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Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Really, I Haven't Fallen Off the Face of the Earth

You all know that it's the evil FaceBook that is taking most of my time. Also, the three rehearsals each week (flute choir, orchestra, and choir). Plus kids, and work, and I just generally don't think I have much to say these days. Who knew that being a disgruntled second soprano was going to provide so much fodder for my blog?

Anyway, in the rather large lag of time, I managed to have a birthday. A rather significant one - I celebrated the 11th anniversary of my 29th!! When Hubby would ask what I wanted, I kept telling him either PVR(TiVo) or diamond earrings. He actually got me both!!!! And there will be a fabulous party at the end of May - Daisy and Diva and Beck and Bugle Boy are organizing it for me. I must say, I feel very loved. And my friends rock!!!!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Seven Partridges, No Pear Tree

Last Wednesday, I looked outside to see seven gray partridges waddling around my backyard, foraging for seeds and dried crabapples. I took pictures because I had never seen birds like this. Well, they are back this morning. I love the variety of birds that are coming to the yard these days. Here are a few photos.





Sunday, March 08, 2009

Much More My Style

Last night I played my first concert with the local Symphony Orchestra. Before anyone gets too excited, let me say that it is a community orchestra, not some highbrow ensemble like the New Your Philharmonic . . . but for me, it was just right. I was asked to play one piece, the Bacchanale from Saint-Saens' "Samson and Delilah", as they needed a third flute. Well, at the first rehearsal less than two weeks ago, it became "oh you might as well play this, too", so I played three movements of the Bizet Symphony. And I have been invited to stay until the end of the season. Woo hoo!!

Friday, March 06, 2009

I Did It!!

I quit!!!!!

Glory hallelujah, bear hell is (almost) a bygone era. I quit today, and told them that my last shift is tomorrow. Watch them scramble to fill my shifts tomorrow and Monday. (insert evil laugh here)

Stay tuned for more frequent updates . . . now that I will have a life!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Questions and Tears

Everyone who knows Corwin knows that he has a million questions. It can be exhausting, but it can also be surprising. Sometimes he looks at things with insight that suggests a maturity far beyond his eight years of life experience. Last night was one of those occasions. It started at the dinner table, because Hubby had flown to Toronto for work. Corwin started asking about how much liquid you could take on the plane, and why, and on and on. I told him it was to keep people safe. He asked if it was "because of what happened to the twin towers." I told him it was. The conversation continued, and finally I asked if he had seen a picture of the buildings. He hadn't, so up we went to do a little Googling.

I didn't want to overwhelm him, but he had asked. I showed him a couple of pictures, and he still didn't seem to grasp the magnitude of what had happened. So I showed him a video clip. It was a compilation video, with news footage, and there was music put into it. At one point Corwin asked me a question about the rescue workers, and when I went to answer, I couldn't because I started crying. Yes, how to keep it together in front of your kids. Seeing the footage just reminded me of that horrible day, with Corwin and Clara not quite a year old, and wondering if friends in DC and New York were safe. Especially seeing the collapse of the towers, and the huge cloud of dust and smoke and debris, blanketing the city.

Corwin was pretty quiet after that. He asked to see the collapse again, and I found one clip with no music, just a video from someone who lived within view of the World Trade Center. There was no music, but there was dialogue from the people recording the video. To have their view of the towers and hear their shock, sorrow, and fear allowed Corwin to really understand the enormity of what happened. The vantage point of that video was high up, but close enough to see the fire trucks, and ambulances on the street below, to record the sirens wailing in the neighbourhood where these people lived. And to hear their anguish as first one, and then the other building collapsed let Corwin see that it was real, not just an event that he had heard about in the news. That there were real people involved, and to understand the security precautions that are in place for air travel.

This wasn't exactly the way I planned on spending a February evening, that's for sure. I followed up our history lesson with baths and a bit of TV (simply because I wanted to superimpose something a little lighter over the graphic destruction images before they went to bed). Thankfully, no one had nightmares, not even me.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

And Suddenly, It's February!

Time flies, people, seriously!!!

I do have lots to update on, which will be more extensive later. Here are a few random bullets for now:
  • Hubby and I told the kids of our vacation plans for mid-August (because we need to get them passports). They have started packing. No joke. Clara is planning to take a certain skirt. I don't think it will even fit by then, LOL. They are very excited to meet Hester Willa, Clementine and Hashbrown. I still can't believe Hubby suggested this.
  • I will update more about Bear Hell, but suffice it to say that quitting may happen. Several others already have. I did argue with the manager re: sick notes. I refused, offered a copy of my prescription and she said that would be fine. She wanted me to fill my shift, I said no. Sick is sick, people, that's why the managers get the big bucks!
  • I love being a first!!!! (no surprise there, really!). I particularly love it when we get a new piece that has soprano divisi and I have to try really, really hard not to get this goofy grin of "I'm SO happy that I don't have to sing that!!!" on my face (that would be called gloating, and I'm not like that).
  • Snowflake's wedding is on Saturday. I am helping decorate. I'm excited about it. Also, I love that she and I have become friends - one of the good things to come from Bear Hell.
  • After Hubby's exotic and exciting trip to Chile in November, he is getting to travel again. This time, he gets to spend three nights in the uber-hip Sturgeon Falls. In February. Heh heh. Could be worse - I hear to mosquitoes and blackflies are wicked there in the spring!
More soon, I promise. I don't feel quite as bad as I should - seems I'm not the only one who has been light on the blogging of late.

Monday, January 05, 2009

2009

Happy New Year!