Snatches of Summer

I have a few minutes this morning before we head off to do our Sunday thing. The last time I wrote, Tony was just about ready to head off into the greatest adventure of his life. Well, three weeks have passed and he is back home. How did it go?

In three weeks, they traveled about 2500 miles, traveled through at least 17 states (he claims 20; I'm not going to dispute him), sang 15 concerts, stayed in three hotels, one resort (for three nights) and 7 host homes (one for two nights), visited Gettysburg, Washington, D.C., Colonial Williamsburg, the St. Louis Arch, Disney World, an ice-cream factory, swam in the Atlantic Ocean, and stopped at countless rest areas along the way. He grew about a 1/2 inches and lost a bit of weight during his adventure as well.

The choir arrived home last Thursday evening with a police and firetruck escort into the arms of ecstatic parents, relatives, siblings and friends. After a potluck dinner, the boys (who were told they were "still on tour") did their pre-concert tour jobs with great efficiency, and gave us a wonderful concert. Their singing was so effortless!

Angelo and I were thrilled to have our church pastor and another couple come to the concert and to hear Tony sing for their first time. They were VERY impressed.

After the concert, there were the staff thank-yous, the last bit of mail to deliver, awards and service certificates to hand out; and finally, uniforms and suitcases to be checked back in. By the time we got Tony home, it was about 11:00 at night.

He's not done yet. This coming Tuesday, the National touring choir has an all-day recording session to record all their music. Once I pick him up early in the evening, the 2008-2009 National Touring Choir will be history.

So, what about his future? I'm leaving that up to him. He may choose to stay in the National Touring Choir for another year, or he may audition for the International Touring Choir. I haven't really approached that subject yet; there is time to talk about that later.

So, Tony is home this week recovering - catching up on his sleep and working to get rid of the stuffy nose he came home with. Then next Sunday, a week from today, he is off to summer camp in a nearby state. As a treat, I'm taking both him and DeeDee on the train. Angelo will meet us and take us the rest of the way to camp. DeeDee has been on a light-rail train, but never a long-distance passenger train before, and I'm excited for her. Tony has been several times.

Church Outing was actually a little bit disappointing this year. Many of my friends weren't there for one reason or another; for some it was finances, for others it was a forced commitments to be in other places (thereby breaking prior arrangements that allowed them to be at church outing); and, in one case, one of my friends stayed away because of the negative influence she saw in her son after church outing last year. I did not get to any of the day-time classes, though I did get to most of the evening meetings. There were four speakers over the course of Church Outing; and three of them fed my soul.

I put DeeDee into the preschool class this year, even though she is still a year too young. She did well there. Because she was too young, I told the leaders that I would stay and help out where ever I was needed. They needed help, too. I quickly discovered that they were appointed to the position of preschool leader; they did NOT volunteer for the job, and it showed. Very little in the way of decorations, poorly planned and disorganized programs, anger, disagreements... A few moms quickly picked up on the discontent and worked together to bring joy and enthusiasm into the program.

DeeDee did enjoy herself; and with two classes a day plus baby sitting at night, she was one exhausted little girl at the end of the week. There was the water slide; watermelon feed; an ice-cream feed; special music with her class for the adults; playing with friends; "shopping" at the campus store... she, too was exhausted at the end of her adventure.

So now, we look forward...this week we will be getting ready for Tony's summer camp; a family vacation is coming up the end of July/first part of August; Tony's choir camp, and school starting.

Right now the plans for school include Tony's tour partner from choir. Chris will be joining Tony in fifth grade at my house this year. We are all really excited about that. We aren't sure yet if Alex is coming back to our house. It will probably be another month before we know for sure.

Snatches of my summer so far...