YouTube Video

Someone found this video of yesterday's performance on YouTube, which is the halftime feed from one of NBC's endzone cameras. Unfortunately, the flutes were in the front of the band, and on the other side of the field, but you can still hear us.



Now you know what I do with the little free time I have!

Ravens vs. Steelers

What a day! I am pre-dating this post, since I got home really late.
My band day started with a 1:00 report time. For our halftime show, we performed with a rock band, and we needed to get sound checks done, but the Ravens would only let us have the stadium until 3:00 - and the game didn't start until 8:30! Practice went well, as did the 2+ hour lunch period and 1/2 hour concert. Then the game. I'm always torn when the Steelers and Ravens play - I grew up a Steelers fan, but I play for the Ravens. Luckily, the game was close and went fast. The Steelers ultimately lost 17-20 in overtime. What killed me was the overtime, it was 11:00 at the end of regulation play, and we had to stick around for who knew how long. After we finished turning in our uniforms and were bussed back to our vehicles, it was 1:30 the next morning, so I didn't get home until 2:30.
The halftime show went well. We played two Chicago tunes ("Make Me Smile" and "25 or 6 to 4") with the rock band, and I didn't hear any timing errors like the last time. Thank goodness!

Purple, and Black, Friday

Today's activities were dictated by Purple Friday. The Pep Band had a 7 am report time, and we played at a couple of locations around Baltimore. The first stop was Hightopps Backstage Bar and Grill, the next two were Verizon Wireless stores, and the final stop was the ESPNZone. We had a decent reception at Hightopps, but the ESPNZone was the best. Even though we had to play outside in the cold, there was a crowd gathered around, listening to us play. Feeling appreciated for what we do is the best! Afterwards, I had to head to Huber for work.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This year's Thanksgiving was a busy one for me. It started out with putting the turkey in the oven, then running to Huber for work. I know, how crazy was that, to volunteer to work this weekend, but I thought I would get overtime for it, and just found out that it's only regular time, plus holiday time. I think I'll just save the holiday time for next month. So anyway, when I get back, I have to get a shower, and then the first of our two guests arrives. We had invited Nathan and Donnie over for dinner, and they were each staying the night, too. Nathan arrived first, and I started preparing food for dinner. While peeling potatoes, Donnie arrived, and he helped cut up vegetables for stuffing while I worked on making pumpkin pies. Working together was nice, and helped move things along. Dinner was served in a timely manner, and afterwards, we watched football and chatted. Everything went well, except I turned into a shrew once. Oh well, Tom drives me absolutely crazy sometimes!

Now I'm Sick

I think I've got the flu. At work tonight, I got the sniffles, a cough, chills, and sore muscles. I volunteered to go home early, and when I got home, I took a hot bath, then medicated myself and hit the bed. After sleeping for a few hours, I felt much better, but not completely. Being sick almost distracted me from receiving another Birthday ATC. This one was from Di in the UK. She also sent some fun pieces of fabric.

Silver Bella - The Return

Silver Bella had ended, and it was time to go home :-( Wanda and I got checked out and to the airport. All of my flights worked out well today, and my flight to Baltimore was even a half hour early! I really enjoyed my layover in Minneapolis, they have an awesome mall area. After Tom picked me up, we had a late dinner at Denny's.
When I got home, I found a Birthday ATC from Lynne in either Sweden (her address) or Germany (the postmark).

Silver Bella - Day 2

My first class of the day was Victorious Medals, in which we made a garland of embelished award ribbons and medals.

In my second class, we constructed a Hodge Podge Journal. We were led, step-by-step, through the process of creating the front and back covers for the journal, and we filled them with a hodge podge of paper products.

The last class of the day was where I made a Vintage Charm Bracelet. I was particularly proud of this one, since I completed the second, and final, step of the bracelet, where most people only finished the first step.

After classes, Wanda and I had dinner at Upstream, a microbrewery about a block and a half from the hotel. We had the Gouda and Blonde Ale Soup, the Artichoke and Asiago Cheese Dip, and the Fish and Chips (which were battered in their Blonde Ale). It was a very good meal. We spent the rest of the night packing.

Silver Bella - Day 1

Today's Silver Bella events went better than yesterday's. After checking with the front desk and finding out that my luggage had not arrived yet, I went to my first class - the Snowman Clip Ornament. It was absolutely adorable, and I got good momentum going and finished it.

I checked on my luggage again, and come to find out, it had been here since last night, they just didn't notice the name tag. So I toted my luggage to the room and went to my next class - the Sweet Sweater Hat. I had a great time with it, and it was a lot easier than I had imagined it would be.

Wanda and I both had the next class period free so that we could set up for the Vendor Fair. She did almost as well in sales as last year, but she had more expenses, so she was a little dissappointed. We had a good time, though.

Silver Bella - The Beginning

Whew, what a day! It all started out with not going to bed last night. I stayed up so that I could construct my pages for the Under the Big Top Fat Book Swap. I ended up with only 14 of the 15 pages, because I accidentally sewed the tent onto the wrong side of one of the pages. Luckily, Wanda was hosting the swap, so I was able to able to convince her to leave my book unfinished.
I slept for about an hour and a half, then got up to pack and get to the airport. When I checked in at the airport, I was told that the flight that I had booked back in July that left at 11:25 no longer existed, and my new flight had left at 8:30. I freaked out. I hadn't received any notification of the flight change. Luckily, they were able to book me on new flights that would get me to Omaha about 10 minutes later than my initial flight. Okay, I'm calm now. But while going through security, they found my spare wine opener in my purse, and confiscated it, since it had a knife on it. It would cost $10 to send it home, so I let them have it. After boarding the plane, the pilot turned on the engines and the computer didn't come on, so we had to get pushed back to the gate and wait for a mechanic to come and fix the problem. Then we had to wait for a weight of some sort. In the end, we were delayed an hour leaving Baltimore. When we got to Detroit, it was 3:00, and time to board my next flight. I actually thought it left at 3, so I was freaking out again. As luck would have it (bad or good, I won't say), my flight to Omaha was delayed an hour. Okay, that's fine and dandy. I called Wanda and asked her to pick up my registration packet, and let her know I'd be late. When I got to Omaha, my luggage had not. Everything that could possibly go wrong had. I called the hotel shuttle and arrived at 6:30, right when dinner was starting to be served. I spent most of dinner punching holes in my fat book pages, and inserting them into the fat books. The group project went well, and I completed one of the two available items.

Then, it was time to swap. Luckily, the swap items I needed to swap at Silver Bella were in my carry-on, so everything went well. I do feel pretty insignificant, though. Some of my items turned out well, but I was so out of my league with other items.

Nine Down, One To Go

First and foremost, I need to wish both of my nephews "Happy Birthday!" Dodo's birthday is today, and Bebe's was Sunday. And can you believe it, I actually sent gifts that arrived in time for their birthdays?!?
Tonight, I actually had the night off. I was on call at the restaurant, and they didn't foresee needing me, so I spent most of the night finishing the yo-yo bells I was making for the Ornabella Ornament Swap. I am actually pretty pleased with how they turned out. I had initially thought, after constructing my first two, that they looked kind of stupid. But after massaging my methods, I came up with a product that I actually like, and am proud to put out there. I hope all of the ladies enjoy them as much as I do.


I spent the rest of the night working on the Fat Book swap. That's going to be a nightmare, with the time crunch.

Ravens vs. Broncos

Wow, what a game! The Ravens beat the Broncos, 7-30, and it was a really great win. I even stayed awake for the entire game - Shocker! After losing the last three games, I didn't think that the Ravens could pull it off, especially after seeing that the Broncos were undefeated. But, the defense lived up to their reputation, then the offense started producing, and, of course, the band was fantastic. For halftime, we perfomed a Veterans Day tribute, and played America and Armed Forces Salute. Now, I hope that the Ravens can keep up the good work.