Anniversaries.....

So I know it's been a long time since I've put anything new up. And I mean to blog, I really do. I just don't always have things to say that are profound, or even relatively interesting.

But today is different and I thought it was noteworthy. We all have anniversaries of sorts, and not just the marriage kind. There's the anniversary of the first date, the first christmas, the first kiss. We celebrate birthdays, and lifetime achievements and milestones. Well, today is a milestone for me. Today was the one year anniversary of my father's death.

It has been a roller-coaster of a day on several different levels. I tried to completely forget that this was coming, and well, it just didn't work. My subconscious wouldn't let me forget and there were times this week I truly became anxious, wondering what today would be like for me.

So what was it like? It was sad. I kept myself very busy today (after all, I still have finals to give at school) and tried not to think of it. But it was in those quiet moments in the morning, and the down-times during class that it would sneak in. I thought about where I was at this time last year, and what I was doing. I thought about the last memories that I have of my dad and re-lived both the good times and the bad.

And while it was sad, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief and accomplishment at the same time. I have survived the first year! There are no more "firsts" without my dad. Everything after today has been done once before and I'm finding comfort in that. It was truly surreal for me to realize that I needed to acknowledge that accomplishment too.

So there it is. And now that the day is almost done, I'm thankful that it happened. It gave me time to reflect and re-live so much. I'm still feeling a bit melancholy and very very tired, but I feel more settled and at peace about things than I have for a long time.....

MMMM....Bread!

I am, without a doubt, a breadmaker extraordinaire!!! Ok, so maybe I shouldn't go that far, but seriously? The cinnamon raisin bread I made was awesome! It was like magic: I put the ingredients in the machine last night (in a particular order) and Abra Cadabra, Poof, Yummy smelling bread woke me up this morning at 9:30am...all in all, a very good morning :) I also made a second loaf for just me and the hubby and ended up giving the rest of the first loaf to my mom-in-law. She did let me borrow the breadmaker, after all. (and the second loaf is just as yummy as the first one was!).


Now onwards to the very few downsides: 1) It's a lot noisier than you're actually led to believe. I actually woke up at 6 this morning because the paddle in the bread pan had started the "kneading" phase. That, and the alarm that lets you know you can add the raisins in went off around then. Of course, I didn't need to add the raisins, because in the book it told me to put them in last night (around the outside of the breadpan, away from the yeast) since I was setting it up to delay the baking. Apparently there's no "I'm setting this for delay" button that will turn off the alarm...hehe.

So that was mildly annoying, but I ended up shutting the bedroom door as well as turning the thermostat down so the air kicked on. I was so hoping that the noise (the churning paddle and the raisin alarm) hadn't awakened my husband since he had to be up at the butt-crack of dawn for his church gig, but no such luck. I also thought that the air conditioning kicking on might mask the noise of the breadmaker, but I was informed this afternoon (on the way to meet the in-laws for lunch) that I'm now not allowed to make bread on the days that he has to be up early in the morning! hehe...I guess he didn't sleep very well after that. Live and learn I say...but how was I supposed to know how noisy it was??? I think the problem might also be that we live in a small one bedroom condo and the kitchen is pretty much right outside of our bedroom door.


Anyhoo, there is really only one other downside, and this pretty much only pertains to me..and because we live in said small condo. I don't have anywhere to store the breadmaker. Right now it's sitting on top of our stove and eventually we're going to need to use the stove...like tomorrow. I tried to find cupboard storage, but we're pretty packed into this place. I'll find someplace to put it, so we can manage, but I don't think the hubby will be up for getting a breadmaker of our own just yet. Ah well...at least I don't have to give this one back just yet!!!

Birthday Surprises and Bread.....

So I'll start with the Birthday Surprises :) I would have updated sooner, but I've been busy playing catch up for being gone for a long weekend :)

I made the 14 hour trip (driving, of course) to throw my mom a surprise 60th birthday party! It came at a good time (besides being about a week after her actual birthday), because she was getting a little down on herself. She's still getting over the radiation and lumpectomy surgery and finds that she's really tired al the time. Apparently she's been sleeping almost 16-18 hours a day and it's bugging her that this is happening and ruining her summer. So the party was not only a huge surprise, but a great pick-me-up!

I managed to plan this without her even suspecting and had the many people who couldn't be there send cards to my aunt's address. I had a few moments of panic when I thought she might have some idea, but I think I was just being paranoid, because the look on her face when she walked into the room and a little over 70 people (from all parts of mom's life) yelled surprise was TRULY priceless :) I think she was most surprised to see me, since I had kinda lied and talked to her about how I had just "given" a midterm the day before in Atlanta...hehe...I TOTALLY had her fooled!

Anyways, the food was fabulous--my friend Alexis did most of it, and the whole party turned out to be a huge success :) The best part? I got to spend the rest of the weekend at home with mom! It was definitely a long drive, but oh so worth it! I even got to see my senior year roomie and her husband in my stopover in Cleveland as well as another friend in Nashville on the way back.

So all in all, a good little trip with a great party!

Onwards to the bread....

After reading a post on my friend Deedle's blog about making fresh bread, I was truly intrigued. I looked into buying a breadmaker at the local goodwill...except there wasn't one. And, after looking at Target, it was just a bit too expensive....

So then, on a whim, I mentioned my interest to the mother-in-law today, and was amazed to find out she owned one...and then she offered to let me borrow hers so I could try it out before buying my own. How cool is that? My mother-in-law is great :) On top of that, she started giving me a bunch of ingredients I would need to make the cinnamon raisin bread that I wanted to try, and I only had to stop and get a few things she didn't have. So when I wake up tomorrow I should have some yummy cinnamon raisin bread!...unless something goes terribly wrong, but I guess we'll find out tomorrow :)

I'll update you once I find out how the experiment goes! Wish me luck!!

The 2008 Summer Olympics

Ok, so I have to start by saying that I've not always been around during the summers of Olympics. Some summers I've been abroad, others I've been working at some music camp (no surprise, really) but this summer, I'm excited to actually be home to watch the Olympics! I've always loved to try and tune in whenever possible, because I have to admit it, the Olympics FASCINATE me. I ADORE watching the gymnastics, espeically since I used to be a gymnast.

"What's that you say?" Yes, it's true. When I was young, I was really really into gymnastics...and then I turned 12 and reality hit. I realized then how NOT flexible I really was and I turned more towards music. ( smart move, I'd say!) And so I don't tend to pay much attention to beach volleyball/tennis/badminton, etc...but I like to watch gymnastics and swimming...or whatever I can catch on tv!

Ok, Back to the 2008 Olympics: I watched a bit last night after we finished recording the podcast and I truly saw champions compete when I watched the men's 4 X 100 relay. Now, I've never been the hugest fan of swimming, but It was AMAZING!!! And what made it better?? Perhaps it was watching men in speedo's slice through water so quickly? no, ohhhh no. It was watching the Americans kick French ass after said Frenchies were talking smack about smashing the Americans. Didn't they seem a bit quiet after they lost??? hehe...it was something to see, that's for sure! It gave me goosebumps to watch--I was so proud of our American team!!!

I did catch a bit of the gymnastics, at the end of the evening, but I missed the afternoon stuff due to recording...we had a bunch of people over to record our podcast, "Who Cares if You LIsten?" (ok, shameless self-plug...) Check us out at www.whocaresifyoulisten.com and you can subscribe to our podcast through iTunes!

So I'm going to end this by mentioning that it's taking me awhile to get it written because I'm watching the Olympics while typing! I just watched Michael Phelps (amazing swimmer) win his 9th career gold metal, though I think it's only his 3rd of this Olympics..and it was in the freestyle. And he just finished a minute ago winning the Men's 200 meter Butterfly semi-finals :) He's so much fun to watch swim :) I just can't believe he really has a 6 foot 7-inch wing span...or that they'd tell us that...

Now we're back to Gymnastics...it's the men...but even that's kinda fun to watch. I'm definitely going to tune in on Wednesday for the women's finals in Gymnastics!! I love the Summer Olympics!! Go Team USA!!!

Work, among other things....

So I guess I lied a little bit about updating as quickly as I thought I could--work got in the way!

Anyways, I had a FABULOUS time at Agatha's mystery dinner theater! It was a bit pricey, but well worth it!

The play we saw was called "Harry Plotter and the Half-Wit Princess".....so let's just say it was more of a comedy with a murder thrown in than anything else. Everyone had a part to play, which was cool, cuz I got to be Peter Panic!! Ok, so when we first walked in, they asked us which of us was the more outgoing, and (cough), after my hubby pointed to me, I was given this pretty cool part. And the part my husband received, well it was with about 50 other people...let's just call it the "chorus" part.

At any rate, it's definitely something we would do again for special occasions!

So that's about it for that. As for everything else, we're into week 4 in a 10 week term at the Art Institute and I'm not looking forward to making up those midterms and then grading them all! I've got to get everything set up for the sub (my hubby) to cover the classes while I'm out of town....I've got a relatively fun "event" coming up, but I will say no more, for fear of ruining a great surprise! I promise to blog about it once it's over with in a few weeks.

On another note...I have just realized some disappointing news. I really really wanted to go to my 10 year high school reunion this summer on Labor Day weekend (I know, I know...you're laughing at me) but, well, it turns out it's the same weekend as a film festival that my husband has gotten his recent short film entered into. I know I need to be there for family loyalty and all that. Plus, I can't exactly afford to come back to Buffalo for Labor Day weekend, (partly because of this upcoming "event") and I'm very sad about it. Stupid huh? I guess there's always the 20 year right?

Anniversaries.....

So I haven't updated in a few days because work has been really busy, but I thought I'd leave a little update. Today Alan and I are celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary! Actually we celebrated a bit last night by going out to the Melting Pot (a yummy fondue restaurant that we both love--Alan took me to the one in Nashville on the night he proposed) and we're going to Agatha's mystery dinner theater tomorrow night....I've always wanted to go, so I'm really excited about it! We are getting to celebrate twice because we can't actually go out tonight, and methinks the hubby feels a wee bit guilty about that!

I promise to give another update after the Agatha's mystery dinner theater...until then, I've got to go prep for my classes tomorrow..ughh.

And We're Off!

Not to the races, however. Today started the summer term at the Art Institute of Atlanta, but it felt like something of a race. I was excited for the start of the classes, but in order to get everything settled I had to visit three or four different offices on different floors...which felt a bit like I was racing around like a chicken with my head cut off. I think that they purposely send you around to see several different people, each one sending you back to the person you just saw...and the powers-that-be sit around laughing as they watch you scurry back-and-forth.

Anyways....I think I finally got most things settled! Class went well and I lucked out this term--the classes I teach are only on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday...so I get to have a few days off too! (Although I think I'm going to try to pick up a number of new students to supplement the income!)

Even though I'm getting used to teaching the summer quarters, I still feel weird, because it seems like I should still be on vacation.....

I guess that's what happens when you teach semesters at colleges and then only teach certain weeks of the summer! Ah well....

I'm quite proud of myself though because I had a goal to cook more once we got settled in one city and it's going well so far! I'm trying to find a good local farmer's market (thanks to Deedle!) and I say good, because I'm having a bit of trouble on that score. I managed to find a really neat international farmer's market pretty close to the condo, but I didn't really have a good experience there. Maybe I'll try it again in a few weeks, but I've got a couple of other options to try first (and they're even closer to our condo than the international place.)

I'm also trying to grow some of my own vegetables! My violin/fiddle students gave me a large pot of herbs with a tomato and a pepper plant as a going away present before I left Nashville. I ended up transplanting the tomato plant into its own pot and bought another cherry tomato plant (which I like better than regular tomatoes) and a bell pepper plant. It's something of an experiment to see if I can grow things successfully, but so far I've already gotten a nice banana pepper from the plant my students gave me! I'm hoping that perhaps by August or early September I'll have some tomatoes and bell peppers too!

So that's the news here...I wish it was more exciting....alas I'll try to spice it up in the next post!