We're affectionately calling it Dr. Stillar's 100% Natural Good-Time Family Band Solution.

Have you ever had so much going on and not the time to appropriately process it all, so you move on and before you know it the summer is half-over, you still don't have a tan, various appendages are twitching (which the know-it-alls would tell you indicates a vitamin deficiency) and you've started to notice there's a cute girl who has a ring on her finger and (oddly enough) the same last name as you do.

Oh, her? She just started following us around one day.

I remember thinking this summer was to be one of relaxation. Perhaps the occasional insane run, but nothing I can't handle. I'm aware of the fact that I will suffer routine meltdowns. It's for this reason my mother advises me to always schedule in my good cry, because nobody wants to be that person who totally stops the action with their drama.

We'll start with HoopFest. Every self-respecting friend of the Stillars knows this is our Christmas. Except bigger, and with more road-rash. This year it was the four brothers and the four sisters, and both ended up in their respective championship games at the exact same time. 30 seconds in, Luke smacked his head... STOP THE GAME, WE HAVE A MAN DOWN. Mom kept asking him to blink...again...again... again... YOUR EYES AREN'T DIALATING, WE'RE GOING TO THE MEDICAL TENT and even at the age of 28, he was all MOM, I'M FINE, SIT DOWN. All the while, I'm texting his wife going YOU MARRIED AN IDIOT.

He suffered a concussion, which really should be worn as a badge of honor except he doesn't think so 'cause all he remembers is that his brothers won the HoopFest Championship without him. Welcome to my world, you non-contributing sucker.


When all was said and done, both teams took the titles and by early PM, we were done for the weekend. So we crammed into the hotel room and ordered pizza.. Luke was still batting below average so every few minutes he'd say THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES OF OUR TIME (said about Transformers, mind you) and we were this close to backhanding him until he jumped on the bed and konked his head on the wall. Then he shut up. It was around then that Kyle inhaled helium, and Kelsey mooned the innocent balcony bystanders that we decided HECK, WE SHOULD WIN EVERY YEAR.

July 10th - Alex got married, marking Child #3 to take said plunge. Hard to believe we made it, given from the time he proposed to the time they got married, Luke popped the question, tied the knot and logged eight months of marriage. Kinda stole his thunder. But no worries, the weekend was swingin' and as soon as they tapped the keg of Blue Moon, so were we. 

Mom had her heart set on a new picture for the livin room wall. What you can't see here, as thankfully we're past the age of not cooperating, are the red ants making their way up our legs. It was the only place I could find shade, some red ants I was willing to brave. My siblings were not so willing, but nobody asked them.

That evening, the Conzattis joined us and we split up into teams to embark on a late-night video scavenger hunt we'd entitled (and appropriately so) Alex & Jaleesa's Excellent Adventure. When all was said and done, only 10% of participants ended up forever banned from the downtown mall and it was midnight the night before the big day... we convened for a short viewing (competitive spirit was rampant -- we ended up agreeing to disagree) then hit the sack.

My wedding responsibilities meant my day looked like this: 

- 10:30a = shoot candids of the preparation, bride and her bridesmaids, etc.
- 2:00p = drag the groom/smen outside into a nearby field to pose for formal pictures.
- 2:20p = run all the way inside to see what the hell is delaying the bride. Tell somebody to find me a walkie talkie, for crying out loud.
- 2:25p = first look, bride & groom formals. Witness Jaleesa soundly smack Alex in the face with her parasol. Laugh hysterically.
3:00p = bridal party formals. Ringbearer had a meltdown.
3:30p = family formals. I'm perched on a chair, camera in my hand, another over my shoulder, barking orders as best I could to a group of people dressed to the nines in sweltering heat. I compare it to trying to get a bunch of 5-year-old's to line up and all sing the same song, on-key, WHEN they're supposed to. And yes, I would know. They were cranky, I was cranky. And before I could stop myself, the tears started... mom saw it from a mile away.. it was one of those slow-mo scenes, she started pushing people out of the way and hurdling over rows of chairs...ordered me inside to change clothes and apply my makeup. Oh that's right, I have to be IN these pictures. Damn.
3:40p = I emerge looking like a dream.
4:15p = Everyone else goes inside, I sound check for my turn as wedding singer.
5:00p = go time. Shoot, shoot, sing, shoot, shoot... repeat.

As we setup the reception, I was once again ushered inside to SIT DOWN AND TAKE A BREAK before the party started. So I snuck out, asked my sister-in-law to find me a beer, and set out to make some friends. It was about then that I thought WHY DIDN'T I START DRINKING AT 10AM, THIS IS SO MUCH EASIER...

I've never considered myself a wedding reception partier, though I'll break out the funk for Stillar weddings. This is one of my favorites, taken during a rare moment when I didn't have a camera in my hand.

The very next morning I'd arranged to lead worship at NewComm, a team comprised of three Stillars (myself, Molly on BGV's, Luke on lead guitar) and three Conzattis (Jamie and Leanne on cello, Leslie on violin) in addition to my other band members. I've led all the same musicians for so long that working with new ones took some getting used to, as spoiled/inexperienced a musician that makes me...and by new ones, I mean Luke. It was bad enough that both he and my drummer were trained sound technicians (like any room is big enough for their snobby heads) but add the last-minute flare and the primadonna in all of us came out. Nevertheless, it was a fabulous morning of worship and a healthy reminder as to why we don't have a family band.

In the midst of it all, I've been working for CYT as the dance teacher at our summer camps, and am dangerously close to burnout. Working with kids is exhausting, however rewarding it can be. I've received all kinds of comments on our evaluations, from "She has mad dance skills" to "She yells a lot"... somebody needed to explain to that child that Miss Annie wouldn't HAVE to yell if there weren't 30 of you running around the room screaming like a banshee, now would she...

The last in a long line of summertime events to date came last weekend when I sang at my dear friend Karli's wedding. She'd asked me to sing the first dance, a bluesy take on The Way You Look Tonight... I was doing fine until her brother (the guitarist) let it slip that he was nervous. My brave face went out the window and I began to seriously question the exclusion of alcohol at this reception. A nightcap at The Elk fixed everything and I decided a career as a wedding singer would be bitchin.

Stillar Family Vacay 2010: T-Minus 9 days and counting. Wait for it.