who" or the "how" or the "how I learned," it's not important. It happened several weeks ago and, living in the fog as I do, I had no idea this had happened.
My heart is heavy for the man who felt he had no choices left. I cannot imagine the sadness he felt.
My heart is heavy for the person who found him.
My heart is heavy for his family.
DH and I are shaken by the whole event -- we feel, well, shaken, is all I can say. I am still processing this. The day started with the fog, and in one sense, that's how it ends tonight as well.

This is One Amazing Child

Little One had to research her name and develop a corresponding coat of arms for her AG English class. Her paper is copied below; I don't have a copy of the coat of arms. When I get it, I will post it. I thought the paper was dear-- I will save this in her scrapbook. Here it is:


Traci Niquole (Nick-ole) Leak
My name is Traci Niquole (Nick-ole) Leak. My mom named me this because she had a friend named Traci and a friend whose last name was Leak. Niquole (I have no clue where she got the spelling), has nothing and nobody that I’m named after.
Traci means, ‘Brave’ or ‘Valor,’ and it comes from the English language. Niquole as Nicole means, ’victory of the people,’ and comes from the Greek language. Leak means, ‘to escape.’ It came from Middle English and probably came from early Dutch before that.
On my coat of arms, I drew a griffin for bravery. I drew this because my name means bravery and I thought that it would relate very nicely. I chose the crescent (top right), which means victory, because of my middle name. Also on my coat of arms, I drew a dolphin. The dolphin stands for my love of swimming and love of dolphins. Last, I drew bubbles because they are colorful and are very pretty and I love them.
Through all my life of bravery and victory and escapes, I have been known to learn quickly and have fun, doing almost everything I do.

The Auction

Yesterday at 5:30 I sent the following email to my DS1:

Well. son, I have to leave in half an hour for this thing. We have worked our little hearts out and I truly hope it is a success. All the neighbors gathered at the shop at 10:30 this morning and just started working. No one stood around and said, "what do I do?" -- everyone just found something and started. We got home at about 4pm.
We've got great food, beer, wine, champagne, and sodas + water, most of it donated. Our little DJ is awesome. We've got lights and seating and fun games, cool doorprizes and great auction items.
We had very good coverage in the paper yesterday: www.salisburypost.com .In the search window, type in Maggie Blackwell and find it in there.
We planned for 120 guests and so far, we have 105 registered. So many have said they will pay at the door that we are afraid we will have to turn some away. The Fire Marshal certified the building at 145.
I just told (DH) that if this fails, it's MY failure. It was my idea, my implementation, and my decisions.
So, I am taking a deep breath and going to do my makeup. Cross your fingers for us.
Love,
Mom

Now it's the next day. I would have to say it was a ..... success.

I never quite understood the meaning of a "grass roots" effort, but if anything was, this was it. We just decided to do this thing. We blocked out afternoons and went to area businesses and said, "We're building a park and need to raise $32,000. Can you donate anything to our auction?" They gave. and gave.

We had an article in our neighborhood newsletter, asking for new, unused items, or antique items, but not second-hand general items. The neighbors gave. and gave. We had 5 trips to auction: one to North Myrtle Beach, two to Ocean Isle (a week trip and a long weekend) , one to Hilton Head, and one to the mountains. An antique armoire. 3 bikes. gift certificates to every restaurant in town. Haircuts, color, pedicures, manicures, waxing, tanning, personal training, and massage. Games. Big cardboard standup thingies of Star Wars and Nascar. Art. Art lessons. Music lessons. The final item of the night was a scrapbook of the elementary school here in the neighborhood that has long closed. It included school photos of children, letters from people who went there in the early 20's, attendance awards, news articles, all collected over the years. The local folks who had gone to this school, primed themselves to bid on this book.

The team gathered at the shop at 6pm to be sure we were ready. The DJ, bless her heart, had set up in the morning. She was ready. The caterer was ready. The bartenders, two college girls who needed community service hours for school, were ready. Our auctioneer was ready. And we? We were ready.

At 7 folks started coming in. At 8 they were still coming in. From 8 to 9 or 9:30 the place was packed. The food was great. Our loveliest neighbors greeted the guests at the door with a flute of champagne. The music was wonderful. Understanding that the group would be mostly 35 to 50, our little 17-year-old had loaded her IPOD with a zillion tunes including jazz, Cajun, Beatles, Van Morrison, a little reggae, and one or two rap songs. She hooked that tiny thing up to these awesome speakers that had a mike attached for us as we auctioned and gave door prizes. The caterer brought 2 servers in their white coats and they filled and refilled the food. The room was dim, illuminated only by tiny white Christmas lights and the various antique wall sconces in the room.

Our invitation had said anything goes on clothing, from jeans and sneakers to top hat and tails. Well, folks took that to heart. Tuxes. Bermuda shorts and sandals. Beautiful evening gowns. Jeans and Chucks. Plaid shirts.

As is always the case with our neighborhood, we had a great variety of ages represented. Our youngest guests were somewhere in their 20's. Our oldest were, I'd say, 75 or so. And there were lots of us in between.

At 8 the music stopped and we began the auction. I gave door prizes and our auctioneer called the auction for 30 minutes or so. When she needed a break, she called me over and I gave more door prizes. We alternated in this fashion till shortly after 10, when the last item sold.

The faithfuls stayed long after the guests had gone home. The money gal rang up our total. The helpers danced and drank and laughed. We were happy and tired and had never once had lost our focus that we are building a park for our children.

As for me, I was too excited and anxious and busy to see if people were truly having a good time, if it were a really good party. In retrospect, everyone ate a lot and drank a lot and talked a lot and laughed a lot. The place looked great and we did not run out of beer or wine. At the end, all the faithfuls recapped the events of the evening and agreed it was a great "do."

I had been hoping for about $3,000 net to go directly to the park. After repaying the expenses of putting the thing on, our take is a little over $6,000.

It didn't stop there. Today at church, one of our church members approached DH with a check in his hand. "I grew up in Fulton Heights," he said. "I am so proud of what you folks are doing over there -- I want you to have this." It was a check for $500.

Walking One Block

It occurred to me this morning how very lovely it is to walk a simple block in our neighborhood.

There is no school today, which sort of nixed our Girls' Coffee Out. Every Monday the three of us meet at local coffeehouse and drink coffee and gab and laugh for an hour or two. Because there was no school, one of us was at home with her two girls, so we went to her house instead. Her home is only a block away so I allowed Little One to stay at home "alone." DH was upstairs sleeping in the guest room, which he always does when he's on night shift. So she was not really home alone -- it just felt like it. I took my cell phone and of course we recited the liturgy before I left -- don't go to the door, tell any callers I "can't come to the phone right now" etc, etc. She has been wanting to stay home alone and this was a great first run.

So I stepped out of the house. Crabapple blooms floated in the air. The sun shone in a brilliantine sky. The air is crispy but not really cold, and the birds of course are singing like madmen. What a great day to walk for coffee with your gf's..

A couple of doors down the street was a young mom, loading her new dog into the car. We talked about the new dog. She apologized for cutting down their tree -- if anyone asks, it really was rotten. See the hole in the middle? I assured her no one would ask. Are you coming the the party? Yes, I'm coming with a girlfriend. Can we save money and come as a couple? Sure, I replied, and ventured on.

Next door to her is an elderly couple. The husband is very ill with bone cancer and the wife is struggling to cope. I get the idea he has always been the real strength in the family. Their paper was out in the yard so I carried it to the doorstep and put it there.

After their house was the house of the Barking Dogs. Went to the fence and schmoozed with them. They quickly turned into happy, tail-wagging dogs who just want love like the rest of us.

Two doors after that is the house with an Awesome Gardner. Her candytuft is already blooming -- how'd she do that? Next was the Hansel and Gretel house that is up for sale soon. It's always been one of my favorite houses. Finally, I was at gf's house. Through the picket gate and up to the screen door with the red ribbon in the door. Lovely start to the day!

Had to Laugh

I've been working hard this week to get the temporary ABC license for the neighborhood auction / party. I had been working with a guy named Cameron in Raleigh at the ABC Board, a sweetheart who clearly understands this ol' broad has never done this before and is definitely not having a party that will present a problem to the local authorities.

Monday night, I was online checking the requirements one more time when I noticed a footnote to the effect that ABC applications are due 15 days before the event. Erk. Rewind. At that point, the event was a mere 12 days away. Their office was closed so the only logical thing I could do was to stay wide awake all night until I could call first thing Tuesday morning. Laughing, Cameron said no, I did not have to have it in 15 days in advance -- I had until the Thursday just prior to the event. I insisted that I would get the thing fed-ex'ed on Wednesday -- I needed my sleep.

So I hustled it on Tuesday to get all the components together to send off. Here is what I had to get:

• Neighborhood bylaws
• List of neighborhood board members
• {these show we're a legitimate homeowners' association, even though we are not 501(c)3}
• Letter from owner of bldg saying we have permission to have the party there
• Occupancy certificate from fire marshal
• Letter with raised seal from courthouse affirming I have a clear criminal record
• My signature with notary affirming I am >21 and otherwise comply with their requirements
• Diagram of the building showing all exits and where the bar will be
• Letter explaining the purpose of the fundraising event
• ~I also included a copy of the park plans to show it really does exist
• Signature of policeman saying they have no issues with our having a party w/alcohol at this location

On Wednesday I gladly took this 1/2 inch package to Office Depot, made copies in case it got lost, and sent it next-day-air to the ABC Board in Raleigh. Whew. Sigh of relief.

Yesterday, I got up early and made supper for DS1 and his wife & baby. They recently moved from NYC to Nearby Large City and I had not made it over there to see the house, help unpack, hold baby, or anything. Both their cell phones direct me to Voice Mail, have for a week now, and I am feeling rather excluded. So I prepared a supper for them and drove the hour to their house.

While I was on the road, my cell phone rang. It was the lady at ABC Board who reviews these applications. "Maggie," she said, "I got your package..."

"Good, good!!" I replied. Yelling into speakerphone as we are not supposed to talk on cell phones anymore, I think. Can't find the "new law" online but it is rumored to be in effect.

"Everything seems to be in order..." she said.

"Great! That's what I wanted to hear!" I yelled.

"...Except for the $50 money order to pay for your license..."

doh. Silence on my end. Followed by hysterical, maniacal, laughter.

"Well, thank you for letting me know. And thank you for not calling me a big, fat, dummy. I'll send it first thing tomorrow."

So. It's almost 9 now. Going to the bank, then to Office Depot....again.

Spring

It's spring and the town is in full bloom. Our own daffodils are faded but the pansies are in full riot. Our crabapple tree is blooming and our cherry tree as well. When the wind blows, it looks like it's snowing as the petals swirl. The birds are singing their fool heads off and our little white dog wants to go outside and just roll around in the moist grass.

Our home is littered with gifts for the Charity Auction we are having on 01. April (No Foolin!) and paperwork for various neighborhood ventures: grant proposals to complete, gift certificates to fill out for the auction, invitations to be sent, the all-important ABC one-time license to complete and drive to Charlotte, and notes, minutes, and newspaper articles regarding the Doc-in-a-box down the street.

Thankfully I completed yet another task that has been looming over my head for a couple of weeks. I have the honor of being a judge for the Home Schoolers' Creative Writing contest every year. I believe this is my 7th year of judging. We had 49 entries this year, down a little from last year when I believe we had 70-something. The ages range from K to 10th grade this year and in complexity they range from a couplet about My Pet to a 7-page (typed) story about Other Worlds. I read over each one, check the age of the child who wrote it (no names are indicated but ages / grades are) and try to determine the value on a scale of 1 to 10 for each piece. I do not know any other information, for example, of any handicaps a child might have, or anything about else that might help me make a better evaluation. I pretty much judge them from my gut and experience as to how well a 6 yr old ought to be able to write, as opposed to how well this particular one did. I make it a personal practice not to judge anyone less than a 5, and if a piece really needs help, I try to make some comment as to how it could be better, with an extremely delicate touch. For example, a poem about the colorful crocodile went 'way off the subject and ended with 'my neighbor's fat dad.' I offered a comment that I really wanted to read more about the crocodile. It's not a science and my main goal is to encourage the children who really try and to avoid scarring anyone for life. One story was so good I made a note to the child that s/he should submit it to a certain type of magazine. It really was that good.

So, with all the insanity in the neighborhood, I am really glad I took 3.5 hours and got this finished up. It's one less thing over my head.

too much, TOO much, TOO MUCH

Had a meeting last week and as we headed home, the CEO of the company said, "This is my 4th meeting this week. Hope I still have a wife when I get home..."
I thought to myself, "Only 4 meetings and he's a CEO. I've had 7 and I don't even have a job."

The school board has redistricted our neighborhood so that our kids will attend their 3rd school in as many years, next year.

We are fighting to retain the Residential zoning at a site owned by the nearby Doc-in-a-Box.

Auction. (ABC License, donations, tax papers, event insurance, capacity license, invitations, caterer, gift certificates.)

Park. (Pavers, forms at printer, sponsorships, benches, clearing, clean up for Egg Hunt, plan gardens.)

Grants. (Last one due end of month, but it's a whopper.)

Centennial Celebration (Find a breakdown stage, musicians, printing, artist for commissioned poster, permits, trolley sponsors.)

5k Run. (Find a sponsor. Figure out a way to have buffs rather than Tshirts. Plan route. Get permits. Obtain clock and equipment. Advertise.)

Fortunately, I am not involved in the school redistricting thing. It does not affect Little One; she goes to an out-of-district school and heads to middle school next year, anyway. The moms in the neighborhood have organized this one and are running with it.

All the other stuff is about too much.

Good News

Last night, I got the BEST news in a long, long while. DS1 and his wife and baby girl are MOVING to nearby Largetown, USA.........Yea!!

DIL1 is expecting another baby; although they don't know how long they will live down here, it is likely the new little one will be born here. The town is only 30-40 minutes away. Their children will KNOW ME!! I can see them!!

As SOON as we finished on the phone, I called DH at work, (seldom call at work) to tell him. We laughed til we cried. It was totally out of the blue, we did not have a hint that the kids were thinking of moving to the state.

Yea!