Good Things

I am fortunate to have many good things in my life. One of the best things is being able to watch our DD grow and develop. Because she is involved in so many different kinds of activities, we attend programs and performances of one kind or another almost every couple of weeks. We're coming into the busiest time of year, with jazz band, show choir, and academic competitions almost every weekend now through spring.

Over the weekend, she participated in a high school honor band event. Because she has been in various honor bands over the years, she is now starting to know kids from other schools and this year, she really enjoyed the entire day. She reported that the percussion section kids were a lot of fun and they all worked together very well. The band, of course, sounded great. It's always a treat to attend an honor band concert.

A couple of days ago, I attended a show choir performance, the official kick-off to the competition season. This is DD's third year in show choir, and her second in competition. I had never been to a competition until last year, and I must say, I was totally blown away by the whole thing. Show choir competitions are completely different than band or jazz band competitions around here: They are very much like competitive sports. Locker decorations, team breakfasts, screaming fans, intense school rivalries...the whole works. Add to that 4 music/dance numbers, 36 foam curlers (I know because I put them in her hair), costume changes, aerosol hair spray, and silver eye shadow and you have but a glimpse of a show choir event. Here's a case in point: At one event last year, the fire alarm went off, necessitating an evacuation of the entire school. As it turned out, intense fumes from all the aerosol hair spray set off the fire alarms. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the competitive season this year. The group looks and sounds great, and they are definitely fired up about their first event.

So these are just two of many good things in my life this week. As I watch DD participate in these and many other activities, I see glimpses of who she is becoming. Sometimes it's hard to let go, but on the other hand, it's very exciting to watch a life unfolding right before our eyes.

That is, if you can see it through the cloud of hair spray. :-)