Snow Sunday

Boy, it has been so cold this past week.  Doggie walks in the mornings have been tests of endurance and will-power.   

 

 

 A beautiful, if freezing, sunrise...

 And, now more snow.  I love snow.  And, I am actually fine with it in March because it usually melts quickly by this time of the year.  I just wish we could get more snow in the front end of winter.  

 

This squirrel is my NEMESIS!  He constantly crawls across the kitchen window screen to raid the bird feeder, spilling seeds all over the deck (which the dogs then eat - dumb dogs).  This morning, when I filled the feeder, I decided to sprinkle a few seeds on the patio table.  If he would just eat seeds from there, I'd be happy!

 

There was no school for the kids on Friday (teachers had a “flex” day) but it was the music festival at Central Methodist University in Fayette.  I had a private cello student perform so I got to make the drive up and back.    

 

 

She played very well – got a “1”.  But, it happened on the coldest day of the year and the walk from my car was frigid.

Steve and I went to the temple Friday evening and stayed overnight with the Southerlands.  After breakfast (thanks, Emily, for the sausages and scrambled eggs) we left and got to Columbia around 11:00.  Snow was predicted for later in the day but I guess it got impatient because it started falling as we were going to Aldi to grocery shop.  And, it kept falling the rest of the day.  The orchestra boosters had planned for a table at Lucky’s Market from 1:00 to 3:00 and I had arranged for several students to take turns playing duets and quartets.  Bless their hearts, everyone but one showed up and played.  And, I think we made over $300! 

 

 Carrie Schlimme and Eleanor Farnen

  

Helen Keithahn, Betsy Schlimme, Trentynne Davis, Ethan Forte at Lucky's Market

 

 Speaking of RBHS orchestra, here they all are during class last week

Camden Killian, Jason’s son, read Flat Stanley at school and his class sent their own Flat Stanleys all over to visit and report back later in the spring.  He arrive in our mail on Wednesday and I have been showing him around.  

 

Guess where he went first???

 

 He got to visit orchestra.

 

And Fayette.  If you look closely, my cello student is holding him in her photo.

Netflix report:  I watched “Robots”.  It was quite cute.  And, I am almost finished with season 1 of Enterprise. 

Snooze alert!

Do not read this blog if you want to stay awake....it will tell of VERY mundane, average things.

Steve had a doctor appointment on Friday because he has had a painful leg for a few months.  So painful that it wakes him up in the night - every night - and all the pain meds he takes can't be good for his liver.  The doctor suspects a bad hip.  He had an X-ray.  Results pending.

I had follow-up blood work for my high cholesterol.  No one told me I was supposed to fast for this test so my first results - back in November - were probably skewed by the delicious breakfast and lunch I had enjoyed that day.  My doctor is getting back to me on my results.

I am making progress on collecting my Harris family line information.  I am almost finished with the rough draft of my 2014 blog book - meaning I am working in November entries.  I caught up on my filing and I updated photo and scrap books.  Our income tax papers are now with the accountant.  I complete the sewing machine work on my baby bib project and now just have to hand-sew snaps on the last fifteen.  I ran my wool pieces through the washer two times and I now have two lovely pieces of felt.  We fed the missionaries Friday night.  Yesterday, I baked gluten-free biscuits and a Texas sheet cake and granola.  Steve ground wheat and made gluten-full biscuits and granola.

Sarah and I went to watch "Jupiter Ascending" on Thursday night.  I liked it.  She thought there were plot holes.  Steve and I watched "Dear Ruth" via Youtube on Friday night.  It is an old black-and-white from the forties. It was amusing.  I watched "The Vow" last night.  It was rather cheesy but made bib-sewing go smoother.  I finished the book The Centurian's Wife, I started The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and I checked out Divergent from the library.

I really enjoyed my week but my question is, "Are YOU still awake????"

If you are, then you can read the one bit of "unusual" news this week.  I saw a man die this morning.  Steve and I were visiting the Jefferson City ward and we had just walked into the building about twenty minutes before meetings were to begin.  As I entered the chapel, I saw an older man just as he was falling straight backwards onto the floor.  Someone called 911, the ambulance arrived, he was wheeled out with paramedics performing CPR but he never regained a regular heartbeat.  It was a  massive heart attack.   He was 72.

Counting my blessings

This past week was cold and often the sun stayed behind a cloud but I am very thankful that it is not still January filled with instrument exploration nights.  Please, ANYTHING but to go through those again! And, February is already half over!  I am thankful for many other things today….

First, it snowed last night.  Our first substantial snow of the season.  I was already going to get to stay at home today because of President’s Day but MU cancelled classes so Steve is also home.  I imagine if I lived in Boston right now, I wouldn’t still love snow but I don’t and I do.

The snow began during my Columbia Civic Orchestra concert and it was still coming down fairly hard by the end so my car was completely covered in white when I was ready to drive home.  I am thankful for front-wheel drive and Elise’s reminder to put the car in a lower gear (she has had a LOT of practice doing that, lately).  I am also thankful for the chance to play in CCO.  We played an all-British program last night and I loved every minute of it, even the ridiculously difficult Mendelssohn Scottish Symphony. 

I am thankful for the walks I got to take last week.  One in particular was over at the park with Sarah and the three dogs .  There are about 30-40 Canada geese setting up residence in the pond and I got a nice photo of them that day.  

 

 On another walk this past week, they were flying around (daily exercise?  Goose drill teams?  “cabin” fever?) and about 10 flew directly overhead, quite close, with the sun glinted off their wings.  It was breathtaking. 

I am thankful for family.  On Monday, my father would have turned 99 and my sister, Jerri, turned a healthy 81 on Thursday.  I am glad to be close to our Southerland grandchildren and we had a wonderful visit with them on Saturday.  Emily had a mini-photo session in the morning so we joined Joe in taking Noah, Lucy, and Quinn to the St. Louis Science Center.  What a terrific place that is!  So well done, so full of interesting displays (I need to visit when I don’t have to keep an eye on an active seven-year old so I can read about everything without distraction) and it is FREE!  Good for you, St. Louis!  It was also good that we had three adults because Quinn took ALL of Joe’s attention – that boy is a RUNNER.  Lucy latched onto Steve and I kept a look-out for Noah.  Below are some fun pictures of our outing.  

 

 

 

 

 

We were home by lunch and Steve and I attended the 1:00 temple session.  After returning to the Southerlands and having a lovely nap, we helped with a delicious Valentine dinner: steak, loaded mashed potatoes, broccoli, fresh pineapple, and a coconut cream pie (gluten-free) that I had brought.  

 Steve and Noah converse in the family room

 

 Lucy wore her super cape and cuffs ALL day.  She added the sunglasses when she got home.

Speaking of food, I am thankful for it.  The Grajeda family of Mexico, Missouri (Sarah is friends with their young-adult sons) invited us for “heart-attack” tacos last Sunday.  Regular tacos but with corn tortillas that are cooked briefly in oil to make them very soft and pliable.  Mmmmm, delicious.  They had also invited the sister missionaries so we got a group shot with everyone except mom Grajeda and son Ben.  

back row:  Brother grajeda, me, Steve  front row:  Hannah, sister missionaries, Sarah

I am thankful that Sadie is not scooting her bottom any more.  I took her to the vet and she had an infected anal sac.  Yuck.  He gave her a shot and an ointment to be applied twice a day (think doggie Desetin) and she is much happier now. 

I am even thankful I was required to attend teacher collaboration meetings all day Friday, regardless of the fact that NONE of it applied to me as it was all about next year’s schedule and I won’t be around.  However, I had the foresight to bring my knitting so I just sat, listened, and knitted and finished stage one of my felting project.  I hope to work on stage two today (the actual felting process).  Weirdly enough, I was pretty peaceful to just knit although I left both the morning and afternoon meetings a bit earlier than everyone else.  All agreed that I didn’t really need to be present. 

I watched “Maze Runner” on Thursday night.  It was OK.  I won’t read the books, though.  I just skimmed the Wikipedia synopsis of all three and that is enough for me.

So many things to be thankful for.....

This was a great week

When I stop to compare last week with this week, I can't believe the difference.  Last week, at MMEA, seemed like the longest ever.  I really didn't want to be at Tan-Ta-Ra (isn't that strange?) and the time just plodded along.  This week, I have been able to spend a small amount of time each day doing things I love -  practicing, family history, working on a Blurb book, art, reading - and the week has flown by. 

It started out with a SNOW DAY!  for absolutely no reason.  How bad can 3/4 inches of snow be, for crying out loud?  But, I was not going to argue with the board office.  I loved my day off.  And, Steve and I watched Groundhog Day that night.

Wednesday night was to have been a concert with the Rock Bridge orchestra and the eighth grade orchestras from Gentry and Jefferson Middle Schools.  A recruiting-for-high-school-orchestra event.  The middle school kids would get to play in the performing arts center side by side with high school kids - what could be cooler?  Well, a fast-moving snow storm, that's what.  It hit around mid-afternoon but, even before a snowflake began to fall, all the middle schools in town cancelled their after-school/evening events.  Which meant they wouldn't be coming to RBHS.  Concert off.  I must secretly confess I was not upset by this.  I drove home in this "raging" snowstorm (admittedly, the trip took me twice as long as usual), put on my comfy clothes, and I had a lovely evening puttering and practicing. 

Thursday started out so cold that school had a late-start day (didn't impact me since I didn't teach that day).  Not surprising for early February.  But, Friday and yesterday, temperatures climbed almost to 70 degrees!  Is this just the craziest week for weather ever????  And, of course, with the precipitation and the thawing, we have been wiping a lot of paws this week. Oh, dogs.....

Look at how Bones is sleeping right now as I type this....  It is really hard to not love this hairy, disobedient-to-me dog.

 
A lot of shopping went on this week; first of month stuff.  Friday night, Steve and I watched Guardians of the Galaxy after attending a CES "Evening With A General Authority" and heard Jeffrey Holland speak.  We had a Mid-Missouri Community Orchestra rehearsal (a.k.a. RTO) Saturday afternoon followed by a birthday celebration in Centralia for a good friend that night. 
It started out with me teaching him cello in his late teens using an instrument that belonged to his grandfather.  He is one of six children and I soon met his sister who plays violin.  Both play piano - and, in fact, the whole family is very musical.  Parents, Paul and Jean, are the nicest people.  Over the years since then, the Couture family and we have had many interactions.  Elizabeth is in MMCO - Josh is too, when he has time.  Elizabeth is also in CCO and studies violin with Siri.  They are avid supporters of the local classical music scene.

Here is Josh with one of the balloon bouquets on his head.  Elizabeth is in the background. 

The evening's activities also included some dancing - English court dancing (think a la Pride and Prejudice).  Steve and I just watched Apparently, this group gets together once a month to do this kind of dancing.  It looked really fun.