Monday, August 31, 2009

A Chronicle of My Week at Orchestra Camp

On Sunday I got everything I needed together and headed over to the Nancy and Larry's house. We were going to be camping in a camper because the cabin the they usually rent wasn't available. I quite enjoyed the camper and where we were located, more then I think I would have liked the cabin. Tasha and I got our stuff loaded up and soon we were on our way.

It was an unpleasant drive to Renier. Larry drove the camper and Nancy drove the van. It was not a fun drive though because it rained hard the whole way over. :( Once we arrived, because it was so wet, we had a hard time getting the camper set up. :(

We did finally end up getting situated. After we ate we got ready to go to the Renier community building for the first part of the orchestra camp.

In the Symphonia--junior orchestra, our conductor was Karen. Nancy asked her where I should sit, and after learning I could read music, Karen told me to sit first chair in the first violin section. I did quiet well, and had fun. My stand partner, Marcha, said I did well.

In the regular orchestra (the advanced group) I played with the second violins. Even though I could hear all the different sounds in the symphonia, I was not ready for everything put together. I was so overwhelmed and got so tense my stand partner, Kerstin, had to keep telling me to relax. I made it through the evening, even though it was quite overwhelming.

We went back to the camper and I got to meet some of Larry and Nancy's family. Their daughter Theresa, her husband Rocky, and their sons Tim and Marcus came up for orchestra camp. They had quite a long drive, all the way from the cities!

When it was time for bed, Tasha and I slept on a pull-out bed in the couch. It was a very comfortable bed for being a pull-out!

Monday was a fairly uneventful day. I worked on the music and remembering names. We did the symphonia in the community building, but had to go to a different location for the orchestra. I did a much better job then Sunday, knowing what to expect made a big difference. Scott, the conductor also went slower. :)

Tuesday, what was Tuesday?

I think besides practicing music I played Ticket to Ride and was outside quite a bit. After the symphonia and the orchestra, several of us went to Idlewood for a game night. We played Mad Gab, and got quite a few laughs out of that.

Wednesday morning I woke up not feeling well. Since having the wind in my face and usually helps, I asked Theresa if I could use her bike and then just went back and forth on the road. By the time I was done riding I felt much better.

I think Wednesday was the first day I went swimming. I don't remember for sure though. The Waster was really clean so it was nice to swim in.

After orchestra, there was another game night at Idlewood. Tasha, Marcus, and I went, but it wasn't as fun as the night before.

It was windy all day Thursday and Friday, but that didn't stop Marcus and me from swimming. I think it was around nine-thirty we jumped and got called crazy by Rocky. :) We didn't stay in long, but it was fun while it lasted.

Thursday afternoon, the second violins had a sectional. After that was over, I went to Idlewood for a little bit and then I went back to the community center with Karen and helped her set up Bingo.

Karen had made a Bingo game for stringed instruments. Beautiful Bows, Interesting Instruments, Something Notes, Great Composers, and I don't remember what O was. I helped get the game set up then once enough people got there we started playing. I liked her game, because we could make our own sheet.

After playing it was time to start the symphonia. After orchestra was done everybody went to Idlewood, this time for a potluck. Most of the food was good, but some of it looked good and tasted awful. :(

Tim, Theresa, Tasha, and I were sitting with Sami, a girl they all knew from last year. Sami had a story for everything. It was funny to watch her eyes light up as she'd think of something else to say. Finally I told Tim we should just throw out random words and see what kind of stories we could get. The first phrase Tim threw out was Pigs in a Blanket. Sami though for a moment, then said she didn't think she had any stories about Guinna Pigs. That set Sami off on a whole circle of stories. We went form Guinna pigs to kittens to dogs to a dog who liked to steal her blankets and wrap up in them like a "pig in a blanket." We got quite a laugh out of that. :)

Friday it was still windy, but it wasn't rainy and gray. It was nice and sunny. :) We went swimming again that morning. Tim jumped in the water and jumped right back out because it was cold, but Marcus and I stayed in quite a while. After I climbed out of the water I had planned to be done, but later that afternoon when it was warmer we went swimming again. A not so pleasant part of the day was when I got stung by a wasp. :( Excepting the sting, Friday was a good day.

Soon it was time to get ready for the concert. Tasha's mom came to get her so we got all of Tasha's stuff moved to her mom's car and then we headed on over to the community center for the concert.

There was a good turnout. Almost every seat of 110 or so was taken. I think there might have been people outside and in the kitchen too. The program said I played only in the symphonia, even though I played in the orchestra too. :( Oh well, it's not a big deal to me. We did a good job in the concert, it all sounded really nice. I think my favorite of all the songs was the one we played at the end of the symphonia, a Sanoran Sunset. It was a really pretty piece, especially with all the parts. It was just beautiful. *sigh*

After the concert was over we helped clean up and once that was done we went to Dairy Queen.

I woke up early on Saturday to an awful smell. I was tired and hadn't been feeling the best and the smell was just the last straw and I felt really icky. It took a while, but after the smell cleared away and I got busy I felt much better.

There was pretty much no wind that day and it would have been perfect for swimming, but I already had my stuff packed away. Not long after that we headed for home.

Even though it was a really long week I had fun and am glad I went.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Hello all! I just got back from a week at orchestra camp. Stories to come.... :)

Friday, August 7, 2009

A Cooking Mishap

Has anybody ever made No-bake Chocolate Oatmeal Flour cookies? I might have made a new cookie! I was making No-bakes and when it was time to add the oatmeal I was two cups shy. :( So I used flour instead. The little girls are scraping out the pan, so I assume the cookies will turn out. :)