All posts by hannahviolin

I am a violinist. I also enjoy running, working out, reading, and hanging with my friends and cat.
Running

Turkey Day 5k Phoenix

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Thursday morning (yes, that’s Thanksgiving) Leslie and I ran the Lifetime Turkey Day 5k in Downtown Phoenix.(there was also a 10k option, which one of our friends ran.)

As regular readers know, this year has not been great for my running and general fitness. I’ve had a lot of personal issues, and I’ve gained weight and haven’t been running as much. That being said, over the past few weeks I’ve been pretty consistent at getting in about three runs (run/walks—not back to running all the time yet) per week, so I felt pretty good going into this race—one foot in front of the other and just keep moving.

(This was the BEST pre race photo we took. I kid you not.)IMG_8432

Except…and not to make excuses but this has to be said because it’s just so Hannah…I got to Phoenix on Sunday and Monday night Leslie and I decided to go to a Bodypump class at her gym. I’d figured that would give enough time to get sore and get over it by Thursday, but I was incorrect. Tuesday was bad, Wednesday I could barely move, and Thursday my hamstrings were still killing me. But I decided, whatever, sticking with my plan of 2:30 run/1:15 walk intervals and would just soldier through. And that I did, though I suspect my run intervals were slower than my walking intervals. Oh well. One can do almost anything for 5k, right, and besides, I didn’t regret doing the Bodypump class because it reminded me how much I used to love feeling strong and lifting heavy stuff. (And how much I didn’t really like Bodypump, but I digress.) I was active every single day of vacation, either the class, running, or walking, and I liked how I felt doing it.

Leslie, posing for the pre-race photo.

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The race: Race morning we all needed to get our packets (Leslie, me, and two of her friends), since for some unknown reason all the packet pick up locations were at least 30 minutes away…so we had to get up extra early to get the stuff the morning of. Packet pickup was being run by people who had trouble reading names in alphabetical order, so it was VERY slow. I hate to complain about volunteers, but I think the system was poor, and some of the lines were incredibly long and slow moving. We finally got our shirts and bibs, and headed back to the car to drop them off, but we all decided to just wear our shirts, since they were soft, it was a short race, and (most importantly) everybody else seemed to be doing it.

Also as you saw, they were bright yellow.Capture

Anyway. The race was good. I finished in a very slow 41:20 but I was happy about it.  I stayed with my intervals, and hadn’t run that far in quite some time, so I felt pretty great about it. I also hadn’t run that far with seriously sore hamstrings, so I felt even better about that! Basically I accomplished my goal of finishing a 5k race on Thanksgiving morning.

(Did you want more information about the race? I don’t have much else to say. Running is hard, but the more I do it the easier it gets.)

I included this picture to demonstrate proper running technique. Fists clenched and both feet on the ground.capture2

Leslie’s is a bit better—both her feet are in the air! She’s recovering from an elbow fracture from a fall a few weeks ago, so not falling was her goal, and she accomplished that! I’m jealous of her purple shoes…

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I met Leslie and our friend Aaron at the finish line, and we waited for our friend Chris who was doing the 10k. Post race food included rolls and bagels (my favorite), bananas, and a variety of SoyJoy bars (the one I tried was disgusting) and some other things too. After Chris finished we waited in a shorter line than packet pickup  to take this awesome picture with a turkey, which was a free download from the race organizers!

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Aaron, Leslie, the Turkey, me, and our friend Chris.  

We all headed to Leslie’s for celebratory mimosas. Her husband Peter had just put the turkey in the oven and the house smelled amazing.

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I think the bibs were cute. I’m a fan of turkeys. I would run this race another year if I were in Phoenix for Thanksgiving again.

Random thoughts, Thanksgiving

Food Coma

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It’s been a great week. Food, friends, family, cats, baking, and eating. I thought I’d pop in to wish you a Happy Black Friday and to ask if you are getting a really good deal on a television to please buy me one too!

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Turkey Trotting.

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The world’s largest bottle of wine.

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Part of the spread. It was delicious.IMG_8472

And hanging on the couch with Catalunya while my sister and brother-in-law are at rehearsal (they are musicians too.) Catalunya tried to bite me several times.

More to come but for now, I’m back to my relaxing!  Putting up a few pictures on my blog is HARD WORK.

Food, Thanksgiving

Vacation Time

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I have a whole week off from teaching!

My last two posts were pretty cat centric, so I thought I’d try to balance it out with a less cat post.  I’m finishing up all the stuff I need to do to go out of town (laundry, packing, calling my grandma to wish her a happy 88th birthday!) and I’m pretty excited about that.

The weekend was fun. Last night I went to a “pajama party” at my friend April’s house. I didn’t know that I was actually pretty good at the game of “flip cup” because I’d never played before. I was a natural at flipping my cup. I didn’t play too many rounds though, because I didn’t want to make the other folks feel bad. Also I got bored and really prefer to just chat with people.

(I should have taken pictures, but my pajama pants didn’t have a pocket for my phone.)

I did take some pictures of a couple sandwiches I ate over the weekend (which includes Friday.)

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I do love sandwiches. If pressed I’d say my favorite food is pizza, but sandwiches are definitely a close second.

I did play a wedding yesterday. The season has slowed down a bit, but I had one yesterday and two next weekend.

The Crystal Ballroom at the Crowne Plaza.

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I believe that’s my finger at the bottom. It’s possible I should consider trying to take better pictures.

We played for the ceremony and a bit of the cocktail hour (not the whole thing which always seems a little odd to me, but whatever.) People were dressed to the nines, as usual. I had fun looking at the hairdos and dresses!

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And I did some running. This was after a particularly cold run in the park on Friday evening. It was dark by the time I got back, which I wouldn’t do on my own but I went with a friend who had a big dog so I wasn’t worried. The dog enjoyed running but not so much running in a straight line and not inspecting various trees and things along the way. I’ll be okay for the Turkey Trot on Thursday but don’t count on seeing any PR’s or even respectable 5k times from this girl. But I’m back at it, and that’s what’s important.

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I’m back on the “take a lot of selfies” train too. I figure since it’s the Word of the Year there’s no shame. Plus my hair looks good in that picture and I like my black turtleneck. (Eyebrows are suspect but we can’t have everything now, can we?) Truth: my student was stuck in traffic so I had some time to kill. BOOM.

Traveling to a very different climate is always a challenge. I hate wearing a coat to the airport and then just carrying it around, so I’m going to try just wearing a hoodie instead…I’ll be warm enough for the brief time I have to be outside I hope, and then I will also be cozy on the plane. I have a couple books queued up on my Kindle AND I’m excited that we will no longer have to power down our electronics during takeoff and landing. Before there would be these awkward amounts of time where I’d have to sit and think or read the SkyMall magazine (or bring, *gasp* a regular book or magazine to fill the gap) but no longer!

Oh and to make you jealous, here’s our Thanksgiving menu:

Turkey, stuffing, gravy, carrot-ginger soup

Pies

Mac & Cheese, Brussels sprouts salad, pumpkin gooey butter cake

pumpkin orange cornbread, butternut squash pudding

Corn casserole, AmishCorn, Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Mashed potatoes, creamed leeks, cranberry

“legit” cajun red beans & rice, chocolate cake

The list is in order of what person is bringing what (names removed—we have an amazing email conversation happening)—I’m the one making Mac & Cheese, Brussels sprouts salad, and pumpkin gooey butter cake. I’m excited to do some cooking and relaxing this week. 

Random thoughts

Caturday

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Small complaint: as you recall (I presume you remember everything I write here on the blog) I recently got a new computer and Windows 8 is basically working out okay for me but I’m still having issues making the pictures move easily from my computer into Windows Live Writer. Before I used to be able simply copy/paste and now the best I can do is drag from the folder into this program while hoping I don’t accidentally click it so it opens into the darned Photos app. I’m a little frustrated, because um, I’m trying to work here. (This is my biggest complaint about Windows 8—it seems geared towards “play” rather than “work” and I have my iPhone for “play” already—I use my laptop for doing actual work on occasion, and don’t WANT an app for everything…but I digress…and yes, I’m using Classic Shell to make it seem like Windows 7 the best I can.)

(Unrelated picture that I found somewhere that made me laugh.)

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Now for the real fun:

Today I wanted to feature a reader submission. Margaret, who blogs at Balancing Meanderings sent a great collection of photos of her cat, Imogene. I hope you enjoy! (Captions also by Margaret 🙂 )

Imogene loves sitting in the sunshine 

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and by the heater (does it get any more blissed out than that?).

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She has a pretty serious cardboard fetish:

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more cardboard (1)

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She also likes watching TV – her favorites shows are usually dramedies (the below pics are watching Gilmore Girls and One Tree Hill).

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Thanks for your submission, Margaret! I especially love the picture by the heater. Remember dear readers, you can email me your pictures at any time for the chance for YOUR cat to become internet famous. Hannahviolin at gmail.com!

Cat, Deep Thoughts

Goals, Plans, and Cats Oh My!

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Many years ago, when I was freelancing in Cleveland, a small group of friends and I would get weekly lunches at a nearby sushi place and talk about all kinds of important stuff, as small groups of friends tend to do. (yes, Ginny, Sally, and Leslie, if you’re reading, I’m talking about you.) Ginny—I believe it was Ginny–once asked us what our five year plans were, and to be honest, I’m just not a five year plan kind of girl. I’m not really a plan kind of person: I try to do my best with what I have and figure it’ll all work out for the best in the long run. Whether it has or hasn’t is definitely questionable, but I just find it…pointless…to make specific plan when we all know that life will just throw stuff at you anyway. I’m not sure what the other girls’ five year plans were (I tend to focus on myself more than I should, and I just don’t remember) but perhaps they have achieved them and more!

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Sometimes I feel like  my career could have benefitted from more plans or goals. I’ve had various goals, and achieved some and failed miserably at others (I see a difference between goals and plans, maybe you do, maybe I’m silly, maybe it’s late and I’m rambling)…but long run I feel like I’m just pretty much doing what I was doing back in the days we were having those sushi lunches, and maybe I’ve been wrong all alone for not having specific plans. I don’t know. The older I get, the less I know.

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I think I’m doing what I do now BETTER than I did then, but I’m no closer to feeling like a success than I was, and in fact, might be a lot further away. I just don’t know.

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I may never be a success. Now, before you get all concerned, and make a comment telling me otherwise, hear me out. I think it’s time I admit I should just focus on what I do well. I was talking with a good friend recently about this. Frederick Sanger had his first Nobel Prize by the age of 40: what have we accomplished? More importantly, what do we HOPE to accomplish in the next five years? And I said well, ideally my cat will be an internet meme by then.IMG_8263

Yeah, that’s what I do well. I think back to a blog post where I asked you guys to let me know if you thought I posted too many cat pictures or not enough. (I searched for said post but couldn’t find it.) Results were mixed—VERY mixed. Some of you said, I like your blog except you post way too many cat pictures, and the rest of you said, I wish you would post a lot more cat pictures. So that was super helpful, in that I learned you can never please anyone. If you follow me on instagram (and you should, hannahviolin is my name there, surprisingly) you’ll see that at least half of my pictures are of my cat.

 

I’m not sure what that means exactly. I could use this space to write more about music and violin, and more funny teaching stories (and, oh, I have some good ones from today, especially one student who managed to get from “why do we read music on a five lined staff rather than some other possibly superior system” to “Vampires would be able to count the number of pieces of rice you dropped on the floor really quickly”).

(Sometimes they bring cool gifts too, like things to put on your music stand—yes, it is purple—to keep the feet from scratching the floor!)

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I suppose, my students generally seem to love me, and I think I am turning them into far better violinists than they would otherwise be, and I play a mean Pachelbel Canon AND Meditation so…I’m probably going to be just fine. Maybe I am a success, just not financially, and that’s okay. I didn’t go into this stuff to be rich, I did it because I love playing the violin. (Yes I do even though some days I forget that!)

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That is, if I get some sleep. And yes, I did get my car back this morning and then I barely drove it, so I’m not sure it is fixed but I will know in a few days, and I SURE HOPE SO.

Mini poll time: are you a more cat pictures or less cat pictures reader? Maybe my demographics have changed…though keep in mind, your answer will not affect the blog in any way, unless you all want more cat pictures, in which case BEWARE WHAT YOU WISH FOR.

Random thoughts

Good thing I teach from home

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Today has been frustrating.

Well, technically the last few weeks have been. A few weeks ago, my car was rattling like crazy, so I took it in to a nearby (read: able to walk home from) shop. Got some major stuff fixed up, and then…two days later my check engine light came on. Took it back a few days later, they fixed something else…two days later, check engine light on again.

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So yesterday I took it BACK in, and they had it all day. They called yesterday and said they were trying some things and would get back to me. I said, sure, but I really need it by noon (I was supposed to have a rehearsal). Well, this morning they were just finishing the diagnosis. So I’d already gotten up and showered with the idea that I’d get it and go to rehearsal…so I asked could they please have it done by the time I needed to start teaching. Well that time came and went and they were not quite done, which meant that I was going to have to wait until tomorrow.

(The good news is they are only charging me for parts for this current problem, since it’s been such a mess and seemingly their fault for perhaps repairing the last part wrong, or possibly breaking stuff while doing the original repairs. I’m very pleased with that aspect of the car saga.)

Then my first student showed up and had forgotten her violin. Which meant that I probably COULD have gotten my car in time for my second student. Sigh. Such is life, right? So I’m popping online to write a quick post about how stuff doesn’t always work out the way you planned. The good thing is that now I can also check “blogged” off my (short) list of accomplishments.

On the bright side: I have a great dinner planned. Salmon Frazer, kale, and something new: Trader Joe’s Harvest Grains Blend. And I did some good violin practice, washed all my dishes, and spent some quality time with the cat.

Never enough time though. Never enough.

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So it has been a pretty good day so far anyway. Honestly I barely need the car as I do primarily work from home, but I was bummed to have to cancel my quartet rehearsal…I could probably have planned this all differently, but you can’t plan everything! At least we already had an extra rehearsal scheduled and now it’s just a rehearsal 🙂

(this post needs a selfie, as that’s like, the word of the year or something)

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I’ve been debating getting a shorter haircut. I cleaned out the vacuum cleaner the other day (the roller part) and it was pretty ridiculous (edited to add: SO MUCH HAIR WRAPPED AROUND THE ROLLER). I’m not sure if shorter hair (chin? shoulders?) would actually help. Leslie got a cute haircut though and I’m a little jealous…we’ll see how I feel after next week.

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I got this anti-aging treatment to try from Influenster. I’m not getting any younger but I’d love to look like I am! Maybe I’ll let you know how it turns out. Maybe it’ll be obvious.