Jazz ISSMA

Rebekah's Jazz band had their ISSMA contest the same day I received a epidural cortisone shot. To that end it was a rough trip getting there. Don dropped me off at the school doors and I barely made it. They closed the doors before Don could get inside. Even though I was there, I wasn't thinking well and missed the first half of the 2nd number. But it was still fun to see my little girl in the band. 

Of course I tried to take some pictures on their way out. 

 

Looks like she is having fun. It's a great experience, however, I'm pretty certain her next year in jazz band she'll play the trumpet and not the horn, which should be a much better experience.  

February Pictures

Life goes remarkably fast and I'm apparently taking less pictures as time zooms by. I need to fix that. But this was was was left of February:  

Found this in the back of the car. Think it was a church thing. Unfortunately it didn't seem to mean much to the Bee seeing that I found it in the back of the car.

 

My dish stacking ability is way stronger than my desire to dry Tupperware. 

Found an excuse to make bread again. 

Don left his hoodie laying around and Rebekah decided it fit her pretty nice. 

I found a university to accept me. 

Rebekah made a fascinating little guy in science. 

And each of the young women in the church made a poster so we could get to know them better. This was Rebekah's. I learned a lot about her. 

And what would life be like without the entire crew on family zoom! 

February Books

A historical account of life during Handel's creation of his work Messiah. It was quite an interesting read. I love to learn about the world and conditions that inspired the music. 

The journals / remembrances of a man who was a very young boy during Hitler's Germany. Fascinating and horrific all at the same time. I think sometimes we just assume everyone knows what they are doing and why. This account shows the boy was very mislead, which I believe was Hitler's intent. A highly worthwhile read although it is war and quite harsh at times. 

At first glance I thought this was a book about the Colorado River, but it's really a book about a boat that ran the Colorado river and the people employed on said boat. There is much about the river and the Glen Canyon Dam during 1983's flood. I honestly found that more interesting then the race for the fastest time, which was what the book was suppose to be about. 

This Sanderson belongs to the Skyward series. Still not one of my favorite series, but it's still good writing. I'm just lest enamored with the content. 

I've been going through my to read list (it's down to 1,463 - woo-hoo) and trying to find any and all books that have an audio option. I'm sure this one would have been better in actual book form since it seems to be a picture book, however the story was still very good. Great young intro to refugees.

Historical accounts of Jewish refugees who were sent away from their families to America during Hitler's Germany only to return and fight in the war in the attempt to find their families again. An enjoyable read, considering its subject. It is horrible though that we as Americans tend to be so ready to point fingers and assume the worst; many of these jewish - once German, now American - citizens went into the military only to be turned away when we declared war on Germany. However there was a program called Ritchie boys where they were able to serve. Great read. Very recommendable. 

The church is true. And these books are written for the world to read. I personally think they could  have been somewhat better, however it is good to read about all the saints around the world. 

I thought this sounded highly interesting, however much of it was about gruesome murders and how they could tell what happened by the state of the bones. That was a bit harsh for me and tainted the information in the book. 

Another one buried in my deep in my to read list; so long ago that I had really had no idea what I was reading. It's a fictional account of the making of Santa Clause, starting with the death of his son, then a journey with the 3 wise men to see Jesus. Have to admit I liked the spirit of the book so I looked up the author. Turns out he a political mind. I had to trip check. Crazy. Also someone said he's a member of the Church. 

Another deep in the TBR list. Not sure why I decided to not to just delete this. I assume I had it on from when Rebekah was little. But it was an audio book, and not too long, so I jumped in. The audio book wasn't a good idea. The main character looses her hearing at an early age (3?). Then we follow her through  her elementary years. Unfortunately they choose to express her inability to hear well by masking the voices she hears in the book, so much so that the listener struggles to hear. Great for empathy, unfortunate for content. Stick to the picture book. Also, I didn't really care for the direction the author went. 

Another buried TBR. Not sure why I tagged this one. Maybe it's the country road trip life? Basically life long road life-er's come home for a visit to find his dad dying and his 90 year old mom with a cancer diagnosis. Instead of fighting the cancer, they take her on the road with them. Mainly a memoir. It was okay, but seemed extremely preachy and overly sentimental at times. 

Another buried TBR. Again, I probably should have discarded this one. I use to search for book the Bee would like, and this was probably one I never got around to reading. I think I need to be done with that genre though. Rebekah's not reading them any more. A friend of the main character dies over the summer in a water accident. The main character thinks it may have been caused by a jelly fish sting. Turns out the girls hadn't been friends for a long time and both stung each other in many ways. In a world of jelly fish, how does one survive. Yeah, it's a bit much. Although I appreciate the sentiment. 

What a work. Over 57 hours. I hear the next one is longer. Ugh. But so much happens. And you care about each - well most - actually I'll say each because even the villains you care about because you need them to meet their end as well. They're all larger than life. I'll admit to struggling with these books: there's so much anxiety! I don't do well with anxiety! It's probably best that I am listening to these because if I had the book I would totally skip to the end and make sure everyone is okay. 

I really liked her Spinning Silver so thought I'd give this one a try. It's a collection of short stories. Ironically the only one I thought worth while was an early version of Spinning Silver. 

I like this Professor. Having said that I thought this lecture series was slightly weaker than most of her others. Still good however. Reminded me that I have so much more to read about the medieval time.

A book my mother bought me concerning the evacuation of missionaries from German before WWII began. The most interesting this about this book was my grandpa's niece was Evelyn Wood - wife of the mission president.

So much I don't know about the navel battles of WWII. I liked the book however, much of this information was new and the author's style is somewhat forgettable. A truly good author is hard to find. But this is worth while. 

Historical fiction concerning a theatre fire in Richmond, Virginia. The circumstances were horrific. Quite the read. Have to admit I kind of wished the author embellished it a little more to make it less horrific, but probably best that she didn't. 

I wanted to like this book about the history of bookshops, but it's less about bookshops per se and more about crazy events surrounding said bookshop. So, not my best choice. 

And speaking of not my best choice, meet my other poor choice. This was way too dark for me. Should have known going in. But I read that other book - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - and I thought I'd be okay. Nope. Way too much. So I skipped to the end and returned it. 

\

Felt like a history of a 60's band. Rough language, rough plot, drugs, sex, etc. But if one can get past all that the story was good. 

This is historical fiction about Frances Perkins who became secretary of labor for FDR. She lead quite the life. I didn't know anything about her so historical fiction doing what it's suppose to do. Recommendable in my opinion. 

Jazz Festival

The school band performed for the yearly Jazz Festival. There's my girl right in the middle! 

Lazy Bird

So What

Sting Ray

It's fun to hear the Jazz group perform. 

However, next year - since Rebekah will be learning Mellophone - I'm going to suggest she play trumpet in Jazz band so she can get the full experience. But until then, there's my girl playing Horn in the Jazz clinic. Luck me - she sat right in front of the tiny window space. 

The day after we saw Wayne Bergeron perform with the honor's jazz band as well as the IU jazz band and the faculty jazz band. I have to admit that was probably the best concert I've seen in Pendleton. 

Valentines Day

Valentine's day 2025. First I looked for ones to send my brothers. A few of my favorite Lord of the Ring Style: 

There was another with Galadriel saying, "LOVE ME AND DESPAIR!" But apparently I didn't keep photographic evidence of that one. 

My brother Jo has got me reading Brandon Sanderson with him. One of my favorite characters is Lyft. So I sent this one to Jo. 

Don and Rebekah, I did some hand made. 

Don: 

A Pea for the Bee: 

*check out the scar for accuracy. Go me. 

I bought Don a hoodie and some candy: cinnamon hearts and robin eggs (because they were out). I got Rebekah some Hershey Kisses and some art supplies. And apparently a bowl full of food colored sugar for breakfast. Sigh.