A day in my life as an anthem singer... This is a snapshot of my day on June 28, 2008. It was the day I sang the national anthem for the Kansas City Royals vs. the St. Louis Cardinals in Kansas City.
8am Roll out of bed & check cell phone for new messages.
9am Breakfast with my friend and assistant for the event later in the day, just cereal, gotta keep it simple.
10:13am Shower, dress, straighten hair.
11:15am Trip to the grocery store to pick up fixin's to make home made pancakes on Sunday morning.
11:51am Drive through Brookside and around The Plaza in KC.
12:37pm Lunch with three friends in The Plaza. Turkey & Avocado Club & a Fat Tire... mmm. Great conversation about real estate, my recent trip to Memphis, hookin' up and dogs.
2pm Paige drops me off at the Brez-Salveter home to rest.
2:03pm Lounge on the couch, watch True Life on MTV.
2:20pm Retire to bedroom to check email, play on Facebook, lay around a little more.
3pm Straighten hair again, warm up voice in the bathroom. GREAT acoustics in the bathroom.
3:20pm Make up.
3:50pm Iron clothes. Wish out loud that I had someone to iron clothes for me. Wish out loud for a Diet Pepsi.
4pm Run downstairs for Diet Pepsi, then return to ironing.
4:07pm Dress. Can't wear read, per the Royals instructions so I am wearing my standard anthem attire. Black. Throw wallet, tickets, & make up in purse.
4:12pm Shoes & jewelry. Wearing a BIG red flower shaped ring with a diamond in the center to secretly show my loyalty to the Cardinals. And slight panic because it sounds like nobody else is ready to leave.
4:27pm Out the front door! Panic again because now Andy needs to clean out the car before we can leave. Andy reassures me that he will get me "to the church on time."
4:50pm Andy drops me & Cindy off at the front entrance of Kauffman Stadium.
4:55pm Cindy stops with me to get water. Cindy takes my purse and camera for me.
5pm Cindy warms up the camera, taking pictures of Chris Duncan during batting practice. She just loves some Chris Duncan. Kasey Schweitzer of the Royals introduces me to a member of the KCrew who will serve as my "handler" for the evening.
5:10pm Cindy heads to the dugout to get in position for pictures and my handler takes me to the press room.
5:15pm Meet Willie Wilson. I think I have a crush on the Hall of Famer.
5:25pm Warm up in the "blue room." Feel strong. Voice feels good. Ready to go!
5:30pm All pregame participants gather in the press room for download on the night's festivities, the schedule and the rules. Everyone is given their cues. Kasey is, by far, the most organized and together event director I have EVER worked with and that includes NASCAR, MLB, & NHL.
5:32pm Step onto Kauffman field. Cindy takes a picture of me standing on the on deck circle. Royals players swarm the dugout. (Some of them were lookin' real good.) Cards players stagger in slowly. (I think there were maybe six Cardinal uniforms out for the anthem.)
5:36pm Mic'd up, earphones in.
5:38pm Kasey ushers me to homeplate. Camera man positions himself about 4 feet in front of me. Announcer introduces me. (I don't even remember what he said but I remember hearing my name and then seeing my face on the HUGE flat screen in center field. What a distraction!)
5:39pm And... anthem. I can hear myself in the earpiece and the echo in the stadium. Just keep going... Just keep singing... Don't let the echo or your giant face on the screen mess you up. OOO fireworks! And the home of the brave!
5:40pm Applause. I hear a few people yell my name. As I walk off the field, a couple of random Royals congratulate me on a job well done. Some fans lean over the dugout and extend applause to me as one of them yells "great job!"
6:10pm In my seat, Bud Light in hand, fun with friends for the rest of the night. Throughout the night various fans approach me and tell me the anthem was great or beautiful.
9:30pm A couple behind me spots me on the Royals highlight reel playing on the screen in center field and realizes I was the anthem singer, then engages me in a brief conversation about the hows, whys and what fors of anthem singing.
10:15pm Finally get to the car, more beers, cavorting in the parking lot with the unbelievable number of Cardinals fans in KC for the weekend.
11pm Arrive back at the Brez-Salveter residence, ding dongs for everyone, and a few minutes of "Better Off Dead."
11:20pm Off to bed, a little "internets" time and then to sleep.
It was a good day. A good day indeed.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
In His Wait
My entire life has been spent waiting on the man.
I am not referring to "the man" who keeps you down or Stan the Man. The man I am waiting on is usually just whichever man I am associated with in that aspect of my life in that point in time.
Some days, I am waiting for an answer from a client or a co-worker who is usually a man. And the continuation of my work is dependent on the information I am trying to collect from him. Nearly every relationship I have been in has involved me waiting by the phone or waiting in the car or waiting at the bar. Most of the time I wait for the man to decide where he'd like to go out or what he'd like to do.
Most of my nights are spent waiting for the phone calls from my stalker to begin. And guess what? My stalker is a man! Today I was driving in traffic and I was anxious to get to the highway to start my journey to Kansas City. The car in front of me was all over the road and every stop was prolonged. If I switched lanes, the car in front of me would do the same. I waited for an opportunity to pass. I waited and waited and FINALLY a window opened. And that's when I discovered the car behind which I waited so long to begin my journey westward was driven by a man.
Since I was a little girl, I have been waiting for a man to sweep me off my feet. I realize now that, being the big girl that I am, most guys won't be able to physically handle that task. But there is still a part of me "secretly" waiting for my prince to arrive. In fact, I have put much of my life on hold because I want to experience certain things with the man of my dreams. But I've been waiting a long time.
Most of my life has been spent waiting on the man. The ones I don't want won't get out of my way and the one I've dreamt of seems to be running late.
I am not referring to "the man" who keeps you down or Stan the Man. The man I am waiting on is usually just whichever man I am associated with in that aspect of my life in that point in time.
Some days, I am waiting for an answer from a client or a co-worker who is usually a man. And the continuation of my work is dependent on the information I am trying to collect from him. Nearly every relationship I have been in has involved me waiting by the phone or waiting in the car or waiting at the bar. Most of the time I wait for the man to decide where he'd like to go out or what he'd like to do.
Most of my nights are spent waiting for the phone calls from my stalker to begin. And guess what? My stalker is a man! Today I was driving in traffic and I was anxious to get to the highway to start my journey to Kansas City. The car in front of me was all over the road and every stop was prolonged. If I switched lanes, the car in front of me would do the same. I waited for an opportunity to pass. I waited and waited and FINALLY a window opened. And that's when I discovered the car behind which I waited so long to begin my journey westward was driven by a man.
Since I was a little girl, I have been waiting for a man to sweep me off my feet. I realize now that, being the big girl that I am, most guys won't be able to physically handle that task. But there is still a part of me "secretly" waiting for my prince to arrive. In fact, I have put much of my life on hold because I want to experience certain things with the man of my dreams. But I've been waiting a long time.
Most of my life has been spent waiting on the man. The ones I don't want won't get out of my way and the one I've dreamt of seems to be running late.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Beer Bong
Historically, a beer bong has been "built" using a funnel and about 3 feet of tubing. The beer bong is created for the purpose of consuming large amounts of beer in a short amount of time. Beer has long been the preferred beverage for slow intoxication. But the invention of the beer bong allows people to get drunk as fast with beer as they would with hard liquor.
The beer bong is most popular among the 18-24 year old crowd but there are those in older age ranges, such as the members of my Tuesday night softball team, who take p
art in bonging beer at least once every season. This week, one of my teammates introduced our team to the OCTABONG. It is a blue funnel with eight compartments and the capacity to hold eight beers. There are eight tubes for eight drinkers. Given the honorary name SQUIDBONG, it fast became a member of our team and is up for consideration for continued used every Tuesday night for the rest of the season.
While I served as POURER for much of the night, I must admit that I took part in the bonging festivities once. it was my first beer bong ever. I waited 37 years for that experience. And now... I know why. That said, the SQUIDBONG is a sight to see!
The beer bong is most popular among the 18-24 year old crowd but there are those in older age ranges, such as the members of my Tuesday night softball team, who take p
art in bonging beer at least once every season. This week, one of my teammates introduced our team to the OCTABONG. It is a blue funnel with eight compartments and the capacity to hold eight beers. There are eight tubes for eight drinkers. Given the honorary name SQUIDBONG, it fast became a member of our team and is up for consideration for continued used every Tuesday night for the rest of the season.While I served as POURER for much of the night, I must admit that I took part in the bonging festivities once. it was my first beer bong ever. I waited 37 years for that experience. And now... I know why. That said, the SQUIDBONG is a sight to see!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)