I love Fridays…today is a day off, so I’m just getting bunches of things done. Grocery shopping, Target, bank, painting toenails, housekeeping, etc. This weekend I have three parties to attend, some baking to do for the week (want to bring some Halloween treats for my school students), baking for two of the parties, two weddings, rehearsal, and some practicing. Huh. Suddenly I’m overwhelmed 😉
Tonight I am going to this:
One of my friends is going to be in the magazine, so a bunch of us are going to support her and have fun. I am excited to get all dressed up! It’ll be a fun girls night out 🙂
Another Thursday done…perhaps you are tired of hearing me talk about my busy Thursdays?
Today, as usual, my students ran the gamut from “didn’t practice at all…again” to “Wow, I can’t believe how well they are doing.” Some of them are just doing GREAT, and making me feel like I really know what I’m doing, others…well…we just do the best we can with what we have. I am annoyed by the non-practicing though…not practicing equals not trying. And I do try to educate the parents about it. Some times the parents are first in line for excuses. I get tired of excuses. Not to be negative, but if a child doesn’t have time to practice violin, then they aren’t getting much out of the lessons, and might as well not be taking…or need to prioritize which extracurriculars are most important. I find there is always time in the day for things that are most important, just not for everything.
But I will continue to teach each child the best I can, of course, because that is my job 🙂 I teach the child who shows up that day, wherever they are.
I had a great time at Tuesday night’s concert. It was a STL Symphony sponsored concert: “Symphony Tuesdays at Tower Grove Park”, part of the Community Partnership Program. The concert was free and was really well attended—the Piper Palm House was almost completely full! Chris (along with some other folks: Erin Schreiber, Asako Kuboki, and Bjorn Ranheim) played the Ravel String Quartet. Then Asako, Bjorn, and two other musicians played some Piazzolla and other tangos. Afterwards there was a small wine and cheese reception.
I didn’t get to take any pictures during the concert because firstly I didn’t want to distract the musicians, but also because I was WAY in the back as by the time I arrived that’s all that was left. So I made Chris pose as he was about to fold up his stand afterwards.
You can see why it’s called the Piper Palm House. Well, at least the “Palm” part of the house! I’ve played weddings there and attended a reception, but this was the first official concert I attended.
You can see the crowd of folks in line for wine and cheese. This is taken from the front of the stage—all those chairs were filled along with even more in the back half of the room. Chris and his group played very well 🙂
My new trainer (“Mike”) ran a funny race over the weekend called an “urbanathlon.” The race took place in Chicago and involved running and climbing over a variety of obstacles such as taxicabs and buses. He came in 61st out of approximately 6000 people! Which is awesome 🙂 A little better than my recent 5k results…but then again I am still new to the whole running thing. I don’t think I will ever be climbing obstacles. (Of course, one year ago I would have said I don’t think I will ever be running races.) I guess my point is to say he is pretty awesome!
I decided to get a new pair of running shoes. I didn’t really need them, but I found that the same model I wear came in another color, and I thought it would be nice to be able to rotate two pairs, and ultimately run the Phoenix Half with my new (pink) shoes. I wore them today for my workout and I do think my feet enjoyed the slight change.
New shoes!
Side by side with old shoes. The new ones look bigger, but are technically the same. They feel great so that is what matters 🙂
I have been doing a little bit of shopping recently. I’m still losing weight, so I rewarded myself by purchasing a few new workout clothes in addition to the new everyday clothes I needed for fall. I generally like to run inside on the treadmill at the gym, but now that the weather is more mild I can run outside more. I bought a “water belt” to help with the long runs (it’s hard to run a couple of miles without water, and I don’t like carrying things). I haven’t officially run in my belt but I have jogged around in the house.
The cat wanted to be part of the picture--made it better I think!
The pouch will be nice for keys and maybe my phone. I’m hoping to use it this Sunday if the weather holds.
Our friends had an Oktoberfest party. (The party I made the apple kuchen for.) Unfortunately the party was on a Sunday, and I was busy till evening and also had to get up early the next day to teach, so we only got to stop by for a bit. The invitation had said to wear your best lederhosen. Well, unfortunately neither of us had lederhosen, so we decided to order fancy hats off the internet instead! Never underestimate the power of an awesome themed hat.
Very festive!!
The chicken hat doesn't look as good on me, but this is a better view of the hat. (I was doing the "zoolander" pose.)
Doesn't Chris look dapper?
We have several more parties next weekend. I love bringing food to these gatherings, so I have been doing quite of bit of brainstorming/research for ideas of new things to make. Next on the docket: something pumpkin based ;).
