I forgot what my original topic was.

The weather has been so amazing! It feels like fall finally and I feel drawn to go outside as often as possible. This is really like spring as far as the plants are concerned, everything is green from the monsoon rain and happy with the sunshine and mild temperatures. Yesterday my Mom, Joey, Ara, and I took a $5 pizza to the park and had an easy picnic. I helped Joey put together his new lego sets on a picnic table and the sunshine felt like a warm blanket while a slightly chilly breeze kept us cool. Ara ran my Mom around the park playing soccer, sliding, swinging, exploring. It was a very nice day and we found a creepy giant moth dead in the grass. I took a picture with my phone and uploaded it yesterday but I don't think it looked like much in the picture.

Usually on Tuesday I take Ara to the YMCA and either do the elliptical or afro aerobics but we have been home bound since the car died. I could take the bus but I never have any cash! I think tomorrow I should look into a bus pass. So, just to get out of the house and enjoy the weather I strolled Ara down to the park again. We had the whole place to ourselves which is really rare expecially with the schools around here on fall break. Don't the kids go outside anymore? I sound like such an old fart saying that lol. "Why, when I was your age young wipper snapper..." But seriously it was nice not to worry about the dog people, and the sports people, and the creepy guy people. My aim was to tire Ara out for nap time, I ended up only tiring myself! Still, it was fun and although it was no afro aerobics I did get in some excersize.

I still don't have an oven but I am still considering making a Batman cake for a co-worker of A's. The landlord said he would get us a working oven about 6 weeks ago and last week he mentioned he had been 'looking' for one on craigs list. Comforting. I plan to gently remind him again in a week. I would like to be able to bake something for Thanksgiving at least. The oven hasn't worked since we moved in May.

I am still excited about the cake, practice for my Dad's wedding! I even discovered tonight that You Tube has a bunch of 'how to' video's on cake decorating. Of course, what DOESN'T You Tube cover? Awesome.

I am going to bite the bullet tomorrow and call Bill (the flute fixer). My poor flute has been in terrible shape for waaaay too long. I am hoping it isn't going to cost a ton but I'm afriad it will be a complete overhaul situation. It will be lovely to have flutey in good working order again though! Oh how nice it will be. I may have a cheapy flute but it's mine and it has served me well! I borrowed a student's flute for the Stravinsky concert last Saturday and that was nerve wracking. Trying to feel comforatable on a different flute in a few hours.... Reminds me of my piccolo fiasco last year on the Finko Concerto. Everything was fine though and I am de-stressing as we speak.

Going to the park

Giant dead moth

Ara Playing at Church

Went with my Mom and Joey to church on Sunday, I have mixed feelings about it but Ara did enjoy their swing set!

Rehearsals TCO

It's been a tense and hectic week of rehearsals. The concert is tomorrow and really hope that there will be an audience full of optimistic supporters. Losing our director/conductor so suddenly at the end of last season has put the orchestra in a difficult position. Luckily it has some dedicated members that are working to ensure it's survival. I really enjoy playing with this group. I thrive in a chamber music setting and I want to play, damn it. What? That was me being optimistically supportive!

My flute has crapped out on me, I can feel the thousand 'I told you so' coming from the thousand people who have told me I needed to have it fixed. It was still semi-playable until about.. last night. There is just simply no more mileage in my pads no matter how hard I mash down my fingers... and the foot joint has been broken into 2 pieces since last year. (gogo scotch tape) I know, I am so ghetto. I just hate to have to be without my flute for any length of time.. but it's time. This Stravinsky is difficult enough without having to compensate for leaks. I make life so much harder than it has to be sometimes!

I've got my eye on you!

Beads

Ara and I did some bead work today. She likes to pick out the beads and then I usually string them although she is getting pretty good at it! We made this bracelet and a book mark (which I was really excited about).

We also played a board game today. My sister gave it to Ara for her birthday and I put it up in the closet. I thought she wasn't ready for such an advanced game. She noticed it today up on the top shelf! I didn't see any harm in giving it a try and although we didn't 'exactly' follow the game we did have a lot of fun. It was so cute, I would say, "Ara it's your turn to pick a card" and she would carefully pick up one ladybug card. We would read the number on the card. If it said something like, "move ahead 3 spaces" she would move 3 spaces.. and then 4, and 5, and 6... all the way to 14! She is enthusiastic if nothing else.

WoW treadmill race

I thought this was an interesting little experiment. Wouldn't it be a perfect world if we LIKED doing things like running on a treadmill to power a game character! When I used to play FFXI I tried using an exercise ball as a chair. Not quite in the same league as these guys but, hey I tried right?

Speaking of, I haven't been to the YMCA this week.. and I feel it. I am missing the freedom that having a working car gives you. Not that it's life or death but it's so much more of a hassle! I missed flute club rehearsal tonight because I couldn't get there. I would have had to leave early to get to the TCO rehearsal but still it would have been good to go since I think it's the last chamber rehearsal before a couple gigs. I don't know.. I am terrible with remembering dates. I ended up practicing the Stravinsky which I REALLY needed to do anyway. I am frustrated that it is taking me so long to understand this piece. I feel like I am cramming and my brain isn't processing the information! The last two nights I have gotten less than 4 hours of sleep, so tired. Sleep. Soon. I hope.

Blurry but cute

Areon Flutes

Areon Flutes, I am so excited about this group! They won bronze at Fischoff and are really paving a path for professional flute ensembles. Check them out!

TCO Concert this Saturday

Ara needs wings

So we are in the car late afternoon and driving west facing a setting sun.

Ara says, "the sun is over there, mama you want to drive past it?"

I say, "it does look close but the sun is actually very high up in the sky"

Ara says, "but the birds could reach it!"

I smile at my brilliant girl and say, "that's good thinking, they might be able to fly so high"

I know thats a fib, but I don't want to shoot down her ideas all the time.

Ara says (more to herself than to me), "I need wings"

Five Friends "vote while you poop"

"You can literally register to vote while you poop, if you have a laptop"


I'll admit it, I registered today. Go ahead and judge I deserve it!

Ara

Just so pretty

Red dress

Purple Car Oh Purple Car

The purple car is sad...


...the transmission is dead now and it's worth more than the car so that is that.

Time for something new(er).

I have always had hand-me-down cars (I'm not complaining) but this is totally new territory to me to be looking at cars. I have a choice? Well, not really but in this situation I have more choices than I have ever had in the past.

So I have seriously weighed my options, and I've decided I would like a sparkly kinda silvery blue color! Hahahaha....haha...hah....ah.

To DO...

I am having one of those days where I am constantly remembering things I need to do.. a mental to do list. The problem is that I have the short term memory of a.. stuffed animal? I want to organize the bookshelves, find someone to watch Ara during rehearsals next week, wedding on Sat. (probably going to need a ride and ara at the ceremony?), preparations for car dying and being stranded, practice, call Bill to have my flute fixed (the tape holding the solder on the foot joint is starting to feel ghetto). Is that how 'solder' is spelled? It doesn't look right but spell check let me slide.. Look at the dinner menu this week and figure out how to make the things I planned (haha)
What is it about recipes anyway.. they always assume I have some idea of what I am doing! I want to make stuffed bell peppers tomorrow night and the recipe says to mix all the ingredients together and stuff them in the peppers but I keep wondering if I am supposed to cook the meat first? And what about the rice? It seems weird to stuff things with raw meat and rice.. I have no idea, it doesn't say to cook it first so I guess I shouldn't?

The car is dying again. Well it has always been dying but it has some new symptoms lately. The transmission is broken now or something because the car slips out of gear on turns and stops now (automatic). Also one of the tires is low. So I need to put air in the tire and decide what to do with the damn car. I hate things that break.

I have aerobics tomorrow and I've already gotten a good head start on the house so now it's time to relax a little before bed. I promised myself no physics game..

What I do instead of sleeping...

This Contraption took me waaaay too long to tweak but it was fun!

Swept Away!

Fantastic Contraption: A fun online physics puzzle game

My ingenious contraption (by that I mean a random design that somehow worked)

It's a fun game but I'm stuck on a level with steps that is making me crazy!