Category Archives: Biking

Dog swim and more

September 14, 2015 hannahviolin 2 Comments

Here we are again, on a Monday. I ran 8 miles this morning as part of my training for the Go Halloween Half Marathon and now I’m catching up on some things before I start teaching for the week…

The weekend went by quickly, as they are prone to do. At least I only had one work-related commitment so it wasn’t too crazy!

Friday night we went to a local Mexican restaurant, Lily’s, with some friends. I think Louie and I have developed a problem (it’s been years I’m sure) where we really will always pick a Mexican restaurant over anything else. It’s not JUST the margaritas, it’s also the tacos, and the beans, and the chips…I promise! We had a great time.

Saturday was the Maplewood Dog Swim. Mackenzie had had a rough day on Friday involving having to spend a good deal of time at the vet (no worries, everything seems to be under control) so it was nice for her to get to run around with other dogs and swim to her heart’s content. We were there about 1 1/2 hours, and by the end she was really dragging, but kept insisting she was still having fun.

She didn’t like to jump into the pool and instead always used the stairs or a shallow entrance. She was very smart though and also knew how to use the stairs to get out of the pool!

The pool was fun to watch for us too—there were dozens of dogs running around and frolicking and trying to fetch tennis balls. It was a real hoot!

Saturday night I had a performance with a pianist I hadn’t played with before. He is also a doctor, but is an excellent performer! We played two pieces together for a program at a local synagogue. Afterwards he and his wife and Louie and I went to Basso for a bite to eat. Louie and I had been there before but not for awhile. We each got a little pizza and shared some roasted cauliflower, and it was very tasty.

Sunday we went on a bike ride on Grant’s Trail. I like it, but I think Louie found it a little dull. We’ll have to get out to a more scenic ride next time, probably along the river (and NOT the River Des Peres) would be better but we just weren’t sure how all the rain over the summer had affected those trails and didn’t want to have to turn back. Otherwise I spent Sunday cleaning and doing other stuff around the house and then had dinner with my friend Sarah. We are both violin teachers and spent a lot of time sharing stories and possibly making some plans for joint studio projects.

I saw this on the internet the other day and thought it was great. Maybe I need it printed out to show my students. A small percentage of them would find it most amusing and helpful, and the rest would probably just be baffled. LOTR is so a few years ago, isn’t it?

How’s your Monday going? What is your favorite Mexican restaurant?

Biking

Moonlight Ramble

August 10, 2014 hannahviolin 1 Comment

I have so much to tell you guys! If you are still reading…I know my posting has been sporadic, but life has just been absolutely crazy, and is finally (famous last words…) settling down a bit. This has been a ridiculous summer. I’ve been waiting since June for things to settle down and they just haven’t. Part of that is me saying yes to possibly too many things, but honestly, it’s been a fun time, and I’ve worked a bunch and done so many interesting projects! In between all of that, I moved…again…which meant packing and packing, actually moving, and now unpacking and working on some house projects. It’s been a really fun summer, but I’m exhausted and looking forward to the next few weeks: just a bit of teaching, a week of vacation, and then back to regular teaching schedule WHICH after the weeks I’ve had will be a relief.

Note to everybody: moving is harder than it seems. Try to avoid scheduling as many things as possible during the time leading up to, during, and immediately thereafter a move. Unless those are awesome things like quartet concerts, recording sessions, opera, family visiting, etc, and then you just have to do it, and hopefully come out stronger on the other end. I learned that I can do it all, but that I can’t do it all as well as I’d like.

I can’t possibly fill you in on everything I’ve been up to since I last visited this space, so I’m just going to dive right in.

Last night my boyfriend Louie (yes, I have a boyfriend now, that I’m mentioning on this here blog, which is possibly big news for you all, and possibly you’d already picked up on that…) and I rode our bikes in the Moonlight Ramble. The Moonlight Ramble is a ride, not a race, so there’s no timing. It is evidently the oldest nighttime bike ride and this was the 51st time it was held. The ride started at midnight, with two options, a short (9 miles) and long (19 miles) course. We definitely wanted to do the long course, even though I was pretty nervous as that was longer than I’d ever biked before! An additional challenge for me was that the ride was right after my last performance with Union Avenue Opera (in the pit, of course!) playing “A Streetcar Named Desire” so I had to go directly from a three hour opera to a two hour bike ride. The advantage was that I didn’t have to wait up for the ride since I was working!

There we are getting ready to go. We ran into our friend Matthias as we were figuring out where to go (tried to post a picture with him but it was upside down and I can’t fix that for whatever reason) and then ended up waiting until around 12:30 to finally get going on the ride. It was a tough ride (for me at least!) with lots of rolling hills, but the weather was amazing—cool and clear—and the ride was well marked, busy enough throughout, and so much fun! I finished and felt really accomplished and proud of myself.

I miss blogging regularly, and I hope to be back to it. I feel like if I stop writing now, I’ll have more to say soon! That is, I have so much to say, and so much that I’ve been doing and plan to do, that it’s hard to sit down and write about it. But I love having this little space of me on the internet and I love sharing my life (to an extent) with you all, and I love keeping a journal, so here’s hoping I’m back to it!

Oh and:

Biking, Weather, Weddings

If I title this post using the phrase Breaking Bad does that mean I’ll get more traffic?

September 30, 2013 hannahviolin 1 Comment

No, I haven’t finished watching the final season yet. I will tomorrow. (Probably). But I’ve read all the Game of Thrones books so I know what happens after that. Also I watched the movie Prisoners and figured out what was going on about halfway through so I definitely feel good about my chances here.

The weekend flew by. Saturday was full of work.

Wedding ceremony at Our Lady of the Pillar

Cocktail Hour at the Artist’s Guild. This was not our setup, obviously—this was for the band who would be playing after us. I bet they were more fun, though we played opera arrangements for 90 minutes, and the Carmen arrangements made me want to brush up on my Carmen Fantasy. And then thinking about Carmen Fantasy made me want to really buckle down and compose my dream piece: Fantasy on Themes from the Sound of Music. I wonder if I have the skills for that?

Sunday was full of entertainment, including a bike ride on the Riverfront Trail. Action shots–

It looks like the seat could probably be higher.

It is worth noting that I wanted to get a cool purple-ish helmet at Target but my head is too large for ladies’ helmets.

Biking is so much funner than running. Why did I just learn this recently?

Monday was different because instead of my full day of teaching I did some canceling/rescheduling in order to play at a fundraising event. The cool part was that the Mayor was there and also the Attorney General of the State of Missouri. I didn’t take any pictures because I was on good behavior and that can seem creepy, but it was enjoyable and we got to hear some speeches (totally made me feel like I was on the West Wing for awhile there.) We also got to play an arrangement of one of my favorite songs—”The Luckiest” by Ben Folds. It always makes me a little teary.

Saw this on a blog I read recently. It’s from the 30 Happiest Facts of All Time.

Speaking of running—I figured I’d sign up for a 5k after Thanksgiving (this is in addition to telling Leslie to find a Thanksgiving 5k in Phoenix, where I’ll be spending my Thanksgiving vacation. Yes, why don’t I say Thanksgiving again.).