So Liesl and I just walked me through the process of blogging. Not that I couldn't already have figured it out, but she wanted to
MAKE SURE I knew how to update my blog ... and then [of course] she wanted me to
update my blog!!!
K, sis. This one's for you ;)
Alex has now graduated elementary school. That happened WAY too fast. Course skipping a year didn't make anything slower, but regardless, here he is, summer before [gulp] SEVENTH grade ... Junior high! ... Middle school!!! ... The land of hormones and mistakes and in thinking that one's friends know more than one's parents ...
Sigh ...
Course Alex is smart enough (so he keeps telling me) to recognize if his brain starts to 'turn off' (as I've been telling my kids will inevitably happen once they each become teenagers), plus he says that since he is a year younger than his friends, he will see the signs of what they're doing so he can know what not to do when he gets to be 'that age' ... Uh-huh, we'll see.
Meanwhile, all his best buds have signed up for band. What does Alex do? He signs up for band (it's coming already--cringe cringe--I can feel it!) ...
What things are awesome about his signing up for band are numerous, so since I now have a blog [that I'm going to be better about updating (Yes, Liesl, I hear ya!)] I can list what's awesome ...
Since neither Roine nor I has ever been in band, I went in to talk with the teacher to see what the 'big deal' was, see what expenses and time requirements will be asked of US (not Alex, he just shows up, right? ;)), see if this is something that frankly we'd support ...
Alex's teacher is cool! When I first walked into the band room, here was this very cute and built guy sitting in what looked like the teacher's chair. I went up, and sure enough, Mr. Halverston is 'the man' (I had been told this guy had been the band teacher for years and all the kids loved him--tell me honestly right there, don't you all picture someone more like from Mr. Holland's Opus, or the "Inconceivable" teacher from Clueless; someone a little older, 'fuller', less hair, etc.?). I told him I didn't think he was the teacher, and he asked me if I had 'met' his expectations ... I believe at that point I may have blushed.
So anyway (who's reading this stuff??), Alex will be participating in three concerts this year, one in Winter, one in Spring, and then a themed concert next May. That's it. Besides that, for time constraints it will be like any other class. I can handle that.
He doesn't need to buy any uniforms. They don't do any marching or 'official' orchestration in jr hi. I can handle that.
I would need to provide some kind of instrument. Could be anything, but that part would be up to us. I asked Mr. H what he'd like Alex to play. I mentioned Alex was in ALL (GATE--gifted and talented and all that good stuff) and immediately he interrupted his own thought and asked, "So your son is bright?" I said yes. He said, "Then tell him to play the French horn. It's probably the most difficult instrument to learn, but if he's as bright as you say and can master it, he can get scholarships to pretty much any university he'd want! That's what I did. French horn is 'my' instrument (So now I'm thinking how can I 'convince' Alex to choose this instrument since there's cool potential there, PLUS since this is his teacher's instrument, the guy will be able to help Alex better ...)!" I can definitely handle this!
The only other things he said I'd need for Alex would be a music book, and to sign him up for Summer Band Camp for the next three weeks for $65. Meh. Driving 12 miles every day taking him to and fro for a lousy 50 minutes, paying for it? Ok sure, I'm grumbling, but I can handle it ...
I then approached Alex about what he thought he'd want to play. Mind you, I hadn't said a WORD to him, he'd never met his [dreamy] teacher, anything ... On his OWN, he said he wanted to do the French horn (major phew!). Then I tell him all about what Mr. H said about it, getting scholarships, what else would be required of him, etc. Big smiles all around. He's so excited!
So now to see about finding a French horn ... My brother Kyle's wife Rebecca's grandfather (get all that?) MAKES instruments for a living. She personally owns who-knows-how-many, including a French horn. I approached Bec about using hers (to save us anywhere from $70 to rent from Mr. H up to actually buying one for $3-4,000 ...). She wanted to make sure Alex would take good care of it. I promised he would. She hesitantly agreed.
So now we have a French horn. I took him to get the music book ($9), a new mouthpiece ($41) and a little brush with which to clean the mouthpiece ($1.50) ... Then I take him to his first class ... He walks in lugging this HUGE black case in one hand and his book in the other. I come back an hour later and ask him what he did on his first day. He said he'd show me when we got home.
We get home (here comes the punchline which I will remember for the rest of my life!). He whips out the horn. He says, "Hey, Mom! Wanna see what I learned how to do on my first day? -- Make a noise!" and preceeds to blow: "fffffffffffffffffffff-ooo-a-oo-aaa-ahhhhhh!"
This is going to be a great year :)
I'm so excited!!!!