Power of music April 30, 2009

I sing in a choir and I love it! I don’t care if it seems like a nerdy hobby to have. I absolutely adore it and wouldn’t dream of giving it up. I stopped when both my kids were very little and went back to it when they were old enough to stay at home with their Dad. We sing popular music in different languages and harmonies. But, there is nothing like singing a song in English that has a familiar type of melody and harmony. It makes me get goosebumps or tears when I am singing. One of those songs is “I shall not live in vain” based on an Emily Dickinson poem. It is absolutely gorgeous.

The musical aspect of the choir is really important to me, but so are the people. One of my favourite friends is in the choir and her hubby is the prima donna, I mean leader, of the choir. We make good music and friendships. In fact, when we go out after a concert, we sing in the restaurants. Last Sunday we had a concert and after we went out for pizza. My childhood friend was here and he was blown away by all of us sitting around the table singing. It really is a little peculiar and certainly something to see. He loved it though and hid his embarrassment well behind his camera. Have you ever tried that? I recommend it.

Music can fulfill all kinds of purposes obviously. Right now I am listening to Norah Jones and that really just fits the “feel-good” factor. It makes me sit and work in a really relaxed atmosphere. I also really can get into Michael Bublé and songs like Home. Granted this music is maybe a bit sappy or shlocky, but it takes me to a good place and I think that is what it is supposed to do.

Spring Break April 27, 2009

We have just come back from Spring Break and I was lucky to have a childhood friend visit us. It was such fun showing him the beautiful beaches on the coast. We spent a day at the beach and hiked down to one where we were the only ones there for most of the time. That was amazing! We spent my birthday on a schooner in the bay and it was also fabulous. There were about 24 other people on the ship and they were really friendly. They helped take care of Lu on one of the beaches and were interested in helping Chichi when she was swimming with the fish. On the last day we went to a waterfall and then drove home. The kids were going crazy in the car on the way home because we drove straight there. The four hour drive was fine for the first two hours and horrible for the last 2 hours. When we got back we showed my friend what we do on the weekends and he really enjoyed “living our life”. I took him to see our choir sing last night and we went out after to eat pizza. As is the custom, everyone sat around the table and sang – that was hilarious.
I really appreciated having my friend here. I have known him since we were in grade nine. Obviously a lot has happened since then, but over the years we have not lost touch. And the interesting thing is that we did not just get caught up again after finding each other on facebook or myspace!
He is a very special person and I really enjoyed talking to him over the last few days. There was not a moment that we didn’t have something to say. That is true friendship!

I’m a slug… December 5, 2008

I have been busy lately as you might have guessed and I have not been on my blog lately. In fact, I almost forgot how to logon. (Old age does not bode well for me!) We have had a ton of holidays, but when you are at home with the kids relaxing, it seems you have less time than you do when you are working full-time. So what have I been doing?

• Well, I just completed a 34 page translation on pre-cast concrete prison cells. I learned a lot – clearly this is not a topic I am very familiar with and I can’t say I am too upset about it either.
  
• We now have all our Christmas decorations up, although it took us several tries to get the lights inside the house just right. Quite a few of them were already set up and we had to take them down and re-configure them.
  
• I now have curtains up in my 2 upstairs bedrooms that had naked windows. It seems like a five minute job, but believe me it is anything but. I have been considering taking out the power tools myself, since I have waited so long to get these things done, and let’s just say that I am glad I did not. Naked walls are highly preferable to craters!
  

So you can see that my time has been taken up with a lot of little things that I will never admit take a lot of time. Let me give you an example. Last Friday we had the day off. So I took Lu to school and then went out for breakfast with Chichi. I then had some stuff to do on the computer in the morning and so I sat with Chichi as she made the tiara from the “how to be a princess” book. Then I had to warm up some lunch and pick up Lu. I had a hair appointment that afternoon – which I was late for. Then I came back and put Lu down for his nap. I got up to hang out with Chichi and we read books and then went back to the “how to be a princess” book. At this point we were painting Prince Charming on a horse. That was sort of hit and miss and so I decided to switch it up and bake. I find this to be a great way to engage my daughter – it is in her DNA – it is what I always do with my own mother. Anyway, the only problem was that I was running out of time in the day. I still had to get my nails done. I quickly got Lu up from his nap, got Chichi ready, took the brownies out of the oven, got the kids juice and a snack and took off to the club. They were going to have a snack and then play with their Dad until I was done. Except for one small thing – we got stuck in traffic on the way over there. I got to the hair-dresser late and they wouldn’t take me. I was ticked, but what could I do? My manicurist’s 5:30 was already there and she ignored my pleas to at least do something for me – please. (She was highly engaged by the jewelry displayed in their shop). I made a mental note on the way out never to go back there again or take my kids there. When I talked to my husband and told him I didn’t need him to babysit he couldn’t believe that I thought they were wrong. What is that all about? Of course they are wrong. We do not live in England – everything certainly does not run on clock-work. You are supposed to be late for EVERYTHING. In fact, if you show up on-time for a social engagement you are going to catch someone off guard. One of my friends told me that one of her first memories of me is when I invited her over and she showed up on time. I was still in the shower and she has never forgotten that. I am already trying to think of strategies to use at Christmas so I am not holding up everyone up all the time. How does waking up at 4 am to take a shower sound? What about sleeping in my clothes? Do you think I could just put all my food in the juicer or blender and drink it in the car? I have to admit it; I am a card-carrying slug. Anyone know what the 12 steps are?