These past couple of days have been the busiest I've had this summer, considering that for the first half in June, I've been mostly "house-ridden" due to a sprained ankle. The first part of July was mostly spent touring the East Coast, and these last couple of days in July have been productive.

Monday and Tuesday were spent frying in the sun. Literally. Remember, sunscreen is your best friend this summer... oh, and water, too, lots of it! I decided to join band again this year, including marching band. If you don't know Georgia sun, be glad because it is SCORCHING! We spent 8:00-11:30, 1:00-3:00 doing nothing 60% of the time outside on the two hottest days of the year. I feel sorry for the people who do nothing but burn all the time (you know, the ones that turn really red?) - My scalp is really red/brown, and my left shoulder's epidermis is like, gone... (well, not really, but when showering, it sure feels like that) If you don't understand about the scalp part, it's like this: if you shaved off all of my hair on my head, there would be this red/brown jagged line amidst all this white :P

There's something new this year; a "Leadership Team" instead of traditional titles like "rank leader," "band captin," etc. Apparently, the leaders are supposed to be on the same level as every other leader, which doesn't make sense. Maybe they don't like hiearchies? There isn't an official "rank leader" title anymore, which goes against all of my band sense. I always found it fun that there would be these people that would overlook their section plus a neighrboring one, like "Woodwind Captain" would look over flutes, clarinets, saxophones. Of course, there were rank leaders within each section, too. Best case scenario would be that the ___ Captain get along with everyone and know who's in their "care" because quite frankly, I don't know the clarinets or saxaphones that well. I think I would have been Woodwind Captain last year if I stayed in marching band, which is probably why I 'm talking about this... Now, they're just this one big mass. Like my friend said, "Why is half of the band 'leaders?'" Anyone who wanted to be a leader applied, and now we have twice, maybe three times the number of leaders...Sorry, I know I am on this bitter tirade here, forgive me, I'm not usually like that. I'm pretty sure not all of them are competent.

I went to volunteer at school yesterday and today. Why am I showing myself around school a couple of days before we actually start? I do this every year, volunteering... Fellow volunteers and I probably see more of the school than most people, especially those that commit truancy. I helped out with stamping and moving books around yesterday, and today I helped decorate a teacher's bulletin board. I got a life lesson about how AP Statistics can make one live comfortably in retirement 50 years from now by predicting the stock market. Good idea, Mr. LaMarsh!

All right, I'm really sleep-deprived right now, so I will go to sleep now. I have band practice again tonight, and I'm considering on skipping it... however, I don't like skipping out on things :P