The sweetest bunch of Drama Queens you'll ever meet...The ECHS Guard. They can exasperate you to no end but pull it together when it counts and make it worth every tear...They are an awesome bunch of teens. The pic to the left is them saying The Lord's Prayer before a performance. I absolutely LOVE this picture!I spent a lot of time with them at band camp this summer and made a lot of new friends..and a lot of those new friends have been so wonderful to Massey, which makes them "Wonderful" to me!
I'm finally beginning to feel like I fit in. I miss a lot of things because of work, but have spent more time this year with the Guard than ever before...and have thoroughly"In-Joyed" every second.
The name of their show this season is "In-Joy." It's about when life was simpler and sweeter. The music is Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" and it is one awesome show.
Today was Atlanta Regional...a huge competition at a high school in a neighboring county.
I worked the past fourteen days with only one day off so I could spend the day helping with the props at Regional.
Their tarp is painted like a Monet painting...at least that's what it resembles to me and is beautifully done.
We have less than three minutes to assemble and place four huge swing sets made of two by fours, braces and huge steel pins and set up five sliding boards after unrolling the tarp and clear the floor to keep from getting penalized.
I was very nervous about helping...the other parents (and two teens) have been practicing for weeks setting it all up and taking it all down while timing the entire process.
This morning was the first time I have even touched one of the swing sets or seen how they were assembled.
I had to have Massey at the school by 6:30 this morning and came back home to shower and get back there before 8:00.
When I went into the gym the guys were rebuilding one of the swings that had broken apart during a run through (while Massey and another girl were swinging on it.)
Drama...always a factor!
They threw up the fixed swing in no time and were painting it as the Guard loaded the bus to head to Regional.
I was nervous for the Guards performance but more nervous about stepping in as Props help having never done it before.
The guy who built the swings and sliding boards walked me through how they went up, how to put the pins in and where to place them on the tarp...by this time I had thrown up a little bit in my mouth twice and was sweating like Mel Gibson at the Apollo.
The swings are bulky and the slides are heavy...and I had never touched one of them until we loaded them in the trailer, much less tried to assemble them in under 3 minutes in front of a gym full of people that thought I knew what I was doing and were most likely looking at the ninety pound weakling trying to carry a ninety pound swing across a gym floor and set it up properly so that one of our kid's wouldn't get maimed or the entire thing collapse (my biggest worry.)
GO TIME!!
I just listened to them and moved left when they said left and moved right when they said right...Or did they mean I was right about moving left?
My heart was pumping full volume and I was shaking when I sat down to watch them perform.
Oops...six minutes later we had to move the "Play ground" off the tarp as quickly as we moved it on.
By this point I was a total nervous wreck. I think I like the competitions better that I go to when I scream into the parking lot on two wheels with one minute to go...at least I get to sit down and watch and can get my heart rate back to normal while in a sitting position knowing I don't have to get up again unless I want to.
Not the case today! After prelims we of course :) made finals... and headed back to ECHS for lunch and more practice.
You know you are tired when you can fall asleep on a hard plastic bleacher in a high school gym, and I did just that while they practiced....I've been informed pictures were taken of me sawing logs but it was the best thirty minute nap I have had in a while.
Woke up somewhat refreshed and we headed back for Finals.
When we got there I was all "Are we doing it the same way, do I carry out the same swing, does it face this way or that and who's gonna tell me when to go?"
Before we left the prop room they came up and handed me two steel pins to go in either side of the swing set.
I began to panic again and said "I don't think I was a pin-pusher-in er" this morning, who should I give these to?
They informed me that I indeed WAS a "Pin-pusher-in er" that morning and was obviously expected to do it again.
More bile rose in my throat, somehow getting past the pounding in my teeny weeny chest .
No time to panic..."WE'RE ON...Let's move!"
I scrambled under the set and weaved and snaked ...I worked that swing set around the poles and somehow got it into place with three other people dragging my 90 some odd pounds quickly through the process.
I ran back to the bleachers to see those kids give a performance that almost took what little breath I had left away!
They had huge smiles on their faces and in Guard speak "HIT IT." The crowd loved it and my heart melted to hear the response the show got.
No time to dawdle...it was time to run out on the tarp and carry off what seemed like a "Home Edition Extreme Makeover" off the floor in two minutes.
After we loaded the props back on the trailer I went back in to sit with Massey's best friend and her Mom. No less than four people stopped me to comment on our show.
I went to concessions to get a coke and three more people spoke to me about the extravagance and showmanship of our Guards show.
I wanted to say "I was the skinny one dry heaving beside the swing set on the far left."
It was great to finally feel like "One of the Guard."
I have bruises on both my hands and my legs got beaten to death when I "Snaked" the wrong way coming off the tarp...but I DID IT!
No penalties for taking too long setting up or taking down and hands down we were a "Crowd Favorite."
I worked fourteen days to "In-Joy" one day with some of the most amazing people I have ever been blessed to know.
It ended up to be fun...we had a million laughs and saw our kids give a priceless performance.
Life should always be this good.
At least today I started to earn my wings, spent the day with my daughter and learned what a "Pin- pusher- in er" is... It's ME when I can take time to "In-Joy" what my girl loves.
I am beginning to love it too!!
Til next time "Cotton with a Cause"
No comments:
Post a Comment