Another great Yamato weekend

No big emergencies this time. Just lots of hard work and sore muscles.

I took some strings of fairy lights and put them up on the easy-up over the food table. The kids liked them. They made the late-night snack more festive. I'm going to take some on the tour along with some other decorative trinkets to add some fun to mealtimes.

Hooooo lordy, it was hot! On Saturday afternoon I had about 3 hours to kill so I decided that Yumiko and I should go swimming. Heh, heh! I basically forced her to do it. She speaks almost no English and she's so compliant it wasn't too hard. She hadn't brought a swimming suit so I grabbed Paige's bathing suit top and let her borrow it. She rolled up the legs of her pants and we headed off to the pool. I climbed right into the deep end and she followed me. I saw that she was hanging onto the side and I realized I might have made a big mistake. I said, "Yumiko, can you swim?" She smiled real big and shook her head no. Ok, let's go to the shallow end and hang with the splashing, rotten little kids. I showed her how to float and tried to teach her how to tread water but you couldn't really call it a good swimming lesson. Still, it was refreshing. We spent about a half hour in the pool. When we got out I gave her my towel (I had to strongly insist) and gathered up my stuff. My sunglasses were gone. Grrrrrr. Some asshole stole my sunglasses! I had to spend the rest of the weekend working in the bright sun with only my hat. Oh well, at least they didn't steal my bag.

I don't get to see much of Paige when I'm working Yamato. I say hi to her in the food line and I'll see her when I'm walking back to the band room to take a nap. I try to make sure she's got enough sunscreen on. Other than that, I'm not doing the mom thing. Sometimes I'll watch them practice. I'll tell ya, Paige is turning into a kick-ass musician.

These two band camp weekends were good for figuring out what I'll need on the tour. Paige and I need to go shopping. We've got 3 days to pull it together.

I came home last night and went through my e-mail and was treated to Kyle's latest song. Awesome! I can't wait to start working on it! I'm taking my uke with me on tour so I can practice. It's a long drive so I'll have plenty of time. Oh! Here's another piece of news. All of us support staff were going to ride in a 12 passenger van but Eddie has gotten us a big ol' motor home instead. Ok, fabulous comfort and luxury BUT there are 3 men and 3 women riding in this thing and we have 3 double beds to sleep in. Hello! I'm sure we'll work something out.

Jim took care of Dad this weekend. He had a bit of a hard time making sure he got all of his meds. Dad was out with Drew and Stacey going to ball games and even when he was home he didn't follow directions and take his pills.

The fog is getting thicker. When I went over there this morning he was pretty confused. His pill box wasn't in the bathroom. When I asked him where it was he said, "I don't know! You took it about two months ago and I haven't seen it since!" I told him no, it was here yesterday. I found it in the kitchen. When I tested his blood he kept asking what we were doing. He wants all the steps of the glucose testing written down and taped to his mirror. He was worried that Jim might not be around to help him in the mornings. I told him Jim will be here and he said, "But what if he isn't?!?" I told him that we've got it all worked out and that Jim is planning to come over and help him every morning. "But what if he isn't here???"

I wonder how long Dad will be able to live on his own. I also wonder if Jim will be completely nuts by the time I get home from tour.

The Japanese kids are arriving on Thursday. Everyone is going to the airport to meet them. I had Yumiko write my name in nihongo (japanese) on the brim of my sunhat. Looks kinda cool.