Everybody’s been doing Throwback Thursday pictures where they post old pictures of themselves online. I figured I’d do the same but I’m calling it Flashback Friday because people usually use that to link to an old blog post.

I could scan some old pictures in but instead I’m going back to 2001 when I first got my Snapfish account. You’ll have to sit on your hands and wait for something older than that…though of course I was a toddler then…

This is me holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Now, children and young people, you need to know this is an impressive picture BECAUSE we did not know until it got developed if it turned out. Back in the summer of 2001, things weren’t like they are today. I went to Europe and brought three rolls of 24 exposure film. I ended up buying a few more, and then I had to wait awhile to develop them when I got home because I’d used up all my money in Europe. We had to WAIT to see our pictures.

Spring of ’02. Heifetz and Oistrakh (aka her royal fatness). They rarely cuddled, but I took them on a trip with me and they were upset so they sat close to each other glaring at me the whole time.

Okay, one more, this from 2006, at Christmas time. My sisters with me—Leslie, me, Carrie.

What I really don’t understand is why I had wavy hair. I don’t have wavy hair now. It makes no sense.  Though Carrie had the same hair, so it’s probably genetic. This was at my parents’ house in South Carolina, which my dad built. It is a geodesic dome and is really neat.

One more, something tropical! For my 30th birthday my sister, my friend Sarah and I took a cruise from LA to the Mexican Riviera. (Leslie is already planning something similar for my 40th, though we have some time yet…).  Here’s us enjoying a few drinks on the deck in the sun. 

Today it is cold and rainy, even though it’s May 2, so a tropical vacation sounds pretty good. I know it’ll be hot again here soon enough (like it was the other day…man we humans have short term memories, don’t we?)

A Life Worth Dreaming About by Nicholas Dettmann

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think all of us can look back on our lives and see, in retrospect, pivotal times, where our lives could have gone one way or the other…I just found myself relating to the main character more than perhaps I should have, in that I also grew up in a small town and couldn’t wait to leave–but I didn’t do so by alienating myself from everyone and being mean! I just left…

I liked how the author did a Christmas Carol style thing and made the main character look back on his life and see what he could have done differently and was able to change and become a better person. I didn’t like how all the main character’s colleagues bugged him about being single and should get married with kids. I don’t think that one needs a family to have a wonderful life, but I do think that everybody needs people and needs to treat people well.

A fun and easy read–will make you feel good about life.

(Blogging is hard work. You get a bunch of books to read and review, and you just FALL BEHIND because, darn it, life is hard, and plus I wasn’t getting paid for any of this beyond the free books. I read this one awhile ago and finally posted my review!)

View all my reviews

The past few years April and May are always my craziest months. This year I tried to pace myself and not go crazy. (That’s what February was for). Things are not so super busy this April, though I’ve still quite behind on…you know…everything.

For instance. I only took two pictures on my phone since my last blog post. WEIRD RIGHT?

Here they are!

I thought my hair looked extra wavy because of the rain yesterday. Yeah. Those are gray hairs GLISTENING IN THE LIGHT. And evidently I have no eyebrows? Strange times. Reminds me I need to dye my hair again—it’s betraying my age!

And this was from rehearsal today.  I met my friend Jennifer (I have numerous friends named Jennifer, this is the one who is the mother of my horse head student) for some Brahms rehearsal. We are playing a recital in the fall, most likely, and some other performances before then.

Always worth posting again. ALWAYS.

Unrelated: I have developed a true obsession with Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Taco. I had to go there for lunch today and had the best lunch EVER: a bean burrito and the cool ranch taco.  I understand that this may not be the healthiest lunch choice…but my goodness.  So delicious. I didn’t take a photo today but luckily I have some from the past…

After you eat one, your hands smell and taste like cool ranch doritos for HOURS. It’s wonderful. Or it’s gross and I should wash my hands better.

Last night was scary. I was teaching at the school, in Creve Couer, and the tornado sirens went off. My room doesn’t have any windows (and the school doesn’t have a basement) so we just kept going, but then the sirens went off again (I think), the lights were flickering, and the rain was awful sounding on the roof, so we all quit teaching and moved into a room more in the middle of the building. We didn’t really know what to do. It was me, two other teachers, our students and their moms. We waited about twenty minutes until the storm subsided. What a night!

It turned out that tornadoes did touch down in Hazelwood (near the airport in St Louis) and there were rumors in other areas, but I guess that was just strong winds? I don’t get scared too often, but I was scared then. I feel like the storms just keep getting worse, or maybe I’m just not from here enough…I dunno.

I’ll just say it was really nice to get home after work and be safe and sound in my home, with Chris and the fatness. Even though she’s judging me in this picture.

I was eating dinner while watching Psych. There was a scene in the episode where the string quartet playing at a wedding suddenly pulls out guns and shoots the “bad guys”. Note to readers: when I play for a wedding I am unarmed.

Speaking of, I’ve been booking a few more weddings lately. I do love playing for weddings—if you are in the area and need a group of strings or a violinist, don’t hesitate to contact me! I’m also accepting new violin students.

And tomorrow night is the Chamber Project St Louis concert! Ticket sales are going well—but there are still tickets available!

Wish me luck!

And yes, I will tell you about the race the other week soon. It’ll be phenomenal.

I was interviewed for an online magazine called Regale and I realized I forgot to tell you!

Screen grab of one of the pages—I cut off some of the bloggers who were interviewed in the interest of time—starts on page 42 here.

This morning Sarah Crowder (my wedding photographer, collaborator, and friend) stopped by with a surprise thank you gift for some things I’ve helped her with.  Metal pictures that are ready for the wall!

I’d been wanting that black and white one for awhile, and the other one is awesome too. Except my husband now has a full beard…this doesn’t do the pictures justice of course, but they are super shiny and wonderful!  Thanks Sarah!!

Seriously love this photo.

And that’s the other one. Sigh. Where did my arm muscles go?

Sorry, I got distracted by my wedding pictures. Where was I? Oh right, I was going to tell you guys about my car.

So yesterday on the way to the airport I thought I had a flat tire and so I pulled over—it was making a horrific noise that sounded like a flat (and since I had one in the fall, I knew what that sounded like!). Chris came and traded cars so I could get her to the airport (note to readers, he and I can never go on the Amazing Race as we do not deal with stressful situations in a TV-friendly way) and drove mine the shorter distance home. He said it was fine on the drive home, so I was totally confused. I mean, it had sounded horrible!

I knew I needed to get it checked out, so I took it into the shop today, dropped it off and went to the gym (today was upper body day—lots of shoulders and chest—totally bench-pressed the bar PLUS weight which made me feel super hard core). After the gym I expected to have news on what the damage was…I called them back and they said I must have run over a tree. As in, there had been about a 4 foot branch stuck in the undercarriage of my car which was causing all the problems. They pulled it all out, and BOOM it was fixed. I was so thrilled because I was anticipating a much larger problem.

I don’t actually recall driving over a huge branch, but maybe I did. Or maybe it was sabotage.

I guess it’s like they say in Titanic: “Women and machinery don’t mix.”