King and Princess

We are now home from saving the kingdom from total ruin....and scoring a whole bunch of candy along the way.

Candy has been sorted and tallied (by M, my mathmatician), and King and Princess are now resting peacefully, after the royal tooth scrubbing.

Good times were had by all.....

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Everywhere

Last night was our annual pumpkin carving with Grandmom and Granddad. M & L look forward to this every year, and this year picked out especially nice pumpkins. Due to the lack of rain around here during growing season, the pumpkins are especially dense. They weigh a ton! But thanks to our handy carving kit, and a good bit of perserverance, the results were great.

L especially surprised me. For a 5 yr old, he has a tremendous amount of tenacity. HE wanted to carve that pumpkin all by himself and, doggone it, he did. It took, well, forever, but he got it done. M was happy to let me assist.

As an added bonus this year, the seeds were very big and plump, so I decided to give toasting them a try. We cleaned the pulp off of them, rinsed them, then let them dry on cookie sheets overnight. This morning, I tossed them with some olive oil and sprinkled some salt on, then toasted them in the oven for about 25 minutes. Boy, are they yummy! I've never had them before, and I am very pleasantly surprised at the results. They sort of taste like popcorn. Of course, I have more than we could ever eat, so I think I take some to the office to share.

Long time, no see

Sorry, I've gotten so wrapped up in stuff, I've totally dissed my blog! Anyway, lots of goings-on in the past couple of weeks. My wonderful kitty, Mozart, had to be declawed. He is absolutely destroying our furniture, and hubby pretty much gave me an ultimatum: either get him declawed or get rid of him. When I asked our vet about it, she said "my three cats are all declawed". Plus, the procedure is now done with laser, so it's much less traumatic for the kitty. Mozart came home without any bandages on his feet. Since he's a bit older, it's taken him longer to get back to normal, but he's fine now; eating normally and back to his lovable self.

Our big news is that we're finally going to do the big kitchen renovation we've been wanting to do for a while now. We're going to move our kitchen; it's now in the center of the house (a rancher) and we're moving it to the side of the house, next to the entrance from the garage. We found a kitchen planner we like, who also is a design/build guy, and he drew up some plans that we really liked. I'm going to have one big, honkin' kitchen! We heard from the bank that we're being approved for the financing, so it looks like we're really going to do it. Exciting, but kind of scary at the same time. This is NOT going to be cheap. Along with moving the kitchen comes changing the dining room, and converting part of the existing kitchen to a bigger laundry room and adding a shower to the half bath. My current laundry room is more appropriately called a "laundry hallway". I can't do any sorting or folding there now since there's just no room. So a bigger one has always been a wish of mine.

Hopefully, in about 3 months, we'll have a new kitchen! Just in time for our big Super Bowl party!

Phew

Why does time fly by so fast?! I swear, it doesn't seem like it was a week ago that I last posted. I had a good week, but I was so busy, it just went screaming past me. I woke up this morning, and the first thought I had was "I don't have anything scheduled today!" (at least nothing that I would consider "work").

Here's what my week looked like:
Monday - practiced 9-10:30, volunteered at school 11-12, went to work 12:30 to 3:30, drive E to tutoring at 6, went back to pick him up at 7, dropped him at home and went to a flute choir rehearsal 7:30-9.
Tuesday - practiced in the morning, went to work after lunch, dentist w/ L at 5 (one tiny cavity to be filled next week - bummer), then rehearsal for the student flute choir I conduct from 7 -8.
Wednesday - flute quartet rehearsal 10-12, work from 12:30 to 2:15, to a student's house to give a lesson 2:30-3:15, thankfully M's soccer practice was cancelled so 5-6 became suddenly free, so I actually cooked dinner, then church choir practice 7:30 to 9.
Thursday - kids didn't have school; rehearsal from 10-12, then back home to be with the kids (fit in some practicing). Gave flute lessons from 5:30 to 7:45.
Friday - Practiced in the am, volunteered at school 1:30 -3:30, to work for about an hour, then home to cook dinner. Hosted a small get together in the evening.
Today - soccer at 10:30-11:30, more soccer from 12:30-2, church hayride at 5.

Am I just being a big baby, or is that a lot of stuff to be doing? Seriously, I really wonder if everyone's life is that hectic. I suppose most people don't have so many evening activities, but being a musician, the nature of the beast is that we rehearse in the evenings. Thank goodness for my unbelievably supportive and understanding (non-musician) husband. I think if the tables were turned and HE was the one going out every night for rehearsals, I wouldn't have nearly the patience he does.

Truly, the only reason I've been able to make this music thing work at all is because of him. So on the rare occasion that he says "honey, maybe you're trying to do too much", I pay attention. I sure don't want to lose his support.

A Laugh Like No Other

Today, while hubby and I were having a conversation, L (our 5 yr old) came in the room, still in his jammies and sort of dramatically threw himself on the floor. Not in a tantrum, or even an unhappy way. He was just being a clown. We started giggling at him, and he let loose with one of his belly-laughs that would charm even the grumpiest of trolls.

I just marvel sometimes at the ability of kids, and L in particular, to laugh the way they do. It's a full body experience that just carries along everyone in the room. You're simply helpless against it; you WILL laugh along with him whether you want to or not. His whole face lights up, and his crooked little smile, with accompanying dimples, sucks you in. You're a goner......

Hubby commented after all this that he wonders if L will remember times like that when he grows up. I sure hope so. More importantly, I hope he NEVER loses that laugh.

Reunions

This evening was my husband's 25th high school reunion. Since the "biggies" are far as reunions go are the 10th and 20th, there weren't a lot of people there. But probably about 60-70 actual graduates, plus their respective families, attended. The reunion was supposed to be held at our house, actually in our yard (we have 10 acres, so plenty of room), but because it decided to rain today for the first time in about 2 months, it had to be moved indoors. Thankfully (!) the local fire department (of which one of the classmates is a captain) allowed the reunion to be held at the station. The fire dept even acted as caterers, and did a great job cooking up chicken, beef, hamburgers, hot dogs and sides. I never knew our fire dept did such a thing, but apparently all those spaghetti dinners and pancake breakfasts aren't for naught.

I had a better time than I expected to; truthfully, it's just plain not much fun to attend a spouse's high school reunion, unless you happened to have also attended that school. I get tired of hearing about all of hubby's escapades when he was 16 years old. But every now and then, I was able to strike up a conversation, usually with another spouse, and discover an interesting person. But I think the biggest pleasure was seeing my husband, who was friends with almost everyone in his class but not "popular" in the high school sense of the word, and was neither the best student academically nor, ahem, clean-living-wise, absolutely in his element. Since he does special events, he had a big part in putting on the reunion. His sound system, our moon bounce for the kids, and so on. He had a really good time. He loves, and I mean loves, showing off his kids (and me, apparently). As I'm typing this, he's over at one of the guy's (the fire dept captain) house for an after-reunion party.

While at the reunion, on the moon bounce, M lost another tooth, her 7th thus far. She came running up to me, with blood coming from her mouth. After picking my heart up off the floor, I was able to understand that an already loose tooth had come out, but she couldn't find it. Very important if you want the tooth fairy to come. Luckily, one of the other kids there found the tooth so it's tucked safely under her pillow right now awaiting exchange by the tooth fairy.

Off to the big sailboat show tomorrow.....assuming it doesn't rain again.

Ho Hum

Nuthin' much to report lately, and that's good. No major excitement on the home front. I tell you, though, the days just whip by.

I often wish I could have a few days by myself, or just me and hubby, in which we don't have to do anything we don' want to. Just sit around, read books, do whatever strikes us. But the truth is, we'd probably be bored out of our minds. We're just too used to a busy life.

One of these days, I'm going to keep a detailed log of everything, and I mean everything I do for a few days. Even though I keep a calendar on my PalmPilot (which I LOVE!), it doesn't show everything I wind up doing, only what I've scheduled. Big difference. I think I'd surprise even myself.

A pain in the neck...

...literally. I'm tired of my head and neck hurting!! I woke up this morning with another one of my lovely headaches - they start in the right side of my neck and work their way up until my whole head hurts. And nothing gets rid of them. I've made myself sick a few times taking too much stuff to try to get rid of the pain. I have a couple of theories about why I get these headaches (keeping in mind that I've always been headache-prone). First, caffeine. I don't drink a ton of caffeinated beverages, but I think I"m becoming more and more sensitive to it over the years. Last week I tried and experiment - I had a cup of tea for breakfast, then limited my caffeine intake to only one soda in the afternoon. Amazingly, I didn't have any headaches. Yesterday, my plan was shot to pieces and I had THREE sodas plus my tea. So, basically double my caffeine intake. And voila, I have a headache today.

Also, my flute playing seems to be the main culprit of the neck thing. I've found that if I stand up when I practice, especially for long periods of time (2 hours or so), my neck is killing me for the rest of the day and usually the next. But if I sit down, for which I use an exercise ball, my neck is fine. A friend of mine told me about using the exercise ball, but she recommended it for breathing. These balls are wonderful for making you sit the "right" way - all aligned properly and such; but in my case, it keeps me from somehow straining my neck. I'm thinking about taking some classes in Alexander Technique, which is a body-awareness method. It teaches you how to align your body properly to avoid or correct injuries. Since the flute isn't exactly the more ergonomically designed of the musical instruments, flutists tend to be frequest students of Alexander Technique. We hurt a lot. And for me, it doesn't help either that I have a slight curvature of my spine, resulting in my left shoulder being a bit higher than my right. So my whole body is really slightly out of alignment from the get-go. I've seen a chiropractor a few times, and am considering going back, but I don't know. Having my back cracked kind of gives me the willies. But massage, now THAT'S a different story. If I could find a good massage therapist, especially one that works on musicians a lot, I'd be there probably weekly.

Or train my husband to do it....there's a thought.....

I'm no Galloping Gourmet

Yesterday I finally got around to talking to a friend of mine who is a personal chef. Yep, that's right, someone that will cook food for my family. It just astounds me how many nights I'm not home due to rehearsal that I don't feed my family properly. My friend Lynn is a highly regarded personal chef in the area, and starting next Wednesday, she is going to provide two meals a week for us. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!! For one thing, variety. She has a list of choices a mile long. We'll get to try new things that I would never dream of cooking. Another big reason is that I won't have to feel guilty about giving the kids a bowl of cereal or chicken nuggets for dinner. THAT won't win any good-mommying awards. They'll have a balanced dinner (well, that is IF they eat it). Lynn's going to bring 4 meals on Wednesday, that we'll have for two weeks on Mondays and Wednesdays; nights that I am running around all day and then have rehearsals in the evening.

I like to cook, but don't have a lot of time to do so, and I absolutely despise always having to think about what we're going to eat. Really. I wake up in the morning and think, "hmmm, what will we have for dinner tonight?" - when I haven't even eaten breakfast yet! I just get tired of it, and sometimes just say #(%# it, let's have pizza or chinese. Blech.

So bring on the bourbon brown sugar flank steak with garlic chive mashed potatoes.... I'm so ready for it.

It's the Pits

Last night was another performance of Carousel, the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic musical that is being presented by a local community theater. I'm playing in the pit orchestra (2nd flute/piccolo). It's been since high school that I've played in a pit, well, sort of; I played in the orchestra for a couple of Gilbert & Sullivan operettas in the early 90's. I really enjoy it, but this one is a bit frustrating because all the musicians in the pit are volunteers, and thus are primarily amateurs. Not that amateurs can't play well, they often can, but in general, the orchestra could be better. Especially intonation! Yikes! It's impossible to play in tune because there are so MANY different pitches going on; if you're in tune with one player, you'll be way out of tune with another. But for the most part, it's a lot of fun. Since we don't really have a "pit" in the true sense of the word, we're just off to the side of the stage, I have yet to actually SEE any of the show. I can hear the spoken lines when we're not playing, but I can't hear the singers because we play while they sing. I had to go online to find the storyline of Carousel to figure out what was going on. I'm no theater expert, but I will say that the cast of the show seems to be doing a marvelous job.

And I'm getting a lot of reading done during the down time.......
And they give us candy......
.....which I can't eat until after the show so I don't blow sticky sugar through my flute....