On toffee, tapioca, Trissy, and tunes

I made tapioca pudding tonight……in the crockpot! It was so simple and no standing over a pot on the stove stirring and stirring. Like I had to when I made toffee earlier in the week. I think toffee has surpassed fudge as my all-time favorite holiday candy. But, you say, what was the holiday occasion for making this toffee??? George Washington’s birthday? Actually, Beckie had returned the faulty candy thermometer she gave me Christmas 2010 and got a new and improved one. I needed to try it out rather than put it away and learn ten months later that it, too, did not work. I am happy to report that, despite the tedium of stirring for about 15 minutes, the result was perfect. And delicious.

Speaking of holidays, Beckie bought a HUGE rawhide bone for Trissy for Christmas and, happily, Trissy’s digging ceased. Now, I realize this might possibly be a coincidence but maybe not. Was she just digging out of boredom??? So, when I could see very little remains of the bone, I bought another, even larger one this past week to hopefully continue digging-prevention. I took some photos of a very happy Trissy….

The annual Central Methodist University music festival was held on Friday (has a year passed already since the last one?!?! ) I only had to accompany one student this year – woo hoo – so it was nice to just sit and listen to solos and ensembles all morning. Five CIS students participated (three are in my orchestra) and they were outstanding. I am so blessed to have such talented kids in my program. And, Columbia Civic Orchestra had a concert Saturday night. It was an all-Hungarian program with pieces by Bartok, Kodaly, and Liszt. Steve and Sarah attended and said we sounded good. It was fun music to play. The Bartok was a collection of folk tunes and my very first memory of La Habra High Orchestra involved a piece from that suite. I was only an 8^th grader but, because the orchestra rehearsed before school, and because they had only one cellist, I was asked to play. In my first rehearsal, we worked on the Bear Dance. I had only been playing two years and I had NO IDEA that a half-note with two lines across the stem meant a measured tremolo. I was so intimidated by the whole experience (playing with high schoolers!!!) and embarrassed that I was clueless that I have never forgotten that episode while most of the rest of my high school memories are faded to practically nothing.

Big Rivers

We went to St. Louis Friday and Saturday. The temple was Friday night and then we went to Emily and Joe's to sleep - on our old bed (now in their basement) Joe was watching the Simpson's movie when we arrived and I had many a laugh. Saturday morning was nice and relaxed. When Lucy woke up from her morning nap, Steve, Joe, Lucy, Noah, and I made a little trip to the Mississippi-Missouri confluence. Translated, the confluence is where these two massive rivers meet just north of St. Louis. It is pretty impressive. The following are some photos of Noah right at the very edge.

We had a little picnic lunch while we were there. Here is Lucy enjoying a banana.

Brrr, the north wind was cold and poor Lucy was fighting a cold.

Steve and Melanie and I watched “17 Miracles” last night when we got home from St. Louis. It was really good. As I thought about it after, I tried to count the miracles – I came up way short of 17. It might have been nice to have listed them during the credits maybe? Definitely would have been tacky to have a little “ding” or something to mark each miracle while they were happening during the movie, I guess. One thing that was nice was a follow-up of the major characters in the film. I like that – “the rest of the story”.

On Friday night, Sarah went to a dance sponsored by the YSA branch. It was a “formal” which meant we had to resurrect her formal dress from her high school prom. She is now a lot slenderer so my project last week was to alter it. I unsuccessfully tried to add some cap sleeves with the fabric I cut off to make the dress a little bit shorter. That was disappointing. I feel like I am losing my sewing touch. But, in spite of my blunder with the sleeves, the dress altered very nicely and she looked beautiful.

Happy President's Day - CIS is out of school tomorrow and Tuesday. Gonna watch the final episode of Downton Abby - eeeeeeee.

Conferences and grandkids

Guess what? I added up all the hours I am working between CMU, CIS, and my private studio and I am putting in 30 hours a week! NO WONDER I have no time to do anything fun like blogging, reading blogs, sewing, reading, watching movies. And, I did it to myself by taking on seven applied string students at CMU. Won’t make that mistake again. I really hate feeling so boxed in time-wise. But, I shouldn’t whine. Full-time workers experience this all the time. I have really been fortunate to not have to work full-time throughout my life. I have really had to carve out time to watch Netflix movies now. I did manage to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes with Sarah. It was believable – not like the original that Sarah and I then had to rent and watch. Boy, we have come a long way in filmmaking over the past 40 years since the first Planet of the Apes was made. I also rented Battle Los Angeles much to the mockery of my children and I was surprised how much it captivated me. It was nice to see the military as the good guys since so many films these days paint them as dumb or bad. Finally, I am thoroughly enjoying the new season of Downton Abby on PBS. Thank goodness for Beckie’s TiVo that allows me to watch it at various odd times throughout the week.

Speaking of work, I got to attend the annual Missouri Music Educator’s Association conference the end of January down at the Lake of the Ozarks. My CIS student, Harrison, earned the privilege to play in the All-State Orchestra so, as his school teacher, I was required to attend (Missouri State High School Activities Association rules). I had let my MMEA membership lapse (just one more set of magazines I had to read!)so I had not attended the conference in several years. It was good to return because I heard some incredible performances, attended some interesting workshops, hob-knobbed with all my fellow string teachers from Columbia and beyond, and had a chance to break away from my regular routine.

Here I am outside the room Margaret Lawless (string teacher for CPS and member of Prairie Strings) and I shared at the conference

Central Methodist University band was invited to perform Thursday night and, oh my, they were fantastic. Over the past four years, I have taught most of the ensemble in string tech so I felt a pride almost like a mother’s as I watched them perform. They are a great bunch of young people. I heard a fabulous performance of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring by the UMKC Conservatory Orchestra. I am not really a Stravinsky fan but sitting in the second row where I could watch up close and personal those talented musicians play that insane music, it was quite amazing. (although it still didn’t win me over to Stravinsky. Give me the Fantasia version every time) The All-State Orchestra performance was the Shostakovich 9^th Symphony ! And, it was a superb performance. Harrison had a rocky start to his All-State experience – he got sick the night he arrived and he pretty much stayed in bed all Thursday. Thankfully, it was a fast-moving virus and by Friday, he was back at rehearsals and was able to play the concert. He also had some room-mate issues – one of them kept trying to get him into a fight and, when Harrison would not comply, called his mother to say that Harrison had threatened to kill him! So, mom called hotel security and caused quite a stir. The fact that both boys were allowed to stay and perform is pretty fortunate.

Harrison and me right before his performance.

I saw many old friends while there – one was a real blast from the past – Brian Elder. He graduated from Hickman with Julina’s class and went on to study music at MU. He played in Prairie Strings all those four years. He is currently teaching all music (band, orchestra, choir) as well as social studies and coaching basketball at a small private school in the St. Louis area. He and his wife have two little boys. So good to see him!

Steve came down to join me Friday night and we celebrated our 37^th anniversary (a few days early). We went out to eat that night and we explored Ha Ha Tonka State Park Saturday morning before returning to the conference to hear the All-State orchestra perform that afternoon.

(the photos below are in a collage which doesn't show up completely on the blog so you can click anywhere on the picture and you will see the entire collage. Same with the pics of Lucy and Noah)

Just last Saturday, we visited St. Louis and enjoyed a relaxed visit with Emily and Joe and family after going to the temple. Joe’s mom, Vicki, was in town and it was great to catch up with her news. Here is adorable Lucy....

Noah with his buddy, Bumblebee the Transformer

Vicki with Noah

We have been altering our Sunday cookie nights a bit – instead of inviting new members from our ward, (it is growing so fast and we are so rarely there in attendance that I think I have given up trying to keep up with all the new families) we are inviting members of the Young Single Adult branch. Steve and I both have church duties covering the YSA branch and Sarah is now attending so this is a great way for all three of us to get to know members of that congregation better. We had our second group last night and had a great time.

Well, this was supposed to be just a short entry…..TOO LATE!