Microwave

Sarah, Savannah, Matt, Caleb, and I have taken Perry on a trip to Weatherford for the All-Senior Honor Band.  Perry has had an exciting day visiting the outlet mall, Arby's, and Wal-mart.  Perry even joined us for a dip in the pool.  However, Caleb thought the best way for Caleb to dry off would be to put him in the microwave.  Poor Perry.  

Perry's Angry

Perry's angry.  Why?  Because I don't write about him and post pictures of us doing cool things anymore.  I tried to explain to Perry that we are back in school and there is nothing cool to post pictures of us doing together.  (And, if he would recall, my camera kind of was stolen our last few days in Guahan.) We no longer go to the beach, or go diving, or eat strange foods, or do anything exciting.  The only exciting thing that has happened around here is the crazy man running past my window at 4am about a month ago.  Wait, that was not exciting. That was scarey.  However, I have decided that Perry's been around you guys too long and thinks band is exciting.  And, he did have a very good point when he said I could post pictures of the following:

• The look on Smitty's face when Andrew decides to play the drums in jazz band and Caleb the trumpet. 
• The State Fair Parade while Mo was discovering American food at its finest for the first time. (Oh, and the band placed 4th, percussion 4th, and guard 3rd.)
• The look on Smitty's face when her first and second chair saxophones won't hush!
• Preston with his tuba...I wonder if he'd fit inside of the bell?
• The look on Smitty's face when she looks up while you guys are marching and have rearranged your lines.  How does Caleb, Matt, and Tommus do that?
• The Tishomingo parade when 50 degrees seemed like the dead of winter and everyone thought they'd die.  (At least you guys placed 2nd...got a trophy...and will never ask me to march in the Christmas parade again!)
• Tommus and how he loves to park in the "prime" spots.
• When Andrea, Samantha, and Hannah F found the OLD uniforms.  When I say old, we are talking the ones I work in HS, so you know they are ancient.
• The look on Smitty's face when the trumpets decided they should hold their trumpets bells up....and then the clarinets, saxophones, and flutes followed suit.  What's up with you people? 
• The hamburger fry concert... the wind kept blowing poor Noah's stand down and his sheet music (despite the clothes pins) kept flying through the air.
• The hamburger fry concert...or at least the look on Smitty's face when the percussion still had the inability to stand at attention the 3rd time Smitty told them to...
• The hamburger fry jazz concert...when Caleb put a drum fill about 40 measures too soon and the band was off (in a musically sounding good type of manner) until the the drum fill was really suppose to have happened. 
• The look on Smitty's face if she catches the percussionist sitting--ever again--in class. 
• The look on Smitty's face every time Cade...or Kade...open their mouths. 

FYI

I wanted everyone to know that the reason Mr. Barrett wasn't in band this morning is because his father passed away suddenly last night from a heart attack.  Remember him, Mrs. Barrett, and the rest of the family in your prayers this weekend. 

Great week!

Perry's mad at me.  I didn't take him to band camp.  I tried to explain that if THE Perry showed up, he would distract all the new students.  It's hard enough for me to get you to listen to ME...imagine the difficulty if a "star" was in the room.  I don't think that helped.

I wanted to thank everyone for a job well done at band camp.  As always I came in expecting the worst.  (I am not as dumb as you think and know that most of you never pick up your instrument over the summer.)  And as always, you prove me WRONG!  I was overwhelmed at the balance we have already started with.  I was impressed with the newbies who actually learned their music.  (Trace & Eddie only had their instruments for a few days and came in like pros!)  I have compiled a special list of "thanks" and "no thanks" for the past week.  Enjoy....

Special thanks to....

• Caleb, Matthew Holmes, & Tommus for keeping the insanity to a minimal. (Only once dressing up in the 1984 color guard outfits?  I'm impressed.)
• Ashley, Sarah, & Savannah for checking out uniforms/tuxes for me on the first day.
• The percussion--for keeping their aloofness to a minimal.  Kade...Blake...now that I know it is possible, I'll make
• Neil for not acting like the low brass so I didn't have to yell at him this year (and then later feel guilty and draw flowers for him as an I'm sorry.) 
• Trace for bringing me get well cookies
• Rebekah who is going to be an amazing band-aide.  The library is neater than it's been in...a LONG time!
• Andrea for not hurting Neil.
• Caleb for sitting right next to me.  You may have thought you were ignoring me, but I rather enjoyed hearing your mature tuba sound.
• Braden for bringing me sausage rolls!
• The low brass for actually DOING their sectional. 
• David for wearing the hamburger shirt.  As ugly as it is, it has this special cool factor about it.
• Matthew Hu mom for being there to fill in if I needed to go to the doctor.
• Maddi & Leandrea for not falling off the cliff on the day they SKIPPED band camp.
• Tyler who helped me carry stuff in one day.  
• Kai because I can't think of anything naughty he did.

No thanks to...

• Caleb for changing the background of my computer to the ugliest dog in the world.
• Caleb (again) for stealing my phone and changing the names of my contacts....For example: Ginger (Andrea)
• The people who took extra pizza and we ran out before the poor 8th graders got food (naughty)
• The ants, wasps, and scorpions who once again found their way into the bandroom over the summer. (I'm sure we'll find a snake soon.)
•  Dylan for coming up with a ridiculous question to everything we had to review. (Where do you come up with these things?)
• Caleb & Tommus who had to had their own comments to every little rule in the band handbook. 
• Caleb & Matthew who switched instruments when I had to go into my office. 
• Savannah for spilling Braden's coffee all over the uniform room, the fan, her shoes, her legs...
• Everyone who always seemed to be on their cell phones when I walked into sectionals.
• Cade and the bass drums for always playing over. Typical trumpet, but percussion? 

Over all it was a great week.  Thank again for taking appropriate control of camp during my "near-death-experience."  Section leaders, you did a MARVELOUS job!

Enjoy your last few days of freedom.

Oh, don't forget.

PRACTICE BEFORE WEDNEDAY

A LOT! :)

Band Camp Schedule (Revised)

Saturday (Aug. 4)—Color Guard Fundraiser Only

Monday (Aug 6)—CHANGE: STAYING AT BYNG

9:00-10:30—Music Rehearsal                         

10:30-10:45—Snack Break (Provided)

10:45-11:30— Sectionals

11:30-12:00—Marching Rehearsal   (Indoor)          

12:00—12:30—LUNCH!  (Provided)                 

12:30-1:00—Sectionals                                 

1:00-2:00—Music Rehearsal       

7:00—MANDANTORY Handbook Meeting for Students and Parent/Guardian. (Signing of Medical release forms—bring insurance card so we can make a copy or bring a copy to staple to the medical release form.)                      

Tuesday (Aug 7)—As Originally Scheduled

9:00-10:00—Music Rehearsal                                  

10:00-10:30—Marching Rehearsal   (Indoor)                      

10:30-11:15—Sectionals                                     

11:15-12:00-Music Rehearsal                                   

12:00-5:00 Percussion (lunch provided for percussion only)                                                 

6:00pm-8:00—Color Guard Practice                           

Wednesday (Aug 8)—As Originally Scheduled

9:00-10:00—Music Rehearsal                                   

10:00-10:30—Marching Rehearsal  (Indoor)                     

10:30-11:15—Sectionals                                    

 11:15-12:00-Music Rehearsal                                 

12:00-5:00 Percussion (lunch provided, percussion only)

Saturday (Aug 11)—

8:30-2:00 –Car Wash (New Location—Ada Ford)

(Sign up for times next week.  We will have a tent this year to wash under!)

5:00-7:00—Band Camp’s Over Party!  (Location, Map, & Details given next week.) 

Perry, My Hero

The following account is Smitty's kidney issues from Perry's point of view.

The night was like any normal Tuesday evening.  Smitty returned from Bible study and was settled into her house watching some Olympic activity.  I do recall Smitty getting angry at once of the announcers when they mentioned a female swimmer of age 29 was really too old to be a competitive threat.  (Smitty is still convinced that she can find an Olympic sport she isn't too old for.) 

Sometime after midnight, I heard Smitty thrashing around the bathroom.  She was somewhere between vomiting and trying to kill a scorpion.  I decided to be the gentleman that I am, and kill the deadly creature while Smitty focused on her toilet.  I knew Smitty was sick when about 30 minutes later she crawled into the living room for a phone and called her parents.  I learned this summer that Smitty likes to be alone when she's sick.  I couldn't imagine her wanting an audience. 

When her parents arrived about 10 minutes later, it was quickly decided that Smitty needed to go to the hospital.  I volunteered to drive.  Her parents declined the invitation. However, when Smitty learned that her dad was going home sick and her mother would be driving, she secretly wanted me to escort her to the hospital. 

After much moaning and vomiting, the people at the ER finally got enough drugs in Smitty's system that she could talk in complete sentences instead of exasperated groans.  (Probably some of the exasperated groans was the fact that the ER asks the same questions over and over and over and over.) A CT scan soon revealed that poor Smitty had a kidney infection and some stones in her kidney's.  Smitty was given more drugs in the IV, meds for home, was told to drink a lot, and to rest. 

To the Percussion

Hey percussion!  In case you haven't heard, Dalton has taken a new job and will not be our clinician this year. :(

However, Mr. Brock Barrett (who some of you may have had as a bus driver or seen around campus--husband of the choir teacher) will be working with us this year.  However, since he is a school employee, he'll have to be at the same boring, I mean exciting, meetings that I must attend. Therefore, you will NOT have rehearsal on Thursday, August 9th.  We will discuss as a group during band camp when to make this day up.  You WILL be rehearsing on Tuesday & Wednesday afternoons (Aug 7-8).

Try-outs on Thursday!!!

Has it really been this long since I've blogged?  Wow.  Perry says he misses everyone.

Band camp starts THURSDAY.  Here are a few reminders.
1) School song should be memorized.  Please do the best you can.  If you cannot get it memorized, then play it with music.  You will not get as high a chair, of course, but at least I won't force you to eat worms during our lunches next week because you refused to play. (Note: this song has to be memorized for pep assemblies, ball games, etc.  You might as well just get it over with.)

2) Chromatic Scale....I see a few of you are freaking out over the "big kid" chromatic scale.  If you are in 10th-12th grade and trying out for honor bands, you have to know it so you might as well learn it.  First of all--YOU CAN USE YOUR MUSIC.  This does not have to be memorized.  Second, I will ask you to start on the lowest note that you can and play to the highest that you can and back down.  So for example, if Andrea can play three octaves up and down, but Neil can only play one octave yet they are both perfect, Andrea will get the higher chair and Neil will be dethroned.


Note to the newbies: Try-outs are not really that scarey.  I will only yell at you if you are Caleb and come in playing Iron Man.  The purpose of tryouts is to set the music for basketball tunes/marching, not for you to freak out and quit band. :)


Note to all:  We are doing uniform checkout on Thursday.  It is easier to try stuff on if you come wearing loose shorts/t-shirts instead of jeans and heavy clothes.  That way you can just slip uniforms on and off quickly as you find the "perfect" fit. (Yes Tommus, you must wear a shirt. I'm sorry.)

Kidnapped!!!

Today started out like any Sunday.  Church. Once the service was over, which went long because of the long winded preacher (which was me, but it was actually it was because it was communion Sunday), we headed to the beach. Typical Sunday island activity. 

The beach destination was Fifi Beach.  It is a rather secluded beach around a cliff.  It is a great place to go because 1) it is usually not crowded except for a few Japanese that go there as a tour a group for snorkeling 2) when they Japanese are there, they have a life guard 3) the snorkeling is really good 4) sometimes you see dolphins.

I have had a cold for a week now.  A few days I felt really crummy, but mostly it is head congestion and a sore throat.  Sadly, you can't dive when your head is stuffy, so we've just been going to the beach. (Perry was a little mad because he really wanted to dive.)  Since I'm trying not to get much water in my ears (ear ache), I just sat at the beach while Ashley snorkeled.  Perry was nice and stayed with me.

A couple of times I thought heard noises and turned back to look.  I didn't see anything, so I figured it was just Perry.  And then the next time I turned too look, Perry and all my stuff was gone! I was probably only 10 feet away from my stuff, but Perry had been platynapped.  The first thing I did was try to get Ashley back to shore, but she was in snorkel-land and couldn't hear me.  So, I yelled at the thief in the jungle.  I said things like "You are not a nice person"...."My dive mask leaks, you know" (it actually doesn't)...."You can take my camera but it isn't working properly and is really old" (that is true)..."What? You took my seashells? Seriously? We live on an island; get your own."..."It's not nice to steal on the Lord's day. I think that makes it worse."...I'm fairly positive he was still hiding in the jungle and heard me.

Eventually Ashley looked up and I motioned for her to come in and I took off to find the vehicle.  You see, they stole our keys...car keys, house keys, house sitting keys, etc....I was relieved to see no stolen vehicle and then when Ashley came, I explained that all our stuff was stolen...and yes, that meant our clothes.  I figured the person would probably dump our stuff once they picked through it and got anything worth anything.  So, I wanted to go around the cliff and search. But I was scared of getting Smittynapped.  Eventually, I saw a man with a kid going around the cliff, so I kind of followed them and then asked if they'd make sure no one killed me while I looked through the edge of the jungle for my stuff.  The man had already spotted some of it.

In one place I found my bag, my other swimming suit, my sunblock, my mask defogger, my shorts, my t-shirt, and my bag of shells.  Later, I found Ashley's shorts, shirt, and sunblock. (And rest assured, Perry was safe!) Sadly, they had unzipped Ashley shorts pocket and took the keys...along with my camera and dive mask/snorkel. 

 I found a local family having a BBQ on the beach, crashed their party, and called 911. (No one knew the phone number for the police.)  As the adventure unfolded we eventually had 4 cops show up in 2 cars (you'd think this was a high profile crime). The police were actually really funny and made the experience slightly more enjoyable.  Adding to all of this, we had a to get a tow truck (with another funny driver), which was also exciting, but expensive, and then break into my friend Ben's apartment so we could feed his cats since he's in the states and because my purse was locked inside.  I am now considering a life of crime since picking locks seems to be so easy.  (On a side note, breaking in to Ben's place was a lot of fun. Ashley, Pearl who is the pastor's wife, and I all dressed in black along with Tisoy who is the pastors son. On the way home, I asked if we could break into something else.  They laughed but did not stop at the bank I suggested.) 

Well, there may not be any cool pics posted for a while.  And I guess diving/snorkeling is out of the question. 

Ahhhhh...Band Trip Memories

I mostly wanted to post a few band trip pics so you could see how the crazy girls greeted me each night for room checks. 

For the band students...

You should have received your band camp packet.  In a few weeks, I hope to post a little more information, so please continue to check Perry & Smitty Blog after I return to Oklahoma.  What you need to know is the following:

• August 2nd is the day festivities begin. (I know you guys cannot wait to see me!) On Monday, August 6th, we will all travel to Camp Bond for a day of rehearsal, team building, swimming, food, and fun.  The cost for this day is $10/person.
• I did forgot to list that new students will need to pay approximately $50 during the first few weeks for their polo shirt & marching shoes.  Former students, you should have your shirt & shoes.  We do have a box of used shoes.  Anyone may look through these on a first come, first serve basis.
• Please do NOT let a lack of money keep you from coming to camp.  If you are in need of financial assistance, please talk to me when camp begins.  :)
• Tryout is the school song (Our Director) MEMORIZED and the chromatic scale for the full range of your instrument. 
• There was a question asked about $500 that was listed on one of the pages in the mailer. I have no idea what that refers to. I have looked through the letters I emailed our band parents to place in your packets, and my original does not show any large sums of money.  All students are welcome to bring me $500 for my shopping pleasure. However, my guess if that does exist on your copy it is a formatting difference between my document and Mrs. McGaha's. 
• You may contact me AFTER July 13th if you need to check out an instrument to practice.  If you already have an instrument--PRACTICE!

American Tanker

On Sunday, Ashley & I went on a boat dive. It was a two tank dive. First stop was American tanker and second stop Barracuda Rock.  Sadly, my hose on my regular started swelling and leaking when I hooked everything up for the second dive, so I got to do cannon balls off the boat while everyone else went diving.  (I am attempting to post a video at the end. If it works, my diving is a little off b/c I'm trying to figure out why my tank keeps moving around.)

Diving

After the treasure hunt (where I found no treasure--but got a cool t-shirt...and a jar of honey which was random), Ashley & I had air in our tanks, so we went diving with a half of tank. (Hey, I don't have much money this summer, so I'm squeezing every penny out of everything.) 

 Above:  One can even show allegiance to my 'boys under water.  Here is an underwater GO POKES!  (If you notice, I'm missing a glove.  I lost it on the way out to the dive site.)

 Above:  This is me saying, "Where are we? I'm lost. Are we going to die?"  Actually, it's kind of impossible to get lost on this dive site.  I don't really know what I was doing. 

 Above:  Nemo left the band bus and is in Guahan.

 Above:  Until tonight, when I'd upload the pics, they blogger site would flip them for me. I don't know what it stopped. But I think I look better at this angle anyway. 

 Above: I was doing my best to pretend I was sleeping on the floor of the ocean. But, the silly fish kept swimming in front of my face. 

Above:  Ashley & I at the end of our dive. 

Which meal would you choose?

Old Man By the Sea.

I took a little hop back to Saipan for a couple of days and a couple of friends and I went hiking down to Old Man by the Sea.  (See rock formation below that looks like an old man.)  I was hoping to find treasure, but nothing that will keep me from working next year. :)  It had recently been raining and it was a very muddy hike down and back. Thankfully, over the years, some hikers have added ropes that we could pull ourselves up without have to swim the mud cliffs.

Brown Tree Snake

My friend Ben is off-island so we are feeding his cats.  As Ashley was locking up, I said I'd go throw the food container in the dumpster.  As we were pulling out of the parking lot, the lights on the van caught something move under the dumpster---a brown tree snake.  For those of you like me who grew up in Oklahoma, snakes aren't that big of deal. Sure we don't like them (or at least my dad and I don't), but it's not as if the world ends each time we see one.  Or if one is spotted, it doesn't make front page news.  On the islands, snakes are a rarity.  Most islands are snake free.  The brown tree snake was introduced into Guam in Guam in 1952 from either PNG or AUS and was responsible for taking out almost the entire bird population.  On surrounding islands (like Saipan) they have the no symbol (the circle with a line through it diagonally) and a brown tree snake in it.  Saipan checks every plane landing from Guam for snakes.  After I had braved the great outdoors from the van and took a pic of the snake under the dumpster, we were about to drive off, when the headlights caught another glimmer of something.  TWO more snakes were in the fence.  I have seen 6 brown tree snakes total. one was in a cage at a tourist attraction. One I ran over with my car in my yard...and three were in fences with a fourth next to a fence.  Perhaps Guam should just take down all the fences. 

Diving

I went diving today.  It was super murky and the camera went dead after a few shots.  I saw a thousand nemos (or seemed like it), but the camera was already dead. I dive tomorrow, so maybe I'll get more pics.  I'm working on a way to bring Perry diving. Keep your fingers crossed!!!

VBS!

I know that it looks like all Perry and I do is go to the beach, travel to various islands, find ourselves in trouble, but in reality I come to work with my church.  I have spent 4 years living in Guam/Saipan as a volunteer missionary and five summers helping with island ministry.  My official job is to conduct youth retreats.  On some of the islands, minimum wage is as low as $1.25. Plane tickets are regular super-ridiculous price.  Therefore, it is impossible to have a District wide church camp. My job is to take the church camp to the other islands.  In my spare time I do other things like preach on Sundays, run VBS, host Bible studies, etc.  Then in my spare-spare time I do all my crazy adventures.  All this is to say...check out Perry with some of the kiddos tonight at VBS.

Guam Adventure Day--Talafofo Falls

Another segment of Guam adventure day was a trip to Talafofo Falls.  This is home to the only cable car on island. It is also near the cave of Sgt. Yokoi who was a Japanese soldier that hid in the jungles of Guam until his capture in 1972--28 years after WWII ended. This place would be great if they let you swim.

 

Guam Adventure Day--Lookouts

Today on Guam Adventure Day, we had to make a few stops to grab some great photos of the views.  Most of the pictures taken below were within a few miles of the school I worked.