It looks like my dad’s cross country bike trip starts today!

He’ll be here in a few weeks I guess.  Rumor is he is planning to attend CPSTL‘s September 8 concert (and you should too!). 

Because yes, I learned he is leaving on his bike trip today from twitter.  Not from some other way that other people in other families might do it?

I am glad my father is on twitter.  I feel like this way we will really learn to communicate.  My dad is not a big talker and is not much on the phone.  We’ve spent countless hours in the car together (particularly when I was doing college auditions) and hours would go by without any talking at all, except "do you need to use the bathroom" or "are you hungry".  But, now he has a twitter, PLUS Leslie said that he TEXTED her the other day. 

I can’t be the only woman whose boyfriend (well, fiancé, but that always feels strange—should I skip to husband since some of Chris’s friends simply refer to me as his wife?) is more likely to have an actual conversation via text than in person?  I recall Chris first told me he loved me on AOL Instant Messager.  That set the tone for our relationship.  I’m surprised he proposed in person rather than via text or perhaps facebook chat (Chris doesn’t use twitter yet.)

(Wait, how did those pictures get in there?  Leslie, suiting up for a 10-mile run over Christmas break.  Leslie, finished with her first half-marathon.  And…wearing the same top and jacket?)

Not that I am much better talking about my emotions.  Now, I LOVE to talk.  I can talk for hours.  My favorite thing to do is talk with my friends (and I work really hard to listen too, I swear!) But, in my family, we don’t talk about feelings.  Actions speak louder than words.  For instance, my dad is the sort of dad that, if your car broke down in Kentucky on your way to school, when he found out, would turn around and drive through the night to get you and take you to school (this wasn’t me, but my sister Leslie).  I’d rather that sort of dad any day.  Much more helpful to know that if you needed something, your dad would drop everything and go get it.  Maybe that’s why I don’t have children yet…I’m too selfish to imagine that sort of devotion.  I worry it wouldn’t come naturally.

That being said, obviously I am pretty proud of what my dad is doing and I think it’s really cool.  He’s biking from where my parents live in South Carolina to here, and then to visit my sister in Arizona, and then (I think) to maybe LA, where he is going to hop on a train to go home.  I think—that was the last plan I heard a few weeks ago.  He’s got all these maps from other bikers of the best routes to take various places and where all the bike shops are along the way.  It’s been a pretty huge endeavor, just planning the trip. 

Anyway, I look forward to following his progress (and you can, on twitter!) and seeing how thin he looks when he makes it to St Louis (we’ll have to try to fatten him up a bit before he gets going again.)  Safe travels, Dad!

Boy I was cranky last night.  I felt sick for awhile more and finally bit the bullet and took something for it.  I don’t know why, for a headache or other pain I take ibuprofen in a second, but for stomach issues I always wait for it to go away on its own.  In any case, around midnight it finally passed…at which point I realized I had a sore throat.  Two of my good friends have been sick over the last week, so I’ve got a bad feeling about this.  I woke up and immediately popped a Sudafed PE.

Today is going to be fantastic though.  I’m taking the day off from working out (and running), and practicing the violin.  My shoulders, arms, wrists, and hands are all feeling the effects of ten hours of rehearsal over the weekend, and the rain today doesn’t help.  I have some students later in the day, but no big deal.  Maybe I’ll clean the house or get a pedicure.  (One of those sounds more appealing…)

I took some pictures over the weekend at various places, but most of them turned out fairly poorly.

Friday night was the grand opening at the Tavern of Fine Arts, where Chamber Project St Louis will be playing on September 10.  It was a fun night, though in retrospect we should have done something else, SINCE all my weekend rehearsals took place there too.

At least we look tan?

Though they look pretty tan too.

The chocolate cake was really good.  Adrianne was trying to do a crazy pose, but kept cracking up.  This is the best picture that I got.

The food was a buffet of all the menu options, but tiny portions.  Gazpacho, hummus, flatbreads, sandwiches, and then chocolate cake and a strawberry pound cake.  There were $4 wine specials also.

Saturday was spent in rehearsal for the upcoming CPSTL concert.  We rehearsed Britten in the morning and Prokofiev in the afternoon.  I hadn’t worked with a few of the musicians before and frankly it was a lot of fun.  The only issue was by the end of the day I was utterly exhausted (4 pm) and all I could manage to do the rest of the night was lie on the couch.  It was a shame because one of Chris’s groomsmen, Norbert, came through town and I wasn’t able to go out with them because I was old and tired.

Sunday we did it all again.  Britten and Prokofiev.  By the end of the day I felt as if I had been hit by a truck.  And I still had a run planned with Jen, who was getting back from a family visit.  Which leads us to last night’s sad and pathetic post.

I’m over it now.  At dinner Chris told me to stop being so dramatic, that every run didn’t have to be a good run.  I’d love for SOME runs to be good runs, because I feel like it’s been so long since I’ve had even a mildly good run, but I guess it really is the heat.  And I need to be more careful of my diet, both on the day of a run and the day before.  I can’t eat a bunch of crap and drink wine on Friday nights and then ask myself why Saturday’s run sucked.  Yet I am also unwilling to give up my social life for a run, because I need that interaction.  I’m going to think about this.

At dinner last night Chris HAD to try the Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale.  I asked him to pose in a self-righteous manner.  This is what he came up with.  Yes, this is the man I’m going to marry.

He thought it was good, but didn’t love it.

I had a conversation with a friend the other day about what sort of thing I might write about on my blog.  This particular friend, we’ll call them Pat to preserve anonymity, had recently opened up to me about an incredibly embarrassing thing that had happened to them, and afterwards, I joked that I would be writing about it on my blog.  Pat looked at me in HORROR and I said, OF COURSE I am kidding.  The next time I saw Pat I had to laugh at them again, and Pat asked if I had blogged about it (step one, friends, read my blog, you’ll know if I say anything about you!) and I said, OF COURSE not, what sort of person do you think I am?

Well, evidently Pat thought I was the sort of person who might blog about their most embarrassing moment.  That was a sobering moment in our relationship.  When I realized that Pat thinks I’m a terrible friend.

I reassured Pat that I would absolutely never do that.  I am NOT that sort of person. (Or, I try not to be…) 

• My friends don’t need my help in embarrassing them, they can all do that perfectly well by themselves.
• My blog is primarily about me. 
• If I say I’m not going to blog about something, I won’t. 
• I don’t even blog about MY most embarrassing moments. 
• The story had nothing to do with my cat or my wedding.
• Also, the story was HARDLY PG rated, and thus inappropriate for my blog.

Here’s the lesson, friends:  please don’t NOT tell me things because you are afraid I’ll blog about them.  I have some common sense, and if in doubt, ask me not to.  I also try not to put up bad pictures of you all—I only put up bad pictures of myself.  So don’t be shy, and don’t be afraid of telling me your deepest, darkest secrets, because they will go in the vault.  Well, no.  I don’t have a vault, but they won’t go on the blog.

I saw this link on twitter this morning and I have been laughing hysterically.  I recommend you check it out if you want a good laugh.  (It is not PG rated though, I recommend only adults click this link.)

World’s Most Absurd Warning Signs and Disclaimers

Did I mention we booked our honeymoon?  Am I supposed to share these things?  Don’t worry, you’re not getting to see the DRESS until after January 2.

Here’s what we’ve booked:

That’s right…surprise, surprise, it’s a cruise!  We booked a balcony in Aqua Class, which is a slightly fancier than usual class.  You only get one honeymoon, right?  And Chris managed to finagle a paid week off, so that’s even better.  I am excited!  I may wear my wedding dress the entire week.  (Is that wrong?)

When I tried this on, I asked the saleslady how many swans died to make that dress.  No, that’s not my wedding dress.

Wedding planning update (if you’re keeping track):

We just ordered our invitations!  They are going to the printer soon…I cannot WAIT to see them (squeals like a little girl obsessed with paper.)

Also can’t wait for the engagement photos…

And the honeymoon is (partially) booked!

The next few steps include FINALLY getting the bridesmaid dresses and starting to look at wedding bands.  We also need to do some things for our ceremony (there’s a questionnaire our officiant needs back that we have had for months but haven’t filled out…it has some questions about feelings and stuff that is not our strong suit so we’re avoiding it) and then order a few things from etsy I’ve bookmarked but just haven’t gotten to yet.  Can I mention how much I LOVE etsy.com?  So far we’ve gotten our invitations and my earrings there, but we’ve got a couple things planned on, plus maybe our bridesmaid or groomsmen gifts may come from there as well.  If you haven’t been, I highly recommend it (you WILL spend hours though.)

Doesn’t the word "those" look really funny?  I find the longer I stare at the word the more unlikely I am to be able to pronounce it or even recognize it as a word.  Blog is a funny word too.  Maybe it’s because both words start with two consonants?  At least blog is a word that was created from two other words (web log, if you didn’t know.)  What’s the excuse, those?

A friend was asking me a couple of questions yesterday about my blog.  It came up in our conversation that I had met people through my blog, and he couldn’t believe that.  (What, like-minded people coming together?  CRAZY!)  But six months ago I might have thought it was crazy too.  (I will never use the term blend.  I pinky swear.)

The thing is, being a blogger is a pretty unique/crazy thing.  I have definitely grown into my blog here, but I absolutely love it.  I want people to read it (oh, I do, I do!) and I think a fair amount of you do.  I want it to be humorous but insightful, like I am.  And I think it’s neat to meet new people through the blog or through social media (which I use primarily to promote myself, ergo, my blog.)  And, confession time, I’m totally jealous of all the bloggers headed to Healthy Living Summit this weekend.  I kind of want to go next year, and I kind of want my sister Leslie to start a blog and go with me.  Plus we need to meet Meghann…I already know her through twitter as she has TWICE responded to my tweets (maybe three times, I’ve lost count.)

The next question was how long do I spend on my blog each day?  Basically anywhere from 15 minutes to…several hours.  Usually closer to 15 to 30 minutes though.  Sometimes I can write something terrible in less though!  But it takes awhile to search the internet for a relevant Lolcat photo.  Or irrelevant.  Doesn’t matter.

What is the genre of my blog?  What would you say?  People always want to categorize blogs, and evidently you get more readers if you have a "theme."  There’s healthy living blogs, mommy blogs, runner blogs, food blogs, weight loss blogs, dating blogs…I recently had my blog listed at the healthy living blogs site because, while it is not only a blog about healthy living, it is definitely a blog about healthy living.  Or at least, neurotic living.  In fact, the less healthy I think I live, the more my readers compliment my balance!  (See, my trip to Chicago where I was freaking out over all the crap I ate.  Walking 300 miles over the weekend balanced that out.  And several people sent me facebook messages.  I guess my friends worry I am too hard on myself.)  But honestly, I eat tons of fruits/veggies/whole grains/fish and I work out six to eight hours a week, if that’s not healthy (or like I’ve already said, neurotic) I don’t know what is!  Keep in mind I’m currently on the couch in my pajamas so I do enjoy my downtime as well.

The issue at hand here, really, is that last night I started a book I shouldn’t have. Madness: A Bipolar Life by Marya Hornbacher.  My friend Emily recommended it (thanks Em!).  The problem is, whenever I read a book about bipolar I start to worry that I’m crazy as well (I shouldn’t use the word crazy, but just be assured I am using it for lack of a better word.)  I worry that my mind racing and my fast talking is actually me being manic rather than simply a little hyper or over enthusiastic.  So I kept waking up all night long worrying about it.  Also worrying about whatever else there was possible to worry about.

But obviously the author of the book has much more drastic mood swings than I do.  I never, for instance, break things or cut myself.  I am simply more likely to want to go out at night, or do things with friends rather than sit at home.  Or I’ll need to go for a run or go to the gym.  I think that’s all in the normal range. 

Note to any readers who use Google reader:  I made a mistake yesterday.  I’m working on creating a blog for Chamber Project St Louis and I was messing with Windows Live Writer and accidentally published something to this blog.  I immediately deleted it, but I know it showed up in Google reader.  Sorry to confuse you all (if I did.)  Yes, that’s me, the "blog expert" who failed in a variety of small ways.  That’s how I roll 😉