My new trainer (“Mike”) ran a funny race over the weekend called an “urbanathlon.” The race took place in Chicago and involved running and climbing over a variety of obstacles such as taxicabs and buses. He came in 61st out of approximately 6000 people! Which is awesome 🙂 A little better than my recent 5k results…but then again I am still new to the whole running thing. I don’t think I will ever be climbing obstacles. (Of course, one year ago I would have said I don’t think I will ever be running races.) I guess my point is to say he is pretty awesome!
I decided to get a new pair of running shoes. I didn’t really need them, but I found that the same model I wear came in another color, and I thought it would be nice to be able to rotate two pairs, and ultimately run the Phoenix Half with my new (pink) shoes. I wore them today for my workout and I do think my feet enjoyed the slight change.
New shoes!
Side by side with old shoes. The new ones look bigger, but are technically the same. They feel great so that is what matters 🙂
I have been doing a little bit of shopping recently. I’m still losing weight, so I rewarded myself by purchasing a few new workout clothes in addition to the new everyday clothes I needed for fall. I generally like to run inside on the treadmill at the gym, but now that the weather is more mild I can run outside more. I bought a “water belt” to help with the long runs (it’s hard to run a couple of miles without water, and I don’t like carrying things). I haven’t officially run in my belt but I have jogged around in the house.
The cat wanted to be part of the picture--made it better I think!
The pouch will be nice for keys and maybe my phone. I’m hoping to use it this Sunday if the weather holds.
Our friends had an Oktoberfest party. (The party I made the apple kuchen for.) Unfortunately the party was on a Sunday, and I was busy till evening and also had to get up early the next day to teach, so we only got to stop by for a bit. The invitation had said to wear your best lederhosen. Well, unfortunately neither of us had lederhosen, so we decided to order fancy hats off the internet instead! Never underestimate the power of an awesome themed hat.
Very festive!!
The chicken hat doesn't look as good on me, but this is a better view of the hat. (I was doing the "zoolander" pose.)
Doesn't Chris look dapper?
We have several more parties next weekend. I love bringing food to these gatherings, so I have been doing quite of bit of brainstorming/research for ideas of new things to make. Next on the docket: something pumpkin based ;).
October is flying by…my busy schedule certainly helps. Lots of teaching, workouts, and some lovely chamber music rehearsals (finally some real music!). No orchestra on the horizon…it’s weird how longs it’s been since I’ve played in orchestra. (It’s also amazing how much the people who actually get to play in orchestra around here complain about it, but that’s another story!) I “just” teach children now 🙂 Naturally many people assume that means I am not a performer…otherwise surely I would be doing that. But one of my good friends here said it best the other day…we do what we can to be as happy as possible. I’d rather be here with Chris than somewhere else, so I do what I can 😉
A few weeks ago someone said to me “oh, you wouldn’t know good playing, you just teach beginners!” (paraphrased, as some time has gone by…). It still bugs me that some people think those of us who teach beginners wouldn’t know good advanced playing, OR that we don’t know how to teach a beginner so that SOMEDAY that beginner could end up being a wonderful well-rounded musician (perhaps even a nice person, able to maintain relationships!). The thing is…I prefer teaching older kids/more advanced kids. I’m hoping in the near future that will be the case more often 🙂 But when I teach beginners, well, I sure make the most of it, because I know (not to sound totally cliched) that they are our future, and they should love violin/music because if NOTHING else, we need to pass on our love of classical music to the younger generations. So I try to remind myself of how important a teacher is, and try NOT to let the naysayers and negative Nellies (even the ones in my head!) bring me down. After all, none of us would be where we are today without good teachers in the past. What I do impacts many people every day.
I teach one day a week at the St. Louis Ballet School. (I teach violin, not ballet!). It’s a nice place to teach–the people are very friendly and welcoming. They are expanding soon and I’ll have a new room!
It usually takes me about 45 minutes to 1 hour to get there (in traffic) as it is in West County, out Highway 40. It only takes about 30 minutes to get home after rush hour.
The exit sign!
The school is located in a HUGE strip mall. Every store you can imagine is in this strip mall. Walmart, Target, Sam’s Club, Best Buy, OfficeMax, etc.
I have been teaching in the Artistic Director’s office for the past year or so. Starting in a week or two I’ll have a new room. Here is where I am right now:
I set up here, facing the student
Student stands in this area
Piano for me to accompany the students!
That’s my room now. I spend only a few hours each week there. I am excited to see how the new room compares–I think I might lose my piano, as the piano teacher will have a different room (though can probably borrow when I need to, as we teach on different days for now.) But I know there will be more windows, and it won’t double as an office, so that’s great. I’ll post again with pictures of the new room when I get there.
We were invited to an Oktoberfest Party on Sunday night. I wanted to bring something in the Oktoberfest spirit to eat, but couldn’t think of anything other than sauerkraut, sausage, or bratwurst. Naturally I turned to the “google” for help. I found a delicious looking “Apple Kuchen” recipe. Basically it’s a cake with apples on top, but was delicious (and very German)! The crust turned out a bit hard and stuck to the bottom, but I brought home an empty pan, which is always a good sign.
Not the prettiest dessert ever 🙂
Ingredients
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1/4 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup flaked coconut
4 large Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup sour cream
1 egg
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan. Peel, core, and cut each apple into 8 wedges. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the cake mix, coconut and margarine until crumbly. Pat mixture lightly into prepared pan, building up the edges slightly to form a crust. Arrange the apple wedges on top.
Mix together the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle over the apples and the cake mixture. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and sour cream. Drizzle over the top of the cake.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until the edges of the cake are golden and the apples are tender.
