4th Festivities

Ahhh....it sure is good to be home! I'm going to try and really enjoy this week here before I leave on Saturday...for the rest of the month. 

Our family had a great time up in Bar Harbor for the weekend. As I mentioned in my previous post, my mom, dad, brother, aunt and her boyfriend, and I went for a hike up Acadia Mountain. We did Flying Mountain last year which is pretty much just a big hill, so this was more strenuous, but more fun too! X kept being crazy and jumping off of rocks and scaring people and pretending to be a monkey while caw-ing like a crow. Don't ask me what was going through that boy's mind, because I don't know. On both the way down and up there were some nice rock ledges to scramble up and down which was quite fun, although that was the time that I was glad that I had left my camera at home, else it probably would have been smushed onto the rocks. It was very nice and windy at the top which was a relief, so we stayed and rested up there for a bit. It was very cool to look all around and see all the other mountains in the area. It's crazy how many mountains fit onto Mount Desert Island...

We went out to dinner that night which was nice, and then for the 4th we started out the day by going into town for the big 4th of July parade. Who knew that Bar Harbor put on such a long and awesome parade? There were all sorts of mini racecars and floats and firetrucks and clowns and such. plus they all throw candy and because I have been marching in parades with the band for so long a had forgotten how much fun it is to dive for the candy thrown into the streets. Bwahaha. One of life's greatest pleasures. 

After the parade, there were festivities in the park so I had some french fries, a cherry and blue raspberry snowcone and I also got a wicked cool wallet before we left for the campground again.  The afternoon was pretty chill, we went swimming, read books and lounged around and ended the day with a meal of chicken salad sandwiches (or fake chicken in the case of my mom and I), potato salad, and corn on the cob with homemade strawberry shortcake for dessert. YUM!

We headed home after that and so now I'm just chilling here this week before band camp starts, doing laundry and a whole lot of practicing. Somebody around here is shooting to get first chair, if you know what I mean... ;)

A Brief Return

Hey everybody! It's me, Sally....remember?

I know, I know I've only been gone a week....

First off, let's have a round of applause for our guest posters this past week. *Claps* You guys all did a wonderful job, thanks so much, I really enjoyed reading your posts. And if you loved these guest posts, then you're in luck because we start another, longer, round of them next Saturday when I head off to band camp.

As for me, I had quite the awesome week at Pilgrim Lodge. I did a lot of music, and I actually led a workshop in more classical instrumental music with my arrangement of Bring Him Home. It was a LOT of hard work and I was glad to have a counselor to help me out a bit too because we really needed someone to conduct and I needed to play. Plus I know virtually nothing about stings, and he was a violin player so that helped a lot for the string players in my group. It was really really pretty at the performance, soft guitar chords, light eighth-noted piano with chords underneath, classical high trumpet melody (played wonderfully by yours truly), haunting harmony in the second trumpet, dark cello bass line, and sweeping violin and viola descant. It was really really amazing and a LOT of fun.
I also did a bunch of other stuff, like chapel services, some art projects, walk the labyrinth, eat ice cream, swim, and go out in the big yellow dory. I added a new instrument to my ever growing repertoire too. I learned how to play the mandolin! It was really fun, and it's really cute. Hmm...I wonder what will be on my Christmas list this year...

All in all it was a really great week. Yesterday though, was WAY too much driving. My mom picked me up at camp, we drove home which was a little over an hour, I had an hour at home then my mom and I had to drive another 45 minutes to my brother's All-Star baseball game which they won 14-4. Yay. Then we got in the car again and drove four hours up to a campground on Mount Desert Island where my grandparents are staying at a campground which Is where I am now.
It's windy and cold up here right now, so we're just sitting in the camper. Later though, my parents, my brother, my aunt, her boyfriend, and I are going to hike up Acadia Mountain which should be fun and hopefully warmer than it is here.

How have your weeks been?

And On That Note...

Well here we are, June 26, the day that I head off to camp and leave this blog at the mercy of the guest posters.

I'm very excited for camp today, I'm pretty sure that I've been bouncing off the walls for about a week, and today I've been even worse. Maybe it isn't such a great idea to let me drive to camp...I'm so excited, I might just floor the gas pedal which would NOT be so great at all...I'll try not to do that...I'd like to get to camp in one piece.

I also performed a solo in church this morning, a very nice arrangement of a hymn that I have always had a soft spot for, Shine, Jesus, Shine. I was very happy to find that it was in a book of trumpet and piano hymn arrangements that I bought last summer and decided that it would make a good solo piece. By the way, it went very well, thank you for asking.

So now that I am about an hour away from leaving, I suppose I should say goodbye now and go have some lunch...I'll miss you guys but don't worry! You haven't seen the last of Sally. I'll be popping in over the course of the next month whenever I come in reach of a computer to update you on my life and travels, but as you recall, the blog will not be lying inactive in my absence! I've got about twenty-five totally AWESOME guest posters to write and share some stuff about themselves on here and I expect that you show them all your very best behavior while I'm gone, LOL. While they're posting comment moderation will be off as they do not have the power to moderate comments, but word verification WILL be on, just to prevent spamming. OK?

Bye, everybody! Have fun with all the guest posts!

-Sally

Rainy Day Thoughts

It's actually pretty quiet in my house for once.

My brother and dad are off at baseball practice, my mom is in the living room playing some chill music and I'm just sitting here listening to the music, writing this post and watching the rain lightly fall down.

It's pretty nice to have a bit of relaxation.

Yesterday Olivia came over to spend the night. The original plan was to go to the beach today after our sleepover but we went nix-nay on plan A when I saw the weather forecast...and I'm glad we made that decision. Beach + rain = miserable.

So instead we hung out here and we ate enchiladas for dinner and jammed out for quite some time on guitar and vocals (Olivia) and trumpet (me). It was really fun. We also watched a couple of horror movies. Last night we watched  the 1983 film 'The Poltergeist' which was VERY VERY awesome-ly freaky, creepy, and scary, and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes those kind of movies. And also don't be fooled by its rating of 'PG'. It is most certainly more like PG-13 scary.

And my words of wisdom on the motto of this film:

IF YOU'RE GOING TO MOVE A GRAVEYARD, MOVE THE HEADSTONES AND THE BODIES.

This morning we also watched the more recent movie 'The Haunting In Connecticut' which is actually a true story and wicked creepy. It was very scary, but enjoyable. It included some pretty creepy stuff though like post-mortem photography (WHY would anyone want to take pictures of dead people?) and cutting off eyelids for necromancy and stuff. Very well done and a really gripping and suspenseful story, I highly recommend it to you as well.

And again, my words of wisdom to you:

DON'T DO CREEPY STUFF LIKE NECROMANCY AND CUTTING OFF PEOPLES EYELIDS AND SEANCES AND TALKING TO GHOSTS AND CREATING ECTOPLASM AND DON'T LIVE IN A HOUSE WHERE THESE THINGS HAVE HAPPENED AND YOU WILL BE FINE.

Quite simple things to follow actually, when you move graveyards, move the bodies, and don't do creepy stuff. This is what I learned at my sleepover last night.

Since Olivia went home, things have been pretty chill around here, like I said before. I had some practice up at church for a piece that I'm performing on Sunday, and I went to the library to get a bunch of books (obviously...) and I guess when I'm done I'll work on my packing for Pilgrim Lodge, which I am SO SO SO SO excited for and to which I wish I was going tomorrow instead of Sunday, but oh well. At least I don't have to wait until August, which would be torture. 

So yeah. Those are my rainy day thoughts.

Please take my words of wisdom to heart.

You don't want to get caught up in a horror movie.

Life isn't good....it's AWESOME

*happy sigh* Yesterday and this morning have totally been the best. Yesterday's classes were good, I had honors bio, band, french and gym, and there was no homework because of the long weekend ahead. I was in a very happy, bubbly, chatty mood and it was just an awesome day at school.

After school got out, I had about two hours of marching band. We just practiced music and then we went outside to do something really funny. During this hold set in the ballad we just added this visual choreography, and it's hilarious. We're like doing synchronized DANCING while playing our instruments. It's a pretty funny sight to see, and extremely hard to do without cracking up!

We got out of marching band at four, and at five I had four very good friends from band camp come over, and from now on I will refer to them as A, J, E and L. We hadn't seen each other since the end of July and so we were all talking a mile a minute and screaming happily. Later in the evening we went to a neighboring town to go on this AMAZING haunted hayride. So fun. It's not like extremely scary, but it's nice to have a little bit of fear while knowing that you are completely safe :)

We went out for pizza after, and then they all slept over, but they just had to leave :'( We had such a good time, and I hope I will get to see them soon. For now though, thank goodness for texting, Gmail and Facebook!

Other news- Going apple picking again today with my family, XanFan's got a soccer tournament this weekend, I'm working on transposing and arranging to choral version of the song When You Believe from Prince of Egypt to fit trumpet clarinet duet with piano accompaniment, and I'm starting to think about NaNoWriMo, because I REALLY want to do it but I'm not sure what to write about. Oh well, I'll think of something ;)

Pain, Tornadoes, And Other (More Cheerful) Points of Interest

Hey everyone! I'm back! (Well, of course I am! I'm writing this post, aren't I?) I missed you guys so much over the past week and there were several moments when I really, really, wanted to post about something- but I didn't have a computer, :( , so I guess I just have to squeeze it all into one big post!

From the title, you may conclude that my week may not have been very good, but on the contrary, (aside from a few things) band camp was excellent! I'll start with the topic of the music.

I'd been working on my audition pieces for the concert band and jazz band since May, so even though I was nervous going into the audition, I was not a complete wreak or anything. Anyway, it went super well, and I ended up getting second chair in concert band and second chair in the top jazz band! (You might remember that it was my goal to get 1st or 2nd chair in both) I was soooo happy. That meant I would be playing the first part (in concert band) and if their were any solos/duets I would have a really good shot at them. There did end up being a duet in our second song in concert band that I got to play with another trumpeter from my school, and it went really well. All the songs were really fun to play in both jazz and concert band and it was awesome playing the top first parts in everything! (Although {and this is the pain part} everything was *super* high and so my face hurt SO bad!)

Now, that's the music summary, and here's a story:

It was Tuesday night and I could not sleep at all. Evidently, camp food was making me rather sick. I finally drifted off around 4am, but I missed all the rehearsals on Wednesday because I was still sick. (sadness) By the evening however, I was feeling reasonably OK, so I was able to accompany the rest of the camp to Funtown. (You probably remember this place from when my 8th grade band went) anyway, we got there at around 5:30 and started having fun! I couldn't eat anything or go on many rides, but I still was having a good time. It was a beautiful day! It was warm and there weren't many clouds; the only thing to make it better would have been if I was feeling better.

I was on the bumper cars with a bunch of other camp kids and the ride was about to start when the camp director whips out his iPhone, checks the Doppler radar and says "There's a tornado warning in {insert name that campus is in}."  (in my state, tornadoes are, like, terrible storms that never come near us.) Anyway, after hearing this news I'm a little edgy, and some of us go off for food. We're eating and drinking out sodas, and talking when the thunder begins. (As a side note- through this whole experience I am furiously texting my parents, because things are starting to get a little freaky...) At first it's just a little rumble here and there, a booming sound in the background. But after about twenty minutes or so, there's a little flash of lightning. Through texts, I've found out that there's a really big storm heading towards us; all red on the Doppler. Counselors are talking urgently on cell phones, while the rumbles and flashes become less random. Finally we all end up under a large tent covering one of the picnic areas. I'm looking out over the parking lot were the clouds are boiling in the sky- black and as ominous as death. I try to breathe deeply and relax but it's impossible with the given climate. There are several tornadoes that have touched down. One went really close to campus, so they had to close it down. And the scariest of all- There are tornadoes coming towards us. Everything is getting so intense and scary, I just want to be at home, or at least back in my dorm room, but we're not even on the buses yet! The mega storm is about to strike when a Funtown employee comes barreling around a conner screaming "CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK! EVACUATE FUNTOWN! THERE ARE TORNADOES; GET YOUR KIDS OUT OF HERE!!!!" It was pretty crazy. We ran like crazy to the buses and as soon as we got in it was upon us. The rain came down so hard it was like we were at the bottom of a lake. The thunder was constantly there, and the lightning continuous. I was so afraid that a tornado was going to come out of nowhere and run us all over. I prayed so hard, and somehow, amazingly, it narrowly missed us, and the storm passed over. We drove back and stayed in safe place until we could go up to our dorm rooms. We didn't have power, but that didn't matter. We were safe.


And that, my friends, was my extremely frightening Wednesday evening. 


Tomorrow I've got a long tag from Izori, Olive Tree, Elrania, and Bella and sometime this coming week I do have a post that I'd like to do on a couple cool reflections I had this past week. have a wonderful evening!

It's over and the winner is......

Wow!!! Before I announce the winners of this contest, I'd like to thank ALL 10 bloggers who entered. My family had SO much fun reading your stories and arguing over scores. Winners please remember, your stories will be featured on Anecdote within a few weeks- so if you were a winner but your story didn't have a title- PLEASE come up with one to make things easier. So, without further ado, the WINNERS of Treble Clef's 100 Follower Celebratory Writing Contest!

In third place, with 359 out of 400 points.....

KATHRINE SOPHIA!!!!!

and her story about the bear attack!

Congrats! You win this award:

In second place, with 367 out of 400 points...

ELIZABETH ROSE!!!!

With her take on the classic Snow White!

You receive this award and a makeover be Amanda. I'll post the link on your blog 'cause the only place I have it is on my other account and, well, I forgot to copy it. :)

And finally. In first place....

With a whopping 390 out of 400,

IZORI!!!!

With her riveting short story: If Tomorrow Never Came.

Izori, you have won a custom makeover by Awel Prince! Just click HERE and tell her that you won the contest and she'll figure out your *new* blog look. You also get this award:

Thanks again to EVERYONE who entered. It ended up being a very close contest- and I'm sure glad that I had three other judges to help make a decision, because I would have had a hard time doing it by myself!

Anyway, I'm off to band camp tomorrow for this next week and so I'll see y'all next Saturday!

Band Camp- One Week Of Heaven

With the posts these next few days centered around the end of the contest and winners, I realized that I probably wouldn't be able to do a post about band camp before I left! So, well, this is it. Band camp starts on Sunday and this also means that I'll be saying goodbye to you all for another week. (*sob*) Other than that, band camp is like one week of heaven- for the most obsessive band geeks. Why is it heaven? Just look at the daily schedule for Monday-Friday!

                        7:00-7:40                       Breakfast

                        7:50-8:00                       SMJMA meeting (band room)

                        8:00-9:20                       Concert Band

                        9:30-10:25                     Sectionals 

                        10:40-11:40                   Jazz Bands/Small Ensembles

                        11:40-12:30                   Lunch break 

                        12:30-1:15                     Non-musical activity (A-H) 

                        12:30-1:25                     Chorus (I-Z)  

                        1:35-2:20                       Non-musical activity (I-Z)

                        1:35-2:30                       Chorus (A-H) 

                        2:40-3:55                       Concert Band 

                        4:00-5:00                       Jazz Fundamentals/Small Ensembles

                        5:00-5:50                       Dinner Break

                        6:00-6:50                       Jazz Band winds/percussion small ensemble

                                                            Choral ensembles/other special ensembles

                        7:15-8:30                       Evening concert or activity

            IN DORM IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING EVENING ACTIVITY

            9:00                              On the floor

                        9:15                              In the room

                        9:30                              Lights out!

Just awesome. On Sunday of course, we do less since check-in is between 12 and 2 and we have to do auditions and get music and all that jazz but still. The above schedule for 5 whole days??? Awesome. I've been working on my audition pieces for soooo long and they sound really good; I want to make first trumpet in bother concert and jazz band so that's why I've been working so hard :) Anyway, that's where I'll be next week.

Remember- CONTEST ENDS TOMORROW @ MIDNIGHT!

Those Summer Days Just Flying By....

Yes it's hard to believe but the truth is that school starts very soon and marching band practice starts next week! Where has the time gone? But the truth is that I CAN"T WAIT FOR 8TH GRADE TO START!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I'm excited for school. VERY excited. I just like school. And this is a cool picture from camp of me jumping off the dock into the FREEZING water.