Sunday, January 15, 2023
Our very good friends, Mike and Mary, came over to watch brass band videos today. We had LOTS of catching up to do, so we talked without taking a breath for the first two hours they were here. Fantastic! Mike has been working part time (from retirement), teaching band in the same district where Mary works. He mentioned that a couple kids tried calling him by just his last name, and he corrected them to say, “Mr. Larson,” adding that after they graduate, they will be able to call him whatever they choose. (I had an 11th grader who started calling me bthompso2, which is my school login. It was my last week. I basically ignored him. I am not as good at teaching as Mike is.) He told us a story about when he wasn’t feeling well in the morning one day a few years ago and went to the clinic before school. Before he knew it, he was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital, because his heart was having an arrhythmia. Both of the paramedics were former students, and the ED nurse that met them was also a former student. I guess it isn’t too surprising when you live and teach in a very small town for 30+ years. The ED doctor met him, and asked if he was Michael, or Mike….and the three former students said in unison, “His name is Mr. Larson.” It certainly broke the tension about being in the hospital.
The brass band videos were of the Brass in Concert competition from last November. Brass in Concert gives each band 30 minutes to entertain however they choose. It makes for very good watching, because they are doing their best to entertain the audience. We watched six bands and ranked them ourselves – then compared our thoughts to what the judges thought. It was a lot of fun.
We had spaghetti carbonara (and bread and green beans! All done at the same time!) for dinner, and baked meringue with ice cream, berries, and whipped cream for dessert. It felt good to actually cook, even if none of it was fancy. (Okay, anything beyond a frozen pizza feels very fancy these days.)
They were off for home later than they should have been, since Wisconsin apparently doesn’t recognize Martin Luther King, Jr Day as a holiday and it is a school day for them. They have an inservice day NEXT Monday. OOoof. Who does their scheduling?
Gorgeous dessert! Fancy or not, you should get extra points for getting everything done at the some time, and double extra points if you baked the meringue.
Double extra points for me! I started baking the meringue way too late when we got home Saturday night, and had to stay up until midnight for them to be done. I also took some of it and flavored it (strawberry, orange, mint chocolate) and made little stars out of that. It turned out really well.
Wow!
Just my type of dessert. Looks fabulous.
It turned out just right