Tired and wiped out. Everything hurts. Let the healing begin.
Our plane was delayed 5 hours. That's 8 hours hanging out at O'Hare plus 2 more on the plane waiting for them to install a part and do the paper work. The inflight movie was RV with Robin Williams. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
It's good to be home. Yesterday I went to my chiropractor, gonna go again tomorrow. My back is whacked. The fingers on my fight hand are still numb but it's getting better. It's hard to type.
Good gawd, that was a lot of work! We had a good kitchen crew but things started to go south at the end. Liz got lazier and lazier as time went on and at the end she wasn't doing much of anything. The rest of us had to work much harder to keep things going and since the guys were doing a bit too much socializing that meant I was doing most of the work.
The banquet went well. We served roasted pork loin, shrimp skewers, steamed rice, fried rice, apple sauce, watermelon, green salad with Nutella croissants and cake for dessert. They gave out awards and showed videos. Afterward Eddie-san gathered everyone back together for announcements. Then he had me come up to perform my song. I wasn't sure if I should do it since we were ending on a feel-good moment and I thought it might piss everyone off, but since he announced it I figured what the hell. I accompanied myself on the uke. Here it is.
Who stole Aleric's wallet?
Who stole Aleric's wallet?
He's a real sweet guy, doesn't deserve the hassle
If you're the one who took it
You're the world's biggest asshole
He needs his ID to get his butt on the jet
If you just give it back
We'll all forgive and forget
(Except probably not at this point since it's gone on way too long. I just wrote it that way because I couldn't come up with a rhyme for "lying, thieving, heartless bastard")
So, if you took Alaric's wallet
Give it back and it'll all be ok
(Remember karma's a bitch)
Give it back and it'll all be ok!
Oh my god, they went NUTS! When I sang the first line they got a little quiet but then one by one they started laughing. When I sang "world's biggest asshole" they cheered! When I spoke the part about not being able to rhyme "lying, thieving, heartless bastard" they cheered again. When I sang "remember karma's a bitch" they leapt to their feet. I couldn't hardly finish the song! They really loved it! I was so glad they went along with me on it.
At the beginning of the tour I kept a journal but as time went on I just couldn't keep up with it. Thank you, Jim, for guest blogging for me. I'll be posting stories as I remember them. They probably won't be in chronological order. So much happened on this trip.
The kids were awesome, most of the adults were pretty cool. We had some major breakdowns. Physically, I was way over taxed. I'm sooooo glad I exercised and lost some weight before I did this.
I hardly saw Paige most days. I'd see her in the food line or here and there for a few minutes. But we had some good, close times. I'm glad I got to share this with her. She was transformed by this experience. You can see it in her face. And MAN! She's a kick-ass mallet player now. I asked her if she's going to do this next year. She said yeah, but maybe she'll try for a Division 2 group. Her ultimate goal is to join the Blue Devils, a Division 1 group. That's my baby!
Yamato is a Division 3 group which is pretty small. They basically perform between the 30 yard lines. Div 1 groups cover the whole field and the sound they produce is massive. They're the top dawgs.
I guess that's all I'll write for now. Blogger seems to be having some problems this morning.
I'm glad I did this. It's an experience that will stay with me for a long time.
12 comments:
I read Doni's entry and just glow with pride for the two great ladies in my life (not to exclude Linny, actually; the third great lady and I had some wonderful experiences while those two were gone, and also managed to run a nice "normal" life here at home).
I'm really glad you're home too, and you're right about Paige; her face holds a peaceful composure that I didn't see before. Life is good...
When we finally went to pick up the flyers, we waited an hour at the heightened-security airport, and watched as the Yamatoites said their final goodbyes at baggage claim, and then delivered everyone home, and slowly got to the point where everyone could get asleep...
Paige and I got up the next morning at around 7 and took her to Ramona's Band Camp; another pretty intense week for her, but nothing compared to what she'd just been through!
Ramona Dynasty Band's major fund-raiser of the year, the 30-hour marathon, starts Friday. You can pledge time per hour played, and all funds made go to her band account. Clearly, none of us have had a chance to gather any pledges for this.
(Contact any of us if you want to make a pledge, which would help us pay for Paige's Paris trip, but I don't want anyone to feel pressured....)
Oh, I loved it! I never had an audience leap to their feet and cheer like that. AND it was for something I wrote. Big ego feed.
Whew, what a wild trip! So glad you two are back.
Hope you're resting up and keep taking care of yourself - all of you, the whole tribe! xo
Nancy- Yeah, I was a bit worried myself. I found myself thinking man, I'm too old for this. It sucked in ways I couldn't have imagined. Riding in the back of the rv was h o r r i b l e. I was litterally bounced out of bed three times. More like, launched. When Eddie's truck broke down they hooked the kitchen trailer up to the rv. That freakin' thing must weigh 10,000 pounds. It was about 6 feet from my head.
Here's the deal about riding in the back of the rv;
1. The bouncing
2. The noise
3. The large, heavy object we were pulling.
4 It was a double bed that I shared with Liz.
5. The AC didn't quite reach all the way back there so it got hot sometimes. I'm glad I brought that box fan.
If the road was rough (and it frequently was) the ride was bouncy and jaring and very loud. Thumps and bangs were constant and random. Every time a big truck would go by the air mass would push us over to the wake-up grooves on the shoulder. BDBDBDBDBDUP! Sheeeit.
And yes, I shared it with Liz. The only offensive thing Liz DIDN'T do in her sleep was fart. She snored, thrashed, talked and sprawled. I would frequently wake up with her elbow poking me in the head. Oh yeah, and she's bigger than me.
For the first week we were staying in a different place every night. That meant unloading and loading heavy equipment, fixing 3 meals a day plus a snack at 11:00 pm, cleaning up after those meals and a bunch of just plain running around. Getting some rest became very important. I was always so exhausted that I had no trouble falling asleep. But it wasn't quality sleep.
Virginia- The whole time I kept thinking about how useful yoga would be on a trip like this. I tried to stretch but I know it wasn't very effective. So yeah, I think I'll be joining your class. Gotta start training for next year.
Is that effing insane, or what? I'm pretty sure I'll be doing it again next year. If not Yamato then some other group.
Tonight I met the rv when the crew got back into town. They brought back some of my stuff on the food trailer. When I saw Eddie he gave me a big hug and asked if I'd had fun. I said oh yeah. He said, "We couldn't have done it without you." I laughed and said, "Yes, I know." He laughed and said, "You KNOW you're right."
Doing something like this you learn some stuff. Getting outside of your usual social sphere is a good thing to do sometimes. I didn't know ANY of these people 4 months ago. In three weeks we created our own little world.
Come on down to class. Yep, it probably would have helped to get some quality stretching in there. I'm imagining you're still creaky from those close quarters and all the activity.
Very creaky. I saw Dr. P again today. I'm feeling much better.
Har! Ramona's marathon band camp begins tonight. I'm going to spend the night there tonight to chaperone the girls. I bought air mattresses for Paige and me. I'm hoping it won't be too bad for my back.
Welcome back. Hope the uke held up.
Dean- Har! Wrong kind of band!
Jeff- Uke held up jes fine. I have a nice, new case for it. I kept it with me on the plane. It was nice to have it during that long wait at the airport.
Hey, did you ever get your stuff back?
It's probably too late but try rolling up a towel and putting it either underneath the knees or just at the top of the thighs/bottom of the butt. One or the other will help the lower back feel better while sleeping. Not sure if the air mattress is a great idea, might be too soft overall.
Thanks, I'll do that next time. It was actually pretty comfortable sleeping on the air mattress. It pressed into the small of my back and allowed it to curve nicely.
About camping matresses: As a former boy scout, I have tried all manner of matresses. As an old guy, I recently realized that one reason I never get much sleep while camping out is that I go with either the air matress or one of those eggshell foam rubber thingies.
Then, on the eve of a camping trip, I realized that, unless I was backpacking and needed something light that I could carry, using those other types of matresses didn't make sense.
But, since most of my camping adventures involve driving in and camping where I can park, I didn't really need anything that lightweight.
So I asked myself, what kind of matress is almost as comfortable as the one I sleep on at home?
So, I got a chaise lounge matress. I can roll it up, stick in my trunk and it's comfortable enough to allow me to sleep.
I want to find the perfect camping mattress. When we go to the river it's good to have something that squishes down compact because there's always way too much crap to haul in the boat. Our old camp pads took up a lot of room. We tried air mattresses in the past but since we're fatties they didn't hold up. I think air mattress technology has improved since then. We'll see. I got a twin air mattress for Paige and a queen for Lindsay and Kyle. I'd like to get a couple of twin Aerobeds for Jim and me. They're supposed to be really tough and hold a lot of weight. They're also a hundred bucks apiece. If they really lasted that would be ok. We could also use them for guest accomodations.
Anyway, I have to find something before the next river trip because our old camp pads ended up in a dumpster in Wisconsin.
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