Back From Jacksonville

Last week I trepidatiously got in the car with J and drove to Jacksonville to meet his parents and siblings. All 4 of his siblings. Including his sister from France. And most of their spouses and kids. It was wild! And fun! Ok, so I was kinda excited...not really "trepidatious" at all. Being an only child, I've always thought it would be fun to be a part of a large family as an adult. While things were somewhat chaotic (imagine hyper dogs, tender-hearted children, many independent, headstrong folk...and you get the picture), it was still a lot of fun. One of my favorite moments of the visit was the family dinner in a gorgeous room overlooking the ocean. The kids went down to walk on the beach at one point, and the youngest boy got his pants sandy and wet in the ocean. I looked down and saw him running around with just his shirt on...giggling, perfectly content, and totally enjoying himself. That memory definitely makes me smile!

On the home front, we officially named the kitten Marcello. It's from La Boheme, and seems to fit his personality. His nickname will likely be "Cello". He seems to like it, so it stuck. Marcello in Boheme is a bit of a ladies' man, and since our Marcello is cuddly and the only male in the Home for Wayward Chorus Girls, I think it's appropriate. :)

This week I need to get back into tri-training routine...only 3 weeks or so of training left! I think I'm ready to at least finish the race, but my goal is to improve last year's time by 7 minutes. We'll see...

Eventful Weekend

I'm glad I decided to stay around the house Friday evening, because it was quite a busy weekend for me! Saturday, my cousin, her husband and their son came into DC for the weekend. I met them at the Natural History Museum, and we wandered through a couple of the museums and up and down the Mall a bit. The highlight for my little cousin was the Carousel.

I also got to eat a sandwich with the first tomato from my garden. Yummy!

Saturday evening, we sang a concert at Gibson Island Country School which has this view:

Sunday, my newly adopted kitten was delivered! He is currently nameless, but the options are Figaro, Radames, Rodolfo, or Siegfried.

Sunday evening, I went to the Kennedy Center to see Spring Awakening. It was ok...I was entertained but it was the type of show that is edgy simply for the sake of being edgy, at least in my opinion. We spend some time on the Lower Terrace with a pre-show drink.

All in all a good weekend...but I'm tired!

**Note: All the photos were taken with my Blackberry...hence the grainyness.

The BSO plays Disney at Strathmore

Last night, my company was the corporate sponsor of the BSO's Disney Concert at Strathmore. What more could I ask for? Music, Disney, friends, good food...it was a lovely evening! While not the most musically fulfilling performance for me, it was quite entertaining since they performed most of my Disney favorites. I had never been to Strathmore before, and was amazed by the beauty of the Hall. The pictures don't do it justice. The light wood gives it an outdoorsy feel and the acoustics were brilliant!


We began the evening in the lounge with tasty food and drink, and were able to spend intermission there, as well. Here are some of the treats available:




All in all, it was a very fun evening. My complaint (come on, it's me!) was the behavior of some of the the children there. I know it's a family-oriented show, but in my opinion, parents should use it as an opportunity to teach their children proper concert etiquette. In other words, when your child starts yelling, shush them and explain that they need to be quiet (er). Don't encourage them by carrying on a conversation.


End rant.

Photo Day 1

Last night, the small chorus I sing with had a rehearsal for our concert coming up on Saturday. During the summer, we often rehearse at St. Anne's Church, the lovely old church on Church Circle in Annapolis. While it's not as grand as the Gothic Cathedrals of Europe, the building has its own understated beauty and charm. I took some photos before and after rehearsal, of the view up high and down low.

Re-defining Myself as a Blogger

It's hard to believe that my last post was almost a month ago! It seems that all of my "update" blogs are always at the beginning of a promise to "be a better blogger". But really, I don't think I know what that looks like for me. There are so many different aspects to blogging for different people. For me, I think the part I enjoy most is the writing, and the chronicle I have of my life from the blog. I can go back and reread what I was thinking and feeling at a particular time, and it lets me sort of re-live that experience. I hate turning my computer on in the morning and looking at my blog site...wishing I had the inspiration and discipline to write something. I'm such an all or nothing person, that not blogging every day doesn't quite feel like blogging to me. But since my blog IS for ME, it can be anything I want, right? In any case, I guess I have been busy living my life instead of blogging about it. I miss the chronicle aspect though, which is why I'm going to buckle down and try to be more consistent. Not sure who is still out there reading this...but if you're still around, thanks for sticking with me!

So what have I been up to? Well, my vacation at the beach was much needed and a great relaxing time with my family. While there, my phone died, and I got a Blackberry. I'm enjoying learning how to use it and loving the "all-the-time" internet access it provides. I spent the July 4th weekend with J in Baltimore at a cookout and on a long bike ride. Last week/weekend, my parents were here and we ate lots of yummy food and went to see Pirates of Penzance (great show...catch it this weekend if you can!) This week is full of cultural activities- 2 rehearsals, watching American Idol like Opera Auditions at the Engineer's Club last night, the BSO performing Disney tunes at Strathmore tomorrow night, singing a concert at Gibson Island on Saturday night, and going to see Spring Awakening at the Kennedy Center on Sunday night. I'll probably have the opportunity to see another show on Friday, but it will depend on how I feel. I guess I am doing my part at supporting the arts!

After that update, I think one way I might be able to chronicle bits of my life is by attempting to take a picture that captures the spirit of the day and post it on the blog. Now that I have a cameraphone that takes good pics, it seems that might not be too difficult. We'll see...it will take discipline for me! On that note, here are a few photos I took on vacation:

Sunset during dinner at the Old Fort Pub Restaurant

These signs were all over lowcountry SC...you'd think it would be obvious not to!

My tootsies enjoying an afternoon on the beach

My parents after an evening walk on the beach...married 40 years and they still hold hands!

One is listening to audio on the computer, the other is reading...

Sand castle we found during an evening beach walk

That's all for now...hopefully I'll be back tomorrow!

Away I Go to an Island Fair that Lies in a Southern Sea

***Kudos to anyone who gets the title reference!***

Saturday morning, bright and early, I'm getting in my little Saturn, complete with bike rack and bike, and heading to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. I've been looking forward to this vacation...oh....since February, I think. A whole week at the beach with nothing pressing to do...divine. Well, I do have to keep up with tri-training, hence the bike on my Saturn...but Hilton Head has so many lovely bike paths that I think that won't be too taxing.

My family has been going to Hilton Head for as long as I can remember. Until I left for college, it was an annual event in June. I have so many fun memories...for me, going to "the beach" always meant Hilton Head. I spent countless hours on the beach, in the ocean, and particularly looking for shells. Most of my beach trips contained quintessential childhood beach memories...here are just a few of my favorites:

• Shelling
• Crabbing
• Watching the shrimp boats come by as we were swimming
• Peering into tidal pools to see the creatures (I had a stage where I desperately wanted to be a marine biologist)
• Watching schools of porpoises come by as we were swimming
• Floating and riding the waves on a canvas raft
• Biking (gonna definitely re-live this one this year...but to the tune of 20 miles at a time!)
• The joy of taking a shower after a long day on the beach
• Eating seafood out (we didn't eat out much when I was growing up, so it was always a special treat!)
• Spending time with my family
• Shopping!
• Playing hide and go seek in the house (I can still remember the time my Dad took the mattress out of the sleeper sofa and hid one of my friends in the sofa!)
• Sitting on the screened in porch for hours...reading, watching people, and playing Crazy 8s with my Grandma
• Feeding the turtles in the lagoon off the porch
• Running away from the alligator in the lagoon!
• Eating ham and turkey sandwiches for lunch (inside family joke)
• Having a TV in my bedroom! (I never, never had this growing up...probably would have never passed any class!)
• Afternoon naps to escape the heat of the day
• Kayaking at Shelter Cove

And many more. Decided I had to end the list, though! In any case, I will be doing some of these things while I'm at Hilton Head, and I can't wait! See you in a week or so!

A Series of Open Letters

Dear Starbucks Triple Grande Iced Latte,

I definitely thought you would taste the same with nonfat milk instead of 2%. But you don't. You are more like watery coffee. Next time, I will not try to save the 40 calories and 5g of fat and just order you the way you are.

Signed,

Addicted to Caffeine

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Dear A/C in my car,

Why oh why did you have to spring a leak over the winter? Two leaks, in fact? Fixing you (and the tensioner belt that made you whine so noisily) cost all of the cash I had put aside for the MacBook I am seriously coveting. It was a hard decision to have you fixed...but one day of sweating through my shirt on the way home from work convinced me. You know that I don't like to spend on credit or my "regular" savings, so it looks like I'll have to wait until the Fall to actually have a home computer that can open iTunes in less than 5 minutes. Thanks.

Signed,
No Longer Sweating During My Commute

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Dear Gilbert and Sullivan Theater Co I sang with last summer,

Do you really have to be located in Baltimore? If you were somewhere closer to me...say Odenton, or even ya know....Bowie....I totally would have come back this summer. Well, that and if I could skip the auditions...seeing as how I depise auditions! I'm a lowly choral singer...singing by myself makes me want to cry! Oh well, I will miss you this summer...but my waistline and Triathlon finish time will be much happier!

Signed,
A former Chorus member

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Dear MacBook,

I promise I am doing everything I can to acquire you. But do you have to be soooo ridiculously expensive? If you were say....$500 cheaper I could definitely acquire you now. But you aren't, so I'll have to wait until the Fall. In the meantime, I'll be the one drooling on the window of the Apple Store as I covet you...

Signed,
Your future owner

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Dear Couple making out in Lane 1 (the widest lane) of the Swim Center,

Ewwww. Just ewwwww. Don't you see the folks around you completely grossed out by your PDA? And seriously, other people are waiting for a lane to swim. If you want to make out, you should probably head to the shallow end with the kiddies. And young man, I'm sure you think you get a better swim workout with your girlfriend hanging onto your neck as you doggie paddle down the lane, but we'd all be better off if you just swam on your own.

Signed,
The swimmer in lane 3 who was shooting you dirty looks

P.S. Could you also please tell your girlfriend that strolling around naked in the locker room is a bit off-putting as well?

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Dear Bike,

Oh how I love you! I mean, I definitely enjoyed my time with you last summer, but this year I've really noticed how nice a ride you have. Even after 20 miles, you glide effortlessly down the road. You are worth every penny I paid for you!

Love,
Your smitten rider