If you know me, you know I love music. I'm not a fan of everything, but I do have pretty broad tastes. Due to my exposure to piano lessons starting at 5 years old, and my choice to play the tuba in 5th grade, I gained a healthy interest into the world of band and orchestra music. That interest followed me all through college, allowing me the opportunity to play in the Augustana Symphonic Band (and take formal tuba lessons for the first time in my life!). The Augie Band was one of the most influential experiences of my time in college, and is something I will cherish forever. Thanks Doc ;) And Rusty, Kathryn, Lindsay... and many others. Thanks to Augie, give me a Holsinger or Grainger piece and some earbuds and I'm set. I've taken that continued interest (and the substantial piece of brass currently in my basement) to the next phase in life playing in the Knightwind Ensemble, of which I've made a whole new set of band friends. I think my commitment to continue playing has allowed me to feel like I still have some "me" in me. Having little kids and a crazy schedule lends itself to losing some of what I think makes a person who they are - although those things also become part of that person. But I've managed to stick with (and will continue to stick with) my tuba playing, just to always have something to immerse "just me" into. Make sense? Maybe not, but to me it does.
Also, you know that I wasn't one to follow others too much when it came to what was "trendy" music growing up. Despite trying really hard to be, I've never been a Dave fan. Which inherently sucks, because all my friends love going to concerts, and I've felt like the odd one out. But I've had my opportunities to see in person the bands that I've loved, most recently it's been convenient to see them only a few miles from my house and for "free." Two of the few CDs that I actually bought as a teenager were Los Lonely Boys and Live. So, you can imagine how excited I was to hear that LLB was going to play at Zoo a la carte last year! I got to spend time with little family, eat food, and listen to some of my favorite music. Guess what? It happened again this year, with Ed Kowalczyk performing on the same stage as LLB last year. I swear, if Alice in Chains decides to come to the zoo next year, I'll be a happy girl. Although I think that might be a little rough for the elk and bears to listen to...
On another "note" (ha)... We worked on our house this weekend!! Preston and Rose had a wet, sandy, fun time down at Mannings and the RYC, while we had the above-mentioned date night on Friday, then cranked out some serious organization on Saturday. We FINALLY got Skip's clothes organized and his dresser moved from the guest room downstairs to our bedroom upstairs (just baaaarely fit up the staircase. We will be hurling it out of a window when we move out). After cleaning up the space where the dresser was, we were able to move Skip's amps and guitars into the guest room, where they will likely take up permanent residence, along with the afore-mentioned substantial piece of brass. I'm okay with that. It's a cleaner space, and makes them more easily accessible. We had talked about that sort of being a music/guest room anyways. In doing that move, the playroom was cleared of the amps, so I cleaned out a little spare dresser that we had in the guest room closet (of receiving blankets... tear :( ), and moved it into the playroom for more much-needed storage. We'll be giving lots of clothes to Purple Hearts in the next few weeks, as we realized a majority of what was in that closet was stuff just dropped there in the move, and has been ignored for the past 3 years. Haven't worn it, don't need it - giving it AWAY. I also deep-cleaned the upstairs bathroom that Preston pees all over (ah, the joys of potty-training a little boy), cleaned their bedroom and ours, and worked a little on sanding/finishing the banister at the top of the stairs. It felt so good getting some serious things done around the place. Now we can really focus on the last things upstairs that have been on hiatus (electric, a few pieces of trim, DECORATING).
Had a great dinner, as always, down at Mannings that night - gotta love al fresco dining with Lake Michigan as a backdrop. Then we had a nice day Sunday at home and entertaining Skip's new band buddies for dinner. All in all, a much-needed good and accomplished weekend. :)
And I got meds for the apparent sinus infection and cough I have been fighting for the past THREE weeks, so this IS a good day.
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