Monday, October 31, 2011

Saturday, October 29, 2011

something to ponder


Yesterday a chamber music coaching session with my quartet turned into a long conversation with our coach, a well-respected chamber musician and member of a long-standing string quartet in the Boston area.

She talked with us about a number of things:

music

life

getting through the times when it all feels like drudgery

finding jobs

happiness.

And at one point, she mentioned an aspect of music that she had been involved in for a number of years, and I said, "Oh, that's what I really want to do!"

And she looked at me hard, and said, "Then why aren't you doing it?"

Whoah.

Now I can't stop thinking about that.


Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Email

I just logged into an email account I hadn't checked since April.

Yeah, things have been busy I guess. Kind of forgot about that email account.

After deleting all the spam and junk mail, I narrowed it down to only about 30 emails that might actually be intended for me.

Some of them were.

Others were not, such as an email from someone offering condolences on the death of my "mum" (I hope not!), a message from "Grandma Ginger" with twenty X's and O's at the end, and one from someone I've never heard of saying she'd be visiting me on the 28th.

There was also one from a "Mom" I didn't know I had, saying we'd be taking a vacation to a lakefront resort. Maybe I should write her back and ask for more details.

And then there were all the emails from a group of housemates discussing rent payments, chore charts, and other such things.

I bet they're all annoyed at the Sarah that lives with them, because she probably hasn't been paying her rent or doing her chores, seeing as I was getting all her emails.

So, I can only conclude that there are disadvantages to having an email address consisting of an extremely common first name followed by a somewhat common last name (my maiden name) followed by a very common email provider.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

the sincerest form of flattery


Today in the Montessori violin class I teach, a little student named Juliette said to me,

"Look, I wore a skirt today so I could be like you!"

Saturday, October 22, 2011

family dinner

For the past week or so I've been wanting to make a certain dinner.

The first anniversary of my Grandma's death recently came and went, and she's been on my mind. So I really had it in my head to make a Grandma-worthy dinner of some of the things she used to cook for family dinners.

Today I was feeling pretty good about life, and it seemed like the day to do it.

So, for the menfolk (Nathan and his brother Andrew) there was pot roast and gravy, and for me there were roasted carrots and some fresh green beans, cooked just a little too long and with plenty of salt, the way Grandma used to make them. And for all of us, there were mashed potatoes, which will always remind me of my Grandpa; he was the best at making mashed potatoes.


And there was Yorkshire pudding (an English tradition!), which I decided to make in a muffin tin, although Grandma always used a 9x13 glass dish.


Grandma and Grandpa emailed me their Yorkshire pudding recipe back in 2007. When I looked it up today in my old emails, I smiled to see Grandpa's comment at the bottom of the email.

"Phone if this sounds too complicated. Don't let your U.S. Senators know of this or they may have it outlawed. gp."

He never missed an opportunity to get in a good jab at the liberal state of Massachusetts, and he always added funny comments to the emails Grandma dictated for him to type.

It was a good meal. We've all been so busy that it was probably the first "real" meal we've enjoyed together at the dinner table in a long time.

The only problem? I wish I could call up Grandma and Grandpa and tell them about it.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

things that make me happy

Number One:
Nathaniel's mom bringing me a plate of molasses crinkles at his lesson.

Number Two:
Hearing six-year-old Ashley's mom voice continual encouragement at her lessons, as she packs up her violin and as they walk out the door: "Great job, Ash! You sounded so great on that duet with your teacher! You're doing a good job!"

Number Three:
Suspensions in Haydn's Sinfonia No. 22.


Number Four:
A party at my violin teacher's house, complete with friends, pasta with cilantro pesto, blackberry pie, and games of charades -- all with the husb in attendance with me.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Chocolate

The cellist from my quartet brought me Ferrero Rocher; an thoughtful and delicious apology for missing a rehearsal last week.

I already thought he was a very good cellist.

Now I'm pretty sure he's the best cellist in the world.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Humorous Text Messages

Ah, you've got to love the various websites (such as this one or this one) that feature humorous or awkward texts from parents to their kids. Here's a good one I found via Pinterest:


{What? Are you still not using Pinterest? Get on that, you fool!}


P.S. Now I sort of feel like I'm missing out, because my parents don't text. Maybe you guys could work on that, Mom and Dad?

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Monday, October 3, 2011

a good day

Today may have been the best day of my life.

Or maybe that's just when I compare it with yesterday, a day that involved a stomach bug, endless vomiting, and overall misery. The countless times I spent throwing up led to apparent dehydration, which meant than at one point when I got out of bed to use the bathroom, I passed out and fell on the bathroom floor. I woke up with my lip split open and my glasses all bent, my face on the cold tile floor, and slowly got to my feet. Just in time to vomit all over my clothes.

So yeah, compared with yesterday, today was amazing.