New wooden ornaments and…

First crafts – cause this is a craft blog…

I have a bin full of wooden shapes. I got most of them at one garage sale last summer. I think I spent $15.00 on all of them and there are a lot! There are especially a lot of hearts. Remember back in the 80’s when everything had a heart on it? Well, that isn’t so popular now and I’ve been brainstorming since last summer about how I could use some of these up! This is one way. There is a red heart on both sides of this ornament with a painted bead at the top and they are strung with vintage baker’s twine. I love how these turned out! Very Scandinavian smile, and simple smile. I have made about 16 for the Spirit of Christmas Bazaar later this fall. I want to get as many things made now as I can. That will free up a lot more time later…

Now for the and…

I’ve mentioned that this is Abby’s senior year in high school. It is quickly becoming a mine-field of emotions for me. I keep thinking the last time she’ll do this – or the last time she’ll do that…Last night she participated in her last “Mass Band Concert”. She plays the tambourine mostly. And let me tell you, you can hear her playing! She keeps a good beat!!!! There is only one tambourine in the band and Abby rocks it! There are different levels of band and Abby has stayed in the "Concert Band” made up of 7th and 8th graders. She is very comfortable there.

Grad picture I took of Abby…

Well, typically at the last band concert of the year the Seniors are acknowledged and given a flower. That happened last night. The music teacher said something about there being five Senior’s there that night and what a great job they’ve done. And she mentioned that back in the day there were lots of kids from their class in band and now there were only five…blah blah blah. Then she asked the five band members, by name, to come down and get a flower from her. She forgot Abby! (In her defense this was her first year teaching here.) Instantly I teared up and did my damndest not to cry out loud. Hard. I also took a good look at Abby (sitting across from us on the bleachers) and she didn’t seem upset. I think it helped that these five Seniors were all boys. I think it helped that they were dressed differently. The Senior’s are usually in the “Symphonic Band” and dressed all in black. Abby, being in “Concert Band” was dressed in black pants and a white top. She was the only female Senior and she was forgotten. Abby has been in band since 5th grade. The five boys got their flower and posed for a picture for the paper. But… she got forgotten.

My husband told me I had to keep it together and he held my shoulder. (He knows I’m a bit of a cry-baby when it comes to things like this.) I can only speak for myself but my mind was spinning. I wanted to stand up and yell “Abby! We love you!” I wanted to go to the music teacher and say something…but we were in the bleachers – up high – with no way down unless everybody else moved out of the way. And again, I looked hard at Abby and she didn’t look upset at all. Because believe me, if she’d been upset, I would have jumped over all those people to do something about the situation. But she was clapping and happy for those boys so instead I started planning the phone calls I was going to make this morning. Then they were playing their next number and I kept wiping under my eyes because they wouldn’t stop leaking. Again, I can only speak for myself, but once in a while I’d feel my husband squeeze my shoulder harder in commiseration and he’d whisper “it isn’t over yet…”

Then, just before the last number was to be played a little boy ran over to the band instructor, must have said something, and she said “OH! Abby! You’re a Senior too?” Abby said “YA!” and started pushing chairs out of the way to get to the front. The band instructor said “You’ve been in band since 5th grade?” Abby said “Ya, ya, ya!!” and she reached out to give the instructor a hug. The instructor gave Abby a scarf she’d just been presented with from those five Senior boys. Abby laughed out loud and wrapped it around her neck, gave the instructor another hug, went back to her seat, and proceeded to play the school song with enough enthusiasm to power the lights in this whole town.

I just wanted Abby to have her moment to shine. I wanted her to be acknowledged for her dedication and enthusiasm for band all these years. I guess all ended well enough. Although I went to bed with a headache and a backache from the tension and my mind wouldn’t shut up. I could hear Abby in her room laughing out loud and yelling “Ya!” occasionally … but this was normal. It usually takes her hours to settle down from the excitement of being in a band concert. Again, I’m speaking only for me – this is a mother’s perspective and that is all. It’s both harder and easier to have a child with special needs. Well, that is a conversation for another time.

Happy Crafting!!!