Ohio State School for the Blind Marching Band

I am really far behind with some of my posts. I've had a busy week, and I got sick after my travel last weekend and then I had another trip. I've been tied up with a lack of time or motivation, but I'm working to get back on track.

Last weekend, I had a unique opportunity on a trip to Columbus, Ohio. I was asked by the national president to represent my Fraternity for an award presentation to the Ohio State School for the Blind Marching Band. Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia presented its National Citation to the band. The National Citation is given to an individual or group who advances the cause of music in America.

I'm sure some of you are trying to wrap you brain around the concept of a marching band comprised of blind musicians. You have to see it to believe it, but, trust me, it was a very inspiring experience.

The band is comprised of over 30 students playing woodwind, brass and percussion instruments. The students have varying degrees of visual impairment. The director is completely blind and is a great role model for all of the kids. The co-director is not blind, but has considerable experience in adaptive music techniques and practices.

Most of the kids have volunteer marching guides who help the students march their field show and hit their marks. Some of them are parents, some are students, and some are community members who wanted to support the band.

Last year, the band was selected to march in the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade. The route is five miles and both the band and guides spent considerable time building their endurance to march...and play...that length of the route. In speaking with some of the guides, they commented on how it was a tough workout for both them and the students.

As part of the day's festivities, the award was presented twice. That morning, they were a part of the Skull Session at Ohio State University, which is sort of a pep rally before the OSU football game. They played part of their show and received a standing ovation from the crowd (and there were easily two to three thousand people in attendance...if not more).

After a lunch break, they marched their full show during halftime of the Ohio School for the Deaf football game. The award was presented there as well. Actually, we almost forgot to present it. When we remembered to do it, we rushed out to the field, grabbed the microphone, and I started reading my script not thinking that we needed an interpreter. I got about 1/4 through when someone stopped me. Whoops!

Here is the text from the award:

• Being a program providing an unparalleled experience to musical students;
• And, serving as an example to others by recognizing the value of music even when facing extreme adversity;
• And, bestowing confidence, trust and a musical bond among their peers;
• And, sharing their gift and talents with thousands during the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade;
• And, opening their eyes of their community by creating new standards of excellence for persons with disabilities.

In recognition of these achievements and their significant contributions to the cause of music in America, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity pays respect and tribute this 23rd day of October 2010.

This was an truly amazing day. Being with them all day and watching them perform made it very easy to forget that I had my wisdom tooth pulled two days earlier and forgot my pain pills.

Here is a video of the field show that I recorded at the football game.

We Got a Head!

I'm a couple of days behind on the updates because of some travel, so here is my attempt to catch up.

We got some excellent news of Friday. We had our second ultrasound to make sure everything was progressing as it should. The good news for us is that is.

I'm at a hotel right now so I can't doctor that images at all, but you can see the head and torso and make out some arms. As we were viewing the ultrasound, we could see the heart beating AND there were a couple of time where it moved a little bit.

The doctor put us at about 9 1/2 weeks. We'll be moving over to Leandra's normal doctor for all of our future check-ups. The next one is the week of Thanksgiving. We'll see how many times Leandra pukes between now and then. So far, she has only let loose twice (both within an hour of each other).

When it Rains...

Some of you caught wind on Facebook that I had an unpleasant weekend. On Saturday, I developed a uncomfortable pain in my lower jaw. For the past couple of months, I had experienced some cold sensitivity with a rear molar and I was hoping that it would last me up to my regular cleaning appointment at the end of the month. Nope. This was painful and sleeping was not really an option.

I was able to get in touch with my dentist on Sunday and he squeezed me in for a quick lookover and x-ray on Monda morning. The proof is in in the picture. (No...this is not a baby ultrasound.)

In a nutshell, I have a wisdom tooth that was never taken care of. While I was in college, the dentist was not high on my "to-do list." Even though I brushed regulary, I never bothered with check-ups until I moved to Indiana.

The wisdom tooth is impacted and pressing against my rear molar. Because of its angle and location, it is very difficult to brush and clean, even when I am consciously thinking about it. The tooth is starting to decay and because of its proximity to the molar, the backside of the mloar is decaying as well.

The fix? Extract the wisdom tooth and then do a root canal on the molar. The extraction will be next week; the root canal is two weeks later (with my regularl scheduled claning in between...weird).

They dropped the bomb in the cost of these procedures. Even with the insurance, my part of the cost will total over $1,000. I mean, after $11,000 for the IVF and another $300 to fix my car (twice), this is just a drop in the bucket.

Now I am headd to bed. With two straight night of worthless, or non-existent, sleep, I'm going to see if I can pass out for the night. So much for paying off our debts anytime soon...and we were so close.

An Unexpected Week

By looking at the title and knowing Leandra and I, you might think "unexpected" somehow goes with "pregnancy." Nope. We've known all along what is going on. BUT, there were two things things that happened this week that caught us off guard.

Last week, we had to take our car into the shop because it wasn't acceleratng properly. Technically, it was accelerating, but it wasn't shifting gears. The autoshop guy said the transmission lines were chewed up and needed to be replaced. $160...down the tubes.

While that wasn't an expected cost on our budget, the bigger surprise came a week later when the same thing happened again! We were told that a mouse was the likely culprit as it was trying to find a warm location since the temperatures have been dropping. The little bugger cost us an extra $130 (we got a discount for the second visit). Needless to say, we are now parking in the garage.

Our second surprise came from a family visit as Leandra's aunt and uncle came through town...unannounced. I got a voice mail around 3:00 pm on Thursday from a "Steve Schmidt." I couldn't think of anyone that knew with that name (with a fairly obvious northern Minnesota accent), until I saw the call location as Duluth, MN. Ahhhhh...THAT "Steve Schmidt."

I give them a call and they ask me where Leandra is. I gave what I thought was the obvious answer. "Work." I asked where they were. In our driveway. ("Crap.") So I gave them directions to Opus 1 Music and called Leandra to tell her to get ready for a surprise. She was on a lunch break so I told her to get back to the store quickly.

She made it back. They found the store. And she got an unexpected family visit for about a half an hour. Yep...I'm sneaky.