One week ago I was visiting my family, celebrating 5 birthdays and belated Christmas, and life and work in general was on track. You might be thinking 'Huh?! belated Christmas in April? You consider that on track?!' Well, perhaps you will be more understanding when I say we had to go to Edmonton to see my family.
My husband and I drove to Edmonton with our pug, Guinness, and between her catterwauling (everytime the car slows down, she lets out the most ungodly wailing noises) we listened to Goose, as recommended by a friend. We were taken aback by how energetic and catchy it was- definitely worth checking out!
Above all else, we had to get to Edmonton by noon- my dad is an amazing musician, and he jams every weekend at the CastleRock pub. I try to make it a point to get to see him play when I'm visiting.
Back when he was a lad, he taught himself to play guitar and harmonica, but there is a surplus of guitarrists at the CatleRock, so he brings only his blues harps. All 20 of them. Possibly more- enough to fill both sides of the case my mom just bought him for his birthday; apparently he was getting razzed for carrying around his beauties in a plastic Safeway bag.
No one plays harmonica like Gerry Pearson. He's got the harmonica belly fire. Belly fire being the obvious passion that people exude when they do something they really love. It doesn't matter if he knows the song, or if he's even heard it before- tell him the key you're playing in, and he can hold his own. Always. Its a real gift. From '
Green Onions' to '
Keep on Rocking in the Free Word,' he can do it all. If you're in Edmonton, (St Albert more specifically,) try to make it to an open jam- there is nothing like it! Sometimes, well known musicians pop in too- a few weeks ago, my dad played with BB King's bassist.
So Monday comes, and with it the regular work week... And Monday slips into Tuesday and my team misses a deadline despite 14 hour days. Tuesday, we were determined to finish up... and that usually means trouble. So, after another 14 hour day and eating nothing but cinnamon hearts I've had in my desk since valentines day, we're ready to 'go live' on the new website. I've been told for weeks that there were sections of the website that could not be tested until we went live, so I'm worried, but not to worried. We go live, things appear to be working, and the few pages that aren't are chalked up to 'still being published'. We all go home. admittedly, I'm almost out of cinnamon hearts, so I'm ready for some real food. and from home I check out the website, which is 1/3 down, and there is no way to contact our developers until 10 am Wednesday... and the pace of the week is set: Scramble>worry>worry>scramble.
It is over. Monday will bring a new set of challenges, like my yearly performance review. Couldn't it have been before last week's fiasco?!
Labels: Edmonton, harmonica, trip
