Deep Thoughts, Food

Mondays are my favorite: have I said that before?

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It was a busy but good weekend.

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Mozart Requiem!

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Pizza, beer, and pie at PW Pizza.

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My least favorite part of driving to Illinois…just like in Cleveland for “Dead Man’s Curve”, the idea of having part of an Interstate take a right turn is always a bad idea. BUT YOU CAN SEE THE ARCH AND THAT’S WHAT MATTERS.

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Always lots of time for kitty!

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I love her paws.

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We went to dinner at The Block Restaurant in Webster Groves. I’d been wanting to check it out for awhile, so I’m glad we finally had a chance to eat there. The lighting was dark so my food pictures aren’t worth sharing, but Chris had the ribeye special, I had the pork chop, my friend Vanessa had the pork and dumplings (AMAZING!), we split some “flash fried brussels sprouts” for the appetizer, and it was all really good. I also tried the chopped salad, and for dessert we couldn’t resist tried some of their ice cream.

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Which flavor do you think I tried?

I highly recommend trying the Block if you haven’t—they also have a restaurant in the Central West End (wasn’t open on Sunday) and we hope to check them out there. Delicious meal!

Why are Mondays my favorite? Because I get to relax until I teach at 3 pm. I could be doing stuff, but after working on the weekend I feel pretty guilt free about just sitting on the couch surfing the “webz” and generally doing very little. Some of you people get entire days off from work, so I hear, so I can’t feel too guilty!

I ran for 30 minutes straight yesterday. I went with Chris and I managed to keep going the entire time. It was life changing.

Random thoughts

Flashback Friday

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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?)

Cat, Random thoughts

My cat is stalking me and other random happenings in my life

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Lately the cat has taken to waiting for us at the top of the stairs.

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I HAD to stop and pet her for awhile. Then I tried to do that thing you can do to babies—you put your lips on their stomach and “buzz” and they laugh and laugh, and maybe pee themselves a little bit. Well, (and I already knew this) if you do this to a cat the cat just stares and you and then you realize that you mouth is full of cat hair. Oops.

And I knew that already, but I think the whole lips on belly thing must be instinctual and I was powerless to resist my own urges. I’ll probably be coughing up a hair ball tomorrow.

Other random thoughts and happening:

1. I was quite sad today because one of my students was observing one of the other teachers after his lesson. This is because my school is closing and I live farther from the school that they are willing to drive, and it was totally out in the open but I still felt sad. I will miss quite a few of my students. I still occasionally miss some of my students from Cleveland, and even from Charlotte, and wonder how they are doing. I’m terrible at keeping in touch for that sort of thing, and honestly I figure people have moved on and don’t owe me anything. But still. 

2. Yesterday another student’s dad asked if they could come every other week for twice as long because the student really loves lessons with me but he is worried driving so much each week would be difficult. I told him we could talk. (Ordinarily I require weekly lessons as too many bad habits can happen, but I make exceptions.) That made me feel really warm and fuzzy 🙂 I love hearing that kids enjoy their violin lessons, because if nothing else, I want violin and music to be a positive experience in their lives.

3. I got asked to play my first Wagner opera! It’s with Union Avenue Opera here in August, and it’s Die Walkure. I’m pretty pumped.

4. And, really fun news: Chris has been invited to play viola with the Colorado Music Festival this summer, and I will be spending a good bit of time with him in Boulder. We had a great time on vacation there last year so I am eager to go back. I might be able to substitute with the group as well (I was too late to apply for a position myself, but I suppose somebody has to stay home with the cat?)

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(from a hike last summer in Boulder.)

5. TV: We recently started watching “The Americans.” It’s really good! I love a good old-fashioned Russian spy drama and I love shows with strong female leads. I’m glad to see that it’s been renewed for a second season too. I recommend you watch!

Running

Two Things Toosday

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Chris came home from a concert the other night with this. And he doesn’t like bacon…so he said I could have it all.  Note to bacon lovers: marry someone who doesn’t care about bacon: MORE FOR YOU.

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Ran today, was 87 degrees for the high. A little hotter than I expected, but it was awesome. I had a great, challenging run, and I am super thrilled with the fact that I’ve been getting out there and running really consistently again.

That’s it for tonight. Quickie blog post. This goes with my trying to blog more consistently too 🙂

Tell me something you are getting back in the habit of doing!

Random thoughts

A Life Worth Dreaming About

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A Life Worth Dreaming AboutA 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

Running

CDM presents Mind and Body—a St Louis 5k and event

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CDM Mind and Body logo 

Here’s a great looking event that was brought to my attention recently! It is a 5k and more on May 25 (in St Louis.)cdm 

This is the second year of the event. They are calling this event as a “celebration of healthy accomplishments,” but it is also a call to St. Louisans to get healthy and fit. Mind and Body is a family friendly event and will include a 5K, fitness challenge, healthy living seminar and local vendors. The event is sponsored by Whole Foods, Qdoba and Bommarito. Fredbird and the St. Louis Rams Cheerleaders will appear, and there will be a $500 prize awarded to the first place finisher of the race.

Here’s a link to an article about the motivation for the event. From the article, “Fast forward to today: Since deciding to take control of her health, Pastor Ringo has dropped 35 lbs., going from a size 12/14 to a size 6 and gaining lean muscle. As a whole, the weight loss group has lost more than 600 lbs. They continue to meet bi-weekly and strive to incorporate new exercises such as spinning into their workout routines.”

Register for the 5K at www.cdmmindandbody.org. I hope to see some of you there! $500 prize for the winner! (though I’m sad because that’ll probably just be some guy…let’s bring it, women!)

Disclaimer: I was provided a free entry in return for blogging about this race, but nonetheless you know I love races and think that everybody should be inspired to live a healthy lifestyle!

thoughts about violin, teaching, running, life.