The Granddaddy Of Them All or...

The Big Band That Could!


Speaking as a former (well, lifetime) band geek, I am so proud of our Mira Mesa High School Sapphire Sound Marching Band for being INVITED to perform at the 127 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena. They didn't even have to try out or apply! INVITED!

What a huge honor.I am especially proud of our Honorary son, Andrew Espiritu for being a leader on the drum line, playing the quad drums, as well as playing high school baseball and keeping his grade up. He barely has time to eat or sleep. The time commitment is HUGE!
 And they had to raise $250,000. That's 1/4 of a million dollars! And they are still about $50,000 short. https://www.gofundme.com/TofRMiraMesa

Hours of parade rehearsal require serious stretching!

The Sapphire Sound will be performing in spot 87 which is at the end of the parade. They will be the last of the invited bands. This is considered to be the most desired and honorable position.

Custom Drum Heads for the Parade

Here they are on the news!
http://www.10news.com/news/the-sapphire-sound-leaves-for-pasadena-tuesday-to-march-in-the-granddaddy-of-them-all

And in the San Diego Union Tribune!

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/dec/28/mira-mesa-rose-parade/

And Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/kathleen.bade.9/videos/701812476585607/
https://www.facebook.com/kathleen.bade.9/videos/701807836586071/
https://www.facebook.com/AshleyJacobsTV/videos/823674117744546/

What will they be doing in Pasadena for 4 days????
Check out their Itinerary! I have highlighted some of the more interesting features. Leading the Disneyland Parade! Changing outside the buses, rice at breakfast, eating standing up and the minute by minute scheduling and clothing changes. And the reminders to bring your hair products!

NORMAN TRAVEL

INTERNATIONAL

MIRA MESA HIGH SCHOOL BAND AND COLOR GUARD

STUDENTS, CHAPERONES, STAFF DETAILED TIMED ITINERARY

ROSE PARADE – 2016

DAY 1 – DECEMBER 29, 2015 – TUESDAY

MIRA MESA H S BAND/STAFF/CHAPERONES (FIVE (5) COACHES

Students wear:  Athletic shorts/Color Guard in full tights; may wear sweats or jeans over shorts/tights; black Fall Field show t-shirt; black socks; blue Rose Parade hoodie

Bring in backpack: Marching shoes/Color Guard shoes; gloves; hair products

6:00am                        Students, Staff and designated Chaperones report to MMHS

                        Buses arrive at MMHS

Drivers:             Ian Muth – Lead                      #1       

            Schlondia Murphy        #1        (12/29 only)                             

                Eduardo Carrillo                   #2

                Zoltan Budai                        #3       

                Alberto Torres                      #4       

                Juentino (Tino) Bazan          #5         

6:30am                        Student/Staff buses depart MMHS for Rose Bowl. (5 buses) – Mr. Mulvaney supervising

9:15am                        Students arrive at ROSE BOWL.  Visit the souvenir stands.

10:00am                      Meet back at buses, and change into uniforms outside of motor coaches

10:30am                      Band photo in front of Rose Bowl (in full uniform)

11:00am                      Float viewing (Lot 1)

11:30am                      Load buses (Students in uniform)

11:40am                      Depart for Pasadena City College

Pasadena City College

1570 E. Colorado Blvd.

Pasadena, CA

12:05pm          Arrive at Pasadena City College – After arrival, students will remove and hang up uniform jackets

12:20pm          Lunch (In-N-Out) – Students will eat standing up in black bib uniform pants

1:10pm                        To Warm-up area C in full uniform

2:10pm                        Arrive at stadium staging area

2:20pm                        Arrive at field staging

2:30pm                        Take the field

2:35pm                        Performance   

2:47pm                        Arrange for pass and review

2:50pm                        Pass and review start

2:55pm                        Pass and review complete

3:00pm                        Remain in stadium/uniform

3:15pm            Watch Punahou H.S. Band from Oahu, Hawaii perform. Following their performance, change out of uniform and return to buses.

4:45pm                        Students board buses and depart for the Costa Mesa Hilton Hotel

6:15pm            Upon arrival, unload instruments to Bristol Room #3.  Uniforms will remain on trucks. (Keys to Jeanne Christensen and Chris Johnson only)               

Hilton Hotel – Costa Mesa

3050 Bristol Street

Costa Mesa, California  92626

Tel:  1- (714) 540-7000

Fax: 1- (714) 540-0719

6:15pm            Arrive at hotel and check in - Instruments to be stored in Bristol Room #3 (time approximate), 1 key per person, room captain to pick-up keys.

7:30pm            Dinner (Italian) in Catalina Ballroom/Fountain Room.  Mrs. Christensen will hold a meeting during dinner.

Classic Caesar Salad w/Garlic Herb Croutons & Shaved Parmesan

Bow Tie Pasta Salad

Baked Manicotti with Fontina Cheese

Chicken Marsala with Cremini Mushrooms

Penne Pasta with Pesto Sauce

Sauteed Garden Vegetables

Italian Bread and Garlic Butter

Assorted Cookies

Water & Iced Tea

9:00pm                        Dinner & Meeting will end

9:30pm                        Students to rooms; Chaperone room checks

10:30pm          Students Lights out

                 

DAY 2 – DECEMBER 30, 2015 – WEDNESDAY

6:00am                        Wake-up call – all rooms.

Students wear:  Blue M t-shirt; jeans; blue hoodie; comfortable athletic shoes

Student backpack to be loaded on equipment truck:  Contains everything needed for uniform – athletic shorts/CG tights; black socks; marching shoes; gloves; hair products

7:00am                        Breakfast for entire group – Catalina Ballroom/Fountain Room

                       

Apple Juice

Assorted Muffins & Sliced Breads

Butter & Assorted Fruit Preserves

Assorted Cold Cereals with Low-fat Milk

Steamed White Rice

Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes

Hash Browns

Sliced Ham

Coffee, Decaf, Assorted Herbal Teas

8:15am                        Board buses (All instruments, uniforms and equipment will be loaded on trucks)    

8:30am                        Depart for Disneyland

9:00am                        Arrive Disneyland.  Please take all personal belongings as buses will return to the hotel for the day.

10:15am          Band/Staff/Chaperones meet at Story Book Gate in Fantasyland (the big white gate across from the Small World Toy Store)

            Once escorted backstage please follow Mrs. Christensen and your Disney Performing Arts instructions

12:45pm          Parade begins.

1:15pm            Parade ends, return backstage.  Change out of uniform, load instruments, wait for instructions.

2:15pm            Return to Disneyland Park.  Fireworks are at 9:30pm.

10:30pm          Meet outside the Main Gate to Disneyland – after exiting turn right and meet near the Guest Services/Locker area.

11:00pm          Board buses, return to hotel

11:45pm          Group meeting with Mrs. Christensen in the Catalina Ballroom for final instructions for Thursday

12:00am                      Students to rooms, Chaperone Room checks

12:30am                      Students Lights out

DAY 3 – DECEMBER 31, 2015 – THURSDAY

6:15am              Wake-up call – all rooms

Color Guard in Class B uniform

Band in blue polos (You may wear a long-sleeved t-shirt under the polo shirt.), Jeans, Marching shoes, Blue hoodies

7:15am              Breakfast – Catalina Ballroom/Fountain Room

Apple Juice

Assorted Muffins & Sliced Breads

Butter & Assorted Fruit Preserves

Assorted Cold Cereals with Low-fat Milk

Steamed White Rice

Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes

Hash Browns

Sausage

Coffee, Decaf, Assorted Herbal Teas

8:30am              Depart hotel for Pasadena

10:00am                        Drive the parade route

11:00am                        Depart for Anaheim Stadium

12:00pm            Boxed lunch provided at Anaheim Stadium  

1:00pm              Parade rehearsal begins

4:00pm              Rehearsal ends, load instruments and buses – return to hotel

                        Unload instruments/uniforms to Bristol #3

6:00pm                        Dinner (Taco Bar) in Catalina Ballroom/Fountain Room

Seasoned Ground Beef

Vegetarian Tofu Option (8 guests only)

Taco Shells

Shredded Lettuce

Tomatoes

Chopped Onion

Refried Beans & Cheese

Water & Iced Tea

8:30pm                        Wrap-up meeting with Mrs. Christensen in the Catalina Ballroom; Brownies/Ice Cream Cups served

9:00pm                        Watch the N.Y. Times Square New Year’s Eve “ball drop” on television

9:30pm                        Students to rooms; Chaperone room checks

10:00pm          Students Lights out

DAY 4  – JANUARY 1, 2016 - FRIDAY

127^th TOURNAMENT OF ROSES PARADE - ITINERARY AVAILABLE AT 12/31 MEETING

Students wear: Band and Color Guard leave hotel in full uniform

Before breakfast all students must clear out rooms and bring overnight bags and backpack to the Bristol Room #3 (storage room). Backpacks must contain comfortable clothes needed for the bus ride home after the parade. Give room keys to chaperones. Chaperones will check student rooms after students depart.

TBA                 Wake up call – all rooms                      

TBA                 Breakfast - Catalina Ballroom/Fountain Room

Apple Juice

Assorted Muffins & Sliced Breads

Butter & Assorted Fruit Preserves

Assorted Cold Cereals with Low-fat Milk

Steamed White Rice

Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes

Hash Browns

Bacon

Coffee, Decaf, Assorted Herbal Teas

TBA                 Following breakfast, don uniform, load bus.  Instruments are to be uncased and loaded on buses.

TBA                 Students and Staff board buses (Students in full uniform)

TBA                 Students and Staff depart – Schedule TBA by TOR Committee

TBA                 Arrive Pasadena.  Prepare for parade as per instruction by TOR personnel

Following parade In-n-Out will provide lunch to students and staff.

Return to hotel to change and prepare to depart for MMHS

                        Depart hotel.  Upon arrival at MMHS parents pick up students.

Parade Pass Review

Andrew's sister Alyssa is on the Color Guard. (She's the one in front)

It Is What It Is - Exciting!

Namaste

Do It For Denmark

Smarty Pants Cara is taking an AP Human Geography course... as a freshman ... and she has some troubling information about Denmark to share. 

Apparently Denmark is having a problem with under-population  Who knew??? 

Certainly not me! And I'm sure its safe to assume not you. And why should I care???

Because something hysterical is sure to follow this bit of background information. 

Denmark is battling a falling birthrate, which means supporting an aging population more dependent on support from social welfare. It also means fewer working-age people in the country overall. In 2013, the birth rate was 10 per 1,000 Danish people, a 27-year low.

A Danish Travel company, Spies Rejser, has taken it upon themselves to help out the government and offer "Active" Vacations and a "Do It For Mom" ad campaign. 
Because “We all know that the Danes have 51% more sex on a sunny holiday compared to their everyday life"

Check out their 2 ads on YouTube. Cara told me they watched these in class
Do It For Denmark
Do It For Moms

Do It For Denmark

It Is What It Is...
Namaste

Planned Power Outage

On Thursday we got a letter from SDG& E (our electric provider) that there was going to be a "Planned Power Outage" on Friday for residential customers. The outage was going to be from 9pm to 3am. Fine, I think...

Then I tell Scott.
Me: Scott, There is going to be a "Planned Power Outage"on Friday Night.

Scott: Whaaaaattt!!!! They can't do that! I'm going fishing in the morning.How am I going to check my clock every hour??? I can't get up in the dark! I need to get my stuff ready! THEY CANT'T DO THAT! Call them up and have them do it another day!

Me: Here's the letter. You call them. In my mind I'm saying, "Are your kidding me??? Call SDG&E and have them change the "Planned Power Outage" for you???? Like that would ever happen!"
Me: Why don't you just get hotel? (Sarcasm)

Scott: YOU'RE BRILLIANT!!! I can get on Price line and get the Sheraton next to the marina and sleep and extra 40 minutes, not drive on the freeway and stay in a hotel!

Me: Well, if you are going to a hotel, so am I.

Scott: Kids! Your mom and I are going to a hotel tomorrow night. You are staying home alone. And by the way... there is a "Planned Power Outage". Make sure all your stuff is charged up. No power.

Kids: Whatever...

11:30am  Friday morning I get a text from Colin that the power is off. I look on the website and see the "Planned Power Outage" is supposed to be from 9am -3 pm. So I tell him to go back to sleep.

Happy Hour at the Boathouse

When I got home from this view, in Saturday's mail I get a letter from SDG& E apologizing for the mistake. The "Planned Power Outage" was supposed to be from 9am - 3 pm.

Who You Lookin' At???

Typo! 
And there was even some fish!

It Is What It Is...
Namaste

And That Same Day

Dang - it was a kitchen EXTRAVAGANZA! 

The Farm/Sea to Table movement is alive and growing (literally) at Casa MacNaughton 

Blueberry Muffins

Ahi Poke - gotta love the raw fish

Home grown Roasted Peppers stuffed with goat cheese and topped with tomatoes .
Who says we don't farm in San Diego?

Grilled Yellow Tail Tuna with Ginger Lime Sauce. 

Growing our limes, tomatoes and peppers as well as hitting it big on the tuna boat pays off in kitchen creativity and culinary goodness.

It Is What It Is...

Namaste

If At First You Don't Succeed...

Add chocolate!

Caramels are a tricky thing, as is all candy making.

Ya gotta pay ATTENTION people!

So me  not paying ATTENTION  led to somewhat of a caramel fail. I had an order for 2 lbs of sea salt caramels (yay!!!) While looking away for a few seconds, the temperature climbed a measly 2 degrees and BAM! It hit the hard crack stage. (yes, I just wrote hard crack - haha- funny on numerous levels) Too brittle to cut for my melt-in-your mouth, don't stick to your teeth sea salt caramels. OH NO!!!

After a taste test to determine that they were not burned and careful consideration about what else to do, I decided to conquer my fear and... drum roll... temper chocolate.

I began my research in my usual way. Hey Siri! No really - Hey Google! I skimmed my way through a myriad of articles, recipes and blogs and found a bunch of sciencey type stuff on why chocolate tempers. AKA your candy doesn't melt and become weird and mushy at room temperature. You know, like the regular candy bars. Soooooo who cares, snooze fest, just tell me how to do it. I'll spare you the boring details, you can google it yourself if you really want to know.

Here we go! Watch and learn.Pictures included. 

Oh darn...Too Hard (yea, I just said that too)

That's why we have the NINJA!

Voila! Ice cream topping!

Oh. that's it, you say??? You said, "Chocolate?"

Feast Your Eyes on that $4.99 Big Boy

Temper it, Mix in the caramels. That doesn't look too pleasant but looks can be deceiving.

OH YEA!!! EPIC SUCCESS!!!!

And that's what you do when you don't pay ATTENTION! 

Conquer your fear peeps! Cover it in chocolate!

It is what is is...

Namaste

Even Big Kids Like to Lick the Bowl

A League Of Her Own

We all know how special Cara is. Now so does the rest of the world!

http://www.cbs8.com/story/29338227/a-league-of-her-own

She truely is in...
A League of Her Own!

It is what it is... Namaste

And The Fat Lady Sings On...

...At the Wangenheim Middle School 8th Grade Awards Night. Cara and the rest of the "nerd herd*" cleaned house. 

*disclaimer - they all know I call them the nerd herd with the upmost respect. 
They prefer Semi-nerds since they are in the seminar program. (Bragging moment. They have to pass the GATE test with a score of 99.8 to get into the seminar program)

From the classroom to the ball fields to the music rooms to the broadcast booth, and beyond Cara and her 8th grade friends EXCELL!

Cara earned awards in Math, History, English, Citizenship and Academic Excellence. While Cara got a 4.0 a few times during middle school, her good friend since preschool got the Principal 's Honor award for 4.0 ALL 3 years! Holy Moley Brainiac!

At these ceremonies, one can really see what a multi-cultural community in which we live. Shout outs go to the teachers and principals who pronounced a plethora of international names with ease and grace... mostly. At Wangenheim there was 1 Smith and no Jones. Nguyen, Troung, Tran, and Wong, were the most common surnames. The United Nations are well represented as evidenced by the number of kids who participated in the Junior Model United Nations program. 

As the sunsets and the "fat lady" sings on middle school, look out high school! The smart kids are on their way. 

It is what it is...

Namaste

Listen to the Fat Lady Singin'

After 43 years at the same complex, Mira Mesa West Little League had its final game. That's right - its over. In September 2015, the field remodel has an actual start date. (Although many of us won't believe it until the fences come down and the 1st bulldozer shows up).

We have spent a good part of the 10 years at those baseball fields so it was bitter-sweet to see Cara pitch in that final game.

FYI her team came from behind to score 13 runs in the 7th inning and won 22-15. 

An event such as this calls for a little bubbly.

Well, of course it does! 

Past president and current president share a toast

And that's all she wrote. The fat lady is singin' the song of love on the end of an era.

It is what it is...

Namaste

From the ball field to the 8th grade dance.
She sure cleans up nicely 

A New Chapter

Well friends, its been a while.

I'm sorry to say, I have just not been "feelin it". But don't fret... I'm not abandoning you yet. After 521 posts - you heard that right - 521 posts!   It Is What It Is is still hovering around here in Blogland.

While It Is What It Is is  my personal blog for family and friends, I'm happy to say I'm starting a new blog - yes, you heard correctly, a new blog for all the world to see.

I have been inspired by a few projects I have done, both recently and in the past and its time to capitalize on my organizational skills. I will be blogging about my projects, inspirations, tips and favorite products. Hopefully, I will be able to get some endorsements and maybe FREE STUFF!!! (Who doesn't like FREE STUFF???) Or I will just have fun and possibly help some people in the process.

You are all here at the beginning. So the answer to the question you are all asking is....

www.EvictingJustinCase.com  - cause that man has just got to go.

I hope you will tell all your friends and help me out. It will be up and running soon.

It Is What It Is...
Namaste