I'm too fat. Seriously. I now weigh !@#$#@ pounds more than I did when I got married 30 years ago. I have had coronary artery disease for at least 7 years. It runs in my family and I am the youngest family member ever to have a heart attack. I was 39. (The next youngest was my Mom at 42. She passed away at 63 from a massive heart attack.) And yes, I was overweight then, but not near as much as I am now. I have several annoying problems that are exacerbated by my weight, and with my heart, I basically need to lose some serious tonnage or die. And since I recently became a grandmother, the tonnage must go.
So.
I am starting Weight Watchers Online this week, just as soon as I can get to the store and get some healthy vittles.
And I need your help. I will write here several times a week to keep you apprised of my progress or lack thereof. Your assignment is simple - keep checking in on me, maybe pray for me and write an encouraging comment.
My first goal is 25 pounds. I will give myself 12 weeks to do this. At that time, I will set my next goal, and so on. Please help me by praying and encouraging as I go from seriously overweight to fit and healthy.
Some obstacles I will face: my age - 46: I think my metabolism quit altogether years ago; my meds: I take a medication that is designed to keep my heart rate low, so it is very hard to elevate said heart rate when exercising; my thyroid: I am hypothyroid, and as you know that also slows the metabolism: and last but certainly not least: my appetite - I love food, and lots of it! I admit it, I just love food. There, it's out.
So now I have my assignment - follow Weight Watchers and exercise, and you have yours - pray and encourage.
Let's get to it.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Monday, October 19, 2009
Of Snow and Stage
Hi Everybody! I love potato chips! Just thought I'd get that out of the way right off the bat.
I had an interesting weekend. It started off Friday morning at 6:30 with our power going out and staying out for 20 hours. I hate snow. Can I say that? People who don't have to deal with it think it's this beautiful fluffy stuff that makes you feel all Christmas-y. My reality is it's this heavy, messy stuff that makes life harder.
We had an extremely early winter storm that started Thursday evening. Most people in our area just got rain or at most, a bit of slush. Here on the mountain in Haneyville, we got 6 inches of wet, heavy snow. And it did not quit snowing up here until Sunday morning. Many many trees went down because the leaves haven't all fallen off yet. In our yard, about a half dozen huge branches snapped off our maple tree.
Getting to work Friday morning was interesting. John had to take the van to work because he has a lot farther to go. So I got to drive the Miata 8 miles downhill to Waterville. I had stuffed the trunk full of cinderblocks and bricks the previous evening and I'm sure that helped a lot. The first several miles were precarious as I had to drive through slush and dodge downed trees on the road. About half way down the mountain, everything turned into rain, and here I am, pulling into the parking lot at McConnell's where I work, in a tiny sports car with piles of snow all over it. Did I mention that I hate snow?
Saturday evening, my brother Matt's band played at a bar in Waterville, so John and I went and hung out and listened for a few hours. My brother Matt is a fantastic guitar player. You won't find a better electric guitarist anywhere on the planet, I'm convinced.
Sunday, John and I and Mike and Bob packed up the instruments and headed down to Jerseytown, where there's a huge jam every third Sunday of the month. It's a lot of fun; you meet and play with other musicians, and there's a stage where the different bands sign up for stage time and take turns performing. That's the main reason why we went, to get stage experience. So we practiced in a side room, and we played with some other musicians for a while, and then we were on stage at 3. And it went very well! Performing on stage is like the funnest thing in the world for me. Especially with John and Mike and Bob. BTW, our band is called "Partners In Time". And we have a gig! I'm so excited! And some folks who were listening to us at Jerseytown got our info and might book us for a party!! Can you tell I'm a little excited? The guys and me decided that we're ready to be serious about this band thing and we just started trying to book gigs, so this little beginning is a huge thing for us. All I know is, we've been playing together for about ten years now; it's about time we share it and profit from it!
Okay, total change of subject: John's achilles tendon is coming along. He is now on one crutch and is actually back to work at Hawbaker headquarters in Monoursville in the transportation office. He has many restrictions still, so a sedentary job is all he can do for now, but we're grateful for the progress he's made. A word to the wise: Don't ever sever your achilles tendon. It's a horrible, painful thing that takes a LLLOOONNGGGGG time to heal. The one good thing about it is that with my Beloved being home, we got to spend a LOT of time together, and it has been so good for us. We never ever wanna be apart again if we can help it. Which leads to the subject of finishing my education. We are both dedicated to getting my degree in Commercial Music. So hopefully, come next August, I'll be back in Levelland taking classes. We comfort ourselves that it's only four months at a time to be apart. *Sigh*
Some family news: Leah lives in Minneapolis now. She is teaching and going to grad school at University of MInnesota and she loves it. Emmy is in her junior year at Lycoming college and is a teaching assistant to the German 101 professor. Charlie is just finishing up his paving season and is looking forward to some time off over the winter. They're all doing well and I am so proud of them.
That's it for now, folks. I realize this is a huge blog entry, but as I can't seem to blog very often, I guess I have a lot to say! I hope you enjoy this little window into my life.
Bye for now,
The Sparrow
I had an interesting weekend. It started off Friday morning at 6:30 with our power going out and staying out for 20 hours. I hate snow. Can I say that? People who don't have to deal with it think it's this beautiful fluffy stuff that makes you feel all Christmas-y. My reality is it's this heavy, messy stuff that makes life harder.
We had an extremely early winter storm that started Thursday evening. Most people in our area just got rain or at most, a bit of slush. Here on the mountain in Haneyville, we got 6 inches of wet, heavy snow. And it did not quit snowing up here until Sunday morning. Many many trees went down because the leaves haven't all fallen off yet. In our yard, about a half dozen huge branches snapped off our maple tree.
Getting to work Friday morning was interesting. John had to take the van to work because he has a lot farther to go. So I got to drive the Miata 8 miles downhill to Waterville. I had stuffed the trunk full of cinderblocks and bricks the previous evening and I'm sure that helped a lot. The first several miles were precarious as I had to drive through slush and dodge downed trees on the road. About half way down the mountain, everything turned into rain, and here I am, pulling into the parking lot at McConnell's where I work, in a tiny sports car with piles of snow all over it. Did I mention that I hate snow?
Saturday evening, my brother Matt's band played at a bar in Waterville, so John and I went and hung out and listened for a few hours. My brother Matt is a fantastic guitar player. You won't find a better electric guitarist anywhere on the planet, I'm convinced.
Sunday, John and I and Mike and Bob packed up the instruments and headed down to Jerseytown, where there's a huge jam every third Sunday of the month. It's a lot of fun; you meet and play with other musicians, and there's a stage where the different bands sign up for stage time and take turns performing. That's the main reason why we went, to get stage experience. So we practiced in a side room, and we played with some other musicians for a while, and then we were on stage at 3. And it went very well! Performing on stage is like the funnest thing in the world for me. Especially with John and Mike and Bob. BTW, our band is called "Partners In Time". And we have a gig! I'm so excited! And some folks who were listening to us at Jerseytown got our info and might book us for a party!! Can you tell I'm a little excited? The guys and me decided that we're ready to be serious about this band thing and we just started trying to book gigs, so this little beginning is a huge thing for us. All I know is, we've been playing together for about ten years now; it's about time we share it and profit from it!
Okay, total change of subject: John's achilles tendon is coming along. He is now on one crutch and is actually back to work at Hawbaker headquarters in Monoursville in the transportation office. He has many restrictions still, so a sedentary job is all he can do for now, but we're grateful for the progress he's made. A word to the wise: Don't ever sever your achilles tendon. It's a horrible, painful thing that takes a LLLOOONNGGGGG time to heal. The one good thing about it is that with my Beloved being home, we got to spend a LOT of time together, and it has been so good for us. We never ever wanna be apart again if we can help it. Which leads to the subject of finishing my education. We are both dedicated to getting my degree in Commercial Music. So hopefully, come next August, I'll be back in Levelland taking classes. We comfort ourselves that it's only four months at a time to be apart. *Sigh*
Some family news: Leah lives in Minneapolis now. She is teaching and going to grad school at University of MInnesota and she loves it. Emmy is in her junior year at Lycoming college and is a teaching assistant to the German 101 professor. Charlie is just finishing up his paving season and is looking forward to some time off over the winter. They're all doing well and I am so proud of them.
That's it for now, folks. I realize this is a huge blog entry, but as I can't seem to blog very often, I guess I have a lot to say! I hope you enjoy this little window into my life.
Bye for now,
The Sparrow
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
A Tale of Desperation
Howdy Y'all: Wanna hear why I was 2 hours late for work last Tuesday? Three reasons: 1. Drugs, 2. Breaking and Entering, and 3. Cute Cute Duckies.
No, really!
See, we needed a prescrip that very day, so I had it all planned out: I was gonna get to the pharmacy as soon as it opened, get my prescrip filled, and then be back to Waterville in time for work at 10 am. So, I went out the door at 8:30, and you know that sinking feeling you get sometimes when you know you just did something incredibly stupid, but you're not yet sure what it was, and the consequences are roaring at you like a freight train going downhill? Well, it took me about a half a second to realize that, for the first time EVER, I locked myself out of the house with no keys. And see, if me and Hubby wouldn't be so neurotic, that would've been no problem because we would have had a key hidden somewhere outside. But, no. It couldn't be that easy.
So I stood on my porch for an hour (well, maybe 3 minutes), knowing that every window was locked (dang that neurosis!), knowing that I was going to check them all anyway. So I did. And then I dragged our 20 ft. ladder from behind the garden fence (totally forgetting that there was a much shorter and lighter one in the shed) over to the house and tried to lift it up so I could check the second floor windows, which I knew were also locked. Well, I say tried, because that bugger was so heavy, I couldn't get it where I needed it to be. And after the fact, I was glad because I surely would have fallen off, just because I'm me, and incurred serious injury and laid there all day and half the night till John got home from work and found my cold, dead face frozen into a scream of outrage. I really didn't want that to be his last memory of me.
So God, in His mercy, led me to breaking and entering. Yes, I'm afraid I used the handle of my rake to break a pane of glass out of my lovely 9-paned (now 8 glass and one Life cereal box and duct tape) back door. It was kind of thrilling in an illicit, I-Feel-Like-A-Cat-Burglar kind of way. It was ridiculously easy, and ridiculously messy. But I got in, darn it! and that's what makes me the winner (anybody remember that song?).
So, on to the pharmacy, after a quick stop at McConnell's Country Store (see, Glenn, I'm making up for my tardiness by plugging your good establishment) whereupon I informed my dear friend and co-worker Barb that I was going to be late. She took the news graciously, no doubt relieved to be spared my noisy and exuberant presence that much longer.
So, on to the pharmacy (I know I already said that, but I felt it needed to be re-iterated), where I waited for 45 MINUTES! for my prescrip. I walked out to my car, and lo and behold there were ducks (I bet you were all wondering where the cute cute duckies came in! You thought I made it up, didn't you) sitting behind said vehicle. There were three of them, a female and 2 male mallards. They started toward me in the vain hope that I would throw them something to eat. Alas, I had nothing that a duck would consider edible. So I tried to gently shoo them away, but I think their little ducky minds interpreted my shooing gestures as "Hey! Be Attentive! Food is forthcoming!" and they kept coming towards me. And I couldn't shake them off! Not that I tried overly hard, because they really were cute and I was hoping that I could get close enough to pet them. (Sorry, Glenn, but you know when cute critters come in the picture, all thoughts of work leave my brain.) They finally got tired of waiting for food, and blew me off, waddling away in search of a more generous soul than I. And, in case you're wondering, there's a huge duck pond right not too far from the pharmacy, so that's why I wasn't all that worried about them. I knew where they came from.
So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Have a good day.
Till Next Time,
The Sparrow
PS: My still-neurotic Hubby and myself screwed the door shut, just in case you were thinking felonious thoughts, so it now doesn't open at all, and no, we still haven't put a key outside.
No, really!
See, we needed a prescrip that very day, so I had it all planned out: I was gonna get to the pharmacy as soon as it opened, get my prescrip filled, and then be back to Waterville in time for work at 10 am. So, I went out the door at 8:30, and you know that sinking feeling you get sometimes when you know you just did something incredibly stupid, but you're not yet sure what it was, and the consequences are roaring at you like a freight train going downhill? Well, it took me about a half a second to realize that, for the first time EVER, I locked myself out of the house with no keys. And see, if me and Hubby wouldn't be so neurotic, that would've been no problem because we would have had a key hidden somewhere outside. But, no. It couldn't be that easy.
So I stood on my porch for an hour (well, maybe 3 minutes), knowing that every window was locked (dang that neurosis!), knowing that I was going to check them all anyway. So I did. And then I dragged our 20 ft. ladder from behind the garden fence (totally forgetting that there was a much shorter and lighter one in the shed) over to the house and tried to lift it up so I could check the second floor windows, which I knew were also locked. Well, I say tried, because that bugger was so heavy, I couldn't get it where I needed it to be. And after the fact, I was glad because I surely would have fallen off, just because I'm me, and incurred serious injury and laid there all day and half the night till John got home from work and found my cold, dead face frozen into a scream of outrage. I really didn't want that to be his last memory of me.
So God, in His mercy, led me to breaking and entering. Yes, I'm afraid I used the handle of my rake to break a pane of glass out of my lovely 9-paned (now 8 glass and one Life cereal box and duct tape) back door. It was kind of thrilling in an illicit, I-Feel-Like-A-Cat-Burglar kind of way. It was ridiculously easy, and ridiculously messy. But I got in, darn it! and that's what makes me the winner (anybody remember that song?).
So, on to the pharmacy, after a quick stop at McConnell's Country Store (see, Glenn, I'm making up for my tardiness by plugging your good establishment) whereupon I informed my dear friend and co-worker Barb that I was going to be late. She took the news graciously, no doubt relieved to be spared my noisy and exuberant presence that much longer.
So, on to the pharmacy (I know I already said that, but I felt it needed to be re-iterated), where I waited for 45 MINUTES! for my prescrip. I walked out to my car, and lo and behold there were ducks (I bet you were all wondering where the cute cute duckies came in! You thought I made it up, didn't you) sitting behind said vehicle. There were three of them, a female and 2 male mallards. They started toward me in the vain hope that I would throw them something to eat. Alas, I had nothing that a duck would consider edible. So I tried to gently shoo them away, but I think their little ducky minds interpreted my shooing gestures as "Hey! Be Attentive! Food is forthcoming!" and they kept coming towards me. And I couldn't shake them off! Not that I tried overly hard, because they really were cute and I was hoping that I could get close enough to pet them. (Sorry, Glenn, but you know when cute critters come in the picture, all thoughts of work leave my brain.) They finally got tired of waiting for food, and blew me off, waddling away in search of a more generous soul than I. And, in case you're wondering, there's a huge duck pond right not too far from the pharmacy, so that's why I wasn't all that worried about them. I knew where they came from.
So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Have a good day.
Till Next Time,
The Sparrow
PS: My still-neurotic Hubby and myself screwed the door shut, just in case you were thinking felonious thoughts, so it now doesn't open at all, and no, we still haven't put a key outside.
Friday, January 16, 2009
In Which The Sparrow Waxes Eloquent About Her Beloved's Band...and Other Things
Hi Everyone!
I'm sitting here in Laura Orshaw's living room listening to Sweetwater practice. I hate their bass player. But only because he's classically trained and one of the best bass players I've ever heard, including Mark Schatz. I could listen to him for HOURS!!! I'll never be that good, only because I'm too lazy to practice as much as I should (I can't believe I'm saying this in front of my teachers!)
It is so good to hear my Beloved play music with a group - he practices by himself hours and hours and hours almost every day. (Well, since I've been home, he's had quite a honey-do list, so that cuts into his music time.) And such musicians! Besides the super bass player that I love/hate, there's Laura, who plays fiddle and sings, Adam on the mando, Cory on guitar, and Ian on banjo. And they're all pretty fantastic. I hate them all. (Not) You can check them out on MySpace (Sweetwater Bluegrass) and I think they have a couple of videos on YouTube as well.
I'm not going back to school this semester. I am bummed, because I LOVE school and will miss all my friends there, and I am happy because my Beloved and I get to spend tons of time together - for the first time in almost 29 years, we will be living by ourselves! We actually really enjoy each other's company, so we are looking forward to the next few months.
One thing that I learned about myself these past 2 semesters being in Texas without my hubby - I LOVE him so much! Well, it's not so much something that I learned; more like something that was confirmed. And he realized the same thing about me. I know it sounds kind of ominous that we had forgotten how much we love each other, but you have to remember, we've been married since I was 15 years old. And that whole time, we've been raising a family and then providing pastoral care to a lot of people and it all took its toll on us. Wrongly, most of those years were spent putting our relationship LAST, and the last 2 years the cracks were just getting wider.
SO - these next 8 months, our only concern is going to be US. We're reconnecting as a couple, we're going to spend more time with our kids and our extended family and our good old friends. And we're going to work real hard on getting our house sold, so we can go back to Texas together.
So be warned, Texas people, I'm coming back in August, and I'm bringing Trouble with me:-)
Meanwhile - music teachers pay attention - Trouble (better known as my Beloved) will not let me be a musical slacker. For some odd reason, he thinks I should practice every day, and he frequently sits by and makes sure I do it! Darn his gnarly hide! Hopefully, though, I will know how to apply a lot of the theory I learned last semester by the time I return to school. John, AKA Trouble, AKA my Beloved, is a crack theorist and oftens speaks in musical babble. But he's also good at patiently explaining and showing me exactly what he's babbling about. So I don't know, Kirk!, I may keep up with you after all.
Till Next Time,
The Sparrow
I'm sitting here in Laura Orshaw's living room listening to Sweetwater practice. I hate their bass player. But only because he's classically trained and one of the best bass players I've ever heard, including Mark Schatz. I could listen to him for HOURS!!! I'll never be that good, only because I'm too lazy to practice as much as I should (I can't believe I'm saying this in front of my teachers!)
It is so good to hear my Beloved play music with a group - he practices by himself hours and hours and hours almost every day. (Well, since I've been home, he's had quite a honey-do list, so that cuts into his music time.) And such musicians! Besides the super bass player that I love/hate, there's Laura, who plays fiddle and sings, Adam on the mando, Cory on guitar, and Ian on banjo. And they're all pretty fantastic. I hate them all. (Not) You can check them out on MySpace (Sweetwater Bluegrass) and I think they have a couple of videos on YouTube as well.
I'm not going back to school this semester. I am bummed, because I LOVE school and will miss all my friends there, and I am happy because my Beloved and I get to spend tons of time together - for the first time in almost 29 years, we will be living by ourselves! We actually really enjoy each other's company, so we are looking forward to the next few months.
One thing that I learned about myself these past 2 semesters being in Texas without my hubby - I LOVE him so much! Well, it's not so much something that I learned; more like something that was confirmed. And he realized the same thing about me. I know it sounds kind of ominous that we had forgotten how much we love each other, but you have to remember, we've been married since I was 15 years old. And that whole time, we've been raising a family and then providing pastoral care to a lot of people and it all took its toll on us. Wrongly, most of those years were spent putting our relationship LAST, and the last 2 years the cracks were just getting wider.
SO - these next 8 months, our only concern is going to be US. We're reconnecting as a couple, we're going to spend more time with our kids and our extended family and our good old friends. And we're going to work real hard on getting our house sold, so we can go back to Texas together.
So be warned, Texas people, I'm coming back in August, and I'm bringing Trouble with me:-)
Meanwhile - music teachers pay attention - Trouble (better known as my Beloved) will not let me be a musical slacker. For some odd reason, he thinks I should practice every day, and he frequently sits by and makes sure I do it! Darn his gnarly hide! Hopefully, though, I will know how to apply a lot of the theory I learned last semester by the time I return to school. John, AKA Trouble, AKA my Beloved, is a crack theorist and oftens speaks in musical babble. But he's also good at patiently explaining and showing me exactly what he's babbling about. So I don't know, Kirk!, I may keep up with you after all.
Till Next Time,
The Sparrow
Monday, October 27, 2008
In Which The Sparrow Brings You Up To Speed...
Howdy Y'all: Sorry it's been so long since my last post. I didn't realize that so much water had gone under the bridge. Time's sure fun when you're having flies!
Some things that have changed since my last post: I had to drop 2 of my ensembles, so now I'm in a Bluegrass ensemble and a country ensemble. I did not realize it, but I accidently signed up for 27 hours worth of credits!!! What an idjit, but now I'm down to 20.
It's hard to believe that there's only 6 weeks left of the semester. Yikes! I have so much work to do!
I LOVE playing electric bass. I feel like a rock star! Only thing is, I can't quite whip my head around like a rock bassist should. I tried it once and just about put myself in the hospital. I couldn't look to the left for a week, which was really annoying because I could only make right turns. Also, there's too much hairspray in my hair for it to fly around correctly, so I must content myself with a somewhat subdued version of my rock star fantasy. But I still have fun, nonetheless.
Anyhow, country ensemble is lots of fun. I get to play bass on most of the songs, I sing lead on Walkin' After Midnight, and I get to sing back-up on Idabel Blues. Everyone in my ensemble is so talented, and my teacher is very good at bringing out the performer in us all. It's great.
Bluegrass ensemble is great, too. My teacher, Beth, is a world class banjo player so it's always great doing music with her. And we have a young fiddle player, Casey, and an experienced rhythym guitarist named Brian. It's kind of nice with only the four of us because we all get to have a greater part in all the songs.
My dog Howdy had some health issues that had me concerned for a couple of weeks, but thanks to the good folks at the College Ave. Vet Clinic, she's doing very well now. She was getting so gimpy with her arthritis and she was having some allergy issues, but thanks to the fact that a boxer thought she was a doggy treat, I was able to get all that taken care of. Yes, dear Godiva, my roommate's fiance's deaf boxer, tried to eat my poor baby dog one evening which resulted in some swelling and some broken blood vessels in Howdy's eye. So I took her to the vet, got her a cortisone shot and an antibiotic, and now she's like a whole 'nuther dog. She still sleeps a lot (she is 14, after all), but she's not itching and her arthritis doesn't seem to hurt her as much. So, thank you, Godiva. You're a sweetheart and I love you, but please don't do that again. Dogs will be dogs!
My Beloved is now on his seasonal lay-off, which means he will get to spend hours and hours a day on his music. Yay! He really loves doing that. I'm happy for him. He's such a talented guy. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, his Bluegrass band, Sweetwater played at a Cherryholmes gig and got some positive feedback.
Well, that's it for now, y'all. Hopefully, I won't let too much time go by before the next post.
Oh, did I tell you, my Beloved is coming to see me in December!
Till next time,
The Sparrow
Some things that have changed since my last post: I had to drop 2 of my ensembles, so now I'm in a Bluegrass ensemble and a country ensemble. I did not realize it, but I accidently signed up for 27 hours worth of credits!!! What an idjit, but now I'm down to 20.
It's hard to believe that there's only 6 weeks left of the semester. Yikes! I have so much work to do!
I LOVE playing electric bass. I feel like a rock star! Only thing is, I can't quite whip my head around like a rock bassist should. I tried it once and just about put myself in the hospital. I couldn't look to the left for a week, which was really annoying because I could only make right turns. Also, there's too much hairspray in my hair for it to fly around correctly, so I must content myself with a somewhat subdued version of my rock star fantasy. But I still have fun, nonetheless.
Anyhow, country ensemble is lots of fun. I get to play bass on most of the songs, I sing lead on Walkin' After Midnight, and I get to sing back-up on Idabel Blues. Everyone in my ensemble is so talented, and my teacher is very good at bringing out the performer in us all. It's great.
Bluegrass ensemble is great, too. My teacher, Beth, is a world class banjo player so it's always great doing music with her. And we have a young fiddle player, Casey, and an experienced rhythym guitarist named Brian. It's kind of nice with only the four of us because we all get to have a greater part in all the songs.
My dog Howdy had some health issues that had me concerned for a couple of weeks, but thanks to the good folks at the College Ave. Vet Clinic, she's doing very well now. She was getting so gimpy with her arthritis and she was having some allergy issues, but thanks to the fact that a boxer thought she was a doggy treat, I was able to get all that taken care of. Yes, dear Godiva, my roommate's fiance's deaf boxer, tried to eat my poor baby dog one evening which resulted in some swelling and some broken blood vessels in Howdy's eye. So I took her to the vet, got her a cortisone shot and an antibiotic, and now she's like a whole 'nuther dog. She still sleeps a lot (she is 14, after all), but she's not itching and her arthritis doesn't seem to hurt her as much. So, thank you, Godiva. You're a sweetheart and I love you, but please don't do that again. Dogs will be dogs!
My Beloved is now on his seasonal lay-off, which means he will get to spend hours and hours a day on his music. Yay! He really loves doing that. I'm happy for him. He's such a talented guy. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, his Bluegrass band, Sweetwater played at a Cherryholmes gig and got some positive feedback.
Well, that's it for now, y'all. Hopefully, I won't let too much time go by before the next post.
Oh, did I tell you, my Beloved is coming to see me in December!
Till next time,
The Sparrow
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Well, It's About Time...
Howdy Y'all! Here I am in Levelland again. I've been here a little over a week, and a routine is starting to emerge out of the chaos. After a very LLLOOONNNGGG but thankfully uneventful drive, I arrived at the house on Cherry Street where I am living this year. It's a cute little place, white with yellow trim and a very nice yard. Nice big rooms and very airy on the inside. Howdy is settling in and starting to eat regularly again; she had me worried there for a few days, but I guess she had some adjusting to do.
So - school is wonderful! I am just continually amazed at how much fun it is. I LOVE learning stuff! My classes are so interesting: I have a songwriting class, which is fairly self-explanatory. I have a class called modern performance techniques, which teaches about stagecraft: how to act and what to wear on stage. It also teaches about how to maintain a healthy lifestyle so you can be the best musician/artist you can be. I have a music theory class, which sounds like a dry subject, but in only 2 classes so far, I have already had several 'aha!' moments. And I have a class that teaches about the roots of Bluegrass. We watched a documentary on Bill Monroe which was fairly interesting.
Oh, and guess what! I can hardly stand it, I am so excited! I have the opportunity to learn electric bass! Yes, I am going to play electric bass for a country ensemble! haHA! I am also in a jazz ensemble and two bluegrass ensembles. I am busier than a one-armed paper-hanging banjo player (har). But I figure that's what I'm here for, and can you imagine how much I'm going to learn and improve? I am thankful for every bit of it.
That's it for now.
Till next time,
The Sparrow
So - school is wonderful! I am just continually amazed at how much fun it is. I LOVE learning stuff! My classes are so interesting: I have a songwriting class, which is fairly self-explanatory. I have a class called modern performance techniques, which teaches about stagecraft: how to act and what to wear on stage. It also teaches about how to maintain a healthy lifestyle so you can be the best musician/artist you can be. I have a music theory class, which sounds like a dry subject, but in only 2 classes so far, I have already had several 'aha!' moments. And I have a class that teaches about the roots of Bluegrass. We watched a documentary on Bill Monroe which was fairly interesting.
Oh, and guess what! I can hardly stand it, I am so excited! I have the opportunity to learn electric bass! Yes, I am going to play electric bass for a country ensemble! haHA! I am also in a jazz ensemble and two bluegrass ensembles. I am busier than a one-armed paper-hanging banjo player (har). But I figure that's what I'm here for, and can you imagine how much I'm going to learn and improve? I am thankful for every bit of it.
That's it for now.
Till next time,
The Sparrow
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Howdy Y'all: I'm sitting here this morning drinking coffee and reading The Revolution by Ron Paul and thinking that I should write something on my blog. Here it is the middle of summer already, and where the days are going, I have no idea.
My beloved is ailing, having hurt his back at work yesterday. He is a very strong and active man, a hard worker, and this kind of thing is an unwelcome reminder that he isn't 20 years old anymore. Hopefully, it's just a muscle injury that will heal in a relatively short amount of time.
Two of my babies are here in the house with me! Leah arrived home safely from Germany the day before yesterday. Noah and I went to Philly to pick her up from the airport. You can't imagine ( or maybe you can) the sheer delight of seeing my baby's beautiful face after almost 11 months. She looks healthy and tan and happy and has regaled us with many amusing and interesting details about Germany, and now she is trying to reset her body clock to the six hour time difference from Dresden.
Emmy drove up here to the mountain to be with us overnight. There's nothing I love more than sitting around with my kids, talking and joking and carrying on. She has made her mother's (and father's) musician heart so glad these past couple of weeks. First off, she loves bluegrass! She came with us to the Smoked Country Jam festival, and then last week surprised us by telling us that she has been faithfully practicing guitar and even written part of a song!
A word about our songwriting endeavors: For quite some time now, Emmy and I and several of our female aquaintances have decried the lack of 'murder' songs in Bluegrass which allow the female to be the perpetrator. Most all of them, and there are many, wax eloquent about the man murdering the woman. Well, we decided to do our part to solve this inequity. Not that we are overly feminist or politically correct or anything. Mostly, we judge folks based on their own individual merits and don't believe in favoritism based on gender or race. So anyway, Emmy, and our young sister-friend Rhianna and myself wrote a FANTASTIC murder song, which basically says that guys should not do their women wrong or they could end up as fertilizer. Haha, piqued your interest, haven't I? When I first sang the song to my beloved, he said, " That's creepy! You make me nervous!" Which I answered with semi-maniacal laughter.
SO, Emmy's half-finished song is a TRUE story of murder (in self-defense) that originates from our little hometown of Rauchtown (pronounced ROCK-town) that probably happened sometime in the 20's or 30's. There were 2 spinster sisters that lived by themselves on a little secluded farm, who actually killed a traveling salesman and disposed of his body and he was never found. The story is that he terrorized and tried to rape them, but the sisters turned the tables somehow and killed him. So my baby is writing a song about that incident, as told to her by her grandfather. Mother is so proud:-)
Alas, I must get ready for work. So, people, this is my midsummer offering to Sparrow Soars. I hope you are having a wonderful summer and DO NOT forget to take time to enjoy yourself! Life goes by too fast to work it all away.
Till next time,
The Sparrow
My beloved is ailing, having hurt his back at work yesterday. He is a very strong and active man, a hard worker, and this kind of thing is an unwelcome reminder that he isn't 20 years old anymore. Hopefully, it's just a muscle injury that will heal in a relatively short amount of time.
Two of my babies are here in the house with me! Leah arrived home safely from Germany the day before yesterday. Noah and I went to Philly to pick her up from the airport. You can't imagine ( or maybe you can) the sheer delight of seeing my baby's beautiful face after almost 11 months. She looks healthy and tan and happy and has regaled us with many amusing and interesting details about Germany, and now she is trying to reset her body clock to the six hour time difference from Dresden.
Emmy drove up here to the mountain to be with us overnight. There's nothing I love more than sitting around with my kids, talking and joking and carrying on. She has made her mother's (and father's) musician heart so glad these past couple of weeks. First off, she loves bluegrass! She came with us to the Smoked Country Jam festival, and then last week surprised us by telling us that she has been faithfully practicing guitar and even written part of a song!
A word about our songwriting endeavors: For quite some time now, Emmy and I and several of our female aquaintances have decried the lack of 'murder' songs in Bluegrass which allow the female to be the perpetrator. Most all of them, and there are many, wax eloquent about the man murdering the woman. Well, we decided to do our part to solve this inequity. Not that we are overly feminist or politically correct or anything. Mostly, we judge folks based on their own individual merits and don't believe in favoritism based on gender or race. So anyway, Emmy, and our young sister-friend Rhianna and myself wrote a FANTASTIC murder song, which basically says that guys should not do their women wrong or they could end up as fertilizer. Haha, piqued your interest, haven't I? When I first sang the song to my beloved, he said, " That's creepy! You make me nervous!" Which I answered with semi-maniacal laughter.
SO, Emmy's half-finished song is a TRUE story of murder (in self-defense) that originates from our little hometown of Rauchtown (pronounced ROCK-town) that probably happened sometime in the 20's or 30's. There were 2 spinster sisters that lived by themselves on a little secluded farm, who actually killed a traveling salesman and disposed of his body and he was never found. The story is that he terrorized and tried to rape them, but the sisters turned the tables somehow and killed him. So my baby is writing a song about that incident, as told to her by her grandfather. Mother is so proud:-)
Alas, I must get ready for work. So, people, this is my midsummer offering to Sparrow Soars. I hope you are having a wonderful summer and DO NOT forget to take time to enjoy yourself! Life goes by too fast to work it all away.
Till next time,
The Sparrow
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