Whirlwind weekend

Wow! This weekend was such a whirlwind of activity! Friday night started with the CYF's spaghetti dinner and talent show. It was a wonderful evening. These kids are amazing! They took whatever talent they had (or didn't have) and entertained us for 2 hours. Their goal was to raise enough money to go to Covington, Mississippi for a week this summer to help with Katrina damage. They made it!

Saturday was another trip to Shenandoah University for an audition. Emma did not think it went very well. Nerves, stress, PMS. Ugh! It was a marathon day, getting to Winchester early, coming home, Winter Formal for her, Mardi Gras party for me, Pat in Salisbury (he did more driving than I did!)

Sunday was church. The Nitty Gritty Church Band was playing, my Handsome Prince Singing. It's always a good time. Pat had to do a Word in Action for the Capital Campaign he is heading. After this and singing, I thought what a good man he is. Good heart, good soul, good voice, good faith. I'm a fortunate woman.

After church, Emma and I took off to Boone, NC to visit Appalachian State University. It took us about 8 hours to get there. It was a fine trip, listening to music, talking, renting a book on tape at Cracker barrel, not realizing it was tape and we only have a cd player, laughing at our own stupidity, eating twizzlers, beef jerky, trail mix and diet Coke to keep me awake. These college trips have been unusual bonding trips.

Monday, our day at ASU, started with a meeting with the Director of the Music Therapy program. She told some wonderful stories of the healing power of music. At one point, I thought I was going to cry talking about their success in hospice. This program is so much more diverse than Shenandoah's. ASU works with toddlers, geriatric, psychiatric, at risk adolescents, and working towards teens. She also gave us a quick tour of the School of Music building. We were able to see it in action, students practicing, faculty out and about. Everyone we met was genuine and not out to impress, just doing their thing. We then went to the admissions department to get an overview of the university and a tour. This too, was very informative. While we didn't go into classrooms, we saw all areas of the campus in full activity. Last, but not least, was Emma's audition. While she was practicing with the accompanist, faculty members would pass by me sitting in the hall, backtrack, introduce themselves to me and ask about Emma and her audition. I was asked if I wanted to sit in on the audition, which I'm not sure if it made it any easier. I was a bundle of nerves. The two faculty members were very kind, inviting, and easy going. After singing, she did some sight reading and some rhythms, then they asked her some questions. Emma came away, feeling okay, much more confident than Saturday. She remarked several times during the day that she liked this university. She was concerned about the distance. We'll see what happens. It's hitting hard these past few days, that my first born is growing up, leaving home, whether an hour away or a day away. She'll be alright. We've equipped her well, I think.

The ride home was more of the same. Glad to be home. I had to nap for two hours today. I haven't done that since I was pregnant. No. That's not possible. I'm just exhausted, physically and mentally.