A big ol' thank you note

Dear Kevin, Mom, Cindy, John, Mary, Jerry, Lena, Glen, Stacia, and Steve:

I really hope you enjoyed The Messiah. The Tacoma Symphony Chorus has been rehersing since late September. Many of us, myself included, got the music earlier last summer in order to start practicing right away. We had 11 rehersals for 16 choral pieces, not to mention the various solo works included in Handel's oratorio. I have taken my music to work and begged the forgiveness of my co-workers for the annoying under-the-breath humming of "He Trusted in God." To finally perform this work after weeks of effort was immensely gratifying. But what truly made my evening shine was knowing you were all in the audience. Since Nancy was with you, I figured it would be the front row.

Sorry about that.

Many of you came a significant distance to enjoy the concert. Glen and Stacia drove up from McMinnville, Oregon. I wish they could have stayed at our house. But our tiny house was full up, and Glen and Stacia are too old to sleep on an air mattress in our utility room. Thank you for slumming it at that beautiful hotel downtown. Mary and Jerry came from Portland, and combined their visit with concert/grandbaby time. Grace entertained them while her lucky parents were enjoying a rare weekend full of adult time. Mom not only came up from Vancouver, but she hemmed my skirt, took us out to lunch, and cleaned my disaster of a kitchen after our chili party before the concert. As always, she spoils me rotten and I really enjoy it. I guess it's the best of both worlds; to be spoiled by a loving mom after you are old enough to truly appriciate it. So Mom, thanks again for everything. Cindy (the wicked stepmother) and my youngest brother John also came up from Washougal. John had NEVER seen our house in three years! He also inherited a puppy for the evening when Freya got quite comfy on the couch where John was sleeping. They left our house at the crack of dawn because she was hosting her family Christmas celebration that morning at 10am. Lena let her husband, Shaun, take over kid-duty for the evening so she could join our party. But Shaun and their two kids, Mattias and Hailey, joined us for dinner. Mattias declined everything except the Fritos. Hailey channeled our dogs (who were in seclusion upstairs) by following around anybody willing to feed her tidbits of beef stew and chili. But hey, she seemed to like it. Steve was able to take advantage of Mary's ticket after she (unfortunately for us) saved the day for Dana and Tim's nanny and couldn't attend the concert. Mary, we missed you very much and you were with us in spirit. Although we all missed Mary, we were pleased that Steve could join us last minute.

And a special thanks to my wonderful husband, Kevin, who is endlessly supportive of all my activities. Even my wish to take tap dancing lessons. You are my greatest blessing.

At bruch the next day with Steve, Glen, Stacia and Mom, Glen gave me a hard time about my blog. Specifically, he wanted to post comments. Since nobody by my friends and family read this, I've decided to give it a shot. So post comments people. Have at it.

Thanks again for taking time out of a busy holiday season to enjoy a weekend with us. I'm so pleased you all were there. I hope you enjoyed yourselves.

With love always,
Jenny