Denver

Drew, Rachel and I were in Denver last week for the 66th annual Sweet Adelines International convention. My chorus, Pride of Portland, competed against 34 choruses. We spent several days in what seemed like nonstop rehearsals and then sang in the semifinals on Thursday and the finals on Saturday. The trip was especially sweet because PopPop made it out to see us. From what I've been told, he, Drew and Rachel had a fantastic time while I was rehearsing, sleeping off my exhaustion or attending the quartet/chorus portions of the contest.

Rachel was so excited to see PopPop that when she and Drew got off the plane (PopPop met them on Thursday, right after I finished singing in the semifinals; I had to go back to my hotel room and sleep because I was so drained), she literally jumped into PopPop's arms. We all congregated in the hotel room and talked for a while with our room-sharer, Julie, a friend from chorus. Mom and Dad called and we were relieved to hear they were OK (if without power after Hurricane Sandy). Then PopPop, Drew, Rachel and I went to dinner and, as we were coming back, we heard that Pride of Portland had made the finals! Yippee!!

So Drew, Rachel and PopPop had a ball the next two days, going to the Denver Aquarium (where Rachel got to see not one but TWO mermaid shows), and the Denver Children's Museum while Mommy was rehearsing and competing. At night we'd reunite for a bit before crashing into bed at 11 (late for Rachel, quite early for Drew and me). We all got good amounts of sleep but I still ended up feeling tired, probably because of the adrenaline, the stress and the geography, while resulted in my throat being terribly dry the whole time and me losing my voice halfway through the semifinal ballad.

We're hoping that PopPop can see Pride of Portland in Baltimore two years from now, and that Drew and Rachel can come, too. I love that Rachel is growing up around music and that she sees how much being part of SAI means to me. She met Touche, the winning quartet, one of whose members lives in our region, and one of the quartet members got a picture of Rachel between them when the women were wearing their crowns at breakfast (Rachel did a perfect curtsy in front of them, and the bass in the quartet said it was a perfect way to start her morning).

On Sunday morning as we were getting ready to leave, Rachel presented me with a paper crown she'd made at the Denver Children's Museum. "Mommy, you're a QUEEN!" she said. "A queen of HARMONY!"

This is why it didn't matter that we came in 8th instead of 5th or 6th or 7th as I'd hoped. And, hey, the chorus has been asked to audition for "America's Got Talent." So, really, it was very productive week.