Candy for the Soul

My soul is feeling all light and joyful after witnessing Peep Daughter's youth orchestra concert last night, especially since I was finally able to sport my latest OPI acquisition called Lincoln Park After Dark. Even though photo/videotaping was banned from the concert, at least I could admire my sweet manicure whilst jamming the night away.

Bravo to an amazing concert!


Far right - OPI 'Lincoln Park After Dark'

In the Swing of Things

Now that our weekly rehearsal time with the orchestra is on hiatus, I need to find a new time devoted to this here blog. Sunday afternoon was perfect for that while practice was going on, but that particular window is now filled with private cello lessons and miscellaneous non-conducive-to-blogging type activities. So here I am on a Tuesday. *waves* This might actually work.

Meanwhile get comfortable, here's what's happening in Peepville:

Back on the orchestra topic, for next season our sweet Cellist Girlie has her sights set way up high and is looking to audition for the Grand Poobah of youth orchestras called the Philharmonic. And if that doesn't pan out, she's more than happy to return to the same group she's been with over the past year, Youth Conservatory. Total win-win situation either way. As long as she's happy and I get my Orchestra Mom chair back while Hubs and Younger Brother hang out at the homestead watching whatever sport happens to be in season, it's all good for everyone involved.

CCD class. Can you believe we are left with only 6 actual days of class and 1 final prayer service? I sure can't. While at times I did feel like the weeks were crawling along at a snail-like pace, reminiscent of slow running/Spyware laden computers I recall cleaning up back at the Mercy Sisters Assisted Living Center, the final days are zipping along all speedy on me. 7th grade has not been an easy one for any of us, but having a fierce co-catechist as a side-kick to keep the chatty types in line has been a serious blessing in disguise. In fact, we worked so well together that we're teaching yet another class next year, only next time 8th grade instead of 7th. Confirmation here we come!

So what else is new? Here's what: Yo Yo Ma. With the oldest turning another year older in a few days, what better way to celebrate than by taking her to see the Cello Master in real life. That's right, Girlie and I will be witnessing Yo Yo Ma as he teaches a Master Class at the music hall (not open to the general public) and then listen as he plays in concert the very next evening. Two days in a row of mind-blowing Yo Yo Ma - I know! Anyway, we'll also have a cake/presents celebration at home, because concerts are great and all but a birthday wouldn't be right without some sort of party involving frosting and wrapping paper.

Hold up... this means we're about to have a TEENAGER in the house.
Holy *expletive here*.

On that note, this one's for you Teenage-Girlie-To-Be:
Yo Yo Ma; Diana Krall, "You Couldn't be Cuter"

Music at its Ultimate Finest

That big Spring Orchestral Event came and went with a BANG, and so now I'm left to post video instead of the usual blog that would've been generated while in my Orchestra Mom Chair, which has mostly been retired to the school cafeteria day crowd. But don't worry. I'll be back to reclaim one of those spiffy lil' green/orange/plastic chairs soon enough. Meanwhile, enjoy this with me until next time:



*spine-tingle*

Bring on the Clowns, People

Here I sit in my lovely *cough* olive green Orchestra Mom Chair again, on a bittersweet day that is the final Youth Conservatory practice before the official concert, the one for which these fabulous musicians have been practicing since November 2009. The best part? Today is also Bring a Friend to Rehearsal Day/Final Celebration, so we're seeing all kinds of new faces in the group making it even more special. And being the mom who happens to care about the blessed youngsters' nutrition, I left a bag of cheddar Sun Chips on the food table. Chowing down to take place at half-time - let the excitement begin!

Now for the biggest unexpected news item of the week called Son Home from School Sick with Strep Throat. Poor guy made it through the school day on Monday, but then came home all feverish with a temperature of 102+ degrees. We monitored his temp, rotated Tylenol and Motrin every few hours, kept him home Tuesday, then took him to see the doctor on Wednesday where we found out he officially had a case of strep throat, surprising the doctor and me as we really just didn't think he had more than a flu-like virus. Then after unsuccessfully attempting to administer liquid antibiotics, son bravely opted for a penicillin shot nipping that illness in the bud at lightning speed. Hindsight is everything? Absolutely.

Hey, remember that circus field trip mentioned in my previous blog post? Well, yeah. Son just so happened to miss attending the Shrine Circus with fellow classmates, so I made good on my promise to take him on my own by heading out to the Civic Auditorium on Saturday. This plan worked out perfectly for all of us; because Hubs, who wasn't all that interested in going to the circus anyway, had to go out of town on business that day and Older Sis chose to hang out at home to exercise her newfound freedom to be without adult supervision. Meanwhile, Son and I had a blast bonding together. Heck, I even made a new buddy, Grandma/Retired Nurse, who sat beside me with her grandson critiquing the circus junk food and aerialist who, for safety purposes, should NOT have been hanging by her foot from a rope upside down like that.

You go, Grandma.

Bowl Bloggin'

This week's blog is not being generated by me while sitting in the usual Orchestra Mom Chair during rehearsal, but rather by me standing in front of the kitchen television at home as Peeps and I cheer on Colts playing against Saints in Superbowl XLIV. Why? No rehearsal this week due to a performance conflict, so musicians and parents get a break from the action on a day that just so happens to coincide with Superbowl Sunday. WOOHOO!!! Oops, sorry for that excessive celebration there. But how sweet is this as we get to watch an amazing football game along with all of those funky commercials in between? Very, I say.

Favorite commercials: KIA's Sock Monkey, McDonald's Nuthin' but Net, Google, Taco Bell with Charles Barkley.

So my personal biggest scoop(s) of the week: 2 new clients accepted my bid/estimate for web projects. I won't expand too much on these new developments until the actual projects roll out, but I will say that I'm thrilled as all get out to add both to my portfolio. Lots of happy dancing here.

As for the CCD'ers, we made good on our promise to celebrate Christmas belatedly with a fantabulous party during our usual class time, complete with pizza - thanks for delivering to us personally, Hubs; treats - thanks for remembering to bring these, students; and games - thanks for sharing the tennis ball for 'Mummy Ball' playing, CCD'er friend. We all had a well deserved, faith-filled celebration together. Yay, us.

On that note, here's something that deserves a serious shout out: Co-catechist and I proudly joined up with 2 CCD students to deliver parish donations to the local homeless shelter. We gathered up clothing, board games, blankets, sleeping bags, etc., and loaded it all into a vehicle, then headed over to the Open Door Mission where volunteers couldn't have been more gracious - they even gave us cookbooks containing favorite shelter recipes. We all left that little white building praying our gifts made a difference in someone's life in some way.

Last but nowhere near least, Girlie Peep wins Overachiever of the Week with all these activities completed over the course of a mere 7 days:

• Field Trip/Seminar: Strategic Air & Space Museum trip with classmates and gifted seminar on Flash Animation (a favorite web tool of mine - great choice!)


• Instruments: Clarinet and cello daily practice, weekly lesson with private instructor


• ACT: Completed her very first standardized college entrance exam several years early by way of Duke's TIP program. *Fingers crossed for massive scholarships*

Next week: Parent/Teacher conferences, dentist appointments, and a much needed haircut for a certain Boy Peep.

Who Put Mustard on My Chair?

Back at Orchestra rehearsal in my favorite mustardy-colored plastic cafeteria chair all ready to blog about the week in review. So let's start with Monday, the day hubs took off on a business trip to Denver while the peeps and I carried on with life as usual. Well, life wasn't exactly usual if you consider the fact that our cello playing peep was scheduled to perform in a BIG HUGE orchestra festival that evening, the same night that involved monstrously powerful freezing winds that I had to fight while commuting to and from the performance site. And what exactly made the festival so BIG and HUGE? Basically, orchestras from all of the school district's high schools and middle schools combined themselves to perform several pieces together, and they were nothing less than STUPENDOUS. In fact, they were so amazing that I'm posting a favorite video at the bottom of this blog. (A-MA-ZING, no?)

On with regular IT consulting work and school activities then to teaching religious education where the CCD'ers talked me into rescheduling our previously canceled Christmas party to next week, because they were completely gypped of partying when blizzards forced everyone to stay home after schools shut down. Those poor kids, I know! So my co-catechist got right on it and called all of the parents, bless her heart, and now we're back in the business of having the most exciting belated Christmas party ever experienced in the land of religious education. Hopefully, that is. *fingers crossed*

Finally we reached the end of the week, Salon Day Friday, where I parked myself in the salon chair while Diva Stylist Woman worked her magic on me. But wait! Not only did she clean me up, but together the two of us made a plan for transitioning toward a new longer length 'do, because while I'm totally in love with this new shorter look she has going on for me, I'm so not in love with burning myself while attempting to flat-iron those crazy hard-to-reach short sections located directly at the nape of my neck. I mean, I'm talking actual scars on my hands from this torturous process! Anyway, being the professional that she is, Diva Stylist Woman knows exactly what to do and has me on the fast track to Longer Hair by Summer. Love that woman.

So then along came Saturday, when Cellist Peep and I found ourselves at the funkiest orchestra retreat ever experienced, complete with a highly decorated guest conductor, loads of snacks, and free wi fi for parents to waste a little bit of time on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Can you say spoiled rotten with food, fun and free internet? All this as the guys hung out at home watching basketball on ESPN while shooting a few rounds of their own (Nerf Hoop-style), a total win-win afternoon for everyone involved.

What's next? Here's what I'm seeing on the calendar, not that events listed on the calendar always take place according to plan, but let's give it a whirl: Haircut for the youngest peep, a couple of middle school field trips, and someone taking the ACT 4 years early. *channeling scholarships here*

Gimping Along

Back to my famous Orchestra Mom Chair where I can finally wrap my head around last week's events by posting a blog about it all. So where to start? How about Monday... oh yes, Martin Luther King Day when the kids enjoyed a day off from school and spent the entire day lounging in their pajamas while getting reacquainted with the video games they received over Christmas break. The holiday was like Déjà vu all over again, MLK-style. Meanwhile, I spent a good chunk of time cleaning up the aftermath of that big birthday party we threw the previous weekend, cleaning that is still in progress. Can you say maid service needed?

And now for the biggest news of the week: Face-to-face meeting with a potential new client who discovered my business by way of Better Business Bureau - a HUGE deal for me as a fairly new BBB accredited business member. So guess what? I left the meeting with the impression that we hit it off fabulously, and I even submitted a bid for one of their web projects the very same day. Needless to say, I'm feeling hopeful about adding them as a new client soon - knock on wood. Speaking of which, I also reconnected with another new client, a cancer patient, who has regained enough strength to move forward with his web plans. More on that within the next few weeks. *insert happy dance here*

On the Religious Education front, in addition to our regular class time I had the honor of taking part in a 7^th grade Confirmation retreat with my lovely CCD students. Let me tell you, the retreat was nothing less than magical with @100 kids and catechists participating in prayer-related activities. We read scripture, meditated, discussed the many forms of prayer, hammered nails into crosses, casted stones, created collages, etc. Who would've thought 7^th graders could encounter Jesus alongside friends as their cell phones were being held hostage outside the retreat center? Not me, as I imagined myself at that age grudgingly attending because I had to and rolling my eyes all the while. But not those kids. The maturity factor was surprisingly ginormous, and I'm still left in awe of what I witnessed that night. BRAV-O.

Last but certainly not least on my Must Blog About list is that dreaded muscle strain report. If you've been bravely following my Facebook &/or Twitter status posts then you know how on January 3^rd, I crazily submitted myself to an overly strenuous Wii EA Active and elliptical workout that resulted in a painful hip flexor injury that I've been nursing ever since. Holy smokes did that episode ever put a damper on my everyday getting around, not to mention those interrupted nights of sleep! So I've been resting as much as possible (not very in my case) and am finally able to get around a little more quickly. As I mentioned to a Facebook friend, ibuprofen is my new BFF and has been my saving grace during this way-too-long healing process. And now I'm happy to report that I was able to get back into my workout routine (light!) yesterday. Alleluia.

So what's happening next? In a nutshell, another week of complete madness with an orchestra festival and retreat on the agenda. Only here's the good part in two little words:

SALON VISIT
*repeat of happy dance here*

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' - Keep Those Doggies Rollin'

Back at orchestra rehearsal and with fellow parents sitting a chair away from me on either side. Must be careful not to blog about them – I'm nice that way. Anyway, so what's up with the clan these days? Let's see... oh yes, that handy bulleted list helps like nobody's business:

• School – besides Pre-algebra kicking the oldest in the pants, she's musical and literary and wants nothing to do with something so trivial/abstract as math even though it's in her blood to be amazing at everything she does, both kids are doing so well in school they're bored silly. Yes, the gifted programs challenge them to some extent, but still. Why so much reteaching every August? That's what they want to know. Unfortunately, that No Child Left Behind plan forgot the gifted peeps, so we deal with system as best we can.

• CCD – still loving this whole 7^th grade CCD teaching experience, and with students actually showing an interest in scripture. How odd is that? But it's true. My people are finding their way around the bible without breaking down and asking for specific page numbers (gospel, book, chapter, verse!) plus they're actually getting what it's all about. In fact, I'm so proud of those folks that Oreos will be making a special appearance at the end of class this week.

• Music – is keeping us so busy it's just crazy. The youngest is reaping the benefits of having private baritone lessons all summer by leaving fellow bandies in the dust, and the oldest has applied to participate in yet another orchestra, as if she doesn't have enough to do already, right? Crazy. Busy.

• Business Clients – involves more crazy busy-ness, but technology is near and dear to my heart, so I'm perfectly cool with it. In fact, I'm in the process of overhauling a client's website and feel like a kid in a candy store, or maybe IT person in Best Buy is a better comparison. The web redesign experience is like hosting a “What Not to Wear” episode, only web-style. It's like I'm Clinton & Stacey pulling outdated clothes out of the closet and dumping them into the trash, replacing them with spiffy-new-modern digs. Ooo-aahhh.

• Stylin' - amidst all these fun and exciting activities, I broke down and had a good hair chopping which basically gave me a refreshing new look & feel, probably due to the fact that my head is 10 lbs lighter, or something like that. A girl's gotta do what a girl's got to do.

Did I mention our Huskers are back in the game?

Life. Is. Good.

Fiddles on Fire Once Again

Today was all suck-it-up-and-forget-about-the-stinkin'-illness because YOUTH ORCHESTRA TIME IS HERE! That's right. Remember the area-wide strings orchestra Girlie Peep performed in last year? Well, she auditioned for another more advanced group last spring and was selected, sending us off and running to more rehearsals again this year.

Total ear candy all over again - gotta love that!

Ok, so giddiness took over just then. *cough* That's what happens to a person blessed with musicians in the family - you just go completely silly about it. Or maybe the nasal spray is just messing with my head? Nah. This is serious talent, nasal spray or otherwise.

Stay tuned for more music posts!