Weekend fun

I spent a bunch of time at club this weekend, but that's Ok - it's always good for entertainment. Friday night was practice with the kids, and I went back to club during the day on Saturday to sing with the German school kids. After a short break during which I practiced at my mom's for an hour (!) I went back to club for the Mother's Day celebration mass and program.

The funny part about mass...the priest was 45 minutes late for mass because he was stuck on the Kennedy. That in and of itself wasn't too funny, but watching my Oma's reaction was - I really need to invest in a video camera, but for those of you who know my Oma, picture her walking around muttering in German, looking all worried, and every few minutes saying something like, "Nah come ahhn!" When the poor guy did finally arrive everyone applauded and mass begun...and hit a snag when he went to read the Gospel - he'd left his German bible in his bag, which was in the office. Poor guy.

The not so fun part about mass...I've decided that after this last time, I am not singing with the old people any more. They're so bad, and I've done it in the past for Oma but I can't take it anymore. This means that from now on I've got to find places to be when they're singing so I don't have to just say no, I can tell them that I've got another commitment.

On to the program - the kids did well with their singing, and showed a lot of improvement after just a few pointers I gave them the couple of times I went to German school. I'm sure that some of that was repetition, but there were definitely signs of their having paid attention. Everyone said it was the best singing in a German school program in years so I felt good, and felt great for the kids.

Something else fun - I had a mom come up to me to tell me about what her daughter does in the car: this little girl (probably about 4) will direct her brother (about 2) in singing. For example, there'll be a song on CD player, and before the vocals start will say, "one, two, ready, go," the way I do (I know older kids can follow conducting without those cues, but the little ones really need it, especially if I only see them for 10 minutes every two weeks). I also tell the kids that if they're using folders/song sheets, they need to hold them up so I can see their mouths and faces, I tell them that they need to smile, and I tell them they can be louder a lot...this little girl's mother told me that she'll say to her brother, "Come on now, look up...Smile! I want to see that smile!...Ok, try the next verse louder, I know you can do it!" What is that saying about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery? :-)

So, that was Saturday. Sunday was two church services for me and then lunch at my mom's. A good time was had by all, and I got lots of sauerkraut to take home. Yum!

More tomorrow!