Hmm...three months since my last post here...lots of updates to cover, so I'll just do a quick rundown of the biggest things...

The orchestra survived the budget cuts unscathed - although the band didn't. In a nutshell, this means we'll have three people to do the job of four for next year. So...instead of having 4 orchestras (5th-6th grade, 7th, 8th, and HS) and 2 music appreciation classes, I'll have 4 orchestras (5th, 6th, 7th-8th, and HS symphony instead of strings alone), 2 bands (6th & 7th-8th), and 5th grade general music. Whee. So much for what little sanity I had left. :-p

The 8 days from hell (5 performances) went fairly well, actually. Barbershop chorus didn't win the division, but scored well enough that we will be going on to the district competition anyway. Only ~2 points per song per judge between us and the top spot in our division, so we're within range. Junior high concert went quite smoothly - gotta love the 40-minutes-from-first-notes-to-everyone-gone performances! HS concert had a couple of interesting moments, but nothing we couldn't fake our way through.

HS Graduation ceremony was earlier this afternoon. The mini-concert before that went extremely well, all things considered. I wasn't expecting people to actually be paying any attention, since it was in the gym, and we had no shell to help focus our sound...but there was a very nice response.

I really, really, really don't care for unexpected little surprises that creep up out of nowhere, especially when it's something that can't be dealt with in a neat way. Options are to ignore it, and drive myself nuts, or confront it and (most likely) piss off at least 3 people. Needless to say, I don't like either option.

One of my kids made a very deep observation this afternoon, after grad... She asked if I missed the seniors yet - and when I said not yet, she warned me that it's gonna hit soon. The two that are "my kids" (i.e. not just orchies) are definitely going to be missed...and when that reality sets in, I'm probably going to be a lost little puppy for a few days.