Queen Anne's Lace and Lilacs

Evan's First Concert

Evan's orchestra gave its first concert last Friday, October 30.  Would this be his directorial debut?  I can't believe the kids were already ready to be performing.  Seems like we were just talking to Evan after his first day of school.  What am I saying?!  It shouldn't be surprising at all that Evan quickly whipped these kids into shape!  And from all accounts (one), the concert was great.  Of course, that account could be biased.  Nah.

Courtney, Evan's girlfriend, said Evan did a great job, as did the kids.  She also sent some pictures.  Thanks, Courtney!  And good job, Son!  You're so handsome! 

Fun with Facebook

Several months ago (or more, probably), I obtained a Facebook page.  I did this mostly to check up on Evan's and Brett's pages.  Oh, wait...  So, yeah, this started years ago when they were mere teenagers, and not months ago.  Anyway, they knew what I was doing, same as when I joined over at MySpace, as I informed them I would be popping in from time to time to make sure all was well, if you know what I mean.  (By the way, Brett still hasn't added me as his friend.  I don't think he ever will, either.)

Other than checking on the kids every once in a while, I rarely even thought about Facebook (or MySpace, for that matter). I think Evan was my only friend for a long time.  Eventually, I had some of my own actual friends join up over there, we became friends, which brought me up to about five or six friends (I've got 23 now...woo hoo!  23 isn't very many, fyi) - but still, I just didn't think too often about Facebook.  And when I did, I'd get over there and think, "Which page am I supposed to be dealing with, 'home' or 'profile'!  It drove me crazy!  It still does.  I've asked the kids, any of their friends who stop by, and a few perfect strangers, and they just laugh.  So, I don't know.  I just drop in on both pages, they have similar info, I don't know.  Sometimes, if I didn't have my "Pieces of Flair" to play with, I don't know what I'd do.

What's happened lately, though, is that I've discovered some of my Continentals people.  That has been quite wonderful!  One of them is Cher, Cam Floria's (the guy who started Continentals) wife at the time.  I loved Cher.  She was - and is - so pretty!  She knew everyone's name at rehearsal camp.  There were probably 400 - 500 people there, and she was greeting everyone by name when they walked by.  (I didn't even know the names of all 40 people on my own tour by the end of rehearsal camp, two weeks later.)

So, Cher's at Facebook and, today, has a link to a pretty cool video.  If you like listening to choirs, this is quite good.  The best part is the first few minutes.  I think even Evan (orchestra boy) will like it!

It's Official!

Evan's an orchestra conductor!  This is his first conducting gig, just hours after commencement exercises at the University of Houston.  (Thanks to Evan's Uncle Mark for the photo.)

I'm still waiting for photos of the graduation part of the day.  Bethany took seven pictures - and one of them is without Evan.  So, I'm hoping there are more than that!  It seems the Houston trip went fairly well - not as much drama as usual (unfortunately - because the stories are usually humorous by the time I'm hearing them). 

"Take Me Out to the Ballgame"

(click photo for a larger view)

One of the advantages of having an ex-baseball player for a dad is that you end up knowing a lot about baseball - even if you're a girl (what am I saying!  I'm more athletic than either of my brothers!).  Now, my boys may take issue with that because, for the last few decades I haven't watched a lot of baseball - except for them, when they were in Little League - and they think I'm clueless.  But if they could have known me when I was growing up, they would discover I knew just as much as them about, not only the rules of the game, but about who was playing and how they were doing.  With just the one TV, all we watched on the weekend was sports - and any other time of the week that they were on.  I was familiar with basketball and football, too, but since my dad specialized in baseball, that's what we played just about every day after supper, in good weather. 

As an aside, I don't know if Evan and Brett remember, but I was the assistant coach one year for their baseball team.  Their dad was the coach.  He didn't know diddly about baseball, but with my instruction and guidance, he learned quite a bit - as did those kids he coached.  :)

Each summer, my family embarked on a vacation.  Many of these vacations included a major league baseball game.  (They also often included visiting Indian places, i.e., Anadarko, because Jerry Mark was into that.  I don't think we ever took a vacation based solely on my interests, but I wasn't one to complain.)  During our Haysville era, we went to quite a few Wichita Aeros games (AAA).  I loved those games.  Every night, I listened to the Aeros game on the radio.  If I got in trouble, one of the punishments was grounding me from listening to the game.  Torture!!   

It was in Haysville that the Kansas City Royals acquired George Brett and Hal McRae.  I loved these guys.  (In fact, Brett is named for George Brett.)  We often watched/listened to the Royals games, so, with Brett and McRae, they became my official team.  I also liked the Pirates and the A's. 

After Haysville, we moved to Norfolk, NE.  My dad bought the APBA baseball game.  Each player selects a major league team to manage.  Mine was the Royals, of course.  My dad's was the Phillies, of course.  Timmy also had the Royals, Jerry Mark the Dodgers, and my mother, the Rangers (although, she rarely played, and why she picked the Rangers, I have no idea).  Because I don't remember having trouble with this game, I purchased the game myself a couple of years ago.  Well.....there are so many rules!!!!  And playing with Tim!  Bless his heart.  He's not just a few decades behind - he never did baseball.  Oops.  I'm sorry.  He saw the Senators play back in the 1800s when just a wee lad.  That's about it.

So, I'm still the Royals.  I don't know a single one of the players.  I've been told they've had terrible teams the past few years.  Tim's the Phillies.  Now, we do know a little about some of them - we did watch the World Series last year.  But, you know, I have to explain the infield fly rule, errors, pass balls, home plate, etc.  We're trying to finish our first game.  I can't wait for Evan to get out here to deal with all of this.  We've gone three innings in a week.  And, I curse myself for not learning how to do the scoring back in the day.

You know, nothing unusual stands out in my mind about those games we used to attend.  I do seem to remember some drunk guys a couple of times.  More recently, Tim took Bethany, Erica (Tim's daughter) and me to a Dodgers game.  The people sitting above us were seeming to be dropping an excessive amount of debris down on us.  At first, it was just popcorn and trash.  Erica (27 at the time) had never been to a ballgame before. She wasn't appreciating this.  I was a bit surprised, myself.  I had to explain this wasn't normal.  Indeed,  it wasn't happening anywhere else.  Erica took her place turned backwards in her seat, looking up, warning us as things fell down.  As time went by, she began to get a bit upset. 

If you know Erica, you know this is not good.  For example, when I get upset with strangers, I complain to my family.  When Erica gets upset with strangers, she takes it to them.  Well, when the ice and liquid started flowing down, I knew I would not be able to keep her in her seat.  Sure enough, the next time - there goes Erica!  Meek and mild Tim was right behind her!  Little Bethany (6 at the time) and I are sitting there like, "Now, what do we do."  We finally grabbed the purses - after another drenching - and went to find Tim and Erica.  Come to find out, you can't go to a level unless you have a ticket for that level.  That was probably a good thing.  The stadium workers did get an earful!  For some reason, I'm seeing Erica swinging the little souvenir bat around.  Could that be right?  

The reason for all of these meandering reminiscences about baseball is this You Tube video of Bernie Williams that I saw today at The Riddleblog:

Dream On

A week or so ago, it was "Do Re Mi" being sung in a train station.  This week, it's Susan Boyle, from Scotland, auditioning for the UK version of American Idol:  Britain's Got Talent.  If you haven't seen this yet, you should!  They aren't allowing embedding, so I'll have to send you on over to You Tube to experience Ms. Boyle's rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables.  Hurry!  You'll be glad you did.

He's Alive!

The gates and doors were barred and all the windows fastened down;
I spent the night in sleeplessness and rose at every sound
Half in hopeless sorrow and half in fear the day
Would find the soldiers breakin' thru to drag us all away

And just before the sunrise I heard something at the wall
The gate began to rattle and a voice began to call;
I hurried to the window and looked down into the street
Expecting swords and torches and the sounds of soldier's feet

There was no one there but Mary so I went down to let her in;
John stood there beside me as she'd told us where she'd been.
She said "They moved Him in the night and none of us knows where;
The stone's been rolled away and now His body isn't there!"

We both ran t'ward the garden, then John ran on ahead;
We found the stone and empty tomb just the way that Mary said.
But the winding sheet they wrapped Him in was just an empty shell;
And how or where they'd taken Him was more than I could tell.

Well, something strange had happened there,
but just what I didn't know;
John believed a miracle but I just turned to go.
Circumstance and speculation couldn't lift me very high
'Cause I'd seen them crucify Him, then I saw Him die.

Back inside the house again the guilt and anguish came;
Everything I'd promised Him just added to my shame.
When at last it came to choices, I denied I knew His name;
And even if He was alive, it wouldn't be the same

But suddenly the air was filled with a strange and sweet perfume;
Light that came from everywhere drove shadows from the room.
Jesus stood before me with His arms held open wide;
And I fell down on my knees, and just clung to Him and cried.

He raised me to my feet and as I looked into His eyes,
Love was shining out from Him like sunlight from the skies
Guilt and my confusion disappeared in sweet release
And every fear I'd ever had just melted into peace

CHORUS
He's alive! He's alive! He's alive and I'm forgiven!
Heaven's gates are open wide:
He's alive, He's alive, He's alive and I'm forgiven
Heaven's gates are open wide
He's alive, He's alive, hallelujah He's alive

Were You There...

when they crucified my Lord?

#10 Amazing Grace - UPDATED

UPDATE:  The embedding has been disabled, so I've removed the video portion of the original post.  You can, however, still see the video here.

AMAZING GRACE

Amazing grace!  How sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found;
was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed."

Through many dangers, toils, and snares
I have already come;
'tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.

When we've been there ten thousand years
bright shining as the sun,
we've no less days to sing God's praise
than when we first begun."

My friend, Marge, sent me this video of "Il Divo" singing "Amazing Grace (one of the greatest songs ever written, by John Newton)."

I've loved this song my whole life.  Well, certainly since I was a teenager.  We'd go to Singspirations - now, this was just a couple of years ago - and we'd sing the "Amazing Grace" words to the tune of "House of the Rising Sun."  I believe I was the only one in the building, at those times, who didn't know the actual "House of the Rising Sun" lyrics.  My parents didn't allow me to listen to rock music until I was 35.

Simon Cowell ("American Idol") formed this group, amazingly.  (I don't know why amazingly - I was just surprised to see that Mr. Cowell had anything to do with them at all.)  The singers are from the United States, Spain, Switzerland, and France.  The first three are opera singers, the French guy is a pop singer.  This performance is at the Roman coliseum in Pula, Croatia.  What a beautiful place for a concert.  Such a wonderful performance of "Amazing Grace," in that setting - and with bagpipes! 

Oh, and thanks, Marge!

Yes! Jayhawks Win!

While scampering about the internet this evening, I've learned the outcome of KU's basketball game today.  Unfortunately, we haven't had time to watch the game yet.  I hate when this happens.  At least Tim doesn't know anything about it, so he can be surprised.  The good news is that KU won the Big 12 Title.  Of course, this isn't shocking, or anything.

I was looking through photo albums and stacks of old photos looking for pictures of the churches we belonged to when I was growing up.  I happened upon this one of Jerry Mark in his KU marching band uniform.  It's an oldie, from the '80s (yes, that afro is quite natural).  I thought I'd post this in honor of today's events.

It's good that none of my family frequents this blog.  I can tell all kinds of secrets, and nobody finds out about anything!  Now I'm going to have to act like I don't know the results.  That's always fun.  I'll have to have Tim put on his Jayhawk t-shirt for good luck.

Evan and Cougar Brass

Wednesday night (I think it was Wednesday night) was the first televised University of Houston home basketball game this year.  I was excited to watch the game, because Evan plays bass for the Cougar Brass band during basketball season.  I have written before on how it irritates me that I watch all of those football games for glimpses of Evan on TV, and they have NEVER shown him.  But, during basketball season through the years, I've seen him many times.  Unfortunately, during this whole basketball game, they showed only one little corner of the trombones a couple of times.  No Evan.  Very frustrating. 

But, I was checking out Evan's Facebook page, and he had this photo over there.  So, I am using it here.  I hope it's ok.  I'd hate to be doing the wrong thing.  Seriously.  You know I hate being wrong.  

Hey, interesting thing.  I was able to get to Evan's page because Evan has added me as his friend.  Brett still hasn't done that, so I can't get to his page.  Funny how it's Facebook's only incidence of a friend-adding malfunction.

In trying to find a link to the Cougar Brass, I found this page with all kinds of interesting tidbits about the sights and sounds that occur at the U of H football and basketball games (or, as they call it, "traditions").  This would have come in handy a few years ago.  Tim and I spend some amount of time during each game trying to figure out why people are doing the things they're doing.

If you'd like to see how the U of H basketball team is faring this season, click here.