So here it is–the long post you’ve been waiting for. 🙂
I’m finally on my summer vacation which means no lessons this week. I’ve been looking forward to this week for so long that now that I’m here I feel a bit overwhelmed with all of the things I wanted to get done over my “summer vacation week.” I made a giant list of the things I wanted to get done and then I couldn’t bring myself to start actually doing any of them. Yesterday was a gorgeous day so I spent a good chunk of time mowing our yard and the neighbor’s yard and then planting flowers. Chloe was a peach while I was mowing. I discovered that I can put her in her little bounce house and she’ll just sit inside contentedly the whole time I’m mowing. And the mowing took me much longer than I had expected because the blade seems to be cutting funny now. Ever since I ran over the metal leg of the fire pit and we had to get the blade replaced it doesn’t seem to be cutting as well. Which is weird. You would think the opposite would be true. Since it’s a new blade you would think it would cut even better. Weird, huh? Anyway, I ended up having to cut every section twice to get a nice clean finish. I didn’t mind the exercise and it was absolutely lovely out. So lovely in fact that I discovered, as I was getting ready for bed, that I had a nice burn on my back. Tim said it wasn’t a burn but “color.” Either way, it was a little tender sleeping on my back. It’s much better today.
Tim and I went to Chub’s funeral this past Thursday. It was at a Catholic church a couple of blocks away so we just walked there. Neither of us had been inside of that particular church before and were anxious to see it. It ended up being much smaller than we thought it would be–but very ornate and beautiful. I had never been to a Catholic funeral service and I must say I was quite disappointed. It felt so cold and confusing (when to sit, when to stand, when to kneel???) but it was still nice to be able to have closure. We ended up having to leave before it was over (they were just starting communion) b/c Tim needed to get to work and it was starting to get a little long.
Yesterday in celebration of summer I gave myself a little hair trim. I was very careful to not cut too much this time. 🙂 I think it turned out okay. I’m still not 100% satisfied, but I’m much happier than I was after the last time. And I made myself wait until after my recital to try it again, just in case I screwed it up!
Dende has become a royal pain in the butt in his kennel. We have had to permanently move his kennel downstairs into my studio. I take the kennel up and down every day which is quite a nuisance but worth it to not have to hear him scratching at his kennel all night. GRRRRRRR. I don’t know what the deal is, but he is absolutely TERRIBLE in his kennel at night. No matter where we put him. The weird part is that he is fine in his kennel during the day. It’s very weird, and VERY aggravating. I’ve thought about doing a little “kennel rehab” with him, but I’m not sure if he’s past the point of help. I can’t bring myself to admit that I’m going to have to set up and take down his kennel every day for the rest of the time we live in this house, b/c that could be a while! Luckily I’m getting very fast at taking it up and down…
This Saturday is the Honor’s concert that I’m the Usher Chair for. I have to finish getting everything lined up and ready in the next day or two. Although it’s hard to know what to get set up having never done this before, or even attended the concert before… However, many of my volunteers have been doing this for many years, so they know exactly what to do even if I don’t!
Tomorrow I’m heading to St. Cloud to see Shannon and little baby Xavier–I haven’t seen him since the day he was born! I’m sure he will be so much bigger. And I know Chloe will think he’s super cool, since she’s in her “baby stage” right now… 🙂 It should be an excellent day! Hopefully the weather will cooperate so we can go for a nice walk.
I’ll have to wait to tell you all about the neighbor’s residing job (that’s still not done yet…) maybe that will be tomorrow’s post. I even have pictures to show the progress! It will be nice when it’s done, if they ever finish…
Your life sounds fun!
Catholic funerals are long and involved. But those Catholics take their religious traditions very seriously and every part means something to them. I’ve only been at them when I’ve played piano, so I didn’t have to worry about sitting and standing, but I did have to worry about a lot of music that was either played by me alone, or by me with the priest, or by me with the choir, or a combination. But after a few, it got easier. And the service made more sense. Remember, it is something they have grown up with, so it all seems simple to them. Like the Lutheran church, which is getting a lot more simple to me.
Mom