Of Snow and Stage

Hi Everybody! I love potato chips! Just thought I'd get that out of the way right off the bat.
I had an interesting weekend. It started off Friday morning at 6:30 with our power going out and staying out for 20 hours. I hate snow. Can I say that? People who don't have to deal with it think it's this beautiful fluffy stuff that makes you feel all Christmas-y. My reality is it's this heavy, messy stuff that makes life harder.
We had an extremely early winter storm that started Thursday evening. Most people in our area just got rain or at most, a bit of slush. Here on the mountain in Haneyville, we got 6 inches of wet, heavy snow. And it did not quit snowing up here until Sunday morning. Many many trees went down because the leaves haven't all fallen off yet. In our yard, about a half dozen huge branches snapped off our maple tree. 
Getting to work Friday morning was interesting. John had to take the van to work because he has a lot farther to go. So I got to drive the Miata 8 miles downhill to Waterville. I had stuffed the trunk full of cinderblocks and bricks the previous evening and I'm sure that helped a lot. The first several miles were precarious as I had to drive through slush and dodge downed trees on the road. About half way down the mountain, everything turned into rain, and here I am, pulling into the parking lot at McConnell's where I work, in a tiny sports car with piles of snow all over it. Did I mention that I hate snow?
Saturday evening, my brother Matt's band played at a bar in Waterville, so John and I went and hung out  and listened for a few hours. My brother Matt is a fantastic guitar player. You won't find a better electric guitarist anywhere on the planet, I'm convinced.
Sunday, John and I and Mike and Bob packed up the instruments and headed down to Jerseytown, where there's a huge jam every third Sunday of the month. It's a lot of fun; you meet and play with other musicians, and there's a stage where the different bands sign up for stage time and take turns performing. That's the main reason why we went, to get stage experience. So we practiced in a side room, and we played with some other musicians for a while, and then we were on stage at 3. And it went very well! Performing on stage is like the funnest thing in the world for me. Especially with John and Mike and Bob. BTW, our band is called "Partners In Time". And we have a gig! I'm so excited! And some folks who were listening to us at Jerseytown got our info and might book us for a party!! Can you tell I'm a little excited? The guys and me decided that we're ready to be serious about this band thing and we just started trying to book gigs, so this little beginning is a huge thing for us. All I know is, we've been playing together for about ten years now; it's about time we share it and profit from it!
Okay, total change of subject: John's achilles tendon is coming along. He is now on one crutch and is actually back to work at Hawbaker headquarters in Monoursville in the transportation office. He has many restrictions still, so a sedentary job is all he can do for now, but we're grateful for the progress he's made. A word to the wise: Don't ever sever your achilles tendon. It's a horrible, painful thing that takes a LLLOOONNGGGGG time to heal. The one good thing about it is that with my Beloved being home, we got to spend a LOT of time together, and it has been so good for us. We never ever wanna be apart again if we can help it. Which leads to the subject of finishing my education. We are both dedicated to getting my degree in Commercial Music. So hopefully, come next August, I'll be back in Levelland taking classes. We comfort ourselves that it's only four months at a time to be apart. *Sigh*
Some family news: Leah lives in Minneapolis now. She is teaching and going to grad school at University of MInnesota and she loves it. Emmy is in her junior year at Lycoming college and is a teaching assistant to the German 101 professor. Charlie is just finishing up his paving season and is looking forward to some time off over the winter. They're all doing well and I am so proud of them.
That's it for now, folks. I realize this is a huge blog entry, but as I can't seem to blog very often, I guess I have a lot to say! I hope you enjoy this little window into my life.
Bye for now,
The Sparrow