57 posts tagged “hailey”
I know I talk about my city a lot but that is because I love it so much! It's a fantastic city with a real community sense about it and it has one of the best school systems around. Everyone else that lives here loves it too! They loved it so much that about 25 years ago they dubbed the first Saturday in May 'We Love Homewood Day'. I don't know the details of it's origin because I've only lived here for 7 years but today it is a huge fund raiser for the Middle and High School band programs. It starts out at 8am with a carnival and arts and crafts thingy at Patriot Park. At 6pm the We Love Homewood Day parade steps off from the library and marches down Oxmoor Road ending in Edgewood. Edgewood is a little neighborhood in Homewood that is as quaint as quaint can be. All of the streets have sidewalks and the homes are quaint cottages (the property values are through the roof in Homewood, especially in Edgewood so house flippers have descended upon the neighborhood and demolished the original homes, replacing them with gargantuous, multi-story homes that are too big for the modest size lots, this is unfortunate but many of the original homes remain). When the parade ends there is a 'dance in the street' in Edgewood for everyone to celebrate the city they love!
Hailey has been involved with We Love Homewood Day since she was in the 7th grade. She was in the H.E.A.T. group in 7th and 8th grade and working the carnival rides was part of the community service that the middle-schoolers in this group do. H.E.A.T. stands for Homewood Exploration Adventurer Team. The group was founded by a member of the Homewood Park and Recreation board specifically for Homewood students in middle school. In return for the community service they provide the group gets to go on various adventures. During Hailey's 2 years in this group she went white water rafting, snorkeling with manatees in Florida and skiing in Gatlinburg, among other things.
Of course, since she's been in High School she has marched in the parade with the High School band (that's one of my pictures by the way). The whole town comes out to watch the parade and always gives the band tremendous support and cheers! When I'm walking along side them, trying to video/photograph as much as I can I see the parents with their little kids, holding them up and pointing and saying "Look! There's the Band!". I can't even describe in words how PROUD it makes me feel that my daughter is a part of this!
So this year, Mother Nature played a dirty trick on us and decided to rain and I mean pour down rain on Saturday morning. The carnival and arts and crafts thingy was cancelled. But, by parade time everything had dried up, the sun was shining and it was absolutely perfect weather for a parade!
So here's my pics and one video that I made:
Notice Hailey telling me (nicely) to go away LOL!
Well, Haiiley and I are both home sick today....yucky but at least it gave me some time to finally upload my videos. For anyone that has ever been involved in high school band you know that spring is concert season. Each band class performs songs that they performed at district and state competitions back in the winter. This is concert music and if you don't like concert music you probably won't like these videos!
The Jazz band is not a class but more like a club. They meet to rehearse before school every morning. This year's jazz band was the smallest I've ever seen but they still played very well. The band director is a trumpet player and he often jams with them. The Jazz band plays while everyone is still arriving and while the different band classes are changing out from the stage to their seats.
I had to be careful not to film too many videos so my memory card wouldn't get full before Hailey's band performed.
The percussionists performed one song with the percussion director standing in for someone who wasn't able to make it to the concert.
Next the Freshman band performed and they did very well. One of their songs featured a girl singing. I didn't video them though.
Next was the Symphonic band which is the band Hailey is 2nd 1st chair clarinet. They played five songs but I only filmed 3 of them and during the last song my memory card got full so it cut off the last couple of minutes (these are in no particular order as I can't remember the order).
After the symphonic band played the honor band performed. Honor band is mostly Seniors and I hope that Hailey makes it for next year.
As I was sitting in that auditorium I began to realize that my times there were limited. I've been coming there since Hailey's first middle school concert when she was in the 6th grade. How time flies!
Hailey met up with her friend Cami (who she's been playing in band with since 6th grade). Cami missed most of this school year due to illness but now she's back. She had to play with the Freshman band but at least she's still performing.
Here's a picture of them together before a middle school concert when they were in the 7th grade.
Friday night Hailey attended her first prom. She went with her friend Brittany to her prom. Brittany's school is very small so they allow Junior's to attend the Senior prom. Hailey's school is very large and does NOT allow Juniors to attend the Senior prom so she went with Britt. I didn't get to see much of nothing because I didn't even go there but Britt's Mom and I took a couple of pics before they left and she took some in the car on the way. She said she had a good time although I don't have any pics to prove it. The best part of the night for me, besides her getting home safely at 1am, was her walking up the stairs saying "I can't believe I have to go to work tomorrow (today)!" LOL! Welcome to the real world my baby girl!
She's wearing her seatbelt like I always taught her! Good girl!
I haven't had much to blog about this week besides American Idol and Hailey's new job. I've been feeling kind of blah, started back to school this week, so there's that. I haven't been inspired to take any nature photos because it's just the same old stuff outside. I need a new place, something new to photograph. Anyways...I finally got the two couples together last night. Corey was over visiting with Hailey and Michael called and asked me if I was cooking (which translates into he's hungry and broke LOL). So I invited him and Alyssa over to eat and hang out and so he could finally meet Corey.
I took some group photos:
At first everybody was a bit tense...I think Corey was afraid to touch Hailey around Michael. Finally I told them to do some hugging and whatnot and I got a couple of good shots.
I liked this one of each couple (except for Michael's bird finger) so I cropped it into two individual couple photos:
We had fun! I cooked hamburgers and chicken wings and we watched some band DVDs and looked at pictures. Alyssa is REALLY growing on me. She's a really sweet and smart girl. Some people may say that I don't have much of a life hanging out with my kids and their respective beaus but I treasure each and every moment I spend with them and the fact that they WANT to hang out with me means more to me than any less important thing I might could have been doing.
Well, my daughter is now officially part of the work force ::sniff::
She actually got hired last Friday but I wanted to wait and see how her first shift went before blogging about it...she started tonight at Moe's Southwest Grill! She worked from 5pm until close and had a great time. They started her at $7.00 an hour! Dayum! That's more than minimum wage! Two of her friends just started there too. I think this is going to be a great experience for her...at least until band camp starts in July. If they are not able to work with her on the schedule she will have to quit. I hope they will as the area Moe's are very supportive of our band and even hosted 5 Moe's Homewood Band days back in January and donated 10% of all Homewood band orders back to the band program to go towards the California trip.
My baby was beaming when she got home...
You go workin' girl!!
Y'all may know Reba McEntire from her very successful sitcom simply titled 'Reba'. But before the show she was a very successful country music singer and always has been one of my favorites. I haven't listened to this song in YEARS. So check it out. It's a very moving, kind of bluesy song. Classic Reba!
So the weekend has come to an end far too quickly (probably due to my having to work yesterday). I wish the weekend could continue just one more day. Just to postpone the dreaded Monday. When you hear the word Monday there is almost never anything positive associated with it. Nobody gets paid on Monday, kids aren't out of school on Monday. I would surmise that the only people who love Mondays are the people who work in bars and restaurants. I'll bet Monday's are blissful for them.
Here's a couple of Monday songs:
Today it was gloomy for a while and then the sun finally decided to show it's pretty face. We were out of toilet paper (as is always the case that there is something I forgot to buy) so Hailey and I set out to go to the store. She drove. She wanted to go to the mall, to Barney's and get an iced coffee. Easy enough and then to the store and back home. Well I yelled at her at least 3 times on this very short journey for driving mistakes and by the time we got to the mall we were both equally upset. I switched to the drivers seat at the mall so she could drink her coffee (Thank God). I also apologized for my overreaction to her pulling out in front of a car that appeared to me to be going about 50 miles an hour but also took the opportunity to explain the intricacies of a particular intersection in our town....I could tell she wasn't listening....teenagers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So we got to the Pig and went in together because she wanted to get something. We were both looking kind of raggedy and I guess she didn't realize that the Pig is pretty much a social mecca on Sunday afternoons. She spotted a boy in one of her classes and chose to hide on the aisle next door until he was gone. So we had to wait while this boys Mom took her sweet ass time picking out their frozen foods for the next freaking month. Finally Hailey got the keys and found an escape route to the car. I checked out. She drove home and it was uneventful.
The race was just starting when we got back home. She was having a friend over and I was planning to cook some Shrimp Alfredo with real homemade alfredo sauce. It turned out to be the most delectable, decadent thing I think I've ever cooked. I used a recipe on the back of a package of frozen, raw shrimp but I modified it a little bit.
The basic ingredients for alfredo sauce are butter, garlic, cream and parmesan cheese. I added in some mushrooms and Roma tomatoes that I had. So here's the recipe roughly:
Melt some butter (about 1 1/2 tbls) in a large skillet
Add several cloves of minced garlic (I used 4)
Simmer for a few minutes over low heat (until the garlic 'becomes fragrant')
Add in about 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms
Cook for a few more minutes
Meanwhile start water to boil for pasta
Pour about 3 cups of heavy cream over the garlic and mushrooms
Add in 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
Bring to a boil stirring frequently
Add in 2 Roma tomatoes cut up small (squeeze as much juice out of the tomatoes as you can so it doesn't make the alfredo too runny)
Reduce heat and simmer (stirring frequently) for about 20 minutes to thicken the sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
During the last 5 minutes of cooking add in the shrimp (I added about 2 cups of shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails off and thawed and drained) and 3/4 cup parmesan cheese
Cook pasta to desired tenderness
Serve with crusty garlic bread
This was OUT OF THIS WORLD GOOD! It tasted so much better than the alfredo sauce in the jar. It was so fresh tasting, especially with the tomatoes. I let it cook slowing after adding the tomatoes and it turned the sauce a very slight pink color. DELICIOUS!
After the race was over I decided to try and take some pictures. Somehow I missed the sunlight but I got a few decent shots. Everything is blooming and growing...all signs of spring....it's awesome.
Happy Sunday everyone! (Monday sucks!)
Hailey and I celebrated Earth Hour this past Saturday night by turning off all of our lights from 8 til 9pm. It was fun, kind of adventurous. I cooked on the outside grill and marinated the chicken and veggies in bourbon and orange juice before I had to turn the lights off.
I lit candles everywhere and turned off all of our lights at 8pm on the dot. I left the computer on but left the TV off for added effect. After an hour I turned the lights back on. So, for whatever good it did, I did my part. I don't think my neighbors got the memo.
- I had a profound realization yesterday. While at the mall, sitting on the benches waiting for Miss Hailey to beckon me to pay at American Eagle and Body Shop, I was watching people walk back and forth. I think I've always thought most people walked 'normal' and a few people had weird or unique walks. But yesterday I realized that almost everybody walks in a very unique way. People watching in the mall is fun! You see muffin tops, panty lines, people wearing clothes AT LEAST 2 sizes too small and old men with no butt holding hands with their wife. I saw a very upscale looking Mother shopping with her 2 daughters. I noticed the Mother had a kind of bow-legged walk. As I watched the three of them walk away I noticed the older daughter, about 15 walked pretty normal, but the younger daughter around 11 or 12, walked EXACTLY like her Mother.
- Work has been very WEIRD this week. My boss has had a bandaid across her nose all week.
- Why can't office buildings ever get the air/heat right? It's either burning up or freezing in there!
- I had 3 VERY STRANGE dreams this week, always in the morning after I've hit the snooze button: Someone pulled a sawed off shotgun on my Son right in front of Hailey and I, my Father came back to life and we took a train trip together, I had a romantic fling with the guy who plays Richard (Chrstine's ex-husband) on The New Adventures of Old Christine).
- Good sleep is GREAT but getting there is really hard!
- What do you do when family members (sibling and their crew) ignore good things or invitations you e-mail them? I'm seriously about ready to proclaim myself an only child!
- I almost made a PI faux paus in the car the other day: Hailey was driving home from school and one of her friends, and our neighbors, a black boy was catching a ride. My son called to remind me he wanted to borrow my camera. He was working with his girlfriend and I heard him say something to her and refer to her as 'Nigga' (that's just the way he talks, he calls everybody that). I said "Don't talk to her like that!" When I got off the phone Hailey asked me what I was talking about and I said "Um he called Alyssa something ugly!" I almost slipped and told her then I remembered he was in the backseat. Not that he would have been offended, he's a good kid and I've given him SO MANY rides back and forth to school and band practices, games, etc because his Mother must work a lot or something. But anyway...oops!
- I guess that's all, not feeling very well today. Just tired, tired, tired.
Yesterday we went to Six Flags over Georgia. This is the closest big amusement park for people living in Alabama unless we want to drive 15 hours to Disneyworld in Florida. We have an amusement park here called Alabama Adventure, but it basically sucks and Six Flags has about 10 times the rides for about the same admission price. When I was a kid we went to Six Flags every summer. It was a compromise between me and my sister and our Dad. He offered us the trip to Six Flags and in return we agreed to skip the rickety state fair because he just felt like rides that were packed up and moved weren't very stable or safe. I have many memories of going there as a kid, but gosh the place has exploded compared to what it was the first time I went there about 35 years ago.
This is Spring Break week for Hailey and her friend (who has a car) e-mailed me and asked if Hailey could ride with her to Six Flags. She asked me because she knows how I feel about Hailey riding with teens. The drive from here to Atlanta is quite dangerous so, of course, I said no, but I offered to take them myself. I did commend her for asking me in such a mature way but the plus for her was she wouldn't have to pay for gas AND they could be silly and giggly in the back seat! I mentioned the trip to my Mom and surprisingly she wanted to go too!
So we packed up and headed to the ATL for a day trip! I wasn't sure how well my Mother would fare because she has a bad knee and arthritis. She's 73 years old but ever since we started going to the football games and band competitions and then to New York she has just developed such an adventurous spirit! I idolize her and love her so much! I love hanging out with my Mom!
Six Flags is quite expensive!
Cost of admission for 2 people:
$106.00!
Cost of 2 pieces of pizza, 3 cheese sticks and 2 large drinks:
$17.00!
Price to freaking park the car:
$15.00!
Seeing my 73 year old Mom act like a kid again:
PRICELESS!
She forgot her socks she was going to put on with her good walking shoes and had to buy some in the park. Notice the cute pink socks she's wearing?
We rode the Shake, Rattle and Roll first and the girls rode that with us. It was a BLAST! After that we didn't see much of the girls.
We rode the train a couple of times, once round trip and again to get to the other side of the park because the walking was getting to my Mom. Just like in New York (where there is a TON of walking involved), she starts hurting and gets slower and slower. It sometimes annoys me having to walk slow or stop and wait for her but I really don't mind. I commend her for trying and she's always apologizing and I tell her not to. I love spending time with her and if that means we have to stop and rest every few minutes it's worth it to me.
**Some tunes for emphasis for the next segment (you can pick the original version or the covered version, I like both)**
Six Flags has so many rollercoasters it is totally insane! Some of them I have ridden in the past. Some of the newer ones you couldn't pay me to get on. When Hailey and I went a few years ago she talked me into riding the Batman ride and we stood in line for about an hour with my anxiety growing (I have extreme acrophobia that has become worse as I've grown older) as we got closer and closer to boarding the ride I chickened out and we had to walk BACK through the line all the way out. I did ride the Mind Bender with her and the Scream Machine but the feet hanging down rides are just too much for me.
The first big rollercoaster that Six Flags built was The Great American Scream Machine. When I was a kid we would ride it and immediately get back in line (and wait for hours) to ride it again. It's fun and if you can get past that first hill climb (with that horrible chain sound) the rest is great but it is extremely rough (it will shake your boobs right off your body). Mom and I discussed riding it but decided just to watch instead. It is quite a beautiful rollercoaster! I took some photos too.
THE GREAT AMERICAN SCREAM MACHINE (RIDE IT)
In the shadow of the Scream Machine they have erected the scariest thing an acrophobic person has ever laid eyes upon: The Fearless Freeps Dare Devil Dive!
Hailey and I watched this when we were standing in line for the Scream Machine a few years ago. I was dumbfounded and she said she'd like to do it! I said NO WAY! I figured somebody would get hurt and the thing would be disassembled...but much to my surprise it was still there and very busy. The cost of this ride is not included in the ticket price. It is an additional $20 to $30 dollars so that keeps the line down just a bit. It's a version of a bunji jump with a few more restraints. They truss up to 3 people in these things that look like aprons and string them all up together. They then hoist the package of people up to a structure that is behind this large, metal arch. Then they let them go and they plummet down and swing until they stop. It is QUITE amazing and the screams are spectacular! Most of the people that I saw doing this crazy ass thing were younger people. This is only for the true thrill seekers!
I made a video of some other people, it was amazing!
I tried my hand at photographing a few of the coasters. I never considered rollercoasters having any aesthetic value but they really are quite beautiful.
The Georgia Cyclone is designed to resemble the famous Cyclone at Coney Island in New York. It is even aged to look really old. The girls rode it several times and said it was the funnest of them all!
The Superman Ride is an inverted coaster that suspends your whole body above the ground to simulate flying. Whew! Too much for me. Hailey rode it and loved it!