No Internet! Catching up Days 342-344

Our internet service went down Saturday morning and wasn't fixed until today. Talk about withdrawal!

I knew something was afoot when I saw the AT&T service truck in our cul-de-sac early Saturday morning. Then Scott couldn't get on the internet. I picked up the phone to call - and no dial tone - the phone was dead. Since the DSL signal comes across the phone lines, I knew we were sunk.

The feedback this morning from the AT&T repair guy - "There was another guy out here on Saturday, and while doing his work, he pinched off your terminal". Gee, Thanks. Oh well, at least I still had my iPhone and could receive email via that data link.

So it's catch up time!

Friday, December 10, Day 342/365 - Look what arrived in the mail tonight, from mpix.com – our 2010 Christmas Card.
And I know the picture on the front looks familiar to everyone.


As usual, the quality of the 5x7 card from Mpix is excellent – this is our 4th year using them. I create the entire card in PSE – the front, back and even the center portion. Now to get them out in the mail before Christmas!

Saturday, December 11, Day 343/365 - – Violin Recital
I admit – I hate performing as a soloist. Even accompanied, there’s so much pressure to play all the notes perfectly. But really, the pressure is self imposed and simply a pride thing. I don’t want to sound bad because it might reflect poorly on me.
So I try to let it go, and do the best I can. It won’t be perfect, but it will be fine.


I managed to get through my performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto without too many issues. I am glad my teacher, Ms Kim, pushed me to learn this piece. It certainly challenged me.

Sunday, December 12, Day 344/365 - Inclement Weather
We ventured out for church this morning and that was it. Erica’s horse riding job canceled all classes, so we all stayed home after church. Because outside it’s snowing and the winds are blowing to near white out conditions and the temperatures are dropping to the teens and into single digits again.

That doesn’t deter the kids from going outside to play, and Erica took Sammy out with her.


Then went down the slide together.


While the kids played outside, I made my signature Christmas cookies.


I plan to post the recipe and entire cookie making process this week. By stating that now, it has a 50% chance of actually getting accomplished.

To cap off our snowed in day, we received word late Sunday night that school had been canceled for today. That news set the kids off, high-fiving and jumping for joy. I have to be at work by 7am so no snow day for me. How I wish....

Read more...

141/365 - Recital

Today's big event (for me) - the violin recital where I performed the First Movement of Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto, Op. 14. Held at the Smith Memorial Hall on campus.



I tend to shy away from solo performances, as they bring out severe jitters and nerves for me. But I know that I will never overcome these jitters if I don't perform. So I do it and each time it becomes easier.

Read more...

113/365 - Saturday Afternoon Practice

I confess, I routinely don't practice on the weekends.

But since our schedules have been crazy and the kids' homework has required my help, I haven't been able to get my normal practicing in during the weekdays. So a little Saturday afternoon music was added to our agenda today.



I'm going to perform the first movement from Barber's Violin Concerto in 4 weeks, so I need all the practice time I can get. I imagine I'll play tomorrow afternoon, too.

Read more...

Mosaic Monday - Music

For those who know me or have been around my blog know that I love music. I gathered up several pictures of music, my violin and piano for this week's mosaic.



Mary at This Little Red House hosts Mosaic Monday. Go and check out her beautiful mosaic of vintage greens, along with the other participants of Mosaic Monday.

Hope you have a day filled with beautiful music.

Read more...

Weekly Gratitude - Music

I post frequently about my love of music. It's one of those universal that spans cultures, languages and generations.

Read more...

No 12on12 - Old GBYSO Sticker Instead

I realized around lunch that today was the 12th, which meant I had already missed out on the morning's opportunity for my 12 on 12 photos. I took a couple pictures and then decided not to participate today - I'm just going to "Relax" instead and maybe take more pictures tomorrow or the next day.

But I'll share one picture what would have been included - my violin case in my office at work. Tuesday afternoons, I leave directly from work to my violin lesson, and my violin doesn't spend time out in the cold car, so I bring it to my office.



I studied violin from 3rd to 12th grade growing up, and this is the "real" violin my parents purchased for me in high school when I was auditioning for various orchestras. I've kept the original case and sticker from the youth orchestra I played in - I can't seem to let that sticker go. The Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra still exists, although they've "rebranded" to the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. The logo seen here no longer exists, either, and I have googled for it and always come up empty. So that's my excuse for keeping the sticker and I'm sticking to it!

Read more...

284/365 - Afternoon Practice

Another cloudy, rainy day.

I took Rascal and Hannah to the vet these past two days for their separate yearly check ups. Each received a clean bill of health, along with several shots. Erica is working at the Stables tonight, as she is filling in for the worker who covered her usual Sunday shift last weekend. Scott picked up goodies from the apple orchard - apple pie, apple cider, honeycrisp apples, apple cider donuts and pumpkin pie. Plenty of sweet stuff for the next week.

Today's picture - I'm working on the 3rd Movement of Franck's Violin Sonata.

Have a great weekend!

Read more...

10 on July 12 (and 196/365)

OK, I only got about 10 pictures taken today. I think I was worn out from yesterday's blueberry picking and all the photos I took there!

But here is a quick recap of our July 12th:

Morning:
Breakfast with those blueberries, with vanilla yogurt, sliced peaches and rolled oats. So yummy!


See the time? Even on Sunday we get up pretty early. And my phone has been giving me fits recently - the battery won't stay charged and I bought a replacement battery with the same results. Yeah, the replacement battery might be a dud, too, but at this point the phone is 3 years old and I am thinking about upgrading.... to an iPhone. Erica wants a phone, too, so we spent time on-line checking out different phones / plans, and by the end of day I had a huge headache because of the phone situation.


Rascal was enjoying a morning snooze by the window. It was a beautiful morning, with a cool breeze. Sorry the picture is blurry - but Rascal always gets up when she sees me, so I was lucky to get even this shot.


Hey, it's me again with a self portrait, taken right after I dried my hair. Why do I think of Vanna White when I look at this picture?


It's afternoon now, and Brian decided he wanted to rearrange his room. Brian outlined all the changes and Scott did the heavy lifting. Here is the result:


But, as part of the rearrangement, Brian purged many of the kids' / baby books he had in the bookshelf. I need to sort them and put them in the garage sale pile now.


I practiced violin (something I haven't good about all week long) - I am working on the Franck Violin Sonata in A Major. A nice romantic piece.


A day doesn't pass without some sort of Slip-N-Slide [SNS for short] action. See that strip of matted down and brown grass? That's where the SNS has been used. Brian is setting up a *NEW* SNS (I bought TWO new SNS's today - at the request of my children, who read the Sunday Sale ads, noting many are on sale).


This SNS features a swirling spray of water onto the slide. Note - the arch falls over due to the back pressure of the water. Brian later dubbed this the "Useless SNS".


The kids gave up on the two new SNS's and spent the rest of the day watching old Harry Potter movies, in preparation for Wednesday's premiere of the Half Blood Prince. We plan to go on Thursday.


So there you go - 10 pictures from our day. Hope yours was great, too!

Read more...

132/365 - New Strings

Today's activities included running (both adults logged some miles today), yard work (the Roundup is finally showing results in the perennial beds) and laundry. Brian and Scott went to the driving range and hit some balls. Erica started on Nancy Drew book #3.

And I put a new set of strings on my violin.

On the suggestion of my teacher and friend, Jieyeon, I bought a set of Evah Pirazzi strings from Shar Music. I had been using Dominant strings, but Jieyeon says these are such "beautiful sounding strings" and notes that Evah is so beautiful:


With a recital coming up in 2 weeks, I'll take whatever will make me sound better!

Read more...

A Life Lived Fully and with Influence

Picture from my 1985 ARHS Yearbook

Through Facebook network, I learned of the untimely death of my High School Band / Music Director, Dennis Wrenn at the age of 58. He collapsed this past Friday, while on a High School Jazz Band trip in Greece. Even though I graduated almost 25 years ago, he was still leading the school's numerous Bands, the Orchestra and influencing the musical hearts of the students he interacted with.
Over 1200 people have joined the Facebook Tribute group that was set up hours after the news of his death was released. A testament to the vast influence this one man had over his students and the musical community he helped nurture and build.

What did I learn from Mr. Wrenn (he'll always be "Mr. Wrenn" to me, not "Dennis", as I am certain he would insist upon)?

• I learned to broaden my musical horizons - through his connections, I was given opportunities to play in Pit Orchestras outside High School.
• I learned an appreciation for Jazz, which I continue to love today.
• I learned to step out and audition, even if I don't think I'm good enough, because in most cases, you really are good enough.
• I learned to have fun with my music.

In his death, I've learned to embrace what you love, and to love what you do, because life is too short to not do what you love.

Mr. Wrenn, rest in peace. I know you are out there making beautiful music.


ARHS Orchestra, 1985. Mr. Wren is in the 2nd row, far right. I love that he chose to sit in the all of the musical groups' pictures - not all teachers did that.

Some links to the media coverage around Dennis Wrenn's death:
Metro West
Boston.com

Read more...

The Goal Post

No, not the physical poles people try to get a ball through.

This is my response to Blog Challenge #5 from Scrapshare (note, I haven't done Challenges 1-4 either):

What is your most important personal goal for the year? What are you doing that is just for you? How are you trying to improve yourself?

OK, here it goes -
Run that 1/2 marathon. The background - I have always considered myself the "serious runner" in my family - I have been running since 1992 and ran a lot until Erica was born. Got back into running after moving to Illinois. So last year, my sister Teresa takes up running. And decides to run a 1/2 marathon. My competitive nature kicks in (coupled with a tinge of sibling competition), and I have to run a 1/2 marathon, too. The problem - while Teresa has a local 1/2 marathon to run, I can't find a decent race close to me. I waited too long to register for the Indianapolis Mini Marathon in May. I'm sure I'll find one to run, but for now, I am a runner without a race.

One other random goal - the $0 scrapbooking spending goal for 2008. I have a $50 gift card from Hobby Lobby that Scott gave me at Christmas. That's what I have to spend on scrapbooking supplies this year. I have a TON of supplies that I need to use up.

Improve myself? I picked up my violin again and I am taking lessons. Really, the lessons provide pressure for me to practice. I try to play every day, at least 30 minutes. So far so good, and I do think I have made progress these past two months (the cat no longer hides under the couch when I play - only kidding).

There's my Goal Post. I should make a list of less serious goals - like what new photographic gear I want to buy. Or set a deadline for getting an iPhone. You know, more of the fun stuff.....

Read more...