Frisbee anyone?
Wordless Wednesday
Tag Archives: fun stuff
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone!
Katie and I would like to wish all of you, all over the world, a wonderful holiday. This year it will be just the three of us together, Katie, her Dad and me. We will enjoy a quiet day, mixed in with a bit of barking at imaginary monsters at the front door. She’s practicing that now. Later on I’ll cook a holiday dinner for us and maybe we’ll watch a movie. Or take a nap. Simple, quiet ways to spend the one precious day off from work that I have.
Oh wait! Katie says it’s CHRISTMAS Mama! We have to have an adventure! Well. You never know. A good romp at the park might fit into our simple family holiday.
And then a nap.
Because everyone needs a little holiday Homer
Merry Christmas to all of you!
SNOW!
May your holidays be warm and bright…
…and if it’s your wish…..white.
Santa’s music
Santa reviews the music
With all the events on Friday I didn’t tell you how our community band’s Christmas concert went. The concert opened with a few pieces played by a local hand-bell choir. Their soft gentle melodies soothed our souls in a way few things could. Though I have to say during “Greensleeves” it was pretty hard not to let the tears slide down my checks. As our conductor said at the end of their selections; “I think they’ve taken us to the peaceful place we need to be.”
When it was our turn to play we sat up on that high school stage and looked out into that large audience, filled with families complete with grandparents and little children. We could still feel our hearts hurting but we were also filled with resolve to salvage something of this magical time of the year. And so we played. Yes there were a few bumps, and some bad moments where we lost our concentration as well as the melody, but there were also joyous moments and fun filled moments and laughs and smiles and rousing applause.
Santa came to visit us and conducted a few of the pieces. We always enjoy him and are especially honored to have his attention at this busy time of the year. The children in the audience could hardly wait to visit with him after the concert.
Santa rehearses the band.
In the end what felt almost inappropriate as we were driving to the venue turned out to be just right. In the midst of overwhelming sadness we created a little bubble of joy and for a couple of hours we were reminded to enjoy our families, to share some holiday spirit, to appreciate our community, and especially to enjoy the moment because, as we all know, the moment is all we have.
Let each of your moments be filled with love, music and warmth.
And we’re on!
Saturday was Katie’s birthday!
She’s six now, almost middle aged. But don’t tell her that…she’s still a puppy at heart.
Yesterday I didn’t feel right posting about her birthday given so many will never have another. But today she reminds me that three years ago I forgot her birthday entirely and she doesn’t want me to forget it again!
So here is her birthday photo…with a pretty pink toy she got from her boyfriend Reilly!
“Thank you Reilly!”
Happy birthday little one. You are a sweetie for sure.
Concert night
Tonight is our holiday concert. We didn’t get to perform the Halloween concert last October due to the remnants of Hurricane Sandy taking out local power that night, so this will also be our season opener. I’m sort of nervous which is silly. It’s Christmas music for goodness sake. But of course, not just any Christmas music; some of it is challenging.
After an 11 hour work day yesterday I practiced for about 30 minutes last night. The ‘few measures’ I had planned on working on morphed into almost all of the works. And it wasn’t pretty. I know, I know. The worst dress rehearsal can sometimes mean the best concert.
Here’s hoping that holds true for me tonight.
Disconnected
It’s December. Christmas is around the corner. Everyone seems to be excited but I’ve been feeling disconnected from it all. With no children and no special plans for the holiday, no shopping or cooking to do I haven’t felt empathetic while listening to the young mothers at work talk about sales and gifts and recipes and travel plans.
Today contained a bad commute to work in a downpour, a bad morning at work filled with big problems, a lunch hour spent with truck safety stuff and studying rally signs, a long afternoon trying and failing to get caught up, then a quick drive to band rehearsal where we started out playing terribly and irritating the director. A typical and exhausting day.
But we’re practicing Christmas music for our concert next week. And Christmas music is hard to resist. As the rehearsal wore on we started to sound better. People settled in. The director smiled a little bit. The muscles in my neck relaxed. No one minded going past 9 p.m. as we worked out a particularly difficult passage. People stuck around afterward getting organized for the concert.
On the drive home I sang along with the radio – “Do You Hear What I Hear?” and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Raindeer.” I enjoyed the Christmas lights in the neighborhoods I drove through. Coming down my street I saw that my husband had turned on our holiday lights for me.
I smiled as walked in the door; Katie was excited to see me and husband seemed happy too. All in all it was a good day. It’s December, Christmas is right around the corner and the magic of music connected me to the season. Finally.
So get out there an enjoy the season everyone. And my best advice is to turn on the radio while you’re out. I bet you find yourself singing along.
Happy Holidays everyone. Happy Holidays.
Silly girl
For a little comic relief I present…Katie!
Yes Mama?
She and I have a Rally trial coming up this Saturday. Last night I was telling my husband that I spent my lunch in the car reading the Advanced Rally signs and practicing commands out loud. I demonstrated for him; “siT! Down! Back! Circle! Katie – HEEL!” He started laughing and pointed behind me.
There was Katie dutifully sitting and downing, all the time cocking her head to one side as if to say “GEEZE Mama, not so fast! You know you were using your SCHOOL voice!”
And now she tells me if I laugh at her she just might not be so responsive come Saturday. So I guess I better be more respectful. Because you never know what a Sheltie is going to do.
You just never know.
You called?
Change Is Hard 