Random thoughts

Happy Birthday to my Dad!

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Happy Birthday, Dad!  Hope you have a fantastic day!  I always love your birthday because it means mine is just around the corner 😉  And be sure to check your email if you haven’t for an important message (gift).  Love you!

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By borrow I mean, of course, you know, for the wedding and all…

Part 2: Books and Goals

The burglary threw me for a loop on my reading goals (and all of my goals really, but I’ll get back to that in June, I think…), since two of April’s books were on my Kindle.  In any case, during that time I started a couple of other books, and then I was so stressed in May that I just decided to reread the Sookie Stackhouse series.  I also read Water for Elephants (yes, I didn’t read it until it came out in a version with a picture of Robert Pattinson on the cover.  Sue me.) which was fantastic!  I’m still working on the Sookie Stackhouse books, and after those I’m going to return to my more “serious” reading goals.

I haven’t been doing my goals and stuff.  The burglary put me in a very foul mood…really since the darned failure of a half-marathon that was the Go! race.  That was followed by a series of unfortunate events that I didn’t deal with that well and instead decided to fight with Chris a bunch.  Finally I feel that negativity is (mostly) behind me as now I am done with the stressful stuff and school is done.  Now it’s time to relax, plan the wedding, hang out with friends, and work out as much as humanly possible.

I ran into Joe (my old trainer) as I was leaving the grocery store today.  It was funny because I was carrying a bag and he teased me to show him what I had bought.  The funniest thing was, I was mostly embarrassed that I had purchased a bridal magazine.  Otherwise I simply had some lettuce, spinach, and salmon.  A bag of groceries any trainer would be proud of!  I felt kind of like a rock star after that…also since I had just run two miles on the treadmill in 18:30.  Even tried to widen my stride a bit.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to a relaxing Memorial Day Weekend.   Relaxing:  that’s been my life theme the past week.  So glad it’s summer!!

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Random thoughts

Three Things Thursday

1.  My car was fine from the storm.  Evidently the Piper Palm House and the Green house behind it was not 🙁   Those were some scary storms yesterday and I’m glad that it seems the biggest issue was hail damage.

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2.  Today feels like Friday.  I think it’s because I didn’t teach in the morning and then I had my workout with Mike.  Usually that’s what I do on Friday.  Thursday is the new Friday.

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(It’s not actually, because tomorrow I also have teaching.  But still.  Feels like it.)

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3.  I wanted to share this fantastic video with my blog readers.  I shared it already on my facebook page.  It’s one of the greatest musical experiences I had all week.

Legend of Zelda melody for a cappella voices and violin

That’s it for now, dear readers!  I must teach violin at this time.

(and I’m wearing leggings today as pants.)

Hope, Running, Weather

Tornadoes

Today we are under another tornado watch.  These storms are just ridiculous.  I don’t know if it’s global warming, or simply the Midwest being a crazy place to live, but the past few months have been just awful.  First it was the New Year’s Eve tornado in Sunset Hills, then the Good Friday tornadoes, the tornadoes in Alabama, then the destruction of Joplin, Missouri.  And there are more today. 

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Here’s an article on what you can do for the people of Joplin.

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You can text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief.  Or you can go directly to the website here.  If you can afford to donate and haven’t, please do.  I see lots of folks on facebook who say they are praying and that sort of thing.  Give money.  Or go volunteer, if you have the skills.  Do something tangible.  Don’t just update your facebook status.

Here’s an article summarizing the awfulness.

Okay, back to me 😉

I need to go to the Ballet School this afternoon for teaching.  I plan to leave early to get there (hopefully) before the storm hits.  It’s been a great day so far.  This morning we met with a possible officiant for our wedding (we are looking at one other person) and the meeting was really enjoyable.  After that I ran in the park.  I have made Wednesdays my official speed day so today I alternated sprinting with walking until I made it all the way around the park.  It was a very impromptu workout but I think, very effective (at least, I was sweating all over, hyperventilating, and felt somewhat nauseous.  If that’s not a good workout, I don’t know what is.) 

Tonight I look forward to relaxing at home and perhaps catching up on a couple of television programs (the Borgias and maybe the Office.)  Long term I am looking forward to my sister Leslie coming to visit at the end of August, and hopefully my other sister Carrie as well!!

Edited to add:

So I should have called ahead before heading to the ballet school, but I didn’t fathom they would close…right when I got off the exit.  So then it was a race back home whilst the sirens were going off.  Lots of worry and fingernail biting ensued, but I made it home without incident or death.  Then I holed up inside watching the weather, and heard some CRAZY hail outside.

I haven’t gone outside to inspect my car yet…my friend Jen says hers has some hail damage, and I’m just avoiding it.  From across the street it looks ok…

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These are what we found in the immediate vicinity.  Nothing like this photo I stole from Jen:

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from www.stltoday.com

Weddings

Files restored

I think I’ve finally got most of my itunes music back on my computer.  I had been using an online backup (dell datasafe online, since I had a dell before), and since getting my new computer a few weeks ago, I was having a ton of issues getting my backed up files restored.  I finally realized it just wasn’t going to work to do them all at once, and I needed to break them up into smaller parts, and voila! gradually I am restoring my music, my pictures, and all of the other important things I need.  I’m sure my itunes library will be a mess of duplicates though, since it seems every piece is listed two or three different ways. I guess that will be my next computer project.  I don’t even have a full size ipod!

That reminds me, a lot of times at wedding venues, they tell you, oh, you can even just plug in your ipod and play your music!  That makes me giggle.  I’m sure people would really enjoy listening to episodes of Car Talk and This American Life, Brahms Violin Concerto by a variety of artists, or perhaps a variety of violin orchestral excerpts, while trying to dance or talk with their friends.

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This is a picture from inside the Jewel Box in Forest Park.  I have played two weddings there this month, and I have at least 4 more lined up for the summer.  I think it would be a great idea to simply be the resident musicians for the Jewel Box, and perhaps move in downstairs.  That would save on gas.

Random thoughts

Bridesmaids

I saw Bridesmaids last night, SO funny!  Some of the parts were over the top, and I did actually become sick to my stomach during that one scene (I won’t spoil it for you, but even though I am often gross myself, and tend to discuss poop more often than not…I still could barely handle it.  Super gross.)  Super funny though.  And I loved Jon Hamm’s character.

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Other than that, fantastic weekend.  Friday night I already mentioned, Saturday was a student recital, wedding, and a relaxing night in watching Harry Potter movies on ABC Family and doing tons of wedding brainstorming.  Sunday I worked out with TWO guys, Chris and my friend Jon 😉 One of these days I should be able to plan my own workout, but not yet.  Not yet.

After that was some errands and cleaning, baking cake batter blondies again for my students, Dressel’s for dinner and the movie.  Good times!

Today is my last day of in school classes.  After that, it’s only after school teaching, and summer (and open schedules) ahead of me for a couple of months.  I’m feeling good!

thoughts about violin, teaching, running, life.