Say what?

Well, it's happened again - I've been tagged and Oh.My.G*d. in the worst way! Amber - the wild woman from that place in NM I can NEVER spell (Alba - quirky) hath tagged me.  Well here goes: You take a quick pic of yerself - no running to the bathroom to put on makeup,  no combing your hair, no nothing and put it up on your blog.  Then, you link back to the cursed sod you tagged you and tag three other poor unsuspecting dweebs like yourself.

Ladies and Germs, there is a reason I don't leave the house without makeup (unless there's a choir rehearsal going on) and the picture above is why. I am an Old Lady - a Mean Old Lady, according to my kids when they were growing up - and my sins show on my face.  Seriously.  No need for a portrait of a rotting corpse-like visage in my attic! Nope - it's out there for all the world to see.  So let's see, I've already pissed off Helen - so I think I ought to "leave her be" - and I figured I'd tag people who have their pics out there anyway, so I'm tagging three people who aren't half as scary-looking as I am in the morning: Joanna, Maura, and Rebecca and I'm adding a new twist: if you are concerned about privacy or safety, put someone else's picture up there, LOL:)

Now I have a query for anyone of you 3.5 readers who plays a woodwind instrument.  I am

hoping this problem is not insurmountable.  I have this beautiful flute  - French style (holes in some of the keys), with a b foot, so it goes down a half step more than the average C flute.  It sits in a case that is appropriately sized for the extra key it must accomodate.  All that's just terrific.   It has been a challenge getting a decent tone with

 my clumsy fingers trying to cover those holes and getting back into music "shape" as it were from years of not practicing, but that's fine.  I'll play as well as I can and enjoy what little I can do.  But it appears that the case the flute was in has mildewed or something like that and when I practice there's a terrible taste in my mouth later.  This has never happened to me before with the previous 2 flutes I've had, so I didn't quite know what to do about it.  At first I simply left the flute out of the case, cleaned it religiously after every use and hoped for the best.  It didn't really work too well, because it still has that smell/taste.  So, I think I have to get rid of the case and perhaps give the flute a thorough perhaps professional cleaning???  Any of you professionals out there have any idea?? Am I crazy? Am I inhaling mold?  That would really really be a terrible shame, because I'm just getting back to Bach (sorry, bad pun...) Thanks in

advance for whatever advice you can give me.

February Lady for an April baby.  

April, 1979 that is! Am still plugging away at the FLS for D- my second eldest who turned 30 last week - yes, people, it's true - I am now officially OLD - with two kids over thirty.  She's good with the color and I did knit a few extra (about 10) rounds of garter before starting the lace pattern.  D is not chubby like her mother (see above monstrous photo), but she is very tall - about 5' 12" as we like to say among our womenfolk. Only B, the next sister down in age, is taller at 5'13":)

And they both have the long legs to prove it - unlike their Pillsbury Doughmom, LOL! So now I'm getting ready to put the sleeve stitches on holders and move on down the body - at least it's lace stitches and a little easier to do.

Catching up....

Sorry I haven't been posting as much lately - last week kind of took the stuffing out of me. But I'm ready to fight back again against the forces of evil - like granulated sugar, Republicans and the Taliban (ooh, that was harsh - I insulted the Taliban!).

I have done a few things since last I posted.  Let's see, court on Thursday was intense but good - with a Master I admire for his hard work and the fact that he really gets kids. Not that I don't appreciate the other ones - I really do.  Choir practice was the first time in a while that we really got into the Bach Cantata No. 4 (Christ Lag' in Todesbanden).  We split up  - Altos and Tenors downstairs and Sops and Basses in the choir loft - then back upstairs to see if we'd learnt anything.  I was so encouraged to see how well the choir was pronouncing their German! The really really cool thing about Nancy is she has absolutely no vanity whatsoever - if someone in the group knows something she is not as comfortable with, she lets them have at it.  I think that's why she's developed such a large number of contacts/friends/colleagues in the music community - she lets others shine.  Whenever there's a question about German pronunciation, she asks Susan (the other German speaker) and me about it.  And boy, is she a quick study! I imagine her teachers in school must have loved her - she's so diligent and picks things up so quickly.  Similarly with the choir.  Nobody grumbled at learning this - although I'm sure they weren't thrilled to do so. I am so proud of everyone for giving this their best shot.  Again, it's a group of better musicians than I, so whatever I can contribute, I'm happy to do so.

We are having four extra Saturday rehearsals - they are "drop ins" - come when you can for as long as you can - from mid morning to mid-afternoon.   This Saturday's was terrific! I learned so much! Nancy goes through all the rough spots and plays them for us and we sing along with a recording and go over those rough spots until we get them.  I actually find those rehearsals to be the best ones because we can go over individual tough places that we wouldn't ordinarily do in the regular choir practices.  Also, there's a lot of laughter and fun and we really have a good time.

Afterwards, Barry, Nancy and I went to lunch at a local chinese buffet and the laughter continued.

Then it was time to head back - Barry to his Saturday errands, me to figure out what mine were going to be and Nancy to an evening wedding.  But a good time was had by all.

While it was going on, I kept thinking of Paul and Cindy and Kevin and the fact that the memorial service was happening as I was in the midst of life.  Strangely, in my bones, I felt that the joy I had that afternoon was the right thing to do.  I needed the strength that only friends can give you. I also intend to be that strength for my friends in NH as the weeks and months of their grief - and joy for the wonderful son they had- continue.

Yesterday was hot hot hot - too hot to walk.  The temp went past 90 degrees F and there's not much hope of it cooling off until Wednesday or so.  But at least there's a breeze!  The choir did well yesterday (in spite all of us wishing we were nude under our vestments!) and we got a lovely e-mail today from a visitor - another musician who really appreciated us, which Nancy forwarded to all of us.

Yesterday evening, we celebrated D and D's birthdays with gifts and goodies and a barbecue and a good time was had by all:) Everyone was there with partners, husbands and grandangels. When K and S were getting ready to leave, I asked her if she'd felt the baby kick yet and she said she hadn't.  I told her I bet she had, only she probably thought it was something else.  As she opened the door to leave, I flashed back to the moment I felt her kick inside of me.  I was a paralegal at an antitrust law firm in D.C. - it was after lunch and I was sitting in my office, getting ready to plough through another big batch of documents and data entry when I realized those "little gas bubbles" weren't what I thought they were.  I also realized that my own mother never had the chance to feel what I was feeling and I started to feel bad for her, but instead felt peaceful, as if she were with me and knew what I was feeling at that moment.  Sounds psychotic, but what can I say?

John had to work last night - a co-worker decided to get "sick" because a manager had criticized him, so John had to work his nights off plus a vacation day.  Thankfully, he's off tonight.

Well, dear 3.5 readers, that's all I have for today.  I will be back soon, hopefully.  In the meantime, God be with you 'til we meet again!

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