Friday, April 27, 2007
Monday, April 09, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Sunday promised hope for the future of this semester. Yesterday was a good day. Today was even better.
Naoko's hand is doing better and with more rest she will hopefully be fine. I was able to get my recital hearing changed to April 30 - no problem. Woo-hoo. I've had two great rehearsals for concerto and honors competition and a great coaching on the Bartok in my lesson today as well as another great coaching on one of the Handel pieces with flute obligato. I love my ensembles - and my teacher!
I also got my recital dress. It's soooo pretty. It's a full gown, Champagne-gold color with beading. The best part (besides it's being so pretty) is that it was majorly on sale - $37.00 which was marked down from $150!!! If you want to see it - well, you'll have to come to my recital!!! Seriously.
Naoko's hand is doing better and with more rest she will hopefully be fine. I was able to get my recital hearing changed to April 30 - no problem. Woo-hoo. I've had two great rehearsals for concerto and honors competition and a great coaching on the Bartok in my lesson today as well as another great coaching on one of the Handel pieces with flute obligato. I love my ensembles - and my teacher!
I also got my recital dress. It's soooo pretty. It's a full gown, Champagne-gold color with beading. The best part (besides it's being so pretty) is that it was majorly on sale - $37.00 which was marked down from $150!!! If you want to see it - well, you'll have to come to my recital!!! Seriously.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
We sang this in church on Sunday. For those of you familiar with the Episcopal Hymnal 1982 it's hymn 469. I love the tune - and I love, most especially, the words.
There's a wideness in God's mercy
like the wideness of the sea;
there's a kindness in his justice,
which is more than liberty.
There is welcome for the sinner,
and more graces for the good;
there is mercy with the Savior;
there is healing in his blood.
There is no place where earth's sorrows
are more felt than in heaven;
there is no place where earth's failings
have such kind judgment given.
There is plentiful redemption
in the blood that has been shed;
there is joy for all the members
in the sorrows of the Head.
For the love of God is broader
than the measure of man's mind;
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.
If our love were but more faithful,
we should take him at his word;
and our life would be thanksgiving
for the goodness of the Lord.
There's a wideness in God's mercy
like the wideness of the sea;
there's a kindness in his justice,
which is more than liberty.
There is welcome for the sinner,
and more graces for the good;
there is mercy with the Savior;
there is healing in his blood.
There is no place where earth's sorrows
are more felt than in heaven;
there is no place where earth's failings
have such kind judgment given.
There is plentiful redemption
in the blood that has been shed;
there is joy for all the members
in the sorrows of the Head.
For the love of God is broader
than the measure of man's mind;
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.
If our love were but more faithful,
we should take him at his word;
and our life would be thanksgiving
for the goodness of the Lord.
SPRING BREAK!!!
Spring break for Longy and company started out with a Nor'easter that brought 6-7 inches of snow in the Boston area and a foot north of us. My mom says, "Well, you wanted to have snow for winter!", to which I replied, "BUT IT'S NOT WINTER! IT'S THE MIDDLE OF MARCH!!!!" I suppose I forget where I live sometimes.
Life has been interesting. A bit stressful actually. Organizing this recital has turned out to be really high maintenence. I was really excited about it for a long time. Recital's are always a lot of work - but the end result is always well worth the hard work that goes into it. Now, I'm just really stressed, and worried, wanting this all to be over with. Being prepared for the actual recital isn't going to be a problem (May 14), but being prepared for the pre-recital jury is a little sticky. My original date for my pre-recital had to be moved up by 9 days which resulted in two less lessons at my disposal as well as only having 3 lessons left until the *new* jury All of my piano accompanied pieces (my Mozart aria, Wolf set, and Juliana Hall set) are in good shape and memorized - woo-hoo! However, I have two sets that are collaborative sets - 1 set of three Handel German da capo arias for voice, harpsichord, continuo and obligato instrument (I've chosen violin for 2 of them, and flute for the other), and then a set of 4 Bartok pieces for 3 voices. The problem is that 2 of the Handel were coached last semester, 1 hasn't be coached at all, and NONE of the Bartok have been coached. I know, I know... this is my own fault for doing a recital so full of collaborating projects! But, I love working with ensembles - and sharing something like my recital with others can be a lot of fun. That's what collaborating with others should be about, right? So, the problem is fitting in those ensemble coachings in, in the next 3 weeks.
Then comes big blow to the recital #2. My accompanist, who've I've been collaborating with now for almost 3 years has an injured right hand! Poor Naoko - she woke up Sunday with pain in her wrist and couldn't open up her hand. A VERY bad thing to have happen to a pianist. She's not sure what is wrong with it but is going away for 3 days to play in a recital in S. Carolina, so can't get in to a doctor this week. She is going to rest it as much as she can - and depending on how bad it is she may (MAY) have to cancel everything for the rest of the semester. She said she will decide in the next two weeks. This means I either postpone the recital or get a new accompanist to learn all of my music in record time - in time for the recital hearing.
So, this is what is going on in the life of Rachael at the moment. If you haven't heard from me recently it's because I'm either never home or dealing with too much stress to want to talk to anyone. :-(
On a happier note - I'll add pics from our St. Patrick's day escapade Saturday night. The girls and I had a lot of fun - being our weird and goofy selves.
It is spring break and it's nice not to have classes or coachings this week.
On to tackle life...
Spring break for Longy and company started out with a Nor'easter that brought 6-7 inches of snow in the Boston area and a foot north of us. My mom says, "Well, you wanted to have snow for winter!", to which I replied, "BUT IT'S NOT WINTER! IT'S THE MIDDLE OF MARCH!!!!" I suppose I forget where I live sometimes.
Life has been interesting. A bit stressful actually. Organizing this recital has turned out to be really high maintenence. I was really excited about it for a long time. Recital's are always a lot of work - but the end result is always well worth the hard work that goes into it. Now, I'm just really stressed, and worried, wanting this all to be over with. Being prepared for the actual recital isn't going to be a problem (May 14), but being prepared for the pre-recital jury is a little sticky. My original date for my pre-recital had to be moved up by 9 days which resulted in two less lessons at my disposal as well as only having 3 lessons left until the *new* jury All of my piano accompanied pieces (my Mozart aria, Wolf set, and Juliana Hall set) are in good shape and memorized - woo-hoo! However, I have two sets that are collaborative sets - 1 set of three Handel German da capo arias for voice, harpsichord, continuo and obligato instrument (I've chosen violin for 2 of them, and flute for the other), and then a set of 4 Bartok pieces for 3 voices. The problem is that 2 of the Handel were coached last semester, 1 hasn't be coached at all, and NONE of the Bartok have been coached. I know, I know... this is my own fault for doing a recital so full of collaborating projects! But, I love working with ensembles - and sharing something like my recital with others can be a lot of fun. That's what collaborating with others should be about, right? So, the problem is fitting in those ensemble coachings in, in the next 3 weeks.
Then comes big blow to the recital #2. My accompanist, who've I've been collaborating with now for almost 3 years has an injured right hand! Poor Naoko - she woke up Sunday with pain in her wrist and couldn't open up her hand. A VERY bad thing to have happen to a pianist. She's not sure what is wrong with it but is going away for 3 days to play in a recital in S. Carolina, so can't get in to a doctor this week. She is going to rest it as much as she can - and depending on how bad it is she may (MAY) have to cancel everything for the rest of the semester. She said she will decide in the next two weeks. This means I either postpone the recital or get a new accompanist to learn all of my music in record time - in time for the recital hearing.
So, this is what is going on in the life of Rachael at the moment. If you haven't heard from me recently it's because I'm either never home or dealing with too much stress to want to talk to anyone. :-(
On a happier note - I'll add pics from our St. Patrick's day escapade Saturday night. The girls and I had a lot of fun - being our weird and goofy selves.
It is spring break and it's nice not to have classes or coachings this week.
On to tackle life...
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Oh my - I'm delinquent yet again. Not only in my own personal blog but also in my 20th and 21st Century American Art Song blog. Only thing is - I'm not getting graded on this blog! Not to worry, I'll catch up on that one after this.
So must keep this very short.
Let's see...
Michelle and Bree's and my Experiential Education Program project has been going very well. We have been placed as Artsts in Residence at the BAA, The Boston Arts Academy,(www.boston-arts-academy.org/Pages/index), and we are working with the freshman vocal music class on a program we have entitled Poetry, Art Song, and Popular Song. It's been a HUGE success so far - and really makes me miss teaching. We are having a lot of fun and working our butts off way too much on this thing. Igh... I'll write more on our program when I have the time and energy to do so.
I'm running again!!! Woo-hoo! Saturday's are our long days, and Adam and I made it up to 9 miles yesterday! Yay us! We ran all the way down Broadway (my street) to the river and the Longfellow Bridge, crossed over into Beacon Hill, ran up probably one of the steepest hills I've ever run up (almost puked at the top because by now we'd already run 5 miles - Adam kept saying "don't look at the top! don't look at the top!), then ran down Beacon Street past the Public Gardens, and all the Brownstones, to to Mass Ave., turned down Storrow drive along the river and made our way back to Harvard Square. I did fine until the last 1/2 mile when I suddenly became absolutely starving. Didn't y'all want to know the route?? :-P
Then I came home and made an omlet with turkey bacon, avocodo, and cottage cheese. mmmmmmm.....
One hour later, I was starving again.
What else is new? One more week until Spring Break. During spring break I will do all sorts of fun things like, work, practice, memorize, and run. Basically what I do now, except without the classes. Life will be easier for one week.
That's all for now!
So must keep this very short.
Let's see...
Michelle and Bree's and my Experiential Education Program project has been going very well. We have been placed as Artsts in Residence at the BAA, The Boston Arts Academy,(www.boston-arts-academy.org/Pages/index), and we are working with the freshman vocal music class on a program we have entitled Poetry, Art Song, and Popular Song. It's been a HUGE success so far - and really makes me miss teaching. We are having a lot of fun and working our butts off way too much on this thing. Igh... I'll write more on our program when I have the time and energy to do so.
I'm running again!!! Woo-hoo! Saturday's are our long days, and Adam and I made it up to 9 miles yesterday! Yay us! We ran all the way down Broadway (my street) to the river and the Longfellow Bridge, crossed over into Beacon Hill, ran up probably one of the steepest hills I've ever run up (almost puked at the top because by now we'd already run 5 miles - Adam kept saying "don't look at the top! don't look at the top!), then ran down Beacon Street past the Public Gardens, and all the Brownstones, to to Mass Ave., turned down Storrow drive along the river and made our way back to Harvard Square. I did fine until the last 1/2 mile when I suddenly became absolutely starving. Didn't y'all want to know the route?? :-P
Then I came home and made an omlet with turkey bacon, avocodo, and cottage cheese. mmmmmmm.....
One hour later, I was starving again.
What else is new? One more week until Spring Break. During spring break I will do all sorts of fun things like, work, practice, memorize, and run. Basically what I do now, except without the classes. Life will be easier for one week.
That's all for now!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
It's a a "Giant Slurpy" outside!
It's been a very interesting past 48 hours or so. Our mini-Nor'easter was just that.... mini and pitiful at best! It started snowing on Monday night and we probably had about 3 inches when I went out in the morning to walk Simon before work. In the following 12 hours it proceeded to sleet, pour rain, snow, sleet, pour rain. The land of Cambridge/Boston became one giant slurpy. Seriously. Ridiculous. Slush up to peoples knees in some places. It was so gross. My choir rehearsal got cancelled and then my ensemble group decided to postpone our weekly rehearsal. Woo-hoo! Happy Valentine's day to me :-)
After I got home from work I was relaxing for a bit when my doorbell rang. It was an older woman who asked me if I had a shovel because her car was stuck out in front of our apartment. I lent her a shovel and then went out to help her. She was seriously stuck. Slush, ice and snow. We rotated between shoveling and then her getting back into the car rocking it back and forth while I pushed. Yeh - right, ME pushing a car. It was freezing - I was soaking wet - well, we both were. So then there was this guy down the street who had been snowblowing and also had seen us in our hardship. The woman said she was going to go ask the guy if he would help me push because, really, that's all we needed -a little more manpower, one more person and boom the car would move. So she went to ask him if he would just help me push and he told her "no". No explanation just "no", and then turned away with his snow blower. NO? NO?! NO?!?! Can you tell that I am still furious about this? So anyhow, we were able to get the car out. My freakishly strong muscles proved themselves to be,um..., freakishly strong again.
Later in the evening Karen came over and she and Bree and I had a Valentine's dinner together. It was super yummy! Chicken au Champagne, brown rice with sauteed mushrooms, salad with a homemade lemon-olive oil vinigrette, and floating islands along with a rose wine.
Along with dinner came a "flash freeze warning". I have never heard of such a thing before! As turns out all that slush froze - absolutely solid. The slush on the sidwalk, the slush surrounding car tires, the snow on the ground was frozen solid. Simon and I went to the park and walked on top of the snow without leaving a footprint! What a mess it was this morning with people trying to get their cars out. Solid, solid ice. People with ice picks. It was a mess to walk on too. It took us 15 minutes longer to walk to school this morning than it usually does just because we were trekking across the Antarctic Plains otherwise known as the "route to Longy".
This tundra needs to go away soon. I can't run in this mess! Booooooooo!!
Yay for Fridays and weekends! :-)
Monday, February 12, 2007
Balloon Wars and Toilet Troubles...among other things
What a weekend! First the Winter Gala (see pics in previous posts), then the Bradford Valentine race which has become an annual tradition for me, and then a day of church and EEP planning plus laundry and all that other fun stuff.
Backing up... on Friday Michelle and Bree and I went over to Graham and Park School to meet with the woman who is/was to be our cooperating teacher. We got there ten minutes before we were supposed to meet with her and then left a half hour later because she never showed. It was supposed to be her planning period - and this was a very important meeting for us - not to mention that we got up early and made ourselves look nice and then had to walk there in the freezing cold. Michelle had gone to the office and they called for her over the loud speaker but she never came to our location of meeting. So, we decided to leave. When we were signing out in the office the principal decided to go look for her - then came back and said "Well, ladies I'm really sorry...I have no idea where she is. In fact, we have a policy that if you leave the building you are supposed to sign out." So that was a bit frustrating. Then, when I got back to school I found out that one of my classes had been cancelled - WOO-HOO! It turned out to be a good day after all.
Skipping to last night... so Karen came over after I got done practicing and she and Bree and I watched Rome. Then this whole thing about Balloons came up because Bree brought home a bunch of balloons tied together from the gala. Bree commented that she got the feeling that I hate balloons because she noticed me kicking them around in a frustrating manner. I concurred. I hate balloons. They're a nuisance. They are an awkward size. They get in the way. They move slowly. They are clutter. If they hang from the cieling then the string is hanging down and you hit your head on it. So then they were making fun of me and we were trying to pass them off on Karen but she wouldn't take them. About a 1/2 hour later I found the balloons tied to my door. HA HA HA. Well, right before I went to bed I tied them to our bathroom door. The door opens "in" to the bathroom so when Bree would make her last bathroom run for the evening it would be dark, she wouldn't see them, and she would run into them... not to mention not be able to close the door! This morning I got up and the balloons were gone - Praise the Lord. I got ready for my shower, turned on the shower, looked up, there were the balloons tied to the shower head with water pouring over them and a big smiley face on one of them. Well - being the mature person that I am - I took those balloons and hung them down outside Bree's door so that when she opened her curtains to come out they would hit her right in the face. I just cannot wait to come home from work this afternoon and discover where those stupid balloons have made their way to next.
Our toilet troubles began a little bit before the balloon saga happened. It was overflowing!!! Thank God with nothing in it (sorry) - but still EWWWW GROSS! We tried plunging and that wasn't working. Of course it's like 11:15 at night and there's realy no one we could call so then Bree remembered a trick from her old apartment - Flooding the toilet. We have a huge mopping bucket that probably holds 3-4 gallons of water if not more. Bree plunged - I filled the bucket full in the tub and carried it over and just dumped it in. We probably did this about 10-12 times and finally the water pressure worked and it was fixed and it flushes and doesn't flood!!!! But then we had to spend the time mopping and disinfecting the bathroom floor! Good grief!
It's only Monday and I feel like it's never going to end. LOL
Sunday, February 11, 2007
This past weekend was Longy's annual Winter Gala hosted by the SAC. This year's theme was Masquerade. It was a rockin' good time with catered food from an Italian restaurant in the North End, live DJ, Chocolate Fountain, fantastic door prizes, free Bar, and a dance-off. The pictures below only show a fraction of the fun we had!
Bree, Karen and Me
Bree, Me, and Michelle
Brian and Me
Me and Ashley - my running partner. This was a "pre-race" photo as the next morning we got up to run a five mile which, by the way, we ran our fastest mile since we began training 3 weeks ago AND we had negative splits!!!
Me and Mike who came back to visit :-)
Ashley, Karen, and Andrea
Bree, Karen and Me
Bree, Me, and Michelle
Brian and Me
Me and Ashley - my running partner. This was a "pre-race" photo as the next morning we got up to run a five mile which, by the way, we ran our fastest mile since we began training 3 weeks ago AND we had negative splits!!!
Me and Mike who came back to visit :-)
Ashley, Karen, and Andrea
Me and Karen
Bree and Michelle and I with one of our favorite teachers - Brian.
Who's behind the mask?
Ashley decided to come! I had to convince on the phone that she MUST come this year because, well, who else was I going to win the dance-off with this year??
Ashley and I planning our strategy before the dance-off. Last year we were the winners - the grand champions of the Longy dance-off!
Ashley and I didn't make it to the final round - but Brooke and her husband James did. They were phenominal and ended up as this year's grand champions.
Bree and Michelle and I with one of our favorite teachers - Brian.
Who's behind the mask?
Ashley decided to come! I had to convince on the phone that she MUST come this year because, well, who else was I going to win the dance-off with this year??
Ashley and I planning our strategy before the dance-off. Last year we were the winners - the grand champions of the Longy dance-off!
Ashley and I didn't make it to the final round - but Brooke and her husband James did. They were phenominal and ended up as this year's grand champions.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
The last day of January - how did we get this far? It's really cold here in Massachusetts. They had predicted our first significant snowfall over night and when I awoke this morning there was not a snowflake on the ground. Nadda! How disappointing and cruel! It's like being told that when you wake up the next morning it will be Christmas and then why you wake filled with that giddy excitement they say "we take it back - there is no Christmas this morning". BOOOOOO!
At any rate - classes began last week. I like my schedule - it's basically the same as last semester with a few different classes. In place of the Schumann class I took on Friday's last semester I am now taking 20th and 21st Century American Art Song. I also dropped French and am taking Intermediate Feldenkrais (go to http://www.feldenkrais.com/ for more information).
I've also taken up running again - and trying to be serious about it. I've also got some fabulous new running partners to help motivate me. Actually, I think we do a pretty good job of motivating each other and keeping each other in check. We're a little mini Longy running club. We're trying to come up with club logos for T-shirts. So far we have: Front I only run... Back so I don't have to practice! (which is a copy cat of a shirt I have that says I only run...so I can eat Chocolate Cake.)
We also have Accelerando to the Finish! and Run Forte!. Adam came up with one too - but I can't remember. So anyhow - yeh - in addition to being running penguins (http://www.johnbingham.com/penguin.html), we are huge music geeks!
Ashley and I are running a 5 miler next weekend and we're training for (but not 100% completely commited to) a half-marathon in April. April 1st to be exact. April Fool's Day. Oh, what fools we are!
Not much else is new. It's going to be a very insanely busy semester - and somehow.... I'll make it through.
At any rate - classes began last week. I like my schedule - it's basically the same as last semester with a few different classes. In place of the Schumann class I took on Friday's last semester I am now taking 20th and 21st Century American Art Song. I also dropped French and am taking Intermediate Feldenkrais (go to http://www.feldenkrais.com/ for more information).
I've also taken up running again - and trying to be serious about it. I've also got some fabulous new running partners to help motivate me. Actually, I think we do a pretty good job of motivating each other and keeping each other in check. We're a little mini Longy running club. We're trying to come up with club logos for T-shirts. So far we have: Front I only run... Back so I don't have to practice! (which is a copy cat of a shirt I have that says I only run...so I can eat Chocolate Cake.)
We also have Accelerando to the Finish! and Run Forte!. Adam came up with one too - but I can't remember. So anyhow - yeh - in addition to being running penguins (http://www.johnbingham.com/penguin.html), we are huge music geeks!
Ashley and I are running a 5 miler next weekend and we're training for (but not 100% completely commited to) a half-marathon in April. April 1st to be exact. April Fool's Day. Oh, what fools we are!
Not much else is new. It's going to be a very insanely busy semester - and somehow.... I'll make it through.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Monday, January 08, 2007
Back to Bean-town
I'm sitting here on a rainy Monday mid-afternoon at work and am actually glad that I'm here stuck in front of the computer so that I can get a lot of much-needed e-mailing and letter writing done. A lot has happened in the past 2 to 2 1/2 weeks so bear with me as I go through them as briefly as I possibly can. I'll takes Dave's suggestions and just do an outline instead of writing paragraphs and paragraphs. I promised him - so here goes. Bear with me as I haven't done an outline since last year's Research and Materials class and specifically stayed away from the means for a long time.
I. Christmas
A. Drive home to Ohio with Jennifer and Karen
1.) Drop off Jennifer in Akron
2.) Drop off Karen at the BP in Lodi
a.) Karen accidently picked up my PHONE instead of her iPod (I LOVE YOU Karen) which I realized as I got in the car and she and Evan were driving away - to which I started chasing them across the BP parking lot and am quite sure I got a lot of laughs. Needless to say, I did not catch up with her and then thought "Oh, well, I'll call her!" to which I realized I couldn't because shehad my phone!
B. Christmas Eve
1.) Go to brother's for Christmas Eve dinner
a.) my brother made a DELICOUS pot roast or something thereof
b.) Christmas Eve service at St. Matthew's in Westerville - what a story this is. There was to be a 1/2 hour of music starting at 10:30 and then the service was supposed to start at 11. Well, at 11:10 the choir still had 5 anthems left to sing and at 11:35 they began the processional! 35 minutes late the service started! I was supposed to meet Sarah in St. John's parking lot so she could follow me home totally on the presumption that both services would get out around the same time and she wouldn't have to wait long. Well, at 12:30 we had just started Communion and I knew(because I know how long St. John's serviceslast) that she was well out of her service so during the Eucharistic Prayer, God forgive me, I got out my phone and texted "we are just now starting Communion, Dad and I are leaving to come get you when we are done." to which I get the reply "hurry up, becasue I don't feel safe!" So as soon as Communion was done my dad and I high-tailed it out of there while my brother and mom stayed until the end. By the time we all got home and got to bed it was well past 2 am! Yawn! How on earth were we to be able to get up early to open prezzies I ask?
C. Christmas Morning
1. WE GOT PREZZIES!!!!!!
D. Time with the Shelby Folk
1. Tuesday night Steve and Carrie and Sarah and Kevin and I went over to the
Haverfields where Amy and Andy and Anna were awaiting us. We sat around, talked, went through the bedtime ritual with Anna (which was really sweet btw), played fooseball (not I), Steve (H.) shared a wedding garter fiasco with us on DVD (don't ask) and then sat and talked some more. It was great hanging out with everyone!
II. New Year's Time in Columbus
A. Ride to Columbus
1. Simon got bored and chewed his leash into 7 different parts. That's ok because he got a brand new OSU leash and collar! GO BUCKEYES!
B. Time with Steph and Joe
1. Good times. Thanks again SO MUCH Steph and Joe and Zach and soon-to-arrive Noah
for letting me stay with you. Let's see - we went grocery shopping, ate at Max and Erma's, organized baby clothes, went on brief runs with Sarah (the dog), played Play-Doh and Candy Land (who won? Joe or Me??? he he he). Again - good times!
C. New Year's Eve
1. Went to Church at St. John's - met up with the folks and bro at PF Chang's for
lunch - relaxed for a bit back at the house - went to Karen's for an hour or so to hang out - then over to Dave's for the rest of the evening and to bring in the New Year. What a pair of old fogies we were - sat on the couch until the ball dropped and then I went home!
D. New Year's Day
1. Dave and I took Thurston and Simon to a VERY MUDDY dog park in Whitehall. Thick
with mud - and it was cold too! But the dogs had fun. Actually Thurston had fun and Simon who hates mud and getting wet (what a BIG baby) had a little fun.
2. Sat around and relaxed with Steph back at the house - watched some football and
Audra McDonald that she taped for me from the night before.
3. Went up to the Hoggie's on Sawmill and met Susan Fred and Seth, Jason Aubrey
Aria and Liam, Nan Jim and Ben for dinner. Mmmmmmm...
4. Went over to Jason and Aubrey's for a bit, visited, and played the DVD version
of Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture edition!
E. Departure
1. Told Arlyn I would meet her at 8:00 about 5 minutes from Steph and Joe's house
a. 7:32 Steph comes in the room saying "aren't you supposed to meet Arlyn at
8:00. I had turned my alarm off in my sleep and the alarm clock was still in my hand.
2. Had a really fun time riding back with Arlyn!
F. Orla, Jarrod, and NYC
1. Left Thursday morning on the Chinatown bus bound for NYC to meet up with Orla
and Jarrod who had been in Manhatten since New Year's Eve.
a. Arrived in Chinatown, NYC - met up with the two and took off for what would
be one of many walking adventures!
b. skated on Rockefeller Center skating rink (see pics and video)
c. ate in the West Village at a really good Japanese Restaurant
2. Day 2 - shopping!
a. Goal: find jeans for Orla (as well as spend her Victoria's Secret Gift Cert.)
b. Goal Accomplished: found 2 pairs of Jeans for Orla
c. Met up with Holly in Times Square and had pre-dinner drinks at The View - revolving bar!
3. Day 3 and departure
1. Spent the morning travelling to the Upper West Side to H&H Bagel (see pic and description for further details!)
2. Took Taxi to Chinatown - dropped off in the wrong spot (I TOLD HIM!) and found my way to the Fung Wah bus stop.
4. ORLA it was great to see you and meet Jarrod! xx
G. Back Home and Back to Work
1. That sums it up. Made it interesting anyhow. Tonight the Buckeyes play for the National Title! OH-IO!
I'm sitting here on a rainy Monday mid-afternoon at work and am actually glad that I'm here stuck in front of the computer so that I can get a lot of much-needed e-mailing and letter writing done. A lot has happened in the past 2 to 2 1/2 weeks so bear with me as I go through them as briefly as I possibly can. I'll takes Dave's suggestions and just do an outline instead of writing paragraphs and paragraphs. I promised him - so here goes. Bear with me as I haven't done an outline since last year's Research and Materials class and specifically stayed away from the means for a long time.
I. Christmas
A. Drive home to Ohio with Jennifer and Karen
1.) Drop off Jennifer in Akron
2.) Drop off Karen at the BP in Lodi
a.) Karen accidently picked up my PHONE instead of her iPod (I LOVE YOU Karen) which I realized as I got in the car and she and Evan were driving away - to which I started chasing them across the BP parking lot and am quite sure I got a lot of laughs. Needless to say, I did not catch up with her and then thought "Oh, well, I'll call her!" to which I realized I couldn't because shehad my phone!
B. Christmas Eve
1.) Go to brother's for Christmas Eve dinner
a.) my brother made a DELICOUS pot roast or something thereof
b.) Christmas Eve service at St. Matthew's in Westerville - what a story this is. There was to be a 1/2 hour of music starting at 10:30 and then the service was supposed to start at 11. Well, at 11:10 the choir still had 5 anthems left to sing and at 11:35 they began the processional! 35 minutes late the service started! I was supposed to meet Sarah in St. John's parking lot so she could follow me home totally on the presumption that both services would get out around the same time and she wouldn't have to wait long. Well, at 12:30 we had just started Communion and I knew(because I know how long St. John's serviceslast) that she was well out of her service so during the Eucharistic Prayer, God forgive me, I got out my phone and texted "we are just now starting Communion, Dad and I are leaving to come get you when we are done." to which I get the reply "hurry up, becasue I don't feel safe!" So as soon as Communion was done my dad and I high-tailed it out of there while my brother and mom stayed until the end. By the time we all got home and got to bed it was well past 2 am! Yawn! How on earth were we to be able to get up early to open prezzies I ask?
C. Christmas Morning
1. WE GOT PREZZIES!!!!!!
D. Time with the Shelby Folk
1. Tuesday night Steve and Carrie and Sarah and Kevin and I went over to the
Haverfields where Amy and Andy and Anna were awaiting us. We sat around, talked, went through the bedtime ritual with Anna (which was really sweet btw), played fooseball (not I), Steve (H.) shared a wedding garter fiasco with us on DVD (don't ask) and then sat and talked some more. It was great hanging out with everyone!
II. New Year's Time in Columbus
A. Ride to Columbus
1. Simon got bored and chewed his leash into 7 different parts. That's ok because he got a brand new OSU leash and collar! GO BUCKEYES!
B. Time with Steph and Joe
1. Good times. Thanks again SO MUCH Steph and Joe and Zach and soon-to-arrive Noah
for letting me stay with you. Let's see - we went grocery shopping, ate at Max and Erma's, organized baby clothes, went on brief runs with Sarah (the dog), played Play-Doh and Candy Land (who won? Joe or Me??? he he he). Again - good times!
C. New Year's Eve
1. Went to Church at St. John's - met up with the folks and bro at PF Chang's for
lunch - relaxed for a bit back at the house - went to Karen's for an hour or so to hang out - then over to Dave's for the rest of the evening and to bring in the New Year. What a pair of old fogies we were - sat on the couch until the ball dropped and then I went home!
D. New Year's Day
1. Dave and I took Thurston and Simon to a VERY MUDDY dog park in Whitehall. Thick
with mud - and it was cold too! But the dogs had fun. Actually Thurston had fun and Simon who hates mud and getting wet (what a BIG baby) had a little fun.
2. Sat around and relaxed with Steph back at the house - watched some football and
Audra McDonald that she taped for me from the night before.
3. Went up to the Hoggie's on Sawmill and met Susan Fred and Seth, Jason Aubrey
Aria and Liam, Nan Jim and Ben for dinner. Mmmmmmm...
4. Went over to Jason and Aubrey's for a bit, visited, and played the DVD version
of Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture edition!
E. Departure
1. Told Arlyn I would meet her at 8:00 about 5 minutes from Steph and Joe's house
a. 7:32 Steph comes in the room saying "aren't you supposed to meet Arlyn at
8:00. I had turned my alarm off in my sleep and the alarm clock was still in my hand.
2. Had a really fun time riding back with Arlyn!
F. Orla, Jarrod, and NYC
1. Left Thursday morning on the Chinatown bus bound for NYC to meet up with Orla
and Jarrod who had been in Manhatten since New Year's Eve.
a. Arrived in Chinatown, NYC - met up with the two and took off for what would
be one of many walking adventures!
b. skated on Rockefeller Center skating rink (see pics and video)
c. ate in the West Village at a really good Japanese Restaurant
2. Day 2 - shopping!
a. Goal: find jeans for Orla (as well as spend her Victoria's Secret Gift Cert.)
b. Goal Accomplished: found 2 pairs of Jeans for Orla
c. Met up with Holly in Times Square and had pre-dinner drinks at The View - revolving bar!
3. Day 3 and departure
1. Spent the morning travelling to the Upper West Side to H&H Bagel (see pic and description for further details!)
2. Took Taxi to Chinatown - dropped off in the wrong spot (I TOLD HIM!) and found my way to the Fung Wah bus stop.
4. ORLA it was great to see you and meet Jarrod! xx
G. Back Home and Back to Work
1. That sums it up. Made it interesting anyhow. Tonight the Buckeyes play for the National Title! OH-IO!
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