Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday the 7th
Friday was uber-jampacked. After classes, I showed up at the band hall for march-around. March-around is where a large (volunteer) portion of the band goes around campus and plays at different spots the night before a home game to get everyone amped. Shortly after that hour-long excursion, I was scheduled to play with a group of section leaders at the hispanic Texas-Exes event at the alumni center...meh. When that was over it was around 9:30-10:00. Alice and her friend Kate were due in before midnight so I had some time to clean the apartment. I have to say that my apartment looked much better for it. Maybe that girl should come visit more... In any case, Alice got there around midnight and toured my apartment.
Saturday was a predicted whirlwind: the season opener vs. UNT. I hadn't been that excited since anticipating Al's arrival the night before! Saturday morning we woke up and went to Kirby Lane for brunch. I had french toast and hard-boiled eggs(even though I ordered soft-boiled) . I though I'd all but one the best-tasting-breakfast competition when Kate stepped up with her 1,2 combination of superb veggie omelet and gingerbread pancakes. Shafted. After that, we proceeded to walk down the drag to the Co-op to get Kate and Alice new UT t-shirts for the game. As we were walking out, we discovered that every purchase came with a grilled hot dog out back... I couldn't refuse. Now waddling back to the car, we were on our way to band practice. After picking up Sheena, Alice dropped us off at the band hall. Gameday rehearsal went well. Our show for the game was Rocky Point Holiday and Appalachian Spring. I got a little nervous during our run-through or pre-game when my row was creeping 3 or 4 steps out of line! I fixed the problem: they weren't paying attention. After rehearsal was, you guessed it, dinner! I didn't think I was that hungry, but somehow managed an entire plate of BBQ. potato salad, beans, and bread. It was nice to have a break at dinner for an couple of hours, because the next several hours were one continuous energy explosion! right before visualization Maegan and Damon came by to say hello. I was excited to see them both and was sad when I had to run to visualization. Oh by the way, visualization is where the band sits in uniform and sings through the entire game... all of it. Following visualization was inspection and then line-up for marchdown. I have to say that the march down to the stadium and march back to the band hall are two of my most favorite parts of LHB because it's just pure fun. If you want to see, well, you'll just have to come to a game. The game was none other than perfect. The defense held UNT's Cobbs (last year's NCAA leading rusher) to -1 yards; that's right negative one yards. Vince Young proved to everyone that he is definitely ready to take the team to the Orange Bowl; as did Cedric Benson with his 182 rushing yards. I could go on about how even our third string QB got as many yards as UNT's entire team (38), but I'll spare you. 65-0 is good enough for me in a season opener! Following the game we went to Katz's, where I feasted in a french dip and eggs benedict... mmm mmm good. With all of that great food and football I slept mighty well.
Sunday we met my apartment to go to lunch for my dad's birthday. We were originally going to the Clay Pit (fantastic Indian food) but they weren't open. Neither was the mexican place my dad new of... boo. We ended up going to Houston's (score!). I had a great seared sashimi tuna salad and Alice had one of the best tasting cheeseburgers I've ever had in my life... seriously. I said my goodbyes after lunch to my parents and Hunter. Alice, Kate, and I decided to go swimming at the Hotel with Lee, his new fiancee, and her son, Henry. Did I not mention that Alice's dad was here with us weekend? Well he's the Chancellor of the entire UNT system so he kinda had to be here. He was responsible for everyone's tickets as well- thanks! The pool felt great (it was on the roof of the high-rise hotel!). Henry and I rough-housed a bit, and then I just relaxed in the hot tub... aaaahhhhhh. After the stint at the pool, we all went to go eat a the original Kirby Lane (actually on Kirby Ln.). Lee, Margaret, and Henry had to leave early so that they could catch the bats under the Congress bridge at dusk. Alice, Kate, and I, on the otherhand, stayed and enjoyed the awesome food and horrificly terrible service (he got an 8% tip)... yea that bad. Sadly, from there Alice and Kate dropped me of at my apartment and headed back to Dallas. That evening, I went over to Jon Michael's and hung out with Charlie.
Monday was nice and slow. I didn't really get moving until about 1:00. I went to eat lunch at Jester and then went up stairs to get Jon Michael. We had discussed seeing a movie the night before. I banged on his door until he got up and answered (I know- I'm a jerk like that); it was, after all, 2:00. We were checking email when Aaron barged in fresh from San Antonio. We were recruited to carry loads in from Robbie's car (Aaron and Robbie had ridden together). The five of us went to Dobie mall and ate pizza and gyro and decided not to see a movie but instead just hang out watch the meaning of life and play poker. My strategy of loosing terribly in the first game and then coming back to win it all in the second worked out just as I had planned. To quote Aaron "He's playing differently than before!" I then returned to the apartment and to bed.
Tuesday was annoying. I had to wake up early to go to the music building to practice piano scales for my theory lab quiz. When I got to theory we had a pop quiz over something we'd done only once- scale identification by ear (harder than it sounds). I wasn't truly annoyed until I found out that I had not been picked for grading today. See, here's the thing: every time we have a quiz (non-pop) in theory lab, she doesn't have everyone perform for a grade, just some. I don't like this at all because I want as many chances for good grades as possible (makes an angry face). So, not only did I take a pop quiz, I wasn't allowed to take the one I prepared for... grrrrrrr. I tried to calm myself down by going to get some chairs. Jon Michael and Aaron's dorm is bigger and roomier than last year, and because I'm over there a lot, I thought I'd bring a place to sit. Also, I needed a bar stool for our kitchen bar area. I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and got both (talk to me for details). Since theory lab was my only class today, LHB was next in line. I got there only to find out that charts for the new show were not going to be available until the start of rehearsal. The reason this bothers me is because I have to look for mistakes in my section's charting so that there isn't any confusion come drill learning time. I would normally trust the drill writing, but last time he made a mistake that caused new inexperienced marchers to set forms and do difficult things that they shouldn't have to worry about. WELL, turns out that he made that same mistake again. This time, however, I caught it and made sure he fixed it before we learned drill... it was still annoying. I think what annoyed me most is that I had Alice with me all weekend and now she's gone. Whether or not I say it often, I miss her when she's not here... a lot.
Saturday was a predicted whirlwind: the season opener vs. UNT. I hadn't been that excited since anticipating Al's arrival the night before! Saturday morning we woke up and went to Kirby Lane for brunch. I had french toast and hard-boiled eggs(even though I ordered soft-boiled) . I though I'd all but one the best-tasting-breakfast competition when Kate stepped up with her 1,2 combination of superb veggie omelet and gingerbread pancakes. Shafted. After that, we proceeded to walk down the drag to the Co-op to get Kate and Alice new UT t-shirts for the game. As we were walking out, we discovered that every purchase came with a grilled hot dog out back... I couldn't refuse. Now waddling back to the car, we were on our way to band practice. After picking up Sheena, Alice dropped us off at the band hall. Gameday rehearsal went well. Our show for the game was Rocky Point Holiday and Appalachian Spring. I got a little nervous during our run-through or pre-game when my row was creeping 3 or 4 steps out of line! I fixed the problem: they weren't paying attention. After rehearsal was, you guessed it, dinner! I didn't think I was that hungry, but somehow managed an entire plate of BBQ. potato salad, beans, and bread. It was nice to have a break at dinner for an couple of hours, because the next several hours were one continuous energy explosion! right before visualization Maegan and Damon came by to say hello. I was excited to see them both and was sad when I had to run to visualization. Oh by the way, visualization is where the band sits in uniform and sings through the entire game... all of it. Following visualization was inspection and then line-up for marchdown. I have to say that the march down to the stadium and march back to the band hall are two of my most favorite parts of LHB because it's just pure fun. If you want to see, well, you'll just have to come to a game. The game was none other than perfect. The defense held UNT's Cobbs (last year's NCAA leading rusher) to -1 yards; that's right negative one yards. Vince Young proved to everyone that he is definitely ready to take the team to the Orange Bowl; as did Cedric Benson with his 182 rushing yards. I could go on about how even our third string QB got as many yards as UNT's entire team (38), but I'll spare you. 65-0 is good enough for me in a season opener! Following the game we went to Katz's, where I feasted in a french dip and eggs benedict... mmm mmm good. With all of that great food and football I slept mighty well.
Sunday we met my apartment to go to lunch for my dad's birthday. We were originally going to the Clay Pit (fantastic Indian food) but they weren't open. Neither was the mexican place my dad new of... boo. We ended up going to Houston's (score!). I had a great seared sashimi tuna salad and Alice had one of the best tasting cheeseburgers I've ever had in my life... seriously. I said my goodbyes after lunch to my parents and Hunter. Alice, Kate, and I decided to go swimming at the Hotel with Lee, his new fiancee, and her son, Henry. Did I not mention that Alice's dad was here with us weekend? Well he's the Chancellor of the entire UNT system so he kinda had to be here. He was responsible for everyone's tickets as well- thanks! The pool felt great (it was on the roof of the high-rise hotel!). Henry and I rough-housed a bit, and then I just relaxed in the hot tub... aaaahhhhhh. After the stint at the pool, we all went to go eat a the original Kirby Lane (actually on Kirby Ln.). Lee, Margaret, and Henry had to leave early so that they could catch the bats under the Congress bridge at dusk. Alice, Kate, and I, on the otherhand, stayed and enjoyed the awesome food and horrificly terrible service (he got an 8% tip)... yea that bad. Sadly, from there Alice and Kate dropped me of at my apartment and headed back to Dallas. That evening, I went over to Jon Michael's and hung out with Charlie.
Monday was nice and slow. I didn't really get moving until about 1:00. I went to eat lunch at Jester and then went up stairs to get Jon Michael. We had discussed seeing a movie the night before. I banged on his door until he got up and answered (I know- I'm a jerk like that); it was, after all, 2:00. We were checking email when Aaron barged in fresh from San Antonio. We were recruited to carry loads in from Robbie's car (Aaron and Robbie had ridden together). The five of us went to Dobie mall and ate pizza and gyro and decided not to see a movie but instead just hang out watch the meaning of life and play poker. My strategy of loosing terribly in the first game and then coming back to win it all in the second worked out just as I had planned. To quote Aaron "He's playing differently than before!" I then returned to the apartment and to bed.
Tuesday was annoying. I had to wake up early to go to the music building to practice piano scales for my theory lab quiz. When I got to theory we had a pop quiz over something we'd done only once- scale identification by ear (harder than it sounds). I wasn't truly annoyed until I found out that I had not been picked for grading today. See, here's the thing: every time we have a quiz (non-pop) in theory lab, she doesn't have everyone perform for a grade, just some. I don't like this at all because I want as many chances for good grades as possible (makes an angry face). So, not only did I take a pop quiz, I wasn't allowed to take the one I prepared for... grrrrrrr. I tried to calm myself down by going to get some chairs. Jon Michael and Aaron's dorm is bigger and roomier than last year, and because I'm over there a lot, I thought I'd bring a place to sit. Also, I needed a bar stool for our kitchen bar area. I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and got both (talk to me for details). Since theory lab was my only class today, LHB was next in line. I got there only to find out that charts for the new show were not going to be available until the start of rehearsal. The reason this bothers me is because I have to look for mistakes in my section's charting so that there isn't any confusion come drill learning time. I would normally trust the drill writing, but last time he made a mistake that caused new inexperienced marchers to set forms and do difficult things that they shouldn't have to worry about. WELL, turns out that he made that same mistake again. This time, however, I caught it and made sure he fixed it before we learned drill... it was still annoying. I think what annoyed me most is that I had Alice with me all weekend and now she's gone. Whether or not I say it often, I miss her when she's not here... a lot.
