Just to be different.
I’m writing this from the airport. I think the airport is the place to be today! Everything is open but not too busy.
I’m headed to my hometown in South Carolina by way of Chicago where l will hopefully be meeting up with my sister Leslie for our final leg.
I hope you are having a good day! Thanks for reading my blog and sticking with me.
One of my favorite parts of teaching is getting gifts (and most notably, handwritten cards) from students on holidays and other special occasions. Some teachers complain that students give them too many cookies and candy, or silly useless gifts, or whatever, but I love getting gifts! It makes me feel important and special to my students (who are important and special to me!)
The winning gift this year (no offense to the rest of you, rest assured I appreciated all the gifts even though many baked goods went directly into the freezer as I try to portion those out!) was a Pez dispenser collection from the Hobbit. I have a Lord of the Rings Pez collection and this student must have noticed and decided to give me a matching set. (It came with an adorable handwritten card—I love little kid handwriting…)
(No, I can’t take a picture on the floor without my foot, why do you ask?)
Another great (and toe included) gift was this excellent “fail” button. I can see it being used for many occasions in the future.
This is my version of grumpy cat.
One of my neighbors gave me a plate of cookies and these two cupcakes topped with macarons! How beautiful are those?! I was so touched (and of course felt guilty as I didn’t make or get anything for THEM—is this a normal thing? Am I a bad neighbor?) and delighted.
I’ve been seeing a lot of folks on Facebook talking about being done with Christmas gigs. I guess they don’t play Christmas Eve services! I’ll be done soon, and then I’ll have a little time off for visiting family and relaxing. Today and tomorrow friends, and then I have some breathing time.
Last night I went to the Veiled Prophet Ball with my friend April. Her boyfriend Joe had to work at the ball and she had an extra ticket for a guest (not for dinner after, but just for the ball and festivities until dinner.)
I knew a few things going into the ball: I needed to wear a long gown, and I needed to wear long white gloves. And that there would be rich people doing those weird crazy things rich people do, like having balls at all, presenting their daughters into society in that weird debutante way (and of course, the organization has a history of racism and obviously classism, and sexism…), but that it would be a fun night with my friend April.
Posing in front of the ironing board is always a good place!
No, the axe didn’t belong to Gimli. But it might have.
My friend Sarah did my hair. Before and after—it held up pretty well!
The lighting was terrible in this location.
It is always important to wear white gloves when yielding an axe. Easier to wash the blood stains out after the carnage, am I right?
What did we do other than take pictures? Well, we sat and watched the grand spectacle of the ball. The girls were paraded out accompanied by live music (I recognized several friends in the orchestra though didn’t get a chance to say hell0…maybe another year I’ll be asked to play!) and the members of the secret society did all kinds of weird things, dressed in costumes, covered by veils, and all that good stuff that accompanies being a member of a secret society. I didn’t even know what was going on most of the time, and just enjoyed the show as a fashion show—so many gorgeous dresses, hair, and jewelry! The lights were terrible for taking pictures from my seat so I didn’t get any good ones.
After the ball there was champagne and a receiving line for the girls (women?) who were presented. There was a dinner later, but I didn’t want to buy a ticket for it (hundreds of dollars—I think it was a little out of my budget, ha!) so I left…exhausted, hungry, and covered in eyeliner! It was a fun night.
Running is hard, you know? But when it’s over 60 degrees in December you have to go outside. Today I did intervals of run 3 minutes/walk 1 minute, and I am beat. I feel very accomplished and whatnot though.
This week is flying by. It’s that whole: hey, I’m just back from vacation AND it’s almost vacation again, that the whole “work” thing just seems really easy. I suppose January and February will be long…one day at a time though!
Since I got back I’ve played a few weddings. And yes, people get married in November too. Not everybody has to get married in April or October!
This was at Westwood Country Club. My car never feels quite fancy enough to be at a country club.
This was a tent set up on a private residence. I loved the plastic chairs and the flowers.
And then I had a rehearsal in the Cathedral Basilica for this weekend’s concert. I find the history of the Basilica fascinating. For instance, they started the mosaics in 1912 and finished in 1988, and the mosaics cover 83,000 feet and contain 41.5 million pieces of glass. It’s absolutely breathtaking.
I’m also prepping for this year’s cookie exchange party. I’m doing it on a smaller scale than in the past, but I’m really looking forward to it. I think I’ve figured out what I’m making for it! I’ll tell you after the fact so as to allow for mistakes/mind changing (who, me?) AND as to not give anything away to any guests who might be reading. Suffice it to say the cookies will contain BUTTER.
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!
Turkey Trotting.
The world’s largest bottle of wine.
Part of the spread. It was delicious.
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.
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.)
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
and by the heater (does it get any more blissed out than that?).
She has a pretty serious cardboard fetish:
She also likes watching TV – her favorites shows are usually dramedies (the below pics are watching Gilmore Girls and One Tree Hill).
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!