Music, Motherhood, and More

Happy Birthday to My Girl

2008-01-20T20:48:00.000-05:00

My very own Divine Miss M turns 9 years old today. At precisely 8:12 pm, to be exact. Even though I have an 18 year old son, somehow it's different when the youngest start to approach the higher numbers. Not that nine is a high number in the scheme of things, mind you, but still, it seems like a lot for the time that has flown by. I thought that, in honor of her majesty's big day, I would jot down some of my observations, in no particular order:

M, you are:

Smart as a whip
Great at math (I like to think she got that from me)
Curious
Creative
Strong
Confident
Brave (girlfriend rode the Tower of Terror at Disney MGM when she was barely 6!)

Loves roller coasters

Self-assertive
Giving, just not all the time
Helpful to other kids that need her
Absolutely beautiful
A book lover
So much like me sometimes that I am alternately fascinated and scared to death
A red belt in karate
Color blind as it pertains to people
A good and loyal friend
The owner of a great sense of humor
Going to be an amazing woman

And you are also:

Stubborn as a mule (see self-confident above)
A very picky eater
Mean to your little brother way too often
Turning into a teenager right before my eyes. It's too soon for that!
A whiner
Not one to pick up after yourself
Convinced beyond all reason that the world has to be FAIR
Apparently afraid of heights, which doesn't compute with your love of roller coasters
Going to need braces in the near future

All in all, a fascinating, often frustrating and exasperating combination. But one that I definitely think I can live with, and love to the end of my days.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABE. I LOVE YOU.

Kindle, I covet thee

2008-01-19T19:51:00.000-05:00

Hi,my name is Laura, and I'm a bookaholic.....

Seriously. I see a book that I think SOMEDAY I might want to read, and I buy it. Not check it out at the public library for free, like a wise person would do, but BUY it. Is Amazon a publicly traded company? If it is, I'm buyin' stock.

I have a stack (no longer merely a pile) of books that I hope to get to within this lifetime. And that stack is growing in height, with no end in sight.

Some of the books on my waiting list:

Plus the one(s) I'm currently reading:(thanks to my little bro for this one - LOVE it!)

and

* Sorry that is so long. Does anyone know how to put images side by side on Blogger?

So, I'm thinking that some day, I want one of these:

This is a Kindle, made and sold by Amazon.com. (So I SHOULD buy stock!). It is an ebook reader, which, in theory, has been around for a while, manufactured by the likes of Sony and Palm. But this one, oh this one, WIRELESSLY downloads books in a matter of seconds, at a much cheaper price than an actual book. It holds over 200 books! I could take my entire library with me wherever I go: karate lessons, intermission of a concert, heck, the grocery store checkout line. It automatically saves your place, can look up a word you don't know in the dictionary, and it it supposedly very easy on the eyes thanks to some newfangled technology that electronically simulates paper.

The only problem is that stack of books waiting for me. No way am I stupid, not to mention financially solvent, enough to re-purchase all those books. I'd spend a fortune. But if I wait so long as to actually READ all those books, no way will a Kindle ever make my life easier. What to do, what to do? Such a dilemma!

I guess I better either: 1) Get moving. 2) Beg for one as a present from some wonderful relative or other loved one (these babies are $399, so they'd have to REALLY love me), or 3) win the lottery. Number 3 isn't likely to happen since I don't play the lottery, but #1 and #2 are entirely within the realm of possible.

I'll start dropping hints.

PS - Anyone with any experience with ANY of the above books, please let me know. I'd love to hear how you liked, or disliked, them.

One other thing....

2008-01-15T22:47:00.001-05:00

Somebody turned double-4 today. So, here's to me, and the year ahead.

Without a Trace

2008-01-15T22:04:00.000-05:00

moar funny pictures

We had a good laugh over this tonight. M thought it the funniest thing she'd seen a LONG time. I'm not exactly sure WHY this is funny, but it is. It reminds me of a story from about 9 1/2 years ago.

I was pregnant with M (about 7 months along), and hubby and I, plus our two oldest, and only at the time, boys, M & E, went on a walk in the woods. M was about 15 and E was about 9. It was October, and not too cold, but cool, so we all had jackets on. We went on a different path than we'd ever taken before, so we didn't know what was ahead of us. We came to a small stream that had a log "bridge" spanning it. I wasn't too sure that I myself wanted to try to cross it, but the boys saw an adventure in the making, so M took off over the log to the other side. For some reason, he stopped on the log, right at the edge of the other side, and E had already started across. He was in more of a hurry than M to actually set foot on solid ground on the other side, so he hopped off the log onto the ground near the edge, which was covered in leaves.

Only it wasn't just leaves.

That "tiny" little stream swallowed my son whole, in the blink of an eye. Seriously, he vanished under the water without even making a ripple. I distinctly remember standing there dumbfounded saying "Oh my God". Not screaming, not really panicking or anything, just awestruck at what had just happened. One second he was traipsing across the log, the very next, gone without a trace. I truly thought aliens had just come down and plucked my first born from the planet. He was gone. I pondered jumping in after him, and was seriously just about to, when his head popped up. He came up laughing, which obviously was a HUGE relief. M helped him out on the other side, and we all just collapsed in laughter. He was, ahem, surprised that he hadn't jumped onto actual solid ground, but other than that, he thought the whole thing was pretty funny. Since it wasn't too cold, and he was, of course, soaking wet, we weren't worried about him freezing or anything, but we did turn around and head home after that, recounting the whole thing from all our various vantage points.

To this day, it is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I KNOW I could have won $100k on "America's Funniest Home Videos" had I had the foresight to bring a video camera. Of crouse, it's only funny because he was okay, but hindsight's 20/20, right?

Sort of like the poor little kitty above. He was told he could walk on top of that snow, and damned if he didn't sink straight down.

Okay, they can stay

2008-01-13T12:25:00.000-05:00

I think I'm beginning to recover from the holidays. This year, despite my having all my shopping done in plenty of time, was possibly the worst, most stressful holiday ever. I can't really elaborate, but let it suffice to say that anything that actually causes me to LOSE my appetite must not be good. I've taken steps to alleviate that particular stress, although other sources manage to creep in. Getting back to a normal routine helps.

I have decided to let my children stay, although the ice wears thin at times. To be honest, I think they're just being kids; it's me with the problem (see above). I must have been last in line when God handed out the patience allocations. If I'm out of sorts or under pressure, my fuse can be pretty short. I don't react to the kids fighting/whining/nagging/complaining/whatever with much parental grace during these times. Which, of course, only makes them act out more. If I can manage to step back, count to at least 10, and re-evaluate the situation, I'm sure my inner Cliff Huxtable will begin to emerge. I remain jealous of how Cliff and his wife (what was her name?) could diffuse any situation involving the kids with a bit of humor and love.

Clair, that's her name.

Anyway, I'm working on it. With some professional help. Wish me luck.

Look for them on Ebay

2008-01-01T20:59:00.000-05:00

I love my children, really I do. But there are times such as the last few days where I have to stop and wonder if they are going through one of the proverbial "stages", or if I'm just not doing my job as a parent very well, or what. Seriously, I think I may kill one or both of them. Okay, not really; don't call the police....yet.

But L (now 7 1/2 yrs) has found his stubborn side, and uses it constantly. He had a good teacher, his sister M (almost 9). L has always been a bit of a nag, but we could at least reason with him. He is now putting his foot down, then screaming about it. Oh, and he changes his mind all the time. For example, yesterday we thought we'd take the kids to a movie. We decided on National Treasure. L thought that was great at first, then changed his mind and threw a fit about how we 'make him go to movies'. Okie-dokie, then. We called up Grandmom to see if they could go over there while hubby and I went to a grown up movie. Well, L then proceeded to pitch a fit about having to do THAT. He wanted to go to the movie after all. Too bad, buddy. Hubby and I went to see Charlie Wilson's War, and thoroughly enjoyed it, and our alone time. We took them to see National Treasure today, and both kids were transfixed the whole way through, even saying "great movie!" as we left. However, the tranquility lasted about as long as it took us to get to the car.

See, they are also fighting CONSTANTLY. About EVERYTHING. Most of which is vitally important to them, but truthfully the stupidest things you could imagine. It is impossible for the two of them to do anything together lately without WWIII breaking out.

To my Mom - I am SO sorry. I now understand what my brother and I put you through. Truly I do.

Now for M. She has found her inner bitch. Lordy almighty, has she. During the whole movie fiasco yesterday, she decided to pitch a tantrum about how she never gets what she wants, and numerous variations on that theme. The world MUST revolve around her. Shouldn't she know better, at least a little bit, by age 9? She then proceeded to take out her frustrations on her little brother by kicking him HARD for no valid reason (not that there is EVER a valid reason to hit, kick, or bite your brother). Let me just say that what followed was not one of my finer mommy moments.

After we both calmed down, we had a talk that gave me hope that she can learn to control herself, however she was back to her old ways today.

I can't WAIT for school to start back tomorrow! But please do keep checking Ebay for two very cute children - you may see them there yet.

Thoughts On The Eve of the New Year

2007-12-31T20:20:00.000-05:00

I suppose everyone has 'resolutions', or at least good intentions to do something different during the fresh start also known as the New Year. I have resolved to not have any resolutions. I'm sick of making then breaking them, then hating myself for being such a loser that I can't even keep promises to myself. I'm pretty good at keeping those made to other people, but never to myself. Exercise, diet, writing more letters, all those resolutions in years past that were never kept.

I am, however, not getting any younger, so I really do need to take better care of myself. Just moving around more would be a good start. Not be so lazy. Get the body moving more.

My church is doing a "Year of the Bible", during which we are given a schedule that will allow us to read the entire bible in one year. I've always wanted to read the whole bible, and have made numerous starts to doing so, but always got hung up around Leviticus or Deuteronomy. Having a few hundred people doing it with me, in only about 20 minutes a day, should make this one entirely doable. I'll keep you posted on this one.

Other than that, I'm just going to take it as it comes. But I wish more than anything for a more peaceful year. As the mom of a kid that will most likely be headed to Iraq within the next two years, I hope that we find some way to start pulling troops out of there.

On that note, I will leave you with a picture of E and his girl heading out for a special dinner the other night. He couldn't wait to put those dress blues on!

Oh, and have a Merry Ducky Christmas

2007-12-25T22:43:00.001-05:00

Who knew that each Dec 25 we celebrate the birth of our blessed savior and rubber ducky?

Get your Kleenex out

2007-12-25T20:12:00.000-05:00

When we were down at Parris Island for E's USMC boot camp graduation, they had family day the day before the actual graduation ceremony. No one had seen their kid since they left for boot camp. A ceremony was held in the 'all weather building' at which a movie was played showing many scenes of training that the raw recruits had gone through. As soon as the movie was over, the new Marines came running into the building and lined up in formation. It had all the makings of a reveal from Extreme Makeover. There was not a dry eye in the house. Here is the reason why; it was the soundtrack behind the movie: (this is worth watching, trust me)

Utterly manipulative of the Marine Corps, but unbelievably effective. I CANNOT listen to this song without major tears.

THIS is 3rd Grade?!

2007-12-24T10:06:00.001-05:00

My daughter, M, is a pretty smart cookie, and is in the advanced math class at school. What that means is that she is in the 3rd grade, being taught 4th and 5th grade math. Now, I was also an advanced math student back in my day, so I can handle anything thrown at me for silly old 4th grade math, right?

Uh, no.

She had a test on the Wednesday and Thursday before Christmas, and was sent home with a review packet of about 8 pages on Monday. She missed school the previous Wednesday so that we could attend E's USMC graduation in South Carolina, and she missed some of the topics. So it was up to me to figure out how to explain things to her. No problem, right?

Uh, no.

Have you ever heard of a 'factorization tree'? Do you know how to figure the LCM (least common multiple, sheesh)? If you do, then kudos to you; I am apparently backwards in my understanding of today's math education, and had to look them up. Luckily we have good old Google these days, and I pretty quickly managed to find out what they are. In case you're dying to know, a factorization tree breaks down any equation into it's prime numbers, which can be multiplied in any order to get the answer, and while the definition of LCM may be pretty self-explanatory, the process isn't, and is waaay more complicated than I would have expected for even an advanced 3rd grade math class. I don't think I did anything like it until about 6th grade or so.

So, once we figured out what these mysteries were, M seemed to catch on pretty quick, and even thought they were 'cool'. That's my girl. She's really into magic, and loves the idea that math has a lot of 'magical' processes to it.

Me too.

PS - When I chatted with her teacher the following day (found out she aced the test, btw, woohoo!), I learned the charming mnemonic 'Dirty Monkeys Smell Bad', which they use to help with long division. I wish I'd had something like that to help me remember how to do stinkin' long division in Mrs Cadwallader's 4th grade class at Wake Robin Elementary School. Might have helped just a bit. Grrrrr..... I was and still am a 'math person', but I had a tough time understanding long division.

Ooh Rah!

2007-12-15T15:36:00.000-05:00

E's platoon at attention during the graduation ceremony. The guy in the black belt is the Senior Drill Instructor, or SDI.

Ain't he handsome?

E wouldn't go near the infamous yellow footprints. He said he'd been there once and never wants to do it again. M&L, however, were happy to oblige.

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem. "
Ronald Reagan, President of the United States; 1985

He's Almost There

2007-12-07T10:31:00.000-05:00

My oldest son, E, is currently in his last week of USMC basic training at Parris Island, SC. At this exact moment, he's on day two of the Crucible, the final challenge of boot camp. Recruits are led through a series of obstacles that test their strength, physical and mental endurance, and teamwork. It lasts for 54 hours, during which they get at most 8 total hours of sleep and little food. They march 9 miles back to base early Saturday morning, then are rewarded with the Warriors Breakfast, an all-you-can eat feast of pancakes, steak, potatoes, good food (probably makes a few sick after what they've been through). Most importantly, they also then receive their Eagle, Globe, and Anchor, the USMC insignia, and they have earned the title "US Marine". I wish I could be there to see him get his EGA, but I'll see him next week. Graduation is next Friday, and we'll be able to spend time with him on Thursday for family day.

I find myself constantly thinking "what's E doing right now?" It's impossible to put it out of my mind as I hope and pray that he makes it through this. He's come too far, and done too well, to not finish.

OOH RAH! I'm so proud of him.

Currently Listening to....

2007-12-03T18:52:00.001-05:00

Ahh, memories. And great jazz, too. Thanks, Vince.

Seasons Greetings

2007-12-03T08:09:00.001-05:00

Picture courtesy of M :)
(btw, I love the bling on the neck of fourth elf/caroler from the left. And also the fact that no one has a NOSE)

Congratulations are in Order

2007-11-29T14:02:00.000-05:00

..... to my kick-ass little daughter, M, who became a red belt in karate last night. She and L both study a Japanese form of martial arts (self-defense oriented) that I can't ever remember the proper name for. Anyway, she's now only about a year or so from becoming a junior level black belt!

And she looked GOOOOOD last night.

I Won, I Won!!!!!

2007-11-28T09:53:00.000-05:00

I just love saying that....

Since I've known my hubby, every Christmas, often only a week or so before the big day because we've been so busy, we've trudged out to some tree farm, chopped down our own tree, lugged it home, strung the #$(%&# lights (I HATE stringing lights), decorated it, then proceeded to watch all the needles fall on the floor because we're too lazy to keep up the watering. Then spent days picking the needles out of the carpet because they get firmly embedded. So I started broaching the subject of an artificial tree a few years ago, with "NO" as the definitive answer, and "because I like the smell of live trees" as the reason. Even after I offered to get live greens and wreaths for the aroma, he still held firm.

Well, again this year, I posed the question, and I don't know what he'd been smoking (kidding), but the answer was "as long as you take care of it, go ahead". Huh? Did I hear that correctly? Yep, go do it. So I headed out the next day after perusing the deals online and settled on this one:

Brought it home, set it up, and all I can say is - looks fantastic! Even hubby, who won't admit defeat even when staring it straight in the eye, said "damn, it looks really good". And it does. Once all the ornaments are on it, I doubt many people will be able to tell the difference.

And I DON'T HAVE TO STRING ANY LIGHTS!!!!!!!! Or pick needles one by one out of the carpet!!!! Or wait until a convenient, nice-weather weekend to go get it!!!! Happy dance.....

The Wonderful World of ...orthodontia

2007-11-27T10:46:00.000-05:00

So it turns out that this face, as charming, adorable, cute, and quirky as it is, needs serious orthodontic help. I mean serious. The orthodontist got very solemn after examining him and said "just about everything that can be wrong with a mouth is going wrong here". GULP.

Step one: stop the thumb sucking. Immediately. If he doesn't stop soon, the damage he's doing will be untreatable via the usual orthodontic methods. By that I mean surgery. GULP. We had a long talk with L and told him the truth - that he would need an operation if he didn't stop with the thumb. I honestly haven't seen it in his mouth since. At night, we're wrapping his hand in an ace bandage, which he's been great about, and he's just not thumb sucking during his "usual" times (TV, computer, reading) during the day. So, yay for that.

Step two: We go back in February, and if he's stopped the sucking, we'll begin what will be a very long process of fixing his mouth. As best I understand it, he has misshapen his upper jaw so that it's not nice and round anymore - it's pulled forward. He has a serious overbite, with his teeth slanted forward, and his bottom teeth are moved over to one side, leaving no room for future permanent teeth to come in. GULP.

Oh, and M will need braces, too, but not to the extent that L does. She has an open bite, and once a few more teeth come in, we'll start with braces for her.

Neither hubby or I had to have braces as a kid, so we are entering totally new territory here, people. In fact, in my day, I NEVER heard of someone 8 yrs old having braces. They are doing them much earlier now.

Donations to the L Braces Fund are now being accepted.....

Indian Food

2007-11-05T06:35:00.000-05:00

Normally, I'm not a real adventurous eater. I'm not picky, but I don't eat "weird" things. Well, I had a gastronomic adventure yesterday evening. After the Robert Dick Recital, a few of us took him to dinner, and the restaurant of choice was a vegetarian Indian place called Udupi Palace. Wow, was I pleasantly surprised! Lots of things on the menu that I would consider yummy; I had trouble choosing! I finally settled on Dal Makhani, which is lentils cooked overnight on a slow fire with herbs (and curry). It comes with rice that you put it over, and a mild yogurt sauce to drip on top. It was soooo good! Everyone got something different, and all enjoyed their meal. If it wasn't so far away, I'd take the family. But maybe now I'll try to find an Indian restaurant near me. Yum.

Flutistically Yours

2007-11-03T17:15:00.000-04:00

I don't know why, but I just felt the need to blog today. Lots has been going on. Yesterday, I performed Eric Ewazen's "Concerto for Flute" at the Charles Sumner School in downtown DC, as part of the Friday Morning Music Club's monthly recital series there. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this piece (in fact, Eric is composing a flute quartet, his first, for my flute quartet, Femme Flutale), and have so much fun playing it, I almost forget I'm nervous. Well, almost. There are 4 movements, and by the second, the nerves had worn off and I was just having fun. When I performed the piece back in April, the same thing happened. I can't tell you the high that comes from presenting an awesome piece of music to people, who have most likely never heard it before, since it's not a 'standard', and doing it to the best of your abilities. It is truly a rush. There were a number of people in the audience that were there JUST to hear my piece. All were flute players, one is in the National Symphony, and I was worried that that would make me more nervous, but it didn't. I tried my best to 'inhabit' the idea that they were there to hear me play well and support me, as opposed to being threatened or anxious about them being there. I continually work on my nerves while performing, and more and more, I am able to really enjoy the experience, and be "in" the music. It is addictive, really.

Today was another flute day. I went to a masterclass by renowned flutist, composer, and teacher Robert Dick. He is, to say the least, and interesting fellow. He composes music that really stretches the boundaries of what a flute can do, and is most definitely outside the limits of what we refer to as "normal" flute music. Lots of extended techniques that many call unmusical (including me at times), but there is always something to learn. His music is not my cup of tea, but I have the utmost respect for what he does. Tomorrow, he's giving a recital, and I'll be there, and I'm sure I will discover something new that the flute can do. Fascinating stuff.....

Prayers for VA Tech

2007-04-16T19:00:00.000-04:00

My stepson attends Va Tech, and I spent a lot of time there in college; even though I didn't attend there, my first husband did, and since we dated during our college years, many a weekend was spent on that beautiful campus.

My stepson is fine, but he doesn't yet know who the victims are, and whether he knows any of them.

Please say a prayer for the victims and their families; that they find peace. Such things just shouldn't happen.

Hello

2006-12-30T10:51:00.000-05:00

"It's been such a loong tiime, I really must be going....."

I have a NEW camera! Woohoo! We were in NYC for a couple of days just after Christmas, and my yucky old Canon just sort of went kaput (well, okay, actually the battery died, and I was without a newly charged battery since it was the kind of camera that didn't use regular batteries). One simply cannot be in NYC at Christmas, with one's two young children who have never been to NYC, and NOT HAVE A CAMERA! Even numbnuts like me that usually forget to take their camera to important events.

So, DH bought me a new, very lovely little Nikon Coolpix that I'm oh-so-happy with. Might even get my photobug going. So here's a few to share.

Oh, and we saw 'Mary Poppins' on Broadway! Wonderful, wonderful show. The kids were spellbound the whole 2 hours 45 minutes. Especially M, who was really into the show itself; L, on the other hand, was probably analyzing everything he saw to figure out how they did it.

M and I made our pilgrimage to the American Girl store on 5th Avenue. What a place! Three stories of doll 'stuff'. M just didn't know what to make of the whole thing. She found some cool things she wanted for her 'Elizabeth' (see pic above), including a very nice bed, and we were on our way.

NYC at holiday time is amazing, but mostly just, well, crowded.

Time is a Subjective Matter

2006-09-03T22:03:00.000-04:00

So, a long while ago, I agreed to be a wedding coordinator at my church. I've been to a gazillion weddings as a musician, so I thought maybe this would be something right up my alley. Until now, I haven't been able to do one (it's not like we have a ton of weddings at my church), but about a month ago I said I'd do it for this wedding yesterday. The bride and groom (B&G) are not members of my church, and are both recent immigrants from Congo. No problem; the ceremony was a traditional one, that I am familiar with.

However.......

I have come to understand that the concept of time is somewhat, ahem, different in Africa than here in the States. By that I mean that NOTHING, repeat, NOTHING got off on time. The rehearsal Friday night: they arrived an HOUR late. The wedding yesterday: they arrived an HOUR late. WTF?!?!?!?! Never mind how unbelievably RUDE this is to moi and the others involved in the ceremony - what about their guests?! Oh, but here's the kicker - even though they started an hour late, THERE WERE STILL GUESTS ARRIVING AFTER THE WEDDING STARTED!!! This is a cultural weirdness that I just don't understand. When you say you're going to do something at a certain time, do it then. Especially your own wedding, for crikey's sake. And there wasn't a damn thing we could do about it.... we just had to wait around until they arrived, watching our labor day holiday leak away from us.

I don't think I'll be coordinating any weddings anytime soon. I should just stick to playing at them. At least then I get paid if things run overtime.

Gold belt!

2006-08-31T11:40:00.000-04:00

Last night, Molly had her karate promotion ceremony from a white belt to a gold belt. It was actually a bit of a surprise, as we only found out on Monday that she was going to be promoted. Her instructor has been out for a while with a broken foot, so when he came back, he evaluated her for promotion (he's the only one that can do that) and gave her the "red stripe" on her belt that means she would be up for promotion at the next monthly ceremony - which happened to be two days later! She did great. I seriously doubt that karate will be her big "thing" in her life, but I am really impressed by the self-defense lessons these kids learn as they stick with it, so I hope she at least stays with it for a few years.

BTW, Luke is also in karate, and has been for about 6 months longer. He's in a younger kids program called "Karate Kids", that have different belt colors. He's been promoted twice and currently has a yellow belt with a black stripe. Once he hits age 7, he'll move up into the regular program, but not as a white belt (the sign of a REAL beginner). He'll have a yellow belt with a white stripe.

Are you as confused as I am? It's taken me the better part of a year to figure out the belt colors of karate. Never mind all the different "degrees" of brown and black belts....

Now, 'wonderful' mom that I am, I FORGOT the frickin' camera, so I don't have any pics to share. You'll just have to trust me that she looked great. :)

FDOS

2006-08-28T09:50:00.000-04:00

Day 1: Both of aforementioned goals accomplished! I was up at 6:15, saw E off on his 'last first day' (geesh, Mom, get over it), then did a yoga DVD (featuring, by the way, a very scantily clad young man on the beach; not a bad way to start the day). L was so excited about the FDOS that he was up at 7 am wondering how long until the bus came.

This line of questioning continued at about 2 minute intervals until about 8:30, when we actually left to walk down to the bus. Goodness, that kid can be a nag.

Everyone got off for FDOS school on time, and well-equipped. And I didn't even have any fleeting moments of sadness/mourning/wistfulness/longing for another baby when the school bus picked them up, as I have in prior years. This is an old routine by now; they even have the same bus driver, who btw, was E's bus driver as well when he was in 5th grade seven years ago. I sure hope they get off the bus this afternoon as jazzed as they were this morning. :)

Update to follow.

The Last First Day

2006-08-27T21:51:00.000-04:00

Hello, remember me? After a long period of brain dry-rot, I'm back. And this time, I hope for good. My goal(s) for the new school year:

1. Blog every day, even though I know there are about 2 people that MIGHT read it. Oh, and be witty, creative, full of deep meaning, and poetic all the time.
2. Get up at 6:15 every weekday morning to see E off to school, exercise (!), and get showered/dressed before little ones get up, so that I can get to 'work' sooner in the day.
3. Don't set more goals than I can handle.

As for the title of this post, tomorrow is E's LAST FIRST DAY of school. He's a high school senior this year. This little factoid occurred to me while driving home from the bridal show I played at this afternoon. Put in that context, it really makes me sad. E could care less - 'whatever Mom'. He just wants to be done with school forever.... and ever. But how did my first baby get to be a SENIOR?! Graduation, portraits, all that stuff? Did I mention that I am simply NOT old enough to have a kid that's a senior in high school. Uh-uh. No way.

SPEAKING of bridal shows......oh Lordy, why did they invent such a thing?! Thousands of bridezillas-to-be (often with mom in tow) roaming the aisles looking at cakes, invites, dj's, tuxes, mortgage companies (?!), and of course classical musicians that are playing the Pachelbel Canon over.... and over.... and over..... and over.... and over. Yes, it is a pretty piece of music, but WHY does every bride in this nation have to have it played at her wedding? Come on girls, be creative, and do your wedding musicians a favor.

Tagged!

2006-07-15T20:13:00.000-04:00

1. Have you ever been searched by the cops? Nope, thank goodness.

2. Do you close your eyes on a roller coaster? NO WAY! Except one time when a bug flew in my eye, and I had to keep them closed the rest of the ride. Totally ruined it for me.....

3. When's the last time you've been sledding? So long ago I can't even remember, unfortunately

4. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone? Alone, but don't tell hubby. He snores.

5. Do you believe in ghosts? I think they are possible, but I'll believe it when/if I see one (which, frankly, I hope I never do). But I do believe that angels watch over us, so if they are considered ghosts, then so be it.

6. Do you consider yourself creative? Strangely, no, since I'm a musician, but I can't 'create'. I can only interpret what others have already created.

7. Do you think O.J. killed his wife? Yes. Slimeball.....

8. Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie? (silly, I know ... but very "now") Hmmm, I'm a little tired of Jenn's "good girl wronged" act, but Angie Baby is sort of out there. Don't have an answer for this one.

9. Can you honestly say you know ANYTHING about politics? Other than the fundamentals, no. And I hope to keep it that way, honestly.

10. Do you know how to play poker? I know the rules, but not how to play. I would frustrate the hell out of anyone who actually knew strategies and such, because I wouldn't follow the expected route.

11. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight? No, no, no, no. I love/need sleep and don't think I've ever even gone 24 hours without sleep. Besides, that's really dangerous.

12. What's your favorite commercial? Yowza, don't know. A while back, there was a commercial for a vacuum cleaner that started with a cat on some steps. The cat sneezed, fur went EVERYWHERE, and a very droll voice said "SLIGHT SHEDDING PROBLEM?". For some reason, that one just slayed me. Maybe because I could relate. I hate animal fur all over the place, however I have a dog and a cat.

13. Who was your first love? Kevin, who, it turns out, is gay. But still one of the greatest people I've ever known. I still see him occasionally.

14. If you're driving in the middle of the night, and no one is around you, do you run a red light? No (very boring, I know, but someone once told me "character is how you act when no one is looking", and that's always playing in the back of my mind.)

15. Do you have a secret that no one knows but you? I don't think so, but I'm not sure. I can't keep secrets of my own all that well, so I probably would have told at least hubby by now.

16. Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees? Neither, go Nats! (Washington Nationals)

17. Have you ever been Ice Skating? Once, in high school. Interestingly, a recurring dream of mine is me ice skating effortlessly around a rink doing all sorts of tricks. Anyone care to interpret?

18. How often do you remember your dreams? Only if I consciously move them into "awake" memory. Then I'll remember them for a very long time.

19. What's the one thing on your mind? Concerns about hubby (won't elaborate) and my house renovation.

20. Do you always wear your seat belt? Absolutely; even across a parking lot.

21. What talent do you wish you had? Athleticism.

22. Do you like Sushi? Bleck.

23. What do you wear to bed? Jammies, never a nightgown 'cuz I hate the way it bunches up.

24. Do you truly hate anyone? Other than Osama bin Laden and the people responsible for 9/11 and other terrorist acts through history, no. There is a person that I once thought I hated, but realized later what was going on and realized that he/she really deserved pity, not hate.

25. If you could sleep with one famous person, who would it be? If you mean "sleep" (wink, wink), I really can't think of anyone I'd admit to that wouldn't make me seem shallow. But I am very partial to brown hair and brown eyes (as has hubby).

26. Do you know anyone in jail? No, thank goodness.

27. What food do you find disgusting? Scrapple, sunny side up eggs (which the rest of my family loves), organs of any kind.

28. Have you ever made fun of your friends behind their back? Sadly, probably yes.

29. Have you ever been punched in the face? I don't think so. And I think I'd remember.

30. Do you believe in angels and demons? Yes. As I mentioned above, I do think angels look out for us, and I think every human being carries around their own personal demons.

Whoa, my brain hurts; too much self-reflection for one day.

Donuts from Heaven

2006-07-14T21:23:00.000-04:00

Yah, yah, I know - I haven't posted for over a month. I don't have a good reason; how's that?!

Anyway, we're on our annual vacation down in Southern Maryland, which we do for the first two weeks of every July since I've known hubby. Lots of fun stuff - kayaking, swimming (but NOT in the Chesapeake Bay. Due to the very dry spring, they are the worst I've ever seen; huge, and there a bazillion of them. Yuck), reading lots of books, practicing, making homemade ice cream, and letting the kids be kids. But dial-up Internet access. Boy, how I miss my cable at home.

So, we thought that tonight we'd do something special and take the kids for ice cream. However, apparently people in Calvert County just don't go to ice cream parlors - none exist. We were told, though, of a new Baskin Robbins fairly near here, so we headed down to check it out. Turns out, the Dunkin Donuts/Baskins Robbins store isn't actually open today - tomorrow is the grand opening. BUT, they were doing a thing all day today where they were 'practicing', and were GIVING away the ice cream and donuts. By the time we got there at 8:30 pm, the ice cream part was closed, but the GAVE us a dozen donuts, about a half dozen muffins, and some bagels. There is a God, and he likes donuts, apparently.

Diet? What diet? Free donuts contain absolutely no calories, as anyone who has ever watched the caloric intake knows. ;)

A couple of proud mommy pics

2006-06-06T10:16:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I do have four (!) kids, but I'm also mommy to two really cool four-legged kiddos, so I thought I'd share a couple of cute pics I took the other day. Gracie is our chocolate lab, the SWEETEST dog on the planet. I say this, and I'm a die-hard cat person, not a dog person. But Gracie is just the greatest dog. We adopted her about a year and a half ago, and she has blended seamlessly into the family. Not a bad dog-habit in her - she doesn't chew or climb on anything. But any ball she finds outside is automatically hers - basketballs are her favorite. She'll play fetch with a tennis ball until she just can't walk anymore. And she's very good at chasing all the elephants and giraffes off of our property. I challenge you to find even a one.

Mozart is my kitty-baby. He's the biggest people-cat I've ever known. He just has to be around one of us, usually me, whenever he can. He purrs constantly. His only fault has been a minor "not using the litter box properly" problem, and, until we had him declawed, he tore up some very expensive furniture. But personality-wise, he's the greatest cat I've ever known. He has recently taken to laying on this couch in the sun; he loves the warmth, but doesn't like the sun in his eyes.

My Guys

2006-05-27T10:11:00.000-04:00

E went to his girlfriend's Senior Prom last night. He's only a junior, and this is his second senior prom! Things were a little iffy as to whether they would still be together to go, but I guess it held together and they had a good time.

Thursday was L's 6th Birthday! We had family over for cake & ice cream, then we're planning a trip next Sunday to King's Dominion, an amusement park near Richmond. His big gift was this "Green Machine"; sort of a Big Wheel/bike hybrid. He's had a great time running it around our driveways, at least until he jackknifed it last night and fell, thus scraping his hand and knee. All is well, however, and he's decided that he again likes it.

Guess where I am right now?!.....

2006-05-21T13:22:00.000-04:00

Yup - sittin' in my NEW kitchen! We moved most of our stuff into it yesterday. Painting still needs to be done, so I'll post a pic when that's done. The painters will be here this coming week to finish up, then probably the next week they'll start demolition of the old kitchen. How many people get to boast that they have TWO functioning kitchens, I ask? If I have my way this week, I will never cook ANYTHING EVER AGAIN in the old one.

For my first meal this morning, I proceded to absolutely incinerate a couple of eggs on my Thermador gas cooktop. I am just so not used to cooking with gas, and I had the flame up too high. Oh well, lesson learned, and truthfully, the eggs didn't taste all that bad. I have an instant hot/cold water dispenser by my sink, which is heaven for making tea in the morning. TWO dishwahers (hubby's over-extravagent, in my opinion, requirement), a monster-size fridge and a double wall oven. I may never leave this room again.....

The yuck part of the whole moving experience was going through all the cabinets and drawers in the old kitchen, many of which have not been thoroughly explored since shortly after we moved in 7 years ago. Simply gross. We filled many, many trash bags. And the best part... I have numerous empty drawers and cabinets in the new kitchen! Room to spare! It'll probably take about a week for me to absentmindedly stuff 'stuff' in them.

But for now, life is good. I promise a pic soon!

The kids' first "rock" concert

2006-05-07T19:26:00.000-04:00

So we are big Ralph's World fans at our house, and when I found out he was coming to town, I got tickets for me and the kids to go (hubby just couldn't quite stomach another kiddie concert; he's done his time at a Wiggles concert a few years ago).

We had a blast. It was a very small venue, only about 300 people; 200 or so of whom were under 4 feet tall. The kids actually got to go up on stage when Ralph was singing; M, for the last number, was standing RIGHT NEXT to Ralph. I think she's in love..... Afterwards, we got Ralph to sign a CD for us, and M&L gave him a high five.

If you're not familiar with Ralph's World, he is very cool. It's kids' music, but we, ahem, grownups, can actually tolerate the stuff. For example, at his concert, he threw in a little Hendrix and Freebird (for which we all held up our cell phones - lighters are SO passe), which of course went entirely over the kids' heads. Most all of his stuff is like that; it can be taken on many different levels. We'll definitely go back next time he's here; we had such a good time.

And to top off the whole day, we went for ice cream (in downtown DC in spring - what could be better?), then rode the Metro (aka subway) home. The kids were in heaven.

And if you ever have the opportunity to check out Ralph, please do. He's great. In fact, Disney has just picked him up and he'll be appearing on Playhouse Disney soon. He also has a grownup band, the Bad Examples. I've never heard of them, but supposedly they're pretty good. Sort of a "bar" band.

Wow!

2006-05-04T21:38:00.000-04:00

I just got this in an email from my aunt - these are little babies made out of MARZIPAN. Yes, the almond paste gunk that usually is in the shape of a pear or banana. Besides questioning WHY someone would want to make human babies out of almonds, you really have to admire the talent. But frankly, it's a little creepy.

I just hope she's not planning on eating these little cuties......

The light at the end of the tunnel

2006-05-04T20:26:00.000-04:00

Well, we're finally starting to see an actual KITCHEN emerge from the dust! As I type, we have an installed slate floor, cabinets, a countertop, and a functioning faucet. The appliances have yet to be installed, but they're sitting in the middle of the kitchen, awaiting their turn. The painters have been here for three days, prepping the area for the eventual color (Benjamin Moore Camouflage). I've been told that by the end of next week, we'll have a fully functioning, if not 100% complete, kitchen. They should start the demo of the existing kitchen in a couple of weeks. The second phase of the project (the dining room and laundry room) shouldn't take nearly as long. I promise pictures when we get nearer to completion. I still worry, as silly as this sounds, that I won't like it. Isn't that dumb? I've never, ever, in my life, had such control over my house to this degree. I usually feel pretty good about my choices, and I do this time, too, but yikes, to spend over $200k and not have it turn out EXACTLY as I wanted it? That scares me to death!

But so far, so good.

A Warning to All Drivers

2006-04-18T10:15:00.000-04:00

My teenager, E, got his learner's permit yesterday. Oy. It only took 4 1/2 hours at MVA to do so. Frankly both hubby and I were amazed that he passed the knowledge test on the first try. Test-taking has never been one of E's strong-points. But I suppose if it really, really matters to him, he'll study.

So of course he wanted to drive home from MVA. I was like, "are you joking?!" He, like legions of teenagers before him (including, probably, his mother), thinks he's perfectly capable of driving anywhere he wants now. The idea of gradually working into it doesn't appeal to him at all. I have no problem letting him drive around the local streets, after some practice on how to work the car, but jeesh, take it easy bud.

I am so not ready for this.

Happy Easter!

2006-04-17T09:24:00.000-04:00

Belated Happy Easter to everyone! We had a great day here. It started off early with two excited munchlings awaking to find their baskets filled and left in their rooms by good ol' Mr. EB. Unfortunately for me, he also left a big bowl full of mostly chocolate in a bowl in the foyer. Must...work....on...willpower.....

M&L had a great, I repeat great, time with my in-laws at the beach. They did just what I thought they'd do, and spent a lot of time with a little boy that lives just up the road. They even got to go on an Easter Egg hunt on Saturday on the beach. They were worn out when they arrived home! But it was good for them; and as far as I've heard, Grandmom & Granddad didn't have troubles with them.

In other news, I told E, my teenager, that I would take him to get his learner's permit soon. We printed out the driver's manual for him to study and he's been studying it over the weekend (that's probably the most studying he's done his entire life!). I told him I'd take him today, but then realized that the safe that has his birth certificate and other neccessary documents is behind a whole lot of construction junk. So we'll have to wait until later, when we can get to the safe. He's pretty bummed, which I understand, but it isn't like he was going to immediately start driving anyway. We still have to get him enrolled in a driver's ed course.

Wish me luck. Oy, a teenage driver in the house. I can...hardly...contain...my....excitement.

Be Careful What You Ask For

2006-04-14T10:49:00.000-04:00

This being Spring Break, my wonderful in-laws offered to take my two youngest for a few days down to their house on the Chesapeake Bay. Hubby & I, of course, thought that was a WONDERFUL idea; and M&L were pretty darn excited about it. They LOVE that place; each of them has been going since they were born, and even though we (our immediate family) only spend two weeks each summer there, plus an oh-too-occasional weekend, they feel like it's their second home.

This is a place that is literally a throw back to when I was a kid. It's a community of older, once-log cabin summer homes that have by and large been modernized, added-onto, air-conditioned (thank God), and otherwise made suitable for modern inhabitance. Most important, however, is that it's the kind of place where kids get to be, well, just kids. Run around with a great degree of freedom; waaaaay more than they get to anywhere else in their universe. Play 'army guys' on the beach; go to the community house to hang with the 'buds'. Go exploring. Get dirty and not have your parents yell at you. Stay outside playing capture the flag way past your bedtime. Stuff kids should do. We are so incredibly lucky to have a place like this available to us.

So they left Tuesday after dinner, and should be home Saturday evening. Here's the thing that I totally didn't expect - I'm bored. Despite my many happy dances when I found out they'd be going, I sort of don't know what to do with myself without them here. I thought I'd revel in my freedom; I don't have to get out of bed until I'm ready; no fighting; no "Mom, I'm bored"; no pbj's to make. I get to do whatever I want to do. 'Cept I don't know what I want to do.

I've been practicing a lot, and hubby and I have had some good alone time, but other than that, I'm kind of hoping they come back soon. I have plenty, in fact too much, going on in my life, but without the centers of my world here, I'm lost.

Oh lordy, what AM I going to do when the empty nesting starts?

"Mommy, are you afraid of dying?"

2006-03-29T16:57:00.000-05:00

Oh jeesh, was I not ready for THAT one! After reading one evening, M sorts of rolls over and abruptly tosses that one at me. Yikes.....

"no, I'm not because everyone dies eventually."
"but aren't you afraid it will hurt?"
"well, I hope it doesn't happen in a painful way, but I try not to think about it"
"would you just like to go to sleep and not wake up?"
"that's probably one of the 'best' ways to die. You shouldn't worry about dying; you've got a lot of time left"
"yes, but you don't. You're old and might die soon"

Holy crap.

I....LOVE....New York.......

2006-03-24T10:50:00.000-05:00

We're back! We got home late Wednesday night from our too short trip up to NYC. We, along with hubby's business partner and his wife, took the train (THE BEST WAY TO TRAVEL, HANDS DOWN) to Penn Station. Traveling by train is just so cool; very low stress, and you get to look at cool stuff on the way. Granted some of the scenery isn't the most flattering, such as Baltimore, in which you see the backside of the bad part of town, and it's gross, but for the most part, it's really relaxing and sometimes mesmorizing to sit back and watch the scenery go by.

(Footnote to my last post re: things I want to do in my life - I want to do a cross country train trip some day. It takes about 3 days, but I would like to take the rail trip from DC to Seattle, via Montana and the upper Rockies. Not with small children, however.)

So we got to NYC and dumped our stuff at the hotel (The Hotel New Yorker, right across from Madison Square Garden. Clean, convenient, and relatively cheap for NYC). We went and had lunch at the Stage Door Deli next door. Great food, but too much of it! We were stuffed. Then we played tourist and took one of the Gray Line bus tours through the downtown area. I've been to NYC a few times, but have never ventured down past about 30th St. The tour, which is a hop-on, hop-off type of tour, was cheap and had a tour guide. We sat up on the top, exposed level of the bus until we couldn't stand the cold any longer. We went through Chinatown, Greenwich Village, Chelsea, SoHo, past Ground Zero (we didn't get off - there's really not much to see there anymore), past the Brooklyn Bridge, then back up the East Side, past the UN. It took a couple of hours to do that, and we didn't even get off the bus! We went back to the hotel and got ready for the show.

The main purpose of the trip was to go see "The Odd Couple", with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. We had seen them a couple of years ago in "The Producers", and just loved them, so when the opportunity presented itself last summer to get Odd Couple tickets, we jumped. And boy, oh boy, did we have great seats. Fourth row back, dead center stage. The actors could have spit on us, had they the desire. Now, Odd Couple hasn't exactly bowled the critics over; basically Lane and Broderick are rehashing variations of their standard characters; Lane is hyper and messy, Broderick uptight and whiney. But hey, it works. We had a blast.

And can I just say that Broadway theatres are just the coolest?! They aren't very big, and all of them have been lovingly restored at some point over the years. So many details; they just don't make em like that anymore.

After the show, we headed to Times Square, where we got something to eat at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. As far as I'm concerned, I don't ever need to eat there again. It was a perfectly boring meal.

Okay, back to the hotel for a terrible night's sleep (our room was right next to the elevators). We had breakfast at a diner the next morning, then headed out to do the Gray Line tour of Uptown. We got off at Lincoln Center because I wanted to pop in on a flute guy that I bought my piccolo from, Phil Unger at Flute Center of NY. Once we found his place, he was really nice. Even took mine and hubby's picture. I think that's the prize for actually FINDING him; it's not easy. Anyway, my companions were very patient with my one flute-thing that I had to do while I was there. My other trips to NYC have been to take a lesson with my teacher, Bart Feller, who is principal in the NJ Symphony and the NY City Opera. Turns out he lives directly across the street from Phil's shop. I had NO idea, or I would have stopped in sooner.

We hopped back on the bus and toured around the upper West Side (sheesh, the money!), then to Harlem, then down to Museum Mile, where we got off at the Met Museum of Art. We wanted to get some lunch at that point, but guess what? Certain parts of NYC, most notably to us at the point, the exact part WE were in, have NO restaurants. None, zip, nada, zilch. If you want to eat, it's a sidewalk vendor. We really wanted something more substantial, so we walked for a while down Madison Avenue (still no restaurants). Eventually we came to a little place, barely noticable, called Coco Pazzo. It was 2:45 at this point, and their lunch kitchen was closing at 3:00, but they graciously seated us. I have to say that without a doubt, that meal was one of my "Hall of Fame" meals. Simply unbelievable. I had veal scallopini that was sheer perfection. We had some great wine, good company, great desserts (we all shared), and the whole restaurant to ourselves. Our waiter was just great. I truly didn't want the meal to end, it was THAT good. So if you're ever in NYC and looking for a great meal on the East Side, check them out.

We then headed to FAO Schwartz, 'cuz you have to when you're in NYC, even if you don't have kids. We bought a couple of things for M&L (which were big hits, by the way), then caught a cab to Macy's.

NYC has truly got the cab thing down. Those yellow cars are EVERYWHERE. And hailing one is just like on TV; just raise your hand and one appears. It's a real power trip. But then you have to close your eyes when it gets moving, or else you fear your life will end in the next minute. I don't know how they keep from having an accident every 20 seconds; they don't stay in any form of a lane, and sometimes they just go tearing off through this miniscule openings that you think there's no way we're fitting through that! But somehow, you always arrive safe and sound (but a tad grayer) at your destination.

Once at Macy's we decided to see just how many floors there are. It's supposedly the biggest store in the world (or at least was once), but we had no idea HOW big. Can I tell you that that store is NINE, I repeat, NINE, stories tall?!!!! We just kept going up and up, expecting around the fourth floor for each to be the last. Nope. On and on, higher and higher. When we got to the furniture dept on the NINTH floor, we sat down and had to call someone just to tell them that we were on the ninth floor of the NYC Macy's. I know, how dorky can you get? But NINE FLOORS?! And very cool - as you go higher and higher, the escalators get older. By the sixth floor or so, the escalators are wooden. They still work just fine, but I guess they get less wear and tear since fewer people probably venture up to the top floors. Just us touristy geeks that want to see how high we can go.

We rode the elevator back down.

By that time, it was time to collect our luggage and head to the train station. We arrived very tired and with sore feet. When we got home, we found that our new kitchen/family room area had been drywalled, so it's starting to look more like a real room. The kids were safe and happy in bed, and I did the same shortly thereafter.

I love New York.......could NEVER in a gazillion years live there, but I sure love to visit.

Ponderings on Life

2006-03-20T09:15:00.000-05:00

For some reason, I've lately been pondering life, and more specifically, MY life. I don't know why; I'm not ill, and am happy, but just thinking about my life in general. Things like: How do I want to be remembered? What would I do differently if given the chance? What would I like to do before I die that I haven't yet? Stuff like that.

Does this mean I'm finally a grown-up? Does wondering about such things qualify one as such? Funny, I really don't feel grown up yet.

Anyway, I don't think I would do anything differently if given a "do-over". Only little things (which, in the end, are big things), like being more patient, having more time for my kids, less judgmental. The biggies are keepers. Even what I would consider my life's two biggest mistakes I wouldn't change. One gave me one of my kids, and the other (changing my college major from music to accounting) allowed me to achieve financial freedom, and led me directly to the path I'm now on. If I had continued on in music, I most likely would have always struggled for money, may not have ever had children, and would not now be able to play just for the love of it. I most definitely wouldn't have met my husband, since I met him on a business trip. I wonder if I'd be as content in my life as I am now. What it boils down to is this: everything in our life, good and bad, leads us to where we are today. If you're happy today, then all the bad was not only necessay to get you there, but part of who you are, and you shouldn't want to change anything.

As for what do I want to do still? Definitely travel more. I want to get to Europe before I'm too old to enjoy it. Australia, Africa, and Russia are also big on my list. I'm still thinking about the rest of my wish list. I always wanted to get my pilot's license. I have an innate love of airplanes and airports (thanks to my Air Force Dad!); since I was very little, I was fascinated by airplanes and have always wanted to learn to fly. I even took a few lessons years ago, but it's expensive, and since I've had kids, the idea sort of fell by the wayside. I may never get to fly them myself, but will always love to be around them. The first time I ever flew on a Boeing 777, I thought I was in airplane-geek heaven.

Kind of deep today; sorry. I guess I sort of had to vent. Tomorrow, hubby and I (along w/ another couple) are off to the Big Apple. Woohoo! We're going to see "The Odd Couple" and play tourist for a couple of days. My wonderful in-laws are watching the kids for us. Be back on Thursday!

Toodles

The joy of Legos and Tchaikovsky

2006-03-18T23:00:00.000-05:00

M&L have just, and I mean just, discovered the joy of spending hours building things with Legos. Now, they've had legos since they were itty-bitty (inherited from older brothers), but during the past couple of days, they're spending hours at a time building. L even built a fire engine USING THE DIRECTIONS. I was impressed. Of course, about 5 minutes after he came and showed it to me, he proceeded to drop it on the foyer floor, which sent it into a gazillion pieces. After a few minutes of sobs, and some serious mommy-hugs, he pulled himself together and re-built it. I kept telling him that that's the cool thing about Legos - you can always rebuild anything that falls apart or is, ahem, destroyed by your sister.

Reminds me of when Matt, my 22-year old stepson, was about 10 years old. He would build these amazingly complex and intricate creations, then put them away for what seemed like forever. E, who was about 5 at the time, would find them, and proceed to, egads, cannibalize them for HIS creations. Matt would, without fail, fall into hysterics of mammoth proportions. It was unbelievable the tantrum he would throw about these things. We really just had to sit back and laugh at him, it was just that ridiculous.

The Legos that M&L are now playing with, well, at least some of them, were hubby's when he was a kid. See, Legos are stupidly expensive, but we stick it to the company by holding on to the stupid pieces for 40 years. That'll show em.

Okay, now to the joy of Tchaikovsky part. I just got home from playing a concert as second flute for the Prince Georges Philharmonic. The concert was themed around Shakespeare - music from Othello, The Tempest, Twelth Night, and of course, Romeo & Juliet (that's the one Mr. T wrote). R&J is the very famous tune that most people recognize, whether they listen to classical music or not. Anway, it was a blast. The orchestra played really well tonight, with only some minor intonation problems. But jeesh, everyone seemed to be in a contest to outblow each other! Why is it, that during performances, this orchestra plays louder than they ever do in rehearsals? Which, as a result, makes the pitch go sharp, and causes the intonation problems. Oh well, I guess that's the difference between us and an orchestra where the players actually get paid for their efforts. (I'm not complaining, trust me. I love to play, whether I'm paid or not). And lest I forget, the county executive (in other words, head dude of Prince Georges County) was there. VERY important for a county-funded orchestra. So I'm glad we played well for him.

Happy St Patty's Day!

2006-03-17T07:24:00.000-05:00

My daughter told me this morning that today was her favorite day of the year. I asked her about Christmas - "oh yeah, after Christmas". No way was wearing green going to outscore Santa. I'm trying to think of green stuff we can eat for dinner tonight, that the kids will eat. Maybe I'll dye their milk green. Then they probably wouldn't drink it, with my luck.

We're getting very frustrated with the renovation right now. For some reason, we've been getting an inspector that just has a hair up his you-know-what, and fails the project for some stupid little unknown reason. All of our contractors (all well respected) are just baffled; they've never seen this before. To make it worse, the guy goes down his list until he hits the first problem, then stops there. So we fix that problem, then he comes back, and gets to the next problem, fails the project, etc. We've been at this for a couple of weeks. The stuff he's failing us for is just ridiculously stupid; no one we know has ever heard of such things. If it fails again today, our contractor is going straight to the county to get to the bottom of this. We've got all our cabinets sitting still in the boxes, and the appliances were delivered last weekend. We just need a finished space to put them in!

Two sayings spring to mind: 1) Good things come to those who wait, 2) If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

THIS JUST IN - WE PASSED!!!!! WOOHOO!! HAPPY DANCE! The inspector came early this morning (we didn't even know he was here), and passed us. So Monday they start the insulating and then the drywall, and all the other stuff that will make it look like a REAL kitchen. Yay!

Somehow we have to channel this

2006-02-28T09:33:00.000-05:00

My 5 1/2 year-old son is, well, a nag. There is simply no other way to put it. This child doesn't let go of an idea, question, comment, complaint, etc - ever. Distraction doesn't work, at least not permanently. He'll go along with the diversion for a while, but then immediately u-turns back to his topic du jour. The other night, he wanted us to do something for him on the computer involving giving him a password. We're having pop-up problems due to the downloads and such being done by the kids, so we told him no. Even as we patiently responded to the "why can't I have a password" pleas, he continued on with it. For, like, an hour. Never gave up, nor even diminished the amplitude of the whines and pleas. I think it finally took bedtime to get it out of his head. Truthfully, I was surprised when he didn't wake up asking the same thing.

This is just one example of the DAILY nags he performs. Somehow, somewhere, there is a good side to this; some sort of positive quality that, if "channeled" properly, will serve him well as an adult. But for the love of you-know-who, I don't know how to do that. For now, he just drives us crazy. I love him like the dickens, but sheesh, learn to take "no" for an answer. How do you teach a kid that?

On another front, I was helping out in M's classroom yesterday when one of the kids had to be removed for a behavior issue. He normally is the sweetest little guy, but he has some kind of issue, that, frankly, I don't know about and it's none of my business. But he's usually off in his own world, and doesn't like to do his work and, in particular, write (we encourage him by us writing a word, then he writes a word). Apparently, his behavior is deteriorating. Yesterday, the teacher simply told him that if he was stuck, he needed to ask for help, rather than just sitting there doing nothing. He wouldn't do it, and he became pretty unpleasant, even calling the teacher some names (nothing horrible, but things like 'meanie'). Since the rest of the class couldn't focus, someone was called from the office to remove him. That's when it really got bad; he had a pretty bad outburst. And the teacher told me that last week he had an even worse episode that really frightened the class, especially M. She hid under a table. So I had a talk with her about it after school, and reassured her that nothing bad was happening to anyone, that they just took the child somewhere where he could calm down. I think she thought that he was being taken to a torture chamber or something. I was surprised she never told me about it last week, but when I brought it up to her last night, she really had a lot to say about it. So I'm glad I was able to talk to her about it. I don't want her to think that going to the "office" is always a terrible thing.

When I was a kid, in about 1st grade (M's age), I was summoned to the principal's office. OMG, what have I done? I was absolutely terrified. I thought for sure that I would be given some sort of beating or something. Turns out they just had a question for me, but by then I was so worked up about it that I dissolved into tears while I was there. Obviously, it traumatized me, since I still remember it so clearly.

Isn't it funny the things we remember from childhood? Lots of stuff our parents forget about almost as soon as it happens, but our little minds retained it forever. As a mom, it really makes me think about what I do; I never know what seemingly insignificant event, statement, or detail will become a lifelong memory for my kids. Even now, they'll surprise me with "mom, do you remember when you/we.....?" Uh, no. They do, and they've been thinking about it, whatever it was, for quite a while.

She Stayed

2006-02-27T09:22:00.000-05:00

The Divine Miss M decided that she was just too busy this weekend to run away. "Maybe another time", she said.

On another note, both M & L have discovered this website www.creationsbyyou.com.
This is a site where the kids can author and illustrate their own book, and then get it "published" (actually bound and printed). A friend of mine's daughter has one of these books, and they turned out really neat. This is so up M's alley; she has done nothing else since Saturday when she first found out about it. She loves to write and draw. L is giving it a go, too, and I'm actually rather impressed with what he's coming up with. His first title is "Max and the Magic Car". I don't know what the inspiration for this is, and I hope it's not already taken, but I think it's kind of neat.

Some of you may remember M's Spongebob drawing - a while back she did this totally from memory and it just blew us away:

So I think we have an artist in the family! Well, at least until she runs away......

Cookies, cookies, everywhere

2006-02-25T08:38:00.000-05:00

M is a first-year Brownie Girl Scout this year. She was a Daisy last year, but ----

Daisies DON"T sell cookies.

This year, her troop of 11 1st graders sold more cookies than any other Girl Scout troop, of any level, in our local service unit of about 12 troops. Since I'm the troop's cookie mom, I had to organize all the orders and pick up the cookies yesterday. Well, actually Rich and I had to pick them up, and we needed a big truck (including a lift-gate) to do it. Our little girls sold 166 cases (or 1992 boxes) of cookies! That's a LOT of thin mints, samoas, do-si-dos, tagalongs, etc. And they're all in my front yard, in the truck, right now. (I take that back - 4 thin mints, 2 tagalongs, and 1 do-si-do are in my tummy by now ;)

If my neighbors only knew of the prized stash sitting in my yard......

Today I've got to sort all those boxes to give to the girls. That should help work off the ones I ate yesterday. My diet doesn't work real well if I'm pushing cookies into my face..... surprise, surprise.

Oh, and I'll post an update on our runaway as soon as I know what she's doing. She still says she's running away to the back yard, but L is so upset about that that she might reconsider. Or at least take him with her.

She's leaving us

2006-02-24T18:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday evening, M decided to be in her bitchy-princess mood, and decided she was NOT going to do her homework. Uh-uh, no way. Well, since I'm bigger than her, and can talk circles around any kind of kid-logic she throws at me, I eventually got her to sit down and do it. BUT, she announced that she was going to run away. I did my normal, "I'm sorry to hear that", and "we'll miss you", etc, but she stuck to her plan. Even after we kissed and made up, so to speak, she told Daddy at bedtime:

"Uh, Dad, I love you, but I'm still running away Saturday".
"Where are you going, M?"
"Outside"

(we have 10 acres, so "outside" can be quite a ways away)

"Where outside"?
"Out to those trees out there" (about 100 yds out behind the house)
"Well, be careful".
"I will, Dad".

When she got off the school bus today, she again pronounced her intent to run away tomorrow. Something tells me, though, that it will slip her mind. She has cheerleading in the morning, then straight to a friend's house to play, then home in the evening. It will be dark by then, we now have GIRL SCOUT COOKIES, and she'll see how good she's got it. I guarantee it.

But then again, she's a pretty darn stubborn little thing......

Woohoo!

2006-02-14T09:54:00.000-05:00

I just got word that my flute choir, "Flutes on the Brink" has been invited to perform at the National Flute Association Convention this summer in Pittsburgh. As geeky as that sounds, trust me, it's a big deal. Over 3000 flutists attend this convention. Not that all of them will hear us, because we are a very small item in a very full convention agenda. But since the choir is only 4 years old and has never done anything of this magnitude, we're very thrilled. We'll be playing a lunchtime concert on Sunday, August 13. Now we have to decide what we're playing, etc; we have to turn in our program by the end of March.

This is really cool!

After the 'big" snow

2006-02-13T10:41:00.000-05:00

The view from our front porch this morning.

Saturday was the first big snowstorm for us, after a VERY mild winter so far. The sun was shining all yesterday afternoon, which helped melt a lot of it. This morning, the kids are out of school (why, I don't know), so E went out to explore the icicles that formed overnight. He went to pull one off, and got this big chunk instead.

Remember the Scene from "Marathon Man"...

2006-02-09T13:07:00.000-05:00

..... where the dentist is "working" on Dustin Hoffman? Well, that's what I felt like this morning.

Not Dustin, either.
The wacko dentist.

L woke up this morning with a bottom tooth dangling from his mouth by the tiniest little strip of flesh. It was really bothering him; he wouldn't eat, and didn't want to go to school. So dh convinced him that we needed to pull it out, because it would hurt more if we didn't, and what if it came out at school and was lost?! Anyway, at the last minute, L changed his mind and wouldn't let daddy near his mouth. So, we basically had to tag team him, with me holding his arms, dh holding his head, M screaming "don't hurt my brother!", and L screaming bloody murder. It was.....HORRIBLE. If L isn't in therapy later in life over this, I will be. The tooth, however, came out very neatly, and quickly. After about 2 minutes of screaming (and hugs), L got over it and ate his breakfast and was showing off the tooth.

Meanwhile, all the construction guys working on our house probably called social services on us. It really sounded like we were torturing the child.

Super Bowl 2006

2006-02-06T12:54:00.000-05:00

The big party was yesterday. (Oh yeah, and there was a football game, too). Since the Redskins weren't playing, I really didn't care who won, but I suppose I had a small preference for the underdog Seahawks to win. But since I think I watched about 5 minutes total of the game, I couldn't tell you anything other than the final score.

We had close to 15o people at the party this year; a good-size turnout. Waay too much food, as usual, and this year marked the return of an overload of tortilla chips. For some reason, we didn't have ANY tortilla chips, this year, just about every other dish brought to the party involved them in some way. Now, I love Tostitos as much as anyone, but, sheesh, a little variety would have been nice. Okay, 'nuff about the stupid chips. I think everyone had a good time; we had about 20,000 (or so it seemed) children running through the house (because they could care less about the game going on in the tent outside - Xbox was what they were after). But for the most part, all of them were well behaved, nothing seems to have been broken or stolen, and they made sure that there we no leftover cookies. Late last night and this morning, hubby and I were picking up, cleaning up, that sort of thing. The tent comes down tomorrow, the floor hopefully a few days after that.

And next year, we'll do it all again. But next year, GO SKINS!!!!!!!

Hi, Remember Me?

2006-02-03T16:30:00.000-05:00

It's only been, what, THREE months? Again, I fell prey to the "why would anyone want to hear about my pitiful life?" syndrome. Well, after thinking about it for a while, I decided that this is mostly for me, anyway, and anyone who feels inclined to take a peek once in a while. So, HI MOM & DAD!

On the kid front, everyone is doing great. L got his first-ever report card yesterday and was just beside himself. He gets that way about many things, but this was his very own REPORT CARD! I wasn't surprised. They don't get grades in Kindergarten, but his "marks" were very good. He's very advanced in math and reading. He needs to work on his comprehension a bit, but overall, he's doing great. M had a similarly impressive report card. Both of their teachers had very nice things to say about them. E, my struggling high-schooler, didn't fare so well, but there were definite signs of improvement. I'm afraid Harvard will not be in his future (oh, DARN!, say I in my most lock-jawed, Thurston Howell voice).

Our home is now in shambles as the renovation got going about 3 weeks ago. So far, so good, but of course it's not happening fast enough. I want it NOW! (my alias is Veruca Salt).

King and Princess

2005-10-31T21:30:00.000-05:00

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

2005-10-31T09:18:00.000-05:00

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

2005-10-30T07:25:00.000-05:00

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

2005-10-15T09:58:00.000-04:00

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

2005-10-08T21:57:00.000-04:00

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

2005-10-08T21:40:00.000-04:00

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

2005-10-06T09:13:00.000-04:00

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...

2005-10-03T09:10:00.000-04:00

...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

2005-10-02T11:09:00.000-04:00

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

2005-10-01T09:36:00.000-04:00

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....

"You are my sunshine....."

2005-09-30T09:11:00.000-04:00

A really cool thing happened last night. M again pulled her "I can't go to sleep" routine, but I came in and sat down on her bed and wound up singing her a lullaby. When she was a tiny baby, we had to drive in the car quite a bit to pick up her big brother, E. When she would get fussy, I would sing a song that was really a combination of "I Love You Conrad (insert child's name instead of Conrad): and "You are My Sunshine". She would stay quiet as long as I sang that song...over....and over....and over...and over - sometimes for an hour or so. My voice would HURT. To this day, my kids think Sunshine is their song, that I made up just for them. Whenever they hear it, like on VeggieTales, they say "Mom! They stole your song!".

Last night I literally sang my 6 yr old daughter to sleep. I watched her drift off as I sang it. I got a very precious gift; a glimpse of the baby she used to be.

As much as I marvel at the little people they are turning into, physically, intellectually, and emotionally, it is really neat to be reminded that a simple lullaby can do amazing things. Turn back time, for one.

It Starts.....

2005-09-29T13:28:00.000-04:00

Well, despite my very strong feelings that no one would really want to read anything I have to say, I've decided to give this blogging thing a go. I'm not really sure why, since any effort I've ever made to keep a journal in that past has lasted, oh, about 5 days. But we'll see. Maybe I'll let my family know I've done this, since they live on the other coast and we don't get to see each other that often. Heck, I'm pretty rotten about even calling on a regular basis.

So, just to establish who I am, I am first and foremost a wife and mother to four kids (21 - stepkid, 16, 6, and 5), next I'm a semi-professional flutist, also an accountant. I'm active at my church, in bible study and choir, and I like to volunteer at my kids' school. I'm a voracious reader, and really like to bake. I lead a pretty average suburban life, except that not too many suburban families can brag that they have monster trucks living in their backyard (more on that another time).

Can I just say, as part of this first entry, that my daughter (6 yr old), is as stubborn as a mule, and is just SO not a morning person?! She stayed up way too late last night SINGING to herself and complaining that she couldn't go to sleep. Well, duh. Then she got up around 10 pm to say that she needed to see what time it was on *another* clock (the one in her room is a digital). As a result of all this nonsense, little missy was an absolute beeeyatch this morning. We finally succeeded in a) getting her dressed, b) feeding her something that her fussy little self would eat, c) brushing her hair (our daily morning screamfest), and d) getting her and her brother on the bus. She's due home in about 10 minutes, and I sure hope she's in a better mood now.

So wish me luck....I'm gonna need it.