Category: Musings and Mutterings

Well, we have run our course and we have no more performances. Now it’s simply grunt office work to do.

On Thursday, I have to go to New York City. For years I REFUSED to go to NYC because I just KNEW it would blow up once I got there. As soon as 9/11 happened I no longer felt that way. Anyway, I have to go to settle on the sale of the condo there. I’ll be happy to be done with it. What I won’t be happy about is going to NYC by myself. Everyone I know has to work that day or has other issues. Not that I can’t go places by myself, it’s just that I can be directionally challenged at times and don’t really want to be both LOST and ALONE in NYC. I was considering riding the train up to Penn Station. With the cost of gas I thought it might actually make sense to try that way.

Big plans are underway for the graduation party we are having in June. This ends up being a multiple child, multiple event. Sean graduated with class of 2007!!! YES.. he got is GED!! Liberty turns 18 and graduates as well. Anytime a moonbounce is involved, you know it’s a big event!

I got my name in lights with notcelebrity.co.uk

My son is sitting on the back porch, in the lovely new patio set I got for Mother’s Day, enthralled by an ancient bug zapper that still works after being exposed to the elements for at least a year. The distinctive pop and zzzzzzt of the freshly hatched bug population on my back porch, delighting his ADHD as little else can. Hoots of joy come from him when a particularly large beetle provides a spectacular spray of sparks.

We really are not rednecks, although this delight of carnage makes me wonder sometimes.

He asks me if I like the bug zapper and I think for a moment. Do I? I find the sound disturbing and the concept distasteful, but I do hate being bitten by bugs. Generally, bugs are free to live unmolested in my life unless they cross the boundaries into my living quarters. Then they usually don’t survive long. Something about being lured to your own demise is uncomfortable and that’s exactly what a bug zapper does…. ooooo pretty light…zzzzzzzttttt!!

I hope the bugs will forgive him… because cosmically, he’s just a bug to something bigger… let’s hope *he* doesn’t get distracted by the Sean Zapper anytime soon.

Been thinking of my mom today. Today was her birthday, she would have been 71. I had dreams last night, none of them really clear. I didn’t see my parents, but the only part I can remember was that I was supposed to clean up yet another household where someone had been sick for a long time and died. I went into an unfamiliar room, where my parents were supposed to have been staying while they were very ill, and saw bedding (sheets and blankets) strewn around… I seem to remember white sheets a green blanket, but I could be wrong about that. Someone handed me a navy blue jacket and skirt combination and I remember thinking that it looked like something my mom would wear, then I remembered that it was the outfit she had picked out to be buried in. (Not in real life, but in my dream) In my dream she wasn’t dead, just not where I was.

Between that snippet of a dream and getting a phone call about more legal crud with Heather, my day didn’t start off so well. I did go to the bank and pet store, where I really wanted to go lovey all the kitties. They were looking for volunteers to come in and love the animals now and then. I think I’ll see how I can do that.

At least I got out in the sunshine for a bit.. that’s a positive!

Quick blog tonight.. or should I say this morning.

Great concert- maybe I’ll be able to make a link to it when Dave figures that out.
My schedule is just very busy right now and I’m such a control freak that I want to make sure I have everything I can possibly have covered, covered, or some kind of contingency plan in place. That takes a TON out of you. No wonder I exhaust myself.

My daughter has prom tomorrow night and I have performances. My son promised to come pick me up from Meyerhoff so we could race over to the hotel and take pictures.. that way I at least get to see her in her gown.

I also have a chance to spend an hour at Flower Mart, which I’ve never been to, and since it’s on the doorstep of the my work, I guess I’ll take advantage of that.

Sunday is the performance of Carmina Burana and the final concert for our Towson campus, hours apart from one another. Saturday is the opening night for Tosca. The picture above is Frank in his robes on stage with the processional… hehehe… gotta love it.

I saw that Jesus Christ Superstar is coming to the Lyric in a couple of weeks with Ted Neely as Jesus. That means that he’s been portraying Jesus in that role for almost twice the amount of time that Jesus walked the earth. Ted is a 64 year old man portraying a 33 year old. Gotta love make up. I’d love to go, since it’s billed as Ted’s “Farewell Tour” heheheh… I guess 65 is just too old to play a 33 year old!!

Watch out, Dave.. you won’t be able to pretend much longer!! 🙂

Hopefully it’s the calm before the calm and not the storm. Today is Libby’s last concert, ending her 11 year run with the Children’s Chorus. I am pretty sure I have everything in place. Since Wednesday I’ve been running around putting things in order, buying reception food for 700 people, dealing with ticket and seating issues and making sure everyone knows where they are supposed to be. No biggie there, but I’ve been gearing up for this last performance. I know I’ll cry.

For 11 years my baby and I have spent Thursday nights together. From the first year when we would drive up to Patapsco Valley, fighting the Route 29 traffic, to this last year where she drove herself to Abiding Savior Church, Thursday’s have been our time. We’ve shared countless meals together, sang in the car with each other, learning the words or the music to a particular piece and talking about what has been going on in her life. I think the amount of time she’s sat on my lap (even this year) at Peabody is far greater than the time she’s done so at home! Now, we are coming to an end. She’ll be leaving for college in the Fall and I’ll be starting my very first year with Peabody without her. It just won’t be the same.

She says she’s going to audition for the chorus at Salisbury. I hope so. I know that singing in the chorus has been ‘her thing’ for so long, that I’d hate for her to not be able to enjoy it still. Besides, the chorus she’s in now is for treble voices, I can imagine it will be a wonderful new experience for her to sing with bass as well.

5 hours and counting until I need a really big box of tissues…..

I’ve spent the majority of my weekend painting my bedroom a deep color called Ripe Currant. It really is a beautifully rich color and I think I’m going to love it once I get everything set up. The problem is that I have now put one primer coat and 3 coats of paint on my walls and I’m going to need another coat. I’m using good paint, Behr, but I guess this color is just that intense. The picture above is not my room, btw.. just a red room… I’ll post my room when it’s done.

Today, I would have finished that last coat, but the guys are supposed to come and install the maple flooring. I had really hoped that my painting with this deep red would be done PRIOR to my light flooring being installed. Too bad I didn’t know if I’d need another coat until the light of the morning… last night it was too dark to tell with my lamp. This room will definitely need proper lighting.

Frank and I spent part of the afternoon in Home Despot checking out crown moulding and baseboards. Home improvement projects do not bring out the best in our relationship. I think it’s crazy the way we just can not get along. I usually want to do things by the book and he’s willing to fly by the seat of his pants. Even though 99% of the project may go well, that 1% will be the thing I see over and over. I think that if we could come to a happy medium point, it wouldn’t be so bad, but we are both so stubborn that it just turns into a growling match. That’s why I told Frank that I’d pick the moulding for the room and he and Dave can install the stuff. I’ll have a Cosmo and then maybe if I don’t KNOW where that 1% error is, I can’t obsess over it!

I’m also supposed to have my new furniture delivered today… originally, the plan was to paint the room, get the flooring done and then get the furniture delivered.. in that order, but the best laid plans of mice and men…now the former contents of my room have been spewed about the top floor of my house and the flooring guys and furniture are supposed to be delivered at the same time. I guess the furniture will just have to be delivered to the living room. As it is, my mattress has been in the dining room for the past few nights… makes getting a drink at night pretty easy to do!

Hopefully I won’t be sitting and waiting all day, because all I want to do is get moving and accomplish, and if you know me then you know the inactivity is similar to trying to cage lightning…. it’s not wise!

Up and about early today. My daughter’s alarm clock goes off at least 6 times every morning and some days I just can’t ignore it, so this morning I got up, made some coffee, breakfast, did all the dishes, made a pan of lasagna and answered all my email by 7:25. Now what?? I guess I can catch up on the news from overnight, read some blogs and start my work day although Thursday’s are my long day and I don’t finish until about 10:00pm.

I started painting my bedroom yesterday. I’ve had a cold that I’ve been ignoring but when I was bending over to open and move around paint cans, the pressure was rough. I let out a groan and my son started teasing me about getting old. I think it’s only just beginning to dawn on him that I am 24 years older than him and what that really means. Anyway, I wasn’t the one- 15 minutes later- who was complaining about his back hurting and making noises about his body hurting! I told him he was getting old, too! Just because I don’t ride as many roller coasters as I used to, don’t put me out of commission so quickly!!

My bedroom has never had more than the builders grade paint on it for over 22 years. This means I have to seal the walls with a primer. Ugh. I hate the primer color – a rose mauve- but I know it’s temporary. Still, with my new furniture due to arrive on Monday I see my weekend activities very clearly defined for me. Paint, paint, paint and um…. paint. Yeah.. that seems about right. Still, I’m excited to FINALLY be putting my room in order!

Sean moves home this weekend. We are looking forward to seeing him around again. He brings such an energy to the house and Libby has really missed her brother. Welcome back, Sean. How long will you be staying?? 😉

Happened to find this on my baby’s myspace page and just sat and stared at it for the longest time. Man, I LOVE my KIDS!!

Today was the official day to submit your taxes, even though I did hear that if you lived in this area they would actually give you until Thursday because of the storms. I’m not really sure why storms, late in the season, would be a good reason to extend the tax deadline by another two days when there had been virtually 2.5 other months to prepare your taxes, but who am I to decide? I did my taxes long ago and have already gotten back my meager refund (no complaining here, that’s the way it’s *supposed* to work. Uncle Sam doesn’t pay me any interest, why should I loan him my money for free??) and I’ve spent it on a new mattress and some paint for my room. That’s right folks, I reinvested it right away! My back is happier already.

The above picture is someones coin balancing creation. Must have taken a patient and steady hand to create something like that.

The other taxing issue has been all the media about the VA. tragedy. Like Cheryl, I turned off the media yesterday. I’ve read news about the gunman and kept up with the latest- meaning the new developments- but I don’t need to hear the popping of gunfire from a cell phone camera and I certainly don’t need to hear the repetitive hype over and over again. It’s like an old Don Henley song….

We got the bubble-headed-bleach-blonde who
Comes on at five
She can tell you bout the plane crash with a gleam
In her eye
Its interesting when people die-
Give us dirty laundry

Can we film the operation?
Is the head dead yet?
You know, the boys in the newsroom got a
Running bet
Get the widow on the set!
We need dirty laundry

You dont really need to find out whats going on
You dont really want to know just how far its gone
Just leave well enough alone
Eat your dirty laundry

Some good news would be welcome now and then… we don’t need hours and hours of bad news. Someone once told me that it’s news because it’s unusual.. if it were the norm, it wouldn’t be worth airing.