Lots of Flags

Nate (the Dog Walker) was so excited to be on CNN today! Take a minute and watch it if you missed it. It is the same one shown on FOX news, but different from the one on KSL. We have been so surprised at the media coverage! If you google “132 Merit Badges” you get dozens of stories from all over the United States. I’m thinking definitely famous.

But that’s not what I wanted to talk about today. And I don’t want to talk about my Grandma’s funeral either. There will be plenty of time for that on the weekend. The spikes and valleys in my life are so hard right now and I just made them worse. I want to talk about Marching Band.

We have been involved with the Marching Band at Bingham (since you all know our high school now) since Bossy was a Freshman, so almost 15 years now. Everybody had a chance to be in it. Bossy played the sax, the Gym Rat spun a flag, the Drama Queen played the Clarinet, and Teach was in the color guard (including two years as Captain). Now the Dog Walker is working on his second year. And I’m pretty sure I’ve worked on flags for about ten of those 15 years.

Yeah, Teach is a pro!

I started as just a mom helper since Bossy was on the Band Council and in charge of uniforms. Then when she graduated, it became a paying gig. I didn’t charge that much, but the money came in handy right during the days when all the school fees were due. Last year I made 70 or 80 flags and it took me about a month from concept to finished product. Bossy generally draws my patterns and I have to calculate and buy all the fabric. Last year we figured I made about twenty-five cents an hour and I wish I could say it really isn't worth my time. (But I'm a little prideful because I love to see my flags on the field!)

I made all these flags two years ago.

So this year I contacted the instructor in July. I wanted to plan my fall season. He told me that they were having mom volunteers do the flags this year, basically, thanks but no thanks. So I proceeded with my life and did not plan any late nights sewing.

Tonight we attended the Parent’s Night for the band. It’s always fun to see the show before the competitions begin. The Dog Walker did an amazing job! The band itself seemed to be right where they needed to be early in the season for Weber Review tomorrow. But the color guard had issues. It was pretty obvious right away that the flags didn't match. At some point during the evening, the Band Booster president got on the mic and mentioned that they needed 185 flags sewn by Saturday and could anybody help...

This cute little rifle girl in the front corner is Teach.

I texted the color guard instructor right away and offered to do some of them if he were desperate. I gave him a discounted price of $10 each. But that's when I heard that their plan was actually to use the flags as a fundraiser. Each flag was worth $5 toward the Disneyland trip. I know, I'm an idiot. I offered to do some. But let me explain myself. Sewing is usually pretty good therapy for me and right now I'm in real need of some therapy (and maybe a good cry). How many flags do you think I can make between Tuesday and Friday? I might want to sleep a little too...