That Sweet Ringing Chord

I just recently had my "audition" for the a'capella group I was interested in joining. I found the meeting place inside the Wayland Baptist University here in Anchorage and there was quite a happy little crowd of women getting ready to sing--setting purses and jackets on chairs, milling on the risers, collecting around a podium, flipping music pages, ahahah-ing up and down scales, etc. I met the woman I had been corresponding through e-mail with and she introduced me to the director who I didn't know was the director who took me into the shower and made me sing!

Does anyone but me think the Happy Birthday song is hard to sing? I had to do it twice, for Pete's sake. Started off in the wrong key the first time. Even the damned shower didn't help. Good thing we didn't stop there.

I ended up in the "lead" section. (This is a Sweet Adelines chorus with tenor, lead, baritone and base sections, in case you didn't know and were wondering.) I'm happy about that because I think melody is the easiest to sing. Unless the song happens to be the Happy Birthday song.

 

Fortunately, most of the songs we're working on are some that I have at least a little familiarity with which fact encouraged me a bit.  I have always liked singing in choirs and since moving here to Anchorage, I have missed being able to go to shape-note singings. The director didn't know what the FA SO LA singing was that I put on my application, but recognized "shape note/Sacred Harp" when we talked and she said there was a woman in the chorus who wanted to do a Sacred Harp workshop. She was going to introduce us, but we got really busy. Next time, I guess.

Now,  the next hurdle is understanding that I don't have to love sequins on red blazers or to even feel comfortable wearing sparkly clothes in order to get up and sing and dance (?) in them. Well, psuedo-dance. Move my arms, kick a toe here and there, flash jazz hands, raise my eyebrows and make expressive faces. Barber Shop dancing. All that stuff I've always considered to be embarrassing for anyone to do, and smack dab in the middle of "never-no-never" for me!

Laugh if you must, but this group just won the regional Sweet Adelines competion this year securing them a place in the national competition in Hawaii next November. I have already come up against some scheduling difficulties with my work travel and I got a late start with rehearsals, but I love singing, so practicing will be an easy thing for me to do. I've never been to Hawaii.

Toodle-oo And Pip-Pip

But I just can't bring myself to say goodbye.  

Even though, as you can see from this small sampling of pictures, I'm leaving him in good hands.  

Cousins Braunson, Aubree and Cosette

Cousin Aubree

Grauntie Trish

"Grebbie"  Great Uncle/Aunt Eddie and Debbie

VERY GOOD HANDS

This Thing Called Bliss

      Jon went back to work this week, after having one week off.  Perfect timing...he was off the weekend Katy was in labor, she had the baby early Monday morning and he had last week and then another weekend off.  And now, when he goes to work, I go over there and hold the baby so Katy can sleep or take a shower.  He sleeps SO WELL, does little Desmond Bentley Armstrong, and peacefully until he gets hungry and then he just sort of squeaks and squirms a little.  He does cry once in a while at diaper changes.  He also wakes up by just stretching a bit and opening his eyes.  

      Since I've been back in town, I've had a chance to do some things on my own...meet friends for lunch, shop a little, hold the baby, make some phone calls, help with the little family's laundry, hold the baby, watch movies and football games with grand nieces and nephews, go get some homeopathics at the clinic, and then hold the baby some more.  All this on paid vacation time.  A couple of evenings, they've come over to my sister's house for dinner and tonight they were planning on stopping for diapers on the way home.  I suggested they just run out to the store while Desmond was sleeping so perfectly in the crook of my arm and to my surprise, they did just that.

      Katy and I both said to each other, almost in unison, "Are you sure?"  

Sure, I'm sure.  Then she handed me the diaper bag.  I asked, "What do I need that for?"

I didn't even think about the eventuality of needing to change a diaper, such was the idyllic scenario in which I was encapsulated.  Time was standing still and when the dog began barking a few minutes later, I thought she was barking at another animal outside, but it was Katy and Jon coming back from the store.  Desmond and I had not even stirred.

Katy's eyes were sort of welling up.  I said, "It felt like you just left a part of your body back here, didn't it?"

    Tomorrow, they are taking him to a specialist to see about his turned-in tootsies.  I offered to drive them there in my new rental car and they said I didn't need to do that.  It was going to be so early.  I offered a couple of times and finally I asked Katy,"Do you want me to go with you?"

     She answered, "No, it's ok.  We'll just go ahead and go."

    "Do you want me NOT to go?"

    "Yeah, we'll just go take care of this."

     I'm not offended.  Even if I thought they didn't want me horning in and being bossy, which I DO NOT DO, dear younger siblings who might claim otherwise, I wouldn't be offended because I totally understand.  I think it's probably that they just want to be the grown-up parents making decisions for their own child.

     Trouble is...I'm sure I know more than the doctors and everybody is going to miss out on that exchange.

     Oh well.  Plenty of time to make a nuisance of myself before I leave to go back home.