Two weeks of transitioning from summer to September and we have gone from brutal heat to lovely cool temperatures. It was the hottest day of the year when the St. Louis Civic Orchestra had their welcome back picnic on August 27th. It was pretty miserable. It was our conductor's 60th birthday and I dusted off the cake decorating skills and made a 12 X 18 sheet cake for the occasion. It was so hot, the icing just kind of slid off the side of the cake. But, reports were that it tasted delicious. I made a small gluten-free cake but I was the only celiac/gluten-intolerant person attending so I brought it back home with me and have been enjoying it ever since.
It was still hot for Larkin's 8th birthday on August 30th. But, happily, we were all indoors when we celebrated. Emily, as usual, outdid herself in the cake decorating department. And Joe provided a delicious gluten-free brownie for me. We turned the cupcakes into fire-breathing dragons...
Happily, by Sunday, September 1st, a cold front had blown in so it was lovely that evening for a "Farewell to Blue" gathering. Blue is Sam Carpintero's bulldog who has an inoperable tumor and was put down today (September 9th). So, we had some friends from the ward come over to say goodbye and one woman brought her "big" camera and took some professional photos of Sam and Blue. I just took camera photos.
The weather stayed lovely for our Labor Day family picnic. It was our first official event for the newly refurbished deck. We grilled hamburgers and had all kinds of salads and sides and I made homemade vanilla ice cream. We invited Fred Olver to join us. Noah was coming down with something (which turned out to be allergies) so he socially distanced from the rest of us.
There were two doctor appointments in the past two weeks. Steve had a dermatology appointment on Wednesday, August 28th and, currently, his doctor's office is in Wentzville (60 minutes away). The Fenton office (20 minutes away) flooded last year. Blaa. BUT, Wentzville has an amazing BBQ restaurant called Dukes so I joined him and we had lunch before his appointment.
The other doctor appointment was for me on Tuesday, August 27th but, when I went out to the garage to drive the Honda Element, it wouldn't start. Steve was already on his way to the temple in the Kia Soul. So, that had to be rescheduled for tomorrow. And, ultimately, the Element had to get a new battery.
Orchestra resumed rehearsals on September 3rd and we are playing some great music for our October concert including Peer Gynt Suite - which I have never played! I will be teaching Larkin and Quinn every other week just before orchestra (since both are in Ballwin) so they had their first piano lessons in over a month last week.
Other random events of the last two weeks are that I made another batch of grape jelly and there are enough grapes for a third batch next week (probably). Thursday night English classes started last week. We had a house guest just last weekend - Pat Rybolt from Columbia whom I have known for years. She owns the Music Suite where I briefly worked after we got back from our mission. Her grandson got married on Saturday in St. Louis and she stayed with us that night. It was so nice to get to visit with her.
Steve and I have watched quite a few movies: We finally finished Mission Impossible-Dead Reckoning (part 1), Remember the Titans (Steve's August movie) and his September movie watch was The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and Voyage of the Dawn Treader. (I only saw the first two on Labor Day - Steve had to finish when I was at orchestra the next night) We also watched Capricorn One, and we are caught up on the new season of Rings of Power. I finished the book Remarkably Bright Creatures. Good book!
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