What a week!

Steve has joined the 4G smart phone world with a Samsung S4.   He kept saying he was fine with his old Sarah hand-me-down semi-smart-phone but I accidentally knocked it off the dresser as it was charging and it was never the same so a new phone became a necessity.  I think he likes is new device…

It is so strange that a four-day work week can seem so LONG but that is how this week has been.  It feels like it was ages ago that we had Monday off for Martin Luther King’s birthday.  By then, Steve was feeling better (from flu, per last blog) and so we were able to go to Steven and Tamara's house for dinner – grilled pork chops and salad and baked potatoes and I brought a banana cream pie.  Mmmm.

I think what made the week feel so long was that I had two Instrument Exploration Nights (IENs) to work; one Tuesday and one Thursday.  These typically last almost three hours starting at 6:30.  Three hours of a seemingly never-ending line of 5^th grade kids and their parents waiting to try out the string bass, which I demonstrate.  This is what I said and did a MILLION times both nights....

Hello – (reach for student’s information card and read name, assuming the parent has filled out the card.  Many haven’t because they don’t have a pen!  Who goes through life without a pen?  Do they think they can TEXT their answers on the card???) insert child’s name from insert school.  I see you already play insert instrument OR I see you have never played an instrument before.   For the bass, I want you to put your left foot on here and your right foot here (demonstrate foot placement or ask child to move away from the bass so you can demonstrate foot placement) and you let the bass lean into your body.  (I am keeping one hand at all times on the bass as I talk).  Then you take your left hand and hold the bass up here (on the scroll) and you take your right thumb and place it right here (on the fingerboard) and you pluck with your right index finger. Try making some sounds….

While the student plucks away on the strings, I ask the parent “do you have a vehicle that can transport a bass?” and indicate the answer in the little box marked “bass” on the information card.  After about 30 seconds of plucking, I hand them the bow and show them where to place it on the strings and let them saw away for another 30 seconds.  If a child is really tall, I typically give them and “excellent” rating and if their bow sound is particularly strong, I will write that in the box.  If a child is average height, I usually mark “good +” and if they are tiny, or if they don’t have a car that can transport a bass, I mark “OK” and I tell the parent that their child’s size is not suitable for a bass.  I advise them that students can move over to the bass in a couple years, after they have grown. I explain that the bass is the largest instrument in the orchestra and also the most fragile.  The strings are extremely thick and require special tuning pegs (the gear/cog type rather than the wedge-in type) which puts a lot of tension on the neck.  Hopefully, I give parents the idea that, if their child (or they) are kind of clumsy, that they should NOT be lugging around a bass!  I end by saying thank-you insert child’s name and greet the next one.  Each string instrument station has at least two and usually three demonstrators but not the bass – I am the only one.  I bring a stool to sit on as much as I can but, by the end of the night, I am completely exhausted.  I have one last IEN tomorrow night.

We took a little get-away trip with Steven, Sarah, and the Southerland family to Nauvoo Friday and Saturday.   

Steven drove the Columbia car and we all got to the Nauvoo Villas at about 8:30 Friday night.  We rented a two-bedroom condo that was connected to a one-bedroom condo so we could fit everyone comfortably (well, poor Steven got the living room sofa-bed so his bed was not so comfy).  

 

After Quinn was put to bed, we played  a fun game - Cranium Hoopla.  

 

We fixed pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast and then we drove in to Nauvoo, starting at the Family Living center (Noah made a rope) 

 

and we took a wagon ride.  

 

 

 

Back to the condo for tacos and, while the kids napped (Joe and Sarah stayed behind), Steven, Emily, Steve, and I attended the temple.  

 

The three o'clock session happened to be a Spanish-speaking one so we all got to wear the headphones and receivers.  Throughout the day, the weather was a teeny bit chilly but the sun was bright and it was a lovely winter day.   And, it was great to have some of the family together.

 

 

January thaw

Steve has been down with the flu from Wednesday and since then, time has seemed to slow way down.  I got MY flu shot, we are washing hands and disinfecting like crazy, and we have set Steve up in a quarantine room and so far, I have stayed healthy (knock on wood).  Steve's worst two days were Wednesday and Thursday. Yesterday, he felt well enough to enjoy a Ruby Tuesday's take-out birthday dinner, and we hope today or tomorrow he will be completely over it. The ONE good thing that has come out of this is that Steve says he will get a flu shot from now on (he has been a long-time refrain-er from flu shots).  He said this flu has been worse than his kidney stones.  Wow.

How strange to have a week go by so slowly, even while full of extra events.  Like the second informational meeting for the tri-school trip to Europe on Tuesday night.  A Friends of Rock Bridge Orchestra (booster organization) meeting Wednesday night.  The Rock Bridge show choir premier on Thursday night.  The Fine Arts Extravaganza on Thursday during the day. (This is the annual event where all the 5th graders are bussed in to the Missouri Theater to hear the bands and orchestras to recruit for 6th grade ensembles.  This year, choir, drama and art was added to the day's activities.).  And the Volvo went in the shop for a new CV boot and to replace the rear brakes.   While it was up on the rack, other non-emergent (but expensive) issues were discovered and, at 185,000 miles, we are wondering if it is time to look into a different car.  Stay tuned on that one....

The three-day weekend has been great, so far.  We are enjoying a January thaw and being outside is delightful.  However, washing muddy dog paws every time they come in the house has not been fun.  Even before Steve got sick, the weekend calendar was pretty clear so I have been able to catch up on mending and other projects.  We watched Les Miserable Friday night.  I am embarrassed to say I watched The Fault in Our Stars last night.  I guess I should have known what it would be like.... Oh, well, I did my mending while it was playing. 

New Year in Indiana

We drove to Greenwood, Indiana on New Year's Eve to spend a few days with Julina and Alex and Imogene.  Shiloh and Stratton were with their mom the whole time so we didn't see them at all. 

Julina had the three of us pose in front of Bob Smith's photo (he passed in 2009) to get a picture of the four of us.  It turned out kind of nice and somewhat realistic, I think (if you don't consider that one of us is in black and white).

We went to see "Into The Woods" on New Year's Day.  Both Steve and I loved it, even though they did some tinkering with the story line.

Julina had to work in southern Indiana on Friday so Steve and I decided to drive to Louisville to attend the temple.  We linked up with Juli early in the afternoon and, after a Culver's snack, she and I sent Steve back to Greenwood to talk trains with Alex while we wandered around the cute town of Columbus (located about 40 miles south of Greenwood).

We visited a couple of yarn shops and I am ready to get back into actual knitting (as opposed to the baby hats of which I have been doing so many).  Next we visited an ice cream parlor that has been around for over a hundred years.  It had lots of antique soda fountains on display as well as mechanical music devices like the one shown below.  In the center is a banjo with a wooden keyboards along the neck.  A drum in the upper left.  For a quarter, you got to hear one of about ten different tunes.  It was really cool.



Then, we went across the street to take a look at their city center.   It has a large indoor atrium-type area which includes a huge kid play area (like the ones at McDonalds, only on steriods) and a place for musical performances.  Behind Julina is a huge statue / Rube Goldberg device (that wasn't working at the time).   What a nice town.

Saturday, we went to the state fairgrounds to a model train show.  Wow!  Steve and Alex were in heaven.  Lots and lots of vendors.  Lots and lots of model train displays.  Every photo I took with a moving train was blurry so I will show you one with out a train but still pretty amazing.  Steve left with supplies and ideas for his own train display.

Aside from the already-mentioned outings, we just visited, ate out a couple of times, played some fun games around the dining room table, and watched some movies (Million Dollar Arm, Cars, Operation Petticoat, Lincoln).  I came down with a cold so sleeping was not so great but, aside from that, we had a great time.

Imogene is doing OK.  Some days, she doesn't feel very well.  Other days she has enough energy to work on her cards.

We attended church Sunday morning and left early afternoon.  We stopped at Emily and Joe's house for dinner and we were back in Columbia by around 8:00 pm.          

 I finished up my many winter baby hats with these little snowmen.  and now, I am taking a small hiatus from baby hats to knit (as mentioned earlier). I have some real wool yarn and I want to try my hand at felting. 

This past week has been bitterly cold - we had two late-start days as a result - and it seemed like all I did was catch up from being gone. 

I had an informational meeting Thursday night for students interested in going to Austria and Germany over spring break 2016.  The trip will include orchestra students from all three high schools and, in spite of the cold, there were 20 interested students. A second meeting will be this coming Tuesday.  Hopefully, out of the two nights, the minimum number of 24 students will be met.  

On Saturday, Steve and I finally saw the last Hobbit movie.  I liked it but more than once, I leaned over to Steve to say "this part is not in the book".  We both agreed that Peter Jackson should now  stop making epic movies  -  that he has reached his pinnacle in that department.   It seems like there is an "one-up-manship" mindset among directors of epic films and the often the results are that the special effects get in the way of the story.  Steve and I both feel a need for more movies like "100 Step Journey".  (but I confess I am looking forward to "Jupiter Ascending")

Our Christmas

Christmas Eve

After I blogged last, we had a surprise visit from some good friends who used to live in Columbia but moved to Wentzville for a job and are now moving next week to Saudi Arabia for an even better job! 

Here is the Dave and Angela Spriggs family

 Melanie used to be Angela's visiting teacher.  She has stayed in close touch with the Spriggs ever since they moved.  

Dave was one of Steve's counselors when he was a Bishop. 

Christmas day started out quietly and slowly.  With just Kirsti, Ryan, and Sarah, we didn't feel the need to rise very early.  Added to the mix were Steven and Tamara who pulled into town at 2:00 a.m. from their visit to Arizona.  So we celebrated in the afternoon.  But, Steve wanting to make cinnamon rolls, got up as early as former Christmas mornings to get the dough started.  He is getting really good at making rolls - this batch was just perfect.  He made apricot-orange rolls as well as nut and raisin-less cinnamon rolls.  And there was enough dough left for a dozen and a half dinner rolls. Sadly, they were gluten-full.  But, Kirsti and Ryan brought me a bag of delicious New Grains rolls from the Provo bakery so don't feel too sorry for me.

It was rather strange to open Christmas presents with the afternoon rather than morning light streaming through the windows

Christmas dinner was at 2:00 and, after that, temperatures were mild enough for us to inaugurate the back yard fire-pit.  We enjoyed s'mores

Kirsti and Ryan wanted to experience "crackers" (a British tradition) so they bought some for us to enjoy.  They were really lovely to look at and, even though there was not much of a "crack", they were full of cute prizes. 

And, they each came with a paper hat.

December 26th

We went to St. Charles so Sarah, Steven, Tamara, Kirsti, and Ryan could have the experience this year.  Emily and Joe and napping Lucy and Quinn didn't join us until dinner but we brought Noah along.  He took this picture of Steve and me.

I took this picture of Noah next to a silly dog statue

And here is Noah with some of the treasures he found for $5.00.

December 27th

Emily and Joe and family came to Columbia and we had a second round of opening presents.

Lucy and Emily are wearing their cracker hats

Quinn loved his Thomas the Train toy

Here is Noah unwrapping his Minecraft sword

Sarah had to work all Christmas Eve but she had the 25th and 26th off.  And, she didn't have to report to work on the 27th until 5:00.  It was great to have her around so much.  Bones loved it, too, as you can see.  (I like this photo because all three dogs are in it.)

It was great to have Kirsti and Ryan here for the week.  Steve and I drove them to Kansas City Saturday afternoon to meet with her long-time friend Sarah who put them up for the night and took them to the airport at 4:00 a.m. this morning. 

 Emily and family attended the first hour of church today and then took the kids back to our house for a nap.  We had a nice family dinner of Christmas leftovers (mmmm, ham again) and they left for St. Louis shortly thereafter.  The house is empty and quiet again.  Decorations will come down the next two days and, on New Year's Eve, Steve and I leave for a visit to Julina and Alex in Indiana.

Christmas is practically here

The sun has set on this Christmas eve and all too soon, it will be tomorrow this time and, well....364 shopping days left until next time

My high school orchestra concert was a week ago Monday - on the 15th.  It was a rather ambitious undertaking for several reasons.  The logistics of fitting both the Chamber and Concert groups (about 50 kids) on stage with 17 winds, brass, and percussion created quite a bit of people and chair shuffling.  Plus, we had to fit a grand piano on the stage for the two solo numbers.  Then, Chamber orchestra played the VERY difficult Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber.  And, they played two original compositions by two students, which was very exciting.  I was very happy with how the evening went.  Tuesday afternoon, on the 23rd, eight of my RBHS kids took time from their holiday break and played Christmas carols for the Candlelight Lodge Christmas party.  One of the parents took photos and I will post them as soon as he sends them to me.  I have the greatest students!  What a fantastic job I have.

After the concert, the rest of the last week's teaching duties were pretty low key.  At home, I baked loaves of bread, wrapped gifts, and wrote cards.  The RTO performed at  nursing home complex Saturday afternoon - we played our Christmas carols twice - first at the Alzheimer's facility and again at the assisted living building.  By the end of the second performance, Steve's embouchure was shot, poor guy.  Good thing we didn't have a third gig!  Afterward, most of us drove to the home of one of our violinists for a potluck.  It was really nice to get to visit with everyone since we never linger after rehearsals to chat.

On Sunday, Suzanne and Tamara Kitchen and I played O Holy Night for Columbia Ward in the morning and Bear Creek Ward in the afternoon.  I also sang with the Bear Creek Ward Choir.  Lots of music in both meetings and good talks, too.  It was a nice way to spend the Sunday before Christmas.


On Friday, the 19th, Sarah drove to Kansas City to pick up Kirsti and Ryan from the airport.  They are here through Saturday and we have been having a good time with them.  Steve took Monday and Tuesday off and we went up to Amish country Monday afternoon. 

 

Kirsti and Ryan helped decorate a gluten-free cookie house Monday morning. 
 
 
Tuesday morning, the four of us had breakfast at Bob Evans and we were served by the BEST SERVER IN THE WORLD (thanks, Sarah).

Steve and I have been doing assorted errands but we are trying to keep up with our morning routine - most importantly, walking the dogs.




We got a skiff of snow last Thursday and here are some photos from that morning walk

That is our home in the distance. 

Have a Merry Christmas, tomorrow!

The march to Christmas....

Week #2 of December was busy, of course.  But it was a fun kind of busy.  With my decision a few years back to simplify my gift giving, I have been able to enjoy other aspects of the Christmas season that I choose to participate in - making goodies, decorating the house, playing Christmas music in various settings.  This week was (and still is this evening) time to make yummy things.  Sugar cookies,
 

fudge, cream cheese mints, candied walnuts, cherry nut cookies, chocolate dipped nuts. 

We finished the house decor last Sunday evening by decorating the tree during the beautiful First Presidency devotional broadcast. 


Not having a cat this year (oh, Alfred...... sniff) meant I did not have to wire the tree to a permanent surface.  But, we do have a dog (Sarah's Bones) that thinks small decorative items are his chew toys so I have had to be extra vigilant to keep the rooms closed so he won't destroy the Charlie Brown nativity we keep on the cedar chest in our bedroom.  He did decide to conquer a poor little bird ornament on the tree so there were fake feathers and styrofoam scattered around the living room floor and I found Sadie chewing on the metal clip that he had left!  And, last Sunday, we found Trissy sitting on a dining table chair nibbling on Christmas cookies from a tray on the table!  She KNEW she was so bad that she fell off the chair when Steve discovered her.

We fed both sister and elder missionaries Monday night and we talked about the Church's "He Is The Gift" website.  http://www.mormon.org/christmas

Thursday was an awesome movie-watching day for me.  As I worked on gifts in the morning, I watched "Guardians of the Galaxy".  Why did I wait so long to see this film???  And, as I cleaned floors and baked cookies Thursday night, I watched "Knight and Day".  It was entertaining, if not ridiculously unbelievable.

I substituted for the freshman seminary class Friday morning and went straight from the church down to Rock Bridge because it was our day for the annual holiday taping.  This year, I was able to wrangle some winds and brass and percussion to play with us (it probably helped that the other orchestra teacher at RBHS this year is also the band director) and we performed "Trepak" from the Nutcracker Suite and "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" with a full orchestra.  To pull this performance off, we had an extra before-school rehearsal on Tuesday.  It is at those times that I wish it wasn't a twenty-minute drive one-way to get to Rock Bridge.  Sigh.  But, all the time and effort paid off and I think we sounded really good - definitely on the Trepak which just featured just the Chamber Orchestra.

Although I am not longer involved with the Oakland Middle School 8th grade orchestra, they needed some help on bass with one of the numbers they performed at their concert Wednesday night so I played with them.  Here I am with all that is left of the ensemble. 

Kiersten, Ashley, Destiny, Elijah, Erneisha, me, Gabriella, Kaylee

We started at the beginning of the year with thirteen and now the class has just eight.  So sad.

The ward Christmas party was Friday night.  First there was a lovely dinner catered by Golden Corral (how nice that the owner of Columbia's restaurant is a member of the church and belongs to our ward!).  Then, while each family worked on graham cracker houses, the Lambsons provided background music of Christmas carols.  (Steven, Tamara, Steve, me)
 

You have to know that this musician mother was thrilled when Steven approached me a month or so ago suggesting the idea.  And, in spite of the fact that he has not touched his rusty, beat up old trombone in years, he still has the chops.  Remarkable.  I think we sounded great.  And, then, once we finished playing, dear Steve, Sr. played Santa for the rest of the evening. 
 

Poor guy - he really didn't want to do this but they were pretty desperate having asked at least five other people already.  My hero.

RTO had a rehearsal Saturday afternoon in preparation for a nursing home performance next week and, finally, the Columbia Civic Orchestra is putting the finishing touches on their production this afternoon of "Amahl and the Night Visitors".  We had rehearsal Tuesday night and dress rehearsal last night.  It has been so fun to be a small participant.  Thanks to RBHS, CCO, and Pandora, my head is  full of Christmas music.  Just the best!

Look how the law library has decorated for the holidays!  Those are books.  

First week of Christmas

The first week of December is already passed on!  And I got a Christmas cold on Wednesday so I have tried to take it easy.  I hunkered under a cozy blanket Wednesday night (and watched The Amazing Spiderman II) and for much of Thursday morning.  After my group of lessons Thursday afternoon/evening (three students who pay for their lessons by cleaning.  I clean along side them so when all three come on a Thursday, it is a fairly intense three hours - but a nice clean house afterward) - anyway, I pulled out the blanket again and watched Captain America Winter Soldier.  But, amidst all my taking it easy has been some fairly intense activity - teaching, shopping, paying bills - so I am not sure my cold is getting better or getting worse.  Blaa.

All State orchestra auditions were yesterday - I had seven Rock Bridge students try out and three made it!  Arnold Chen got into the second violin section (this is his second year for All State) and Alice Yu got into the first violin section and Joanna Yu (no relation) is in the violas (she made alternate last year).  I am so proud of them and so sad that the other four students didn't get in because they, too, are wonderful musicians.  I was up on the MU campus with them from early morning until about 10:30 when the last one finished his audition.  I got to go home for a little bit before I had a Prairie Strings wedding to play.  And, then it was time to put Christmas decorations up all around the house which took until it was time for bed.  Steve spent his day baking tons of cookies for his annual gift to his co-workers.  When he wasn't wearing an apron, he was putting up outdoor lights or shopping or cleaning bathrooms.  We were both pretty tired out last night. 

The tree still needs to be decorated but we will do that tonight.  I will take a picture and post it.  Until then.....