The deadline draws near.......

I have a paper due Monday at 5pm. I started really working on it today. I'm sure it'll write itself. :)

I have another paper due Wednesday. I have sources sitting on the coffee table, waiting to read themselves.

Today I spent some quality time at the library...after watching "The Incredibles" with a friend in one of the school lounges. I have my priorities straight. They just don't mesh well with school.

So school...yeah, I'll be doing that F.O.R.E.V.E.R. I (still) have (yet) another (long) semester of undergrad. After that will come my masters degree (which I'm sure I'll manage to turn into a 3 year adventure rather than the normal 2 year pursuit). After *that*, I'll probably have to get my doctorate because colleges seem to like to hire people with those.

So if everything were to go marvelously over the next few years, I could look forward to my career as a student ending in, oh, 2009 or 2010.

Oh. Hm. Didn't think about that one when I decided to pursue music. If I had stuck with psychology and condemned myself to a life of financial stability and daily job satisfaction, I would be done with my masters and starting my doctorate in the fall.

Perhaps I should give up introspection until after finals week.

A nap makes everything better.

I got home from school about 5 o'clock. I was more tired than I've been in...um...a while. I don't have any reason to be tired beyond the stress of 2 large papers I'm ignoring until the very last second and my Music History final on Wednesday.

Life is pretty uneventful right now. Since the flute concert last Sunday, I haven't done much (ummm...any, much, so easily confused) practicing. I'm a bad little flutist. I still sound good enough in band. hehe We don't have any more orchestra for the semester (ooh, a whole week of freedom). Band will continue through Tuesday.

It is Tuesday that my life will end. I have to get up in front of the band with my baton and a score, wave my arms around for 15 minutes, and hope I live.

I'm not overly shy in social settings. I'm reeeeally good at talking...lots of practice. I can play my flute in front of any number of people whether I know them or not. But I can't speak in front of a group of five or more without completely forgetting the English language (into which I was born). And I get flushed. Reeally flushed. So much so that people feel they must remark on it. Sooo cute.

So it's only 15 minutes of my life, it can't possibly kill me. Right? I just wish I didn't know anyone in band. Then I could just ignore them (as individuals) and address the group, looking slightly over their heads. Since I hang out with a good number of them rather frequently, I'll end up making eye contact and wishing for the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

Like a chocolate truffle. Mmmmmm

Looong day

Yesterday --Tuesday-- was a very long day. I didn't want to get up, didn't want to go to school, didn't want to stay at school once I got there...

I did get to do lunch with my girls...definite high point of the day...

But there was a band concert last night. So I had to stay until 9:30pm. I got home a little before 11. Ugh. Now, 9 hours later, I'm about to get back on the road for another day of school.

Today will be better....just 3 classes. And I have a lovely lunch scheduled with a group of people I don't usually get to sit down and chat with.

Not that my life is exceedingly hard...school, lunch, school, home, do it all again the next day. Some days it just wears on me.

Unavoidably cute.

My friend who was supposed to come up for the day to do some casual shopping went out last night, got pretty darn drunk, and wasn't up to an hour drive today. I don't blame her, I would have done the same thing. :D

So did I sit at home and wish I knew someone within an hour's drive? No! I went out and wished I knew someone within and hour's drive. Okay, so I *know* people around here, but I'm not on a "Hey, let's go spend some money!" level with any of them.

So while out, I got a pair of black pants, strappy sandals, and a pink shirt. I will be cute tomorrow. With that ensemble, it can't be avoided. If there are pictures taken, I will share.

So it takes 20 seconds to sum up my day...and 4 hours to do the actual shopping. Oh, heaven!!

I didn't spend the *whole* time trying on clothes, driving to the next store, trying on some more clothes, trying on shoes, driving to the next store......I did stop at the pet store and get more filters for my fish tank. That was the 5 minute break from my blissful shopping experience.

I called Russell on the way home from one of the stores...I got the feeling he was eternally grateful to be unavailable for consultation. I'm sure he loves, just *loves*, to sit and wait for me while I try on clothes. In fact, I can picture his little face now as it was the last time he went with...eyes glazed over, mouth slack, body slumped in the chair, just waiting for the ordeal to end.

If ever I doubted his love, I would just have to think back to all the purse shopping, shirt trying on, shoe comparing moments. And how he has never said, "Dammit, Amy, I can't do it anymore! Let's go! Now...Now...NOW! AHHHH!"

I don't doubt he's thought that once or twice, but he's never said it. He's such a gem. :)

I think I used to be more than half of something...

I can vaguely remember being more than half of RussellandAmy. Vaguely. My life as a separate entity ended in November of 2001. (We met.) From then on, we've been together more than apart. Somewhere along the way, Russell forgot how to use a phone (like to call for pizza, confirm an appointment, order something, talk to tech support, etc). I've forgotten how to do something without hearing about it first (like straighten up my half of the office, add water to the piano humidifier, take the 50 pop cans from the counter to the bin in the garage, etc). He has also has forgotten how to clean anything that doesn't live in the garage.

I'm sitting here trying to come up with an "I have forgotten_______, too," but have decided that I don't have any more. Of course. This is my blog and I'm a flute princess.

Okay, back to my chosen topic......
We both have somehow become half of a whole. Both of us were quite self-sufficient before we realized we didn't have to be. He's been taking care of his own space for twelve years...I moved out of the cocoon in 1998. (He's 5 years older than I am.)

We've both lived alone for significant amounts of time. We know how to do all the routine house stuff, we've both just conveniently forgotten whatever it is we'd like for the other to do now.

We often annoy each other with how much we've forgotten. I don't know about him, but I annoy myself with it too.

Like right now, Russell's visiting his parents. I'm sitting here trying to figure out what to do. The piano room could use a little straightening up, I have 2 papers to write, the house could use (needs...whatever) a good cleaning, and one of the songs I have to perform on Sunday is pretty shaky still.

Those are all good things to do with my time.

But I'm here, in the messy half of the office (he's not allowed to move any of the piles so it's always messy), writing in my blog.

Maybe there's something good (or at least mediocre) on tv...

Oh, happy day

This was a good day. I woke up, took my time getting ready, and noticed a voicemail on my phone. Hannah had called around 8am to cancel our rehearsal set for 11am. That was fine by me, I got to stay around here and have more time to get stuff done.

Instead of ignoring that extra time like I usually do, I got my oil changed, drove through the car wash, and cleaned the interior. Amazing.

I then had lunch with Justin before going to band, then woodwind chamber ensemble, and flute choir.

Tomorrow looks pretty good too...it's the flute tour. Not a big, cool, wonderful tour, just to a local school and one somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. But the tour does get me out of music history. My only other "class" tomorrow would be my lesson. We're going to count the day's performances as my lesson I think. Works for me!

I should get home about 3:30 or so...and the weekend will begin! I've already talked with a friend about coming up here on Saturday to hang out and be cool. A nice benefit of her getting out of town to visit me would be her inability to attend her friend's recital. See, this friend and she have been very close. As she discovered a couple days ago, she's not the only girl he'd like to be all friendly-like with. Actually, he's been doing anything he can get his hands on. (Ah, imagery. There are a lot of squirrels around the campus. I wonder if they bite...) So my friend needs a day of Girl Time.

I generously offered to dedicate my Saturday to helping her forget her boy troubles. I know of this great shopping district just around the corner...with a Starbucks, a brewery, and a few boutiques. Surely we'll be able to find *something* to do...

The upcoming weekend

This weekend, Russell is visiting his parents over an hour away. I have a couple 10-12 page papers due in a couple weeks or so and need to start doing research. (I'm sure that all my best papers have been done the day--night, whatever--before. How can I be so sure? Because I've never written one another way, not even for comparison's sake.) So chances are, not much will get done this weekend. But it's all about the intentions, right? :)

So I'm planning on doing some good, diligent paper writing. Right.

A friend is having his junior...senior? Hm. I think junior recital on Saturday night. (Obviously not a bosom buddy.) I should go to that because I have to attend 12 performances each semester. The ones I'm in don't count. So annoying. So yeah, I really should drag myself there.

Ooh, I'll go if I get some good work done on my paper(s) during the day.

No matter what I (don't) do during my quiet weekend, I have to be productive on Sunday. The Woodwind Showcase Concert is that afternoon. I'm in a couple of those groups. The flute studio recital is later that evening. I play two solos and a duet with a few short movements. I'm not worried about the performing part, I just don't know what to wear!

Hm. It just occurred to me that I've written a lot about purses, shoes, pink, what to wear...dumb girl stuff lately. I've really got to *do* something.

Yay, shopping!

School today started with a student recital. It was one of the less enjoyable moments of my life, but it obviously didn't kill me. So I must be stronger.

After that, I had a fun rehearsal with Hannah (saxophone). She's playing the Rachmaninoff "Vocalise" on the soprano sax...I am her pianist. Today was our first time to play together. We ran through it a couple times and liked what we heard. Our next "rehearsal" will be in her lesson with her teacher. That won't be quite as relaxing as just the two of us, but fun all the same.

I headed over to the mall after that to kill time until lunch. I wandered around for a while, eventually (inevitably) running across the world's cutest purse. (Amazing how there are so many of those!) I carried it around for a little while, then put it back. I don't *need* another purse, I just always *want* another purse.

I met my girls for lunch and mentioned this amazing, cute, wonderful (hot pink) purse I happened upon while killing time. Amazing! Good friends that they are, they went with me to look at it again. One of them, Laura, is a "self-proclaimed fashionista." So I take her shopping with me as often as possible. She loved the purse and said it was very me, but a more grown up version of me.

I do love my friends. :) She knows I'm trying to update and adult-ize my wardrobe...gently. So I got the purse (it was on a super sale...would have been wrong to leave it there).

Sometimes you have to accept the road fate has laid out for you. I'm just glad my road includes lots of purses.

Warning: Wear Gloves and Eye Protection

Printed around the top of the can of gooey stuff that fills in cracks, seals this and that, is "Wear Gloves and Eye Protection." I mentioned this as we sat down in the yard next to the house, armed with a couple rags (i.e. old t-shirt and old pair of Russell's boxers), and this can of gooey when wet, sandable and paintable when dry.

See, we have a rolly-polly problem and Russell thinks it's because there is a gap between our house and the siding. Solution: put goo there, then stuff foam strip in the space.

To stuff the foam strip up against the goo he squirted only seconds before, he used his bare fingers.

So after the goo became less goo-like and more of a solid --on his hands-- I got to run into the house and grab my nail polish remover to try to get it off (acetone was listed on the can as a *possible* solvent). I have the cheap Walmart nail polish remover with out acetone and my dwindling supply of Mary Kay nail polish remover with acetone. I use it sparingly. Actually, I don't use it because they stopped making it a few years ago. It is like gold...it doesn't smell bad. It actually smells pretty good. Amazing.

So I poured my liquid gold on his hands and watched it trickle down the driveway.I told myself that it's just nail polish remover, that Russell's skin is more important than good smelling nail polish remover.

When it became apparent that we were going to need more than my half bottle of nail polish remover, I hopped in my car and drove down the street and around the corner to Walgreens, picked up a couple bottles of the cheap stuff, and drove home to pour it over his hands.

So a quarter of a bottle of the good stuff and half a bottle of the cheap stuff later, the once-gooey-now-solid substance on his hands is mostly gone. Mostly.

While at Walgreen's, I also picked up a box of 50 latex gloves for next time. And there will be a next time.

Do I take 35?

My friend Justin is coming here, right now, to crash at our place. He wouldn't be anywhere near our place, or any street that leads to our city, if not for Mapquest. He was in the heart of Kansas City --the part where you don't get out of your car for fear of getting shot-- and needed to get on I-70. I'm not sure where he was or how he got there for a little while, but he eventually got headed the right direction on 35 and found 670 which connected him to I-70.

Now he's speeding his way over here. He asked if we have any alcohol. Oh yes, we have alcohol, we'll take care of him...he just has to get himself here. He gets to try Dr. McGillicutty's Peppermint Schnapps. It tastes like Listerine on steroids. Yikes.

We give it to everyone who comes over (if of the proper age, of course). Otherwise we'd still have this stuff at our 50th wedding anniversary. As it is, I'm sure we'll be offering it to people for many years to come. We need to meet more people...we're running out of people to trick.

Roommates

I got home from school about 4:30, Russell arrived not too long after that. I did one thing, he did another...we've just been cohabitating okay lately.

I've felt like we've just been roommates for a while now...until today, I didn't know how he felt. I didn't ask him, I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer. Today, I found out. He actually said that he felt like we were just roommates. He used the same term I've been considering for a week.

I asked him why he seems so disinterested in everything I have to say, everything I'm doing. He can only handle so much outside his frame of reference. I asked why he doesn't do something about whatever is bothering him. Turns out a lot of it has to do with the dynamics at work right now. Turns out the management doesn't understand the intricacies of the actual jobs and they like trying different, inefficient ways to do everything.

He feels like everyone is demanding so much of him during the day, that when he gets home he's just so worn out from the stress of it that he just shuts down. He doesn't have anything left for me. I've been stressed out due to the upcoming end of the semester and the work that it brings. So I haven't been the most understanding person.

Neither of us has been the person the other married. In the past, we've made a pretty good team...us against the world. Lately, we've been trying to go it alone because we didn't think the other had the time, inclination, or understanding.

He's wanted to talk to me about things, but he has wanted to avoid conflict more. I can relate to some extent...but there is a point at which I'm willing to have an argument to resolve an issue. I'm sure he has that point too, I just always happen to reach it first.

During our talk, I mentioned how we don't have anything in common. We never really have, it just hasn't mattered like this in the past. We've always just shared our separate worlds. Now we both feel so removed from the other's life that it's hard to figure out how to get back in.

I told him that sometimes I don't want to come home from school because I'm happy there. I don't argue with anyone there, I don't feel so alone there. I told him I don't want to be just his roommate.

I don't feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. The whole world doesn't feel alright again. I'm just not there yet. I don't think I could feel that way in just a day. It took longer than that to get here...it'll take longer to get back.

Studio, again.

I'm killing time in the library until studio class in 40 minutes. We had one on Monday, we're having one today, and we'll have another one next Monday. That's a lot of studio classes. We usually have one every couple/few weeks. Everyone is grumpy about it, but there's nothing we can do. The teacher schedules them, we have to go. I think I have to play on all three of them too. I know I played the one last Monday, I play on today's, and I'm pretty sure I'm playing in a duet on the one next Monday. I'm glad I get the opportunity to get up on stage and play stuff, but I still don't want to go.

So happy thoughts...I need some happy thoughts...

Justin is coming to visit this weekend. He's going to crash at our place. That's happy. :) I'm not sure what we're going to do while he's there, but I'm sure it will be fun.

And I don't have to go to any performances this weekend. I *could* go to the first of three flute concerts on Sunday, but I'm not playing in it and have no desire to drive down here 6 days a week.

And my hair is cute. First we dyed it a lighter brown color...after a few weeks (and one haircut), we died it again...this time red. I like the red. :) It's peppy. I need something to help my pep lately.

Thinking about the past...

I've been thinking more about the past lately. It started with the piano thing...all that started back in '99. From there, I thought about the people I knew then and those I've met along the way. I thought about the friends I made...the friends that I left behind each time I transferred schools.

Of those, I've thought most about friends from my first college (Iowa), the college right before this one (Missouri), and those I've made most recently here in Kansas.

The ones in Iowa were hard to leave. On the morning my parents came and loaded all my stuff (and me) into the car, all my friends stopped by to say goodbye and have one last hug. There were some tears shed. It wasn't a happy time. The first guy I dated at that college inadvertantly made it easier to leave...he stood in the doorway and said, "I'm going to miss my Amy!" My first thought: Your Amy? What? Are you crazy? (He was.) So I wasn't *totally* not myself...there was still something of the old me in there. I did drive up to visit a couple times, but it just wasn't like old times. Their lives had continued on in one direction and mine had gone in another.

I didn't have any trouble leaving the people in Missouri. That time I didn't leave in the middle of the semester...that had to help. But I did transfer quite suddenly. The last thing I said to them was to have a good summer and that I'd see them in the fall. I hadn't gotten close enough to anyone up there to have anything special to miss. I went to class, lessons, and home. I think the only person I really wish I could explain things to is the piano professor there. I had been taking lessons again...he was giving me a ridiculous amount of money to do so. He was the one person whose opinion really mattered. There have been a few moments when I've missed being up there, but only because it was the familiar. When I first came to Emporia, I missed seeing people with whom I have a history, no matter how short.

As the new kid, I didn't have a history with anyone at Emporia. I came in the first day and did more watching than anything else. It didn't take long for me to figure out which people I wanted to get to know. I've formed friendships with more people than I was first drawn to, of course.

If I were to leave Emporia, I would actually miss people. It's a good feeling.

And the story continues...

While sitting on a bench in the rotunda (common area that happens to be round) waiting for band to start, I got to talking to the other people perched there. One was Aaron, a trumpet. We were in two different conversations, actually, but I overheard him say that he plays piano but keeps it pretty quiet.

Oooh, you too??

It's someone else's dirty little secret too?

That wouldn't be at all meaningful if I hadn't written last night's post. Or if I hadn't gone to play piano after writing said post. But the piano and my not-so-wonderful piano skills have been on my mind. I've come to terms with the fact that flute is my "life" now, but that doesn't mean I'll never miss what I wish could have been.

Coulda woulda shoulda.

I *am* happy with my switch to full-time flute. I wouldn't have been as happy had I stuck with piano. It's harder...I like easy. After a good piano practice a muscle in my left shoulder hurts, has since early high school. I don't miss that.

All I reeeally do miss about it is the opportunity for collaboration and the satisfaction after learning, really learning, a piece. Yeah, it's satisfying to learn a flute piece, but you can't generally play it by yourself. You always need your accompanist. If it's unaccompanied, it just can't have the complex sound of harmonies.

There are just some days, like yesterday, that I wish for what could have been more than others.

I play piano? Really?

I'm doing laundry, sipping my Diet Mt. Dew every few minutes, sitting in my pajamas, my feet are freezing because my socks are all the way in the other room. I should be practicing the piano part to the Rachmaninoff Vocalise I agreed to play for Hannah. It will be her first soprano sax solo and my first time accompanying since......

Back in '99, I accompanied a Horn Jr Recital. Alex. This was up in Iowa. At that school, there were strange friendships all over the place. Alex was a strange friendship. For one, he paid me in Diet Coke. Our rehearsals were always easy...we played well together.

Basically, we both played well period. It was rewarding...satsifying...wonderful for me. Even moreso than as the soloist. As the accompanist, I got to play my part as well as keep track of him. I got to feed off the information he gave me, compliment his playing.

And I was playing piano.

I broke my hand the Saturday after Spring Break. In the afternoon. Approximately 3 o'clock. We had to postpone his recital until the next semester, until after I'd had one surgery on my hand.

I dropped out of my second semester of college because my dreams went splat on the street along with my hand. I was completely lost. Yes, I played his recital, but my hand just wasn't the same. I don't think anyone else really noticed...just me. It felt different, the third finger had a slight lag.

After moving back home, I had another surgery. I went to community college for a couple semesters. My GPA went from 3.86 to 2.1. I had another surgery. I practiced as much as I could, which wasn't much. At first I wasn't allowed to use my right arm to do anything that required more than 1 pound of effort. So basically I could wave without moving my fingers. They wouldn't have moved anyway. When I was cleared to play piano, it didn't work for the longest time. As soon as I'd get to a point where I could play a Bach Invention, it was time for the next surgery.

I moved to Emporia at some point in there...studying psychology since music obviously wasn't going to work out for me. At that time, flute was just something I could still sort of do. I took flute lessons because I wouldn't give up entirely. I'd moved 2 hours from my piano...the flute I could take with me.

During my second semester at Emporia, I managed to break the plate holding my finger together...in my sleep. So it was back home, back to surgery, back to left handed life. I called the man who had introduced me to psychology...explained that I was dropping out of another semester. He fought it. It wasn't until I told him that my third finger was attached to my hand by only soft tissue with a gap a few millimeters wide that he gave up.

So a few rough months, two surgeries, and one school later, I had picked my flute back up. After that much work, I was going to do music.

Somewhere in there Alex called and asked me to accompany him for a coffe shop gig. I did. It wasn't perfect, but it was awesome to do that again. Awesome to be interacting like that again. We picked up the music from his junior recital, put it together in ten minutes, and played. It wasn't a big deal to play the coffee shop, but Iowa Public Television taped it. I never found out if they ran it.

And now I'm back at Emporia. My first week back there, Dr. Cuellar saw me in the hall. He remembered that I play(ed) piano and asked if I still did any accompanying.

Um, not lately.

Every so often, I sit down and play through the songs still in my head. Sometimes they're more in my fingers than in my head, and that can work too.

And other times bits and pieces are still there, but nothing more.

Justin's Recital

This is a picture of a small group of us at my friend Justin's Senior voice recital. He's already given his clarinet recital...he's an overachiever. For a voice recital, it was pretty good. :P Actually, I enjoyed myself. Justin is an unlikely friend. If we didn't sit next to each other in band, we probably wouldn't be more than mere acquaintances. Due to the odd seating arrangement that our director prefers, we have become friends.

The girl on the far left in the picture is Sarah. She has lovely red hair somewhere under all that black dye. She also has a fondness for dark eyeliner which has the tendency to run. She'd just gotten out of the shower before coming the recital, so her hair was still wet when she sat down in the hall. She's an interesting character. I don't think we'd even know each other if we hadn't chanced to sit next to each other on the first day of class.

The girl on the far right is Nancy, a flute like me. So that makes her a good person. :) She's a crazy girl, but good crazy. She and another girl (a clarinet) came over not too long ago to record audition tapes at our house (since we have a mini recording studio in my music room). She's one of the first people I met when I tranferred in. She was one who welcomed me right off. Most people there have, but she's especially warm.

I'm the other one, in the white shirt and gray hoodie. I don't think there are any pictures of me without a hoodie...they're my security blanket. Actually, I'm just always cold indoors. I love the warm sun. A hoodie is a close second.

Better day

Today was a better day than the last few have been. I just wasn't myself for a while there.

Today I got to sleep in, have a quick lunch with Russell, and drive down to school to see a friend's vocal recital. After that I did some research for my Music History research paper. I drove back home, we went to supper, and now I'm sitting here listening to music. I just feel more calm...less stressed...than the last few days. I'm not sure why, I haven't actually accomplished anything. I still have a concert to give tomorrow (orchestra...I do get to solo with them though), I still have a test on Monday, but those things don't seem to be making my life more difficult right now.

We watched "The Usual Suspects" tonight...good movie! I was a little surprised. A lot of the movies Russell likes aren't generally the ones I like, but this was one of those rare moments of artistic agreement.

So perhaps I'm climbing back up to the state I usually live in. It'll be nice to be me again. :)

$150....or not

The piano professor at school asked me to play a gig with him...one that would bring us *both* $150 for 2 hours of light playing. I agreed to do it because, well, I'm not stupid. It's what I want to do for the rest of my life, it's money, it's fun...yeah, all good things.

As it turns out, it's on the same night as the last flute choir rehearsal before our concert. The flute choir director, whom I usually adore, thinks I need to be there. I agree, it would be good for me to be there. And she can't excuse me to "work" because no one else is allowed to schedule work intentionally during rehearsal time either.

But AAHHHHHH!!!! The gig is at the public radio station...it's a benefit. There will be people who appreciate the arts, who donate to the public radio station, and they'll be *broadcasting* during this benefit.

We would be on the air for part of the time.

This would be great publicity, experience, MONEY. $150 for 2 hours of work. The going rate is $60-70 hourly for musicians. I could cry. Hell, I just might.

My iBaby is home!

My iBook is back! I had to send it off a little while ago for a checkup. The display freaked out due to a problem with the Logicboard. Apple fixed it for free. They're so nice. :P

It's back now! I've been using my desktop PC for everything...so weird! I usually only use it to play games and check websites that don't work as well on Firefox or Safari. Now life is back to normal. Now I can post entries on my Mac. I don't mind posting from my PC, but I just like my laptop. I like that it's small and portable, I like that I can do everything on the couch in the living room, I like that it's cute... I especially like how it works. I do love my PC, it's easier to get programs for generally. But my Apple has a special place in my heart.

It's my iBaby. :)

Do I feel pink?

I'm a pink person. I have pink shirts, a pink sweatshirt, pink shoes, a pink purse, and a pink flute bag. I almost can't help but wear/carry something pink on any given day. (I have all those things in other colors too, of course...but I like pink...it's cheerful and girly.)

The day before yesterday, I didn't feel pink. When choosing my clothes, I was only satisfied with a blue shirt and jeans. And you can't wear pink tennies with that. I wore a black sweater and didn't have the time or inclination to change from my black purse to my pink one. Even more than that, I had to take too many flute books to school to carry my pink flute bag. So I didn't have *any* pink that day.

I hadn't realized how unusual that was until I got to school...more than one person in my first class asked where my pink was.

Am I that bad?

So today I got up and went to choose my clothes. I walked into the closet, reached for a pink shirt, and put it back. I just didn't feel like a pink person today either. I ended up with a white shirt and jeans. As I got ready to leave, I decided that perhaps pink tennies would help me feel better. I didn't feel bad, I just didn't feel perky.

I can't say for sure that they did anything for me, but I wound up having a good day. My first class went by quickly, freeing me for lunch. I ate with some friends, then painted some pottery in the Union. (They sell white ceramic things to paint. When you're done, they put a clear glaze on it and fire it for you. Too fun!) I'm not overly artistic, but it's soothing all the same.

After my artsy time, I had orchestra, then band. I hung out with some friends for a few minutes before heading home.

When I got here, I practiced for a while. Russell got home, and a little while later we went to a local Mac Club meeting. (We're such Mac nerds!) After a half hour we weren't sure we were ever going back. Everyone else there seemed to know each other. Of course, the meeting didn't actually get going until after that. The presentation itself was pretty interesting. They gave a short, impromptu demonstration of the new operating system, Tiger (which will be released at the end of this month). After that, they talked about "Blogs and the Apple User." It was pretty interesting, and I decided I like my way the very best. Luckily, one of the points in the presentation was that there is no wrong way to blog. :)

I do love being right.

Not feeling pink today

I'm a pink person. I have who knows how many pink shirts, a pink sweatshirt, a pink purse, even hot pink tennies. And just recently I got a very pink flute bag. The other day at school, my friend came around the corner & at first just saw my pink bag. She didn't know I had it, but somehow knew it was me because there just isn't anyone else she could think of that would actually buy a pink gig bag.

I woke up today like most other days, not thrilled to be awake but willing to get out of bed and start the day. I usually enjoy choosing my clothes for the day...figuring out what will go with what, if I can wear my pink shoes with it, that sort of thing.

Today I went into the closet, looked at my pink shoes, and decided it just wasn't a pink shoe day. I moved on to my shirts...none of the pink ones jumped out at me. I ended up with a blue shirt and jeans.

When packing my flute bag, I realized I have to take too much stuff today to fit in my pink bag, so back to the unexciting black bag I went.

And that's how the day has gone so far. I wrote some bills, filled out a couple rebate forms, and did a little running around. Now I'm killing time until 11...that's when I get to leave to meet some friends for lunch.

I usually get excited about having accomplished so much before 10am. In the past, I wouldn't even have gotten up before now. I've done more than I used to do in a whole day, and I still have my classes, a lesson, and a concert to attend this evening.

Once I get to lunch, then school, the day will probably brighten up quite a bit.

Sparkly clean!!

During the semester, I don't do a whole lot of cleaning. We have a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house. The kitchen is big enough for 2 people to work without running into each other. The spare bath is Russell's own little special place. It's not on the same cleaning schedule as the rest of the house.

Wait, schedule? There isn't actually one of those. It's more likely that something like today will happen: I'll wake up, not be able to go back to sleep, and it will suddenly occur to me that I can't remember the last time I cleaned the *whole* bathroom (not just shower, or sinks, etc.) and that we should probably be wearing radiation suits around the house, just to be safe.

Yes, this was one of those mornings. So while my cute little Russell slept peacefully, I scrubbed and wiped and sprayed and rinsed. After the bathroom, I moved to the kitchen. It doesn't usually get the attention it deserves. For one thing, we don't actually eat at home very much. And my theory is that I do dishes in there every so often...that counts as cleaning the sink, doesn't it?

My mother would be appalled...horrified, even.

So today I got out the Comet and gave it a good scrubbing, along with the countertops and stove.

When I was done with the kitchen, I went in and sat down on the bed. Russell woke up and after a couple minutes of grogginess and figured out that I was excited about something. I took him on the short tour of the clean areas.

He loves when I clean. I'd even go so far as to say that he finds me sexier when I smell like Comet and Lysol. If that's the case, I'm the sexiest woman alive!!

Went to Cameron's...

We got a call earlier this evening from Russell's friend Gemini...he invited us over to Cameron's house to hang out before possibly going to a burlesque show at the Jackpot. At first I thought it was a band named Burlesque when in fact it was a show with fire breathers, sword swallowers, and girls in pasties and garters.

We didn't end up going to the show, but one of the guys at Cameron's got a call from a friend who was enjoying the sights.

We stopped at a liquor store for some High Life on the way over. Once equipped, we headed over to Cameron's. After wandering around after not following the directions Cameron gave us (of course we know a better way!), we pulled up, went in, and shared our beer. We ended up watching parts of 2 DVDs. (That's what happens when the guy who's seen them quite a few times before has control over the remote.)

It was good, though. We had a good time talking with everyone there. Russell's been friends with them *forever*, but I've only seen them at shows every so often. A show isn't usually the best place to sit down and get to know someone.

Russell only had 2 of the beers we brought and I nursed a Diet Coke. (I'm not a big drinker...I'm a much better designated driver.) We finally left when I had almost cmopletely lost my voice. It was pretty bad before we got over there thanks to this stupid cough/cold...the laughing and talking just finished it off. But it was worth it! It's not often that we actually get ourselves out of the house. :)

Oh! I almost forgot...We dyed my hair today!! It's usually a nice brown. Now it's more of a copper color. I'm looking forward to Monday and school. Not for the learning part, of course, but for the fun of having coppery hair. It's definitely different than what I'm used to...it'll take me a couple days to decide if I want to stick with it. Luckily, my hair is only a couple inches long...if I decide I don't like it after all, it'll grow out in a matter of weeks. And there's this really cool red color I want to try next...don't want to have to wait forever to try the next color!

It's no fun being sick.

Russell's been sick for a while now. I thought I was somehow immune to his germs. Turns out I'm not. A few days ago, my throat started to hurt, my voice lowered by an octave, and now I'm always ready for a nap.

This is no fun.

Luckily it's the weekend and I'll be able to sleep in...good healing time. :)

Unfortunately, my beloved iBook is sick too. When I was using it the other day, the screen suddenly looked like bad cable, went back to normal, freaked out again, and froze. I hit the force quit command, then made it shut down. When I started it up again, the screen wouldn't turn back on.

After a few unsuccessful attempts at making it work (mostly Russell tapping the back & sides of the screen, just in case it needed a little testosterone), I called a local Mac fix-it store. They diagnosed it right away: a problem with the Logic Board. (Turns out that's Mac Talk for the motherboard.) Evidently, iBooks falling within a certain range of serial numbers have "issues" with their logic boards right about now. Whadaya know, my iBook's serial number is in there!

I called Apple, they sent a box to me with a return label attached, and are fixing it for free since so many iBooks have the same problem.

So it seems I will be iBook-less for a week or two. No more checking email from the couch...no more working on one thing on one computer and another on the other, just because I can. It's a tragedy.

But when my wonderful little iBook comes back, it will have a new Logic Board and be all ready to play again. :)