FIRST CONCERT!!!!!!!

You know the mom that goes to every school function possible, ever with the cameras at the ready? (Yes, plural...cameraS...one for taking photos and one for taking video!) Yeah, I'm totally that mom. :)

Superman had his first concert!!!!! He's only six, so there are no instruments involved yet, but I was beyond thrilled when I found out that he was going to be singing in his first school performance! And I even went as far as to blow dry my hair and wear makeup. That means it was definitely a big deal! lol

The front of the concert program

Having been a band and choir geek myself while growing up, it made it all the sweeter that I was finally going to be able to be the parent in the audience. Even just walking into the multipurpose room and seeing the good old risers on the stage threw me back to the days I was in first grade and singing my heart out in front of anyone that would listen. Going into this, I knew that he was at least going to be singing "Grand Old Flag," because he's been singing it around the house nearly non-stop for about the past month! And that even gave me another memory to smile about, as the elementary school I went to used that tune (albeit with different words) for their school song.

I was pretty happy that we got there as early as we did, since the seats filled up very quickly, and there were parents and families packed in there as standing room only! The principal said that in all his years of working as a school administrator (which I think he said was something like 15 years), he had never seen that many parents turn out. Honestly, I find that to be a sad thing. But I digress.

As it turns out...I likely would have been better off with standing. It turns out I'm not the only parent that gets excited, camera in hand. The only difference is, I'm not rude and thoughtless enough to stand in front of other people's kids to get my own on video! That's right. There was a lady that didn't care in the slightest that she was crowding the stage area (not all the kids fit on the stage, so there were some on risers on the floor in front of the stage...which just so happened to be where my first grader was), or even seem to notice that she was standing directly in front of a bunch of little kids, reaching across to video her own child that was on the other side of the stage. And I am not exaggerating in the slightest.

What we could (& couldn't) see of Superman (in the red) from our seat

So I got up out of my seat, did the "duck out of the way of the other parents' photos" dance all the way up the side of the room, and got close enough to get some shots of him.

Standing up front next to him

Unfortunately, my standing right next to him was distracting him, and he wasn't very focused once he knew I was there with the camera pointed straight at him (he even fell off the riser he was standing on at one point!), so I took only a few and went back to my seat.

All the 1st-4th graders that were performing

So to all the parents out there going to these school functions...please be more polite than that lady in the blue was! Be aware that you are NOT the only parent there to see their child and be aware of your surroundings and that you may be blocking the view of someone else that is there to see their child. Heck, that's a problem my kids have. It's not something that should be that difficult for an adult. Okay, I'm done ranting. lol

All in all, though, I am very glad that we went (I told The Instigator he had to tag along...LOL), and I would not have missed it for the world! I just hope that they are more prepared for a larger audience next time. Otherwise, I will be standing!

Gettin' My Craft On!

So I have been home from the States for over a month, and I still haven't blogged about my BFF's wedding, nor have I finished blogging about my trip to Paris with Elphie, not to say mentioning my amazing birthday weekend! But I will get there, I promise. And those are not just empty words. I just have...issues...with finding a balance. There tends to be a lot of extreme behaviors one way, and then the complete opposite (and many times back and forth a time or two more!) before I get back into my "groove." And the past few months have been anything but regular!

And in the "extreme behavior" toward the negative, for a week or two, I was completely ensconced in the silly Facebook games. Frontierville/Pioneer Trail, Mafia Wars 2, Cafe World...all that crap. It was like a trance I couldn't be pulled out of. But Monday, I finally reached a decision that I had been mulling over. I decided to stop playing them. All of them. (Well, okay, I still have Words with Friends and Scrabble, but those only take, like, 2 minutes to make your move and then you wait on your opponent to go. No big.) And in the time that I have not been playing those time-sucking games, I have done the following:

Completed the WestKnits Mystery KAL:

Started and completed a stitchmarker Lariat:

Started and completed a pair of Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Wristers:

 

Started and completed a hat for The Instigator's aunt:

Made my own mitten blockers:

Blocked the Bella mittens for Tara:

 Baked a batch of zucchini muffins and 2 loaves of zucchini bread (this is all that was left of the muffins after 24 hours...they were completely gone in less than 48! LOL):

Started and completed a cowl (for trading for an apron from a fellow crafter!):

Finally finished a blanket to donate to a patient of Nephrotic Syndrome 

that has been a long time in coming!:

And have done some super-top-secret HSKS swappy items. Plus,that's to say nothing of finally getting my crafting supplies slowly migrating upstairs to my new craft room (used to be the boys' toy room, but we moved those upstairs to the large closet and their bedroom), catching up on housework, participating in running a knitting swap, and actually cooking meals! I have really been on fire! LOL I'm really hoping that this is less of a swing of the pendulum in the productive segment of my balance and more of a trend leading to habit. :) I guess only time will tell, but all in all, not bad for a week's worth of effort. :)