It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Beach season!!!! This is the time of the year when I get my hot pink beach chair out of the closet, put on my swimsuit and head to the water. I’ve been several times so far and love every minute. Nothing like the sound of waves, seagulls chirping, salt in the air, and a good book on my Kindle.
Me and Jeff were up early so we went on to the beach. Still a bit foggy but it made for a cool photo.
Sometimes photos aren’t that artistic but they have a great story behind them. Those of you who know me, know that I have a, shall we say, slapstick sense of humor. That is, I often laugh at the physical mishaps of others (i.e. falling, tripping, slipping, etc… as long as they don’t hurt themselves badly). I know, terrible…but keep reading. I think it is so funny to watch people chase umbrellas down the beach. It’s happen to all of us, we’ve all seen it, and we’ve all laughed. Well, this is a photo of Jeff after chasing his umbrella…the second time of the day.
P.S. I’ve added NEW photos to my photos page.
(Photo courtesy of Adrienne Gray )
For the last few weeks, up until last Tuesday, Mobile has been celebrating Mardi Gras…aka The Boom Boom. Our city has been celebrating Mardi Gras since 1831. Locals and tourist come by the thousands to watch the parades and catch beads, or as some call them “Throws”. Traditionally, Mardi Gras is a Catholic celebration beginning 40 days before the Lenten season. The most happening day is Fat Tuesday. This is a day filled with eating rich, yummy, fatty foods before the ritual of fasting for lent which begins Ash Wednesday (the day after), hence the name FAT Tuesday. Let me tell ya, it’s quite a celebration. The photo above was taken during a parade on Fat Tuesday. Lots of people, eh? Here are some more of my favorite photos that myself or Jeff took.
Amanda came to her first Fat Tuesday
You can’t have Mardi Gras without the bands!!
Thanks to our Police Officers for keeping the crowd controlled.
And that’s my tribute to Mardi Gras 2011. Hope you enjoyed!!! See you at Mardi Gras…let the good times roll!!
Do you remember as a kid getting that first bicycle for your birthday or Christmas? Off you went with your helmet, knee and elbow pads, and training wheels. You probably rode with those things for months to even years. Then all of a sudden Mom or Dad says, “Alright, time for your first ride without those training wheels!” Well that’s what I’ve done with my cello! Except it has never required a helmet, knee, and elbow pads. I have taken the tape off of my finger board, the training wheels for the cello. I was using the tape as some sort of gage for where the notes are. The cello doesn’t have any kind of frets so most, if not all, beginners use tape on their finger boards. Without that tape, my cello looks nice and all grown-up. Now it’s all up to my memory’s mechanics of positions on the cello and my ears for tuning. Yay!
(Drawing of myself by myself)
A few weeks ago, my sister Leslie asked if I would run with her in the Mercedes Half-Marathon for next year. I agreed and we have exactly one year to get prepared. Roughly 13.1 miles in three hours. Lord, help us! I’ve learned a lot so far and I’m sure she has too.
First of all, it takes a lot of dedication. I had to figure out when I was going to get to the gym to start working on it. So up at 5:30 a.m. I go. However, I have learned that if I get up, go to the gym and put on dressy clothes for work, I feel like a million bucks the rest of the day! Second, I have to work on making my terrible running technique better. Keep your back straight, breathe in and out correctly, run on the ball of your foot, blah, blah, blah. I won’t tell you my stats at this point, but I do have a ways to go before the big day. They say the most important equipment you will need for running is your shoes.
I got myself a pair of these Reebok RunTones a few months back. I love these shoes for the support, cushion, less shock on my legs…but, I stay so sore! I’ve been told we will need three pairs of tennis shoes during our training time so I will probably switch to a more traditional shoe when I get to the point of longer runs. Third, I’ve been working on my diet. You sure can’t eat junk food and try to run…you aren’t going to do so well. So I’m having to find foods that will get me through but not set me back. We have 11 months left of training. Our goal is to cross the finish line!
Cello again!
I know, I know it has been over a month since my last post. I’ve been quite busy, so I thought I would sum up my crazy month in one post. Ready, set, GO!
- Celebrated Evan, Vanessa, Natalie, and The Mama’s birthday (see I’m nice, I didn’t tell you their ages!)
- Had three BASCO (Bay Area Strings Community Orchestra) rehearsals
- Celebrated Valentine’s Day —I got chocolate and sunflowers; these are a few of my favorite things
- Went to the dentist
- Lead a flute sectional
- Got talked in to running a half-marathon with my sister, Leslie (more on that later)
- Visited with my Aunt Carolyn from Arkansas
- Took care of a sick niece…who is much better!
- Contemplated on whether or not to keep blogging. Don’t worry, I’ve decided to keep with it…I wouldn’t want to deprive you of this joy. *Smiles*
- Went to a christening for a sweet baby boy of some good friends of ours.
- Read the entire Twilight Saga…on purpose. If you are sitting on the edge of your seat wondering which team I would be on, I would have to say Team Edward.
- Started going to the gym at 5:30 a.m.
- Thanks to a Netflix subscription, I watched a lot of movies
Talk to you soon, and in less than a month.
After about a months break, Bay Strings Community Orchestra is back in rehearsals for the second portion of our season. Next concert April 15th so mark your calendar. I guess to attend this concert you can’t be late mailing your taxes. *smiles*
We will be playing pieces by Norman Leyden, Peter Warlock, and Gustav Holst. Meanwhile, when I’m not in rehearsal and practicing that music, I’ve been working on fingerings and shifting to different positions.
This Christmas I got a Kindle…something I’ve been wanting for a while. If you are wondering what a Kindle is, it is an e-reader. You buy the books online or buy online from the kindle, they are sent to this device in about 3 seconds, and you start reading. It’s light, fits in my purse, easy to read, and just plain fun. This doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned my favorite Public Library. Some books are still not available as e-books and just because I love to go to the library, I will probably get every other book or so from the there. The Kindle is a really cool device and I highly recommend it!
Cello again!
I know, I know it has been almost two and a half weeks since my last post. I’ve taken vacationing to the extreme…doing absolutely nothing! Anyway, back to the daily grind.
I hope you all had a very nice Christmas and New Years’! I sure did…more on that in later posts.
I wanted to share something that means Christmas to me (besides Jesus’ birth, of course). A children’s Christmas music. The musicals can be very education as well as amusing. I was in quite a few Christmas musicals in my younger years. No, I will not show you pictures. I always love to see the church nicely decorated.
I love the mass chaos.
I love that the audience always loves the performance no matter how bad the performers thought they did, like messing up on a speaking part or cracking in a solo. This particular program was neat because they all got to sing and sing tradition Christmas songs. Bravo!!!
No, this post has nothing to do with cello, music, or books but I thought I would share some cupcakes I made. We all have a sweet-tooth, right? I made these for my day job department Christmas party.
This were made from my easiest recipe…The Box.
Hungry yet?
Rolling out the fondant wasn’t an option this time so these are the ingredients used for my cream-cheese icing. Thanks to The Mama, I no longer buy the fluffy icing from the round can…so sorry Betty Crocker. And to my critical readers, the silver metal things go to the hand mixer used to blend the ingredients, you don’t eat those.
I tried coming up with something easy, but not sprinkles, so I chose to use candy bars.
And voila! Candy Bar cupcakes!