Nearly Time

Why, look at that- we're nearly on tour! Woo! It's 2 1 day until we leave. Or technically, 1 day and some only 20 hours. But anyway. I'm crossing stuff out because I initially started writing this last night, but once last night was over that took us to the less-than-1-day mark. So.
Thursday night was the tour premier in the form of our send-off concert, and now we're free to pack and cram in homework so that it doesn't have to come with us.
But most of us are excited because we don't have to do a week of school! And we're going leaving the cold and wet for the warm/hot!
...and also wet. My hair's going to really poof up in the 100% humidity.
My room is in an interesting state:

Suitcase, bags, trumpet cases on the floor, clothes on the chair, etc etc.
Only 36 LESS THAN 24 hours.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

2 Weeks/Sickness/Blogging Hawaii/Packing Angst

Remember these?

Well, we recently passed the two-week mark (that was Sunday 11/20), and the one-week mark is approaching with extreme expedience. It's a busy week ahead. 
Thanksgiving dinner was great, and thankfully I was feeling well enough to enjoy it. I unfortunately picked up a rather virulent cold from my dad on Monday and have been in bed sleeping ever since (why I didn't post the 2-week mark earlier).
I promise you all that I will try my hardest to live-blog Hawaii, but I will tell you honestly that I don't think I'll have time to do anything more than take snapshots from my phone and then post them all when I get back. Whenever it happens, you'll get the whole story eventually. 
And also I find it amusing that I'm as packed as anyone can be at this point. All I have left is my uniform, which I can't pack until next Friday because we have a performance Thursday night. 
But yea. That's what's going on at the moment.

Why I *Can't* Wait To Do Drum Corps

First reason is made up of two words:
True dedication. It's more than just a high school band: if you don't show up, are late too much, or just aren't up to par, you will be cut and your tour tuition will have been wasted.
Then: you get to do crazy-fun things like jump off ramps or run up and down halfpipes.

And then: choreography. That makes the show interesting and fun for both performers and audience.

ddd000fff.blogspot.com

And also: you meet people who love band just as much as you do (otherwise why would you be paying money to be in a corps?)
Also things like this, that are just wonderfully wacky but fun anyway.

www.pinterest.com

I just realized all my examples are from the Bluecoats. Excuse me while I go join them.

... in a few years.

Weird Things We Do at the Holidays

I was considering the fact that Christmas is drawing close yesterday, and thought how much I was looking forward to it, and suddenly realized that the traditions we have are quite random. We all like hearing about each other's wacky traditions, yes? Well, here are ours:

> Christmas music from the Boston Pops, Canadian Brass, Count Basie Orchestra, and other jazzy sources.

> Christmas breakfast at 6:00 a.m. sharp (my dad doesn't like this)

> Me getting up at midnight and sleeping on the sofa for the rest of the night, then waking everybody up at 6 for said breakfast.

> The randomness tree. This is a thing I do. It's a three-foot tree themed with whatever my current obsession might be. Guess what this year's theme will be:

Yep. DCI corps.

> The contents of the above-mentioned breakfast. Most years it's made up entirely of cookies, fruitcake, and smoothies. Although, one year my mom made me eat broccoli too; but that was because I was sick.

> In addition to Christmas music, we listen to Coldplay's A Head Full of Dreams all through December. This started last year when it came out and since then it's sort of become our soundtrack of winter.

> Watching The Lego Movie. We do it every year. Not sure why... we just do.

> Setting up the Christmas tree over Thanksgiving break. To those of you out there who get your trees on Christmas Eve... who are you and what do you think you are doing. 
Anyway. Yep.

The Journey...

...that is finding and buying a new trumpet. This was Wednesday.
3:09 p.m. 
I finish the day's homework while my mom teaches a violin lesson after school.

3:59 p.m.
Starting out.

4:16 p.m.
We actually get to the sale; Kyle, the other trumpet from our school, gets there at the same time.
Henceforth:
I take no pictures for a long time because I'm busy trying 7 or 8 different trumpets.

~5:30 p.m.
2nd round of trying stuff out. We've gone from 7 to 3. Now to determine the best one.
~5:50 p.m.
We've narrowed it down to the Yamaha Bergeron silver.
6:03 p.m.
We FaceTime my dad, who's in Las Vegas, and decide to buy the Bergeron silver, as well as my rental student trumpet so that I have a marching horn.
6:30 p.m.
We're walking out of the sale, having purchase the Bergeron silver, when our assistant band director walks around the corner. He sees my new trumpet and says congrats. 
6:35 p.m. 
Heading home.
7:40 p.m. 
Upon arriving home I do an 'uncasing'- that's like an unboxing- and send pics to my dad.

8:00 p.m. 
We eat a late dinner.
8:45 p.m. 
I start practicing, and would have played all night if my mom hadn't told me to stop and go to bed.

What We Did At School

What we did during JV jazz yesterday:

Yep, that's the one and only Wayne Bergeron, with the also one and only Varsity jazz band behind him.
Also only 18 days to Hawaii.

21 Days

Agh. Fast approaching are three things- a visit to our school from Wayne Bergeron (Monday), the local music dealer's private sale, at which I will get a new trumpet (Wednesday), and HAWAII, the event of the year, in 21 DAYZ. 
WOOOOOOW. 
Right now, I am doing this:

In preparation for this: 

And yes, that is my trumpet on a floor pouf:

We're all getting pumped for Hawaii. Not long at all now.