Band concert night

This is the weekend of the big band trip. Trevor did not get his grade up to go. He did perform tonight in the year end concert. He did a wonderful job. I took him to DQ for a late dinner afterwards. He looked so nice in his white dress shirt and black pants. He squeezed into my Dad's size 13 black dress shoes. He said they were tight but they sure looked nice on him.

Being in percussion and a big kid, he played the crash cymbals and the drums and the triangle. There were four pieces of music performed. He did a wonderful job. One instrument was forgotten in the music room and had to be left out of a piece as a result. Trevor said it was a wood shaker. I could see him signaling the teacher who signaled back just to go on without it. The audience couldn't wait. The audience wouldn't even know the difference. One song had pauses and mistakenly some of the audience thought it was the end of the piece and started clapping. It was a long piece, but the students did a lovely job. I tell the boys to always wait to make sure the piece is over or count the parts so you know when the breaks are versus the end of a piece.

Trevor is also teaching a seventh grader the parts as his substitute for the trip he doesn't get to go on. I do have some guilt about his not going on the trip, but the Ds and Fs and not turning in assignments is just unacceptable. There would have been no question he would have gone if he had the grades.

Riley came with me to the concert. We had to twist his arm to get him to go. I called Tom on the phone and had him speak to Riley. I don't know what his father says to the boys, but they always fall into line after a conversation with Father. By ending the night at DQ, I am hopeful that the next time Riley will attend without so much resistance, knowing there is the likelihood of a treat at the end.

The band and choir teacher is being transferred due to budget cuts. She will be doing elementary next year. Such a waste of talent. She is awesome and wonderful. I am glad the district is making an effort to keep her around. Though it probably isn't a perfect solution by a long shot. She is low on the seniority list even though she has incredible talent. She has the only class Trevor is doing marginally well in. She received a standing ovation at the end of the concert, and a big gift basket with a card to a spa and a huge card signed by her students. The parent population knows her worth.

I signed an extension on our offer for one more week yesterday. We have still not heard an acceptance from the bank. Our agent said today that even after the payoff is presented, the offer moves on to the investors for consideration. There is a first and a second, so multiple investors. She didn't know how long that stage might take. And hear I thought we were getting close, within a day or two of knowing. She said they could still accept or reject or counter. The market has fallen another 5%. The blackberries are climbing the house. The basement has been leaking due to a hole in a down spout that hasn't been fixed. I am thinking if they wait much longer we will make our extension with a counter $15,000 less. We will have to move twice if it gets much closer. That will cost us money. The yard needs serious work, more than it did two months ago when we made our offer. That will cost us money. Plus the things we already know will cost us money to get fixed on the inside of the house.


I will have to get serious about packing soon. If we can't move into the big house then I will need to get a storage container and really pack things. I was just planning on doing a little at a time in a u haul of the easy stuff. Then having the movers for the big heavy stuff. But if we have to move twice then I will need to really sort and pack.

Do you realize how much stuff is in a 3000 square foot house. Moving to 5000 was a piece of cake. Moving to a smaller rental could be a nightmare. I don't think we have time for plan B or C now. Not that Tom liked plan C, the dive. He is pretty apposed to it these days. Personally, I still love the thought. I told my sister to think of it as if she could live in Lake Oswego or Dunthorp, even if it was the worst house in the neighborhood. Wouldn't that make it worth while. She admitted she could put up with a lot for the neighborhood. That is what the dive is all about.

Plan B has its own difficulties in that I don't think there is enough time for a person living in their home to find a place and move out by the end of the month, which is what we need to have happen, if we were to purchase another house that has someone living in it.

I look around my office thinking I need to sort through our books. But every book I pick up I think the boys would really enjoy reading or that it looks like something Tom or I might like to read when time permits. How am I going to get through the whole house.

I filled the enlarged garbage can for garbage day in my effort to make a dent. I have had delivered a bigger container so I can really get to tossing. I also filled the yard waste bin completely with weeds. I have really made an effort on getting the weeds under control. I will probably have bark delivered once the weeds are gone. I had more weeds than would fit in a couple of yard waste containers. I have the plan to fill the container completely each week until the chore is done. The rain is working in my favor as the weeds are easier to pull out from the roots with the wet soil, if I can catch a window when its not too rainy.

Plan D is a rental for a short while until we figure out what house we are buying for sure.