Long Awaited Band Tour Post (words)

I started writing this post back in November but did not have time to finish it. So, here is the exciting band tour...

You know you are a colorguard director when...?

How do you tell that a colorguard director is exhausted after a 26 hour bus ride and a 5-6 day tour with the marching band kiddos?

When...

~receiving a joyous 2nd place in the division (and a mighty big trophy) and high colorguard in the smallest and lowest division

~being told I am crazy for enduring a second year of band tour with my kiddos is not a shocking statement...and you nod your head in agreement

~realizing that if you had been promoted to the next division you would received 3rd place (out of 9 bands)

~understanding that every band is judged the same and therefore means your colorguard beat a 4A (second highest division) colorguard

~touring San Francicso, Lodi, Elko and Reno are on the agenda

~assisting in taking care of 21 teenagers ranging in age from 14-18 becomes exciting (I know...I am a bit crazy)

~sleeping a maximum of 4 hours each night is a HUGE blessing

~getting the kiddos on the bus, through all of tour and off the bus in one piece proves to be a life success

~exhaustion hits the teenage boys (who never really stop for anything)

~Dr. Pepper is your saving grace

~a four hour rehearsal two days in a row without complaining kids is heavenly and a once in a lifetime opportunity

~you slept through chaperone check and your students had to let the band director know that they "have the chaperone and she is safe!"

~being called "Mommy Goose" by the senior Drum Major is a sign of respect

~calling my kids "my little ducklings" is a sign of love from me

~checking in my kids every five minutes causes them to roll their eyes because I am "acting like a parent"

~starting everyday at 5:30am and not getting to bed until at least 12:30am (the next day) is the second sign of love

~touring Alcatraz and teasing the kids about leaving them their if they behave poorly is NOT considered child abuse

~watching 18 year old tough boys, known as drummers, melt at the sight of a fluffy baby snow leopard and cry when the zoo sign says the tigers are highly endangered and rapidly disappearing

~kicking the kids butts when the staff (including me) and chaperones beat the kids (by a whole lot) in laser tag and bowling

~explaining to the hotel manager that taping the kids into their room simply means to put tape on their doors so we know who broke the rules is not what the hotel manager thought (he was thinking child abuse for sure...)

~hearing the hotel manager think we literally tape the kids to their beds confuses me (I don't think scotch tape would hold up).

~realizing you are not as good at kickball as you thought you were turns into being upstaged by ALL 21 kids

~eating fast food, tour food and all-you-can-eat buffets are not sounding pleasant at the moment

~bribing the drumline with eight 24 packs of caffeinated soda if they give us (the staff) the best rehearsals and performance seems like no big deal (there are only nine of them on the line...one is a girl who hates soda)

~the kids post on facebook how much fun they had, how worn out they are and how excited they are for next years marching band endeavors

Exhausting band tour? You bet. Successful trip? I say yes!

Now, to tackle mountains of homework and catch up on some sleep.

Oh Boy

I realize I have not updated in quite sometime (August?). I have been super busy. I will leave you with a preview of what I plan to update on before the year is out. So, in no particular order here are some upcoming topics I plan to blog about:

-My students amazing band tour (maybe two? One in just words and one in pictures?)
-My failed attempts at NaNoWriMo (if you don't know what that is I will explain later)
-My plans for my 25th year of life
-Projects I have been completing at work
-A politic/religion post (I have actually already started this but it is so long it is taking forever to complete)
-Some of my goals for 2013
-Project updates
-A book review or two
-BIG ideas I have

I think I could go on but these are some of the posts I either have started and haven't had time to finish or plan on posting so very soon. Bear with me.