In the midst of it all

It's winter here - very much winter. In the midst of all the snow we have gotten, are getting, and will be getting in the very near future, the holiday season marches on including choirboy concerts.

We were in the thick of it right now as far as Tony's concert season is concerned. He had a concert a week ago tonight that we carpooled to; Tony had a dress rehearsal last Wednesday fora big Cantata that he is performing right now, even as I type. This is the first of three times the boys will perform the piece. This is complete with 60 piece orchestra and full adult chorale.

Last Saturday the boys had two concerts; one at 2 and the other at 7. Both concerts were very well attended and very much enjoyed, though Tony couldn't stop yawning during the second concert.

This weekend the boys will sing the cantata twice more; once on Friday night and once on Saturday night. Then Sunday morning they sing twice. Then we are done with the holiday music and have a small break before they hit it hard on their tour music.

Today was wild! Dentist appointment at 12:00 for Tony and me; we had to leave at 11:30 for that. The snow had just started falling as we drove out of the driveway. Back home for a jackets-on lunch and out the door again for a slow drive to another community for Tony's piano lesson. From there it was on to the choir building with Mr. Artistic Director in tow. Drop Mr. AD and Tony off at the choir building before heading into town to get Subway sandwiches.

When I returned to the choir building to drop Tony's food off for him, I got DeeDee out of the van and had her and the food in my arms. I took a couple steps toward the building when I realized I needed my purse to take care a bit of business. I turned around and took a step back to the van when down I went. I had slipped on some snow covered ice and landed on my seat with my leg tucked up under me and covered in snow. Not fun. I brushed myself off, got my purse and went into the building to deliver the food. After taking care of business and seeing the boys off in the bus, DeeDee and I went back to the van for the trip home; only to realize I had forgotten to pick up DeeDee's yogurt and juice for her kid's pack meal.

I promised DeeDee I would stop at the store to pick up the forgotten items after we stopped at Miss Mary's to drop off the bit of business at her place (A Christmas present for Tony she bought with my help).

After a brief visit with her, we left and headed to the grocery store to purchase the promised items and a few other things.

As I buckled DeeDee back into her car seat, I inadvertently pressed up against the panic button on my van's remote control, causing the van to honk. I quickly grabbed the keys from my pocket, stopped the horn from honking and dropped the keys into the front seat, not knowing I had also locked the doors.

I finished buckling DeeDee in, closed the sliding door and grabbed the handle of the front door. It was locked.

It's windy and snowing, it's zero degrees out, my daughter is in the van, which is not on, and I'm stuck outside. Fortunately my cell phone was in my coat pocket so I grabbed it and called 9-1-1. Within a few minutes two community service officers showed up with lock picking equipment. They got me into the van quickly enough. After I warmed up enough I was able to drive home, where I am very glad to be.