And so it ends...

Last night was the final regular season game for the Marcus Marauders. It was also Senior Night, where the seniors and their parents stood before the crowd as the announcer broadcast where they planned to attend college and what field of study they would pursue.

She started out as the quiet freshman clarinet player who's talent and drive landed her in the first chair of the wind symphony, and here she is four years later — a Drum Major, leading 350 other kids across the field.

It was a bittersweet moment for us. We are proud of Taylor and all the incredible things she has accomplished, but this was her final time marching across the home field, which was a little difficult for us. As a freshman it was hard for her to imagine this moment. As a parent of a freshman, you just don't let your mind wander to this moment as you see the other seniors performing in their final show.

And so it ends here. 

Parents and students lining up to be recognized in front of the home town crowd.

Scott, Taylor and Mrs. Horn.

Taylor and Ms. Drinkwater, the Band Director, who greeted each student and their family
after they were recognized. She had some very kind words to share with us, and will miss having Taylor's good humor, musical skills, leadership and professionalism out on the field.

Taylor and one of her many fiends doing a little mugging for the camera.

Taylor has the ability to bring people together. Her Grandma Joan noticed that trait when Taylor was around 3-years-old. She remarked that when there was a dispute, Taylor unselfishly would diffuse a situation before it escalated. Her ebullient personality coupled with her social skills are a combination you don't find in many kids. This will serve her well. Most adults could learn a tremendous amount from her.

The final Drum Major salute to the crowd.

And the show begins...

AOPi's OU Homecoming

Saturday was OU's Homecoming complete with a nationally televised football game and a big parade of floats. Alissa's sorority house has been working on their float for weeks, and yesterday was the big rollout of the Peter Pan float. Since early September the girls have been carefully inserting colored tissue paper into a chicken wire covered frame – meticulous work, but sort of fun when done as a group of like-minded sisters. I think everyone was relieved that it was finally over, and even more relieved that all the area storms didn't actually "rain on their parade."

Marcus takes top honors in UIL competition

The band performed in the UIL competition this weekend, taking home a rating of 1 (top rating). Afterwards we had a late night pumpkin carving party at our house. I woke up to find broken pumpkin pieces scattered across the front yard. Apparently, apples don't fall far from the tree.

Taylor starting the show!

Don't Tread on Us!

This weekend marked the beginning of the marching band competition season. Despite high winds, overcast skies and a nasty line of thunderstorms, the band did very well – taking home first place and all captions in the competition. They only performed parts 1 and 2 of their show, so what you see below is only a taste of the complete show. The name of the show is "Charmed" and is built around a snake theme. That might be fairly obvious in the first marching sequence. Enjoy!

Thursday night lights

Nice evening in Texas spent watching the mighty Marcus Marching Band 

showcase their moves on the field. 

I suspect the football team wishes they had moves equally as deft. 

Plano 17 Marcus 3. And so it goes...

Taylor leading the band

Most Friday nights we find ourselves sitting in the stands watching high school football. This past Friday was no different. Marcus faced off with Denton Guyer, who are the defending state champions. The best chance Marcus had of winning the game was before the kickoff. As soon as the ball went into play, it was pretty much a lost cause. Denton crushed Marcus. The highlight of the game, and the reason we even go to these games, is to watch the Marcus band perform. They are the defending Texas State UIL Champions.

It's sort of funny, as soon as the halftime performance is over, half the stands clear out. It appears that half the stands are filled with band supporters. If it weren't for the band, the football stands would be fairly empty, and the only sounds that could be heard would be the screams of pain coming from the Marcus players as they endure their weekly Friday night drubbing from the opposing team.

 Here the band cues up as the Drum Majors prepare to lead them onto the field.

 As seen from the home field stands.

 Here's Taylor standing with one of the band Dad equipment handlers 

as she get's ready to start the marching performance.

Taylor has the laudable ability to chat up just about anybody she meets.

And so the performance begins. I think she really enjoys this part. The hours she's put in to be given the honor of standing on the podium and conducting the band are mind numbing. She's usually up and out the door between 6:00 - 6:30 a.m., and doesn't come home until 10:30 - 11:00 p.m. On game days, it's usually not until midnight that we see her coming through the front door. You don't find many kids these days who are willing to put in that sort of commitment to anything.

House Guests

Meet our two new house guests, Adonis and Athena. 

Eight weeks old, looking for a home. Black labs. Any takers?

Friday Night Lights

A few photos from tonight's game. Still too hot to wear the marching uniforms. 

Yet another 100F day in the Texas. Everyone is ready for Fall to arrive.

Feline folly

As some of you might already know, Taylor has a keen interest in science and medicine. As one of her elective classes this year, she chose anatomy. She mentioned earlier this week that she would be dissecting a cat in the class, which I was rather jealous to hear. All we ever got were latex injected frogs and giant hissing cockroaches. Not much fun, but interesting nonetheless. 

I was sitting at my desk working this morning, when my cell phone beeped, indicating I had just received a text message. It was a message from Taylor. I took a quick glance and the message read:

"Soft kitty, 

warm kitty, 

little ball of fur. 

Happy kitty,

sleepy kitty,

purr purr purr."

The following photos were attached. I just about fell out of my chair.

And on the photo below, she prefaced it with...

"Insert Lion King opener theme song here."

Just for all the animal rights peeps who at this point are likely up in arms, she's not clowning with the cat, she's in the process of preparing the cat for the dissection. She also uses her free time on weekends volunteering for the Humane Society helping with adoptions of the the stray cats and dogs, of which there are literally tens of thousands of in this area. She also helps with all the dogs we foster, so she's not some sort of person who doesn't like animals – she cares deeply about animal welfare. She realizes that this is one kitty she couldn't save from the fate that some careless animal owner relegated this particular cat to.

School's back in session

A few weeks ago we drove all of Alissa's "stuff" up to University of Oklahoma and dropped it off at her new apartment. Her apartment is so much nicer than the dorms, and it's less expensive, which is an added bonus. She'll be living with 3 other girls, 2 of which she knows from last year, one of which she went to high school with.

Here's the new place.

Here are some of the other roommates organizing the kitchen.

And here's her new room.

All 4 girls share a common kitchen and living area. The apartment complex provides the TV, furniture, WIFI, and cable. Not a bad set-up. Much nicer than anything I ever lived in at school.

And Taylor started her senior year this week. 

Here she is getting ready to head out for the first day of class.

And here she is making fun of her mother who is lamenting the idea of sending our youngest off to the first day of school, for the last time.

Ready to roll.

We went to the first football game of the season last night. Here are the Drum Majors leading the band to their place in the stadium. It was 103F at the start of the game, so the students were allowed to wear their hot weather uniforms (smart move band director). We've had some unseasonably hot weather lately, and there have been a number of kids who have passed out from heat stroke during practice. I think the ambulance has only been called to the practice area twice in the past week. Believe it or not, it's been a good week.

Getting ready for the football players to run the gauntlet onto the field.

During the game the band occupies the south end of the stands. The Drum Majors are placed throughout the band to conduct the various school/fight songs while the football game is underway. Taylor is standing in the middle (gray shirt).

The Drum Majors getting ready to lead the band onto the field. Taylor is on the left.

Another view. There's a lot of kids out there.

Here are the Marquettes (drill team) and backed up by the band in the "M" formation. 

Every halftime show starts this way.

And here is the band getting ready to start their show. Taylor has been given the honor of starting off every show this year. She's under the arrow. After the start, and while the band is marching/playing, she makes her way to the front of the field to conduct throughout the rest of the performance.

Just before the show I turned over our latest foster dog to her new family. It's the first dog we've ever fostered that has become attached to Jen, so Jen couldn't bring herself to be there when I turned the dog over to the new owners. Aside from that, work continues on the Wanderlust house. Between me and Alissa we've repainted almost the entire interior, gutted and rebuilt the girl's bathroom, textured and painted the kitchen, installed all new plumbing and electrical fixtures in the bathroom, kitchen and dining room, and are getting ready to finish the build out of the master bathroom. We had to hold off doing a lot of the interior work until the foundation had completely settled after having the foundation work done. I'm thinking in about another month the entire interior will be finished and then it will be time to bring in the carpet installers. Before that happens I have to lay about 1,000 square feet of hardwood flooring, but that should go pretty quickly since I've had some experience with that before.

And that's what we've been up to lately.

Random happenings around here

 Taylor made her drum major debut this week. 

It was around 103F outside. Looking forward to fall.

Here's the performance they gave a few weeks back for the parents. It's the first time the incoming freshman perform with the band in front of an audience. It was so hot they did it in one of the middle schools. They usually do this at the high school, but Marcus has been under construction all summer as they expand and do additional asbestos abatement inside the school.

 The front wooden fence is done. I'll tackle the back fence this fall once it cools down.

One of the puppies we recently fostered. They came to us at about 5 weeks. 

This boy was tired. Probably woke up with a stiff neck.

Here he is a week before he was adopted. One of the top 3 dogs we've fostered over the years. 

One I definitely would have considered adopting if we were in the market.

The Lifeguard getting ready to head into work to rescue young rich white children.

I was up way too early one morning to sit on the porch and watch the brightest moon in 100 years show his face. It would have been nice to have a decent camera to do a proper time exposure. This doesn't really do it justice, but believe me, it was so bright it was hard to believe.

This is Max. We fostered him for several weeks. He was adopted Saturday by a family with 4 other dogs, 5 boys, and 6 acres. I think he'll enjoy his life at the new digs. He was a really sweet dog.

Here's the Wanderlust girls' bathroom. It was a complete gut except for the vanity. I just finished it today, after having laid a new Travertine floor, texturing and painting the walls and ceiling, redoing all the plumbing, all new plumbing fixtures and trim. Getting closer to having it ready to rent this fall.

And here's a video of Taylor's conducting debut this past week.
(Sorry about the quality. I'll upload it to YouTube and re-link it here shortly.
Should be much better video and sound quality then)