The Ides of March

Hey guys.

No, this one doesn't have much of anything to do with the assassination of Julius Caesar, it just so happened that the girls had their Spring Concerts at Chestnut Hill this afternoon, and Yours Truly had to take the day off so that at least one parent could be in attendance (Kris had to work, and it's a hell of a lot easier for me to take the time off than it is for her to do so.)

I mean, c'mon.  I'm not sure what genius is responsible for scheduling these stupid kids productions at Chestnut Hill, but why the hell can't they have them in the evening, so people can attend without having to take a frickin' day off of work?  Is that too difficult for elementary school staff to coordinate?  . . .Idiots.

Anyway.

2nd Grade takes the stage. . .

Abby's grade put on their concert around 1pm, so I made sure to get to the school and into the gym by 12:30 in order to grab a front row seat.  Unfortunately, each grade level's production was only about twenty minutes long, so, once 2nd grade wrapped up, I was forced to remain where I was for about 40 minutes before Alayna and the 4th graders took the stage.  Honestly, this was kind of a small price to pay for keeping such a good seat - the pics and video turned out pretty good (no fat ladies in front of me this year, so I had that going for me.)

Nevertheless, had these showtimes been pushed back even a half an hour, I could have gotten by taking a half-day off of work instead of a full-day, but NOOOO - while I sat in a crowded gymnasium surrounded by other parents, some random substitute was wrangling my 8th graders, all damn day.

So, all in all, I guess I should have left a note for the substitute that said 'Beware the Ides of March' somewhere in my lesson plans.

Oh well.

Here we go. . .

Waiting to start.  Abby seemed pretty excited with her position in the stands - her pseudo-beau, Jackson (in the glasses and green shirt) and BFF Larkin (the blonde standing directly in front of her) were right by her.

Belting out some jams about. . . bees.  Or Spring, or something - you couldn't really follow the lyrics well.

I took a hell of a lot more video than pictures for both of the girls' concerts, but Blogger only allows uploads of up to 100mb, so you're stuck with a few short clips today.  Deal with it.

After 40 minutes of screwing around on my phone and weathering the grumpy sideways glances of soccer moms and grandmas that desperately wanted my seat, the Cannonball and the rest of the 4th grade finally took the stage. . . 

Front row this year (at least for the first few songs) - it was good seeing more than her forehead this year.

The fourth graders moved around a lot, so their positions were constantly changing.  For the most part, Alayna was able to stay in the limelight (it doesn't help things that she's hobbit-sized.)

Not at all paying attention - which is pretty much the norm for her.

. . . aaaand now she's in the far back row.  Make up your damn mind, 4th Grade.

Exit, Stage Left.

Since Kris had to work during the concerts, she pestered me throughout the afternoon for pictures of the girls at their shows.  She also voiced concern that I had forgotten, in my typical male absent-mindedness, to take a picture of both kids before school (they had dressed up for their shows, and Kris spent extra time on their hair in the morning.)  So, once we got back from school that afternoon, we posed a quick set of pictures to satisfy the Warden. . .

They each bought these stupid plastic cases that were designed to look like smartphones from their School Store today, and, once we got our mandatory 'nice' pictures for Kris out of the way, they demanded I snap a few more pics of them 'using' their new phones.

So there you go, folks.  The Ides of March.

- Brian