I must be power hungry

The random photo is from the dinosaur museum at BYU. Pretty impressive.

Yesterday we went to Clarks Summit early in the morning for a choir rehearsal. It was snowing (but not sticking) when we got there. Fun. Michael likes it. So there you go.

But the experience was amazing. For the first time ever, I directed a stake (regional) church choir. The best singers in our church in Northeast PA are all there and I have the baton. What a thrill as I'm really not the best director in the world. Completely self taught and you know what that means. We sang Mack Wilberg's "Redeemer of Israel" which includes a four-part mens' section and two organists, one playing a lot of great and difficult stuff and the other playing the trumpet part on another manual. Recently sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in an international broadcast. And the choir members and organists really outdid themselves. Their performance was stirring.

I really, really enjoyed it. Probably so much that I'll never be asked to do it again. I was probably a little too enthusiastic in my directing. (Okay, a lot too enthusiastic.) But I couldn't help myself. Henry Kissinger said, "Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac." And if bringing down the baton and having glorious music begin isn't power, I don't know what is. It was also heady to rehearse the choir and hear them get better as I made suggestions (more like commands--here we go with the power thing again.)

I guess the photo is not so random. I have a real T-Rex style as a choir director. I came home exhausted but happy.

Just pix

I've had a nap so this post is basically just pix. The quality is muy pobre because I didn't take the good camera. My daughter has one just like it, so what's the point? I could always pick hers up and shoot something, which I didn't, which makes me sad. Anyway...

This is how the beautiful new Wilkes-Barre Scranton airport looks at 4:30 AM. Yawn!

The uber-cool tunnel at the Detroit airport. Artisan glass with lots of changing colored lights behind it. And it plays music!

Couldn't resist this one. I usually don't take pix of the little ones but I don't think she can be identified from this photo. Seems the other grandmother can braid super fine hair. Cute!

Again, I don't think the little one is recognizable. This, my friends, is a stegosaurus skull. There's an amazing little museum at BYU just full of dinosaurs. And a see-through window so you can watch them do their paleontology work.

Part of an awesome display at the museum. The stuff of nightmares.

Anyway, that's an overview without the important pictures of the kids, of course.

Sick going, sick coming home but very happy in the middle

I woke up the morning of the trip with a raging migraine and came home with a cold. Yep. Them's the breaks. But there was a lot of good stuff in between.

My daughter's children are delightful. And I got every grandmother's dream---lots of one on one time. The kids took turns spending the night with Grammie. It was totally awesome as Dash would say. They came back to the hotel with me and then we had a lovely breakfast together in the morning. Pretty cool. I really appreciated having them alone because you can really listen to what they're saying and because you can make sure that their needs are met and that they are happy.

The kids were so different. I asked them to be quiet in the hotel halls so that we didn't disturb other guests and they were excellent at that. But they all went down the halls differently. In the halls there were tall skinny windows in alcoves and the oldest girl, C, couldn't pass them by without looking through. The six-year-old S had to step on just one color in the wildly patterned carpet. He wasn't obsessive about it and had to change colors several times down the hall but it was a great game (one that Catherine played sometimes too-I was tempted myself) and one that he would give up if I got ahead of him. Four-year-old J would run in spurts and remember to let me catch up. Pretty funny. Two almost three-year-old J didn't spend the night but she came to the hotel often to swim. She went down the halls on tiptoe like a fairy princess. E, the eight-month-old, didn't get much floor time in the halls as he is just army crawling but he is probably the most unlike of all the children. For one thing, he's big. The rest are small for their age. He has huge hands and feet. And he's not really lovey dovey. My daughter's kids up to this point have been natural cuddlers. And he is so active. It's constant movement with this boy. It's like holding an orangutan. He's adorable but he can flat wear you out. And so good natured. He was always ready to return a smile even if he was really unhappy about something.

It was beyond wonderful to see my granddaughter in the baptism dress I had made for her oldest aunt. That dress baptized so many little girls, I lost count. And it still looks new. She looked like an angel in it.

Pix are coming but right now I'm going back to bed. I'm coughing my head off and need a rest.

Where is the tooth fairy when I need him?

Is there anything more amazing than a daffodil? What is it about them? The long wait during winter for something spring-y and pretty? That perfect center trumpet part? The way they stand up so erect and separate from the greenery around them? Don't know, but I love them and they are all blooming all over our yard.

As for the tooth fairy, hm-m-m-m. So I've been dealing with a very sore tooth for days. The dentist had told me to pump up on ibuprofren and I had done my best. I went in today because things just weren't going well. Seems that the tooth had raised up some because of inflammation underneath it and so I was hitting on it. It was so sore. He started to adjust my bite and then said, "What do you feel in there now?"

What I felt was a big fat hole in my tooth. What to my tongue seemed like an enormous chunk had broken off as he was drilling down my old filling. Nice. He swears that it's not an issue and that that part of the tooth would have come off anyway when they do the crown in a week or so. But there's nothing like feeling with  your tongue and finding nothing but air.

So I am feeling much better today. But you know, pain sort of wears you down. I'm really tired and I guess I probably haven't been sleeping well. I'm fairly used to headache pain but tooth pain is just as wearing. I can concentrate a lot better with an aching tooth than with an aching head, but pain free is just  the way to be IMHO.

I got to do two fun things today. Both required trips out in the glorious 75 degree weather. I shipped a really nice present to my oldest girl for her birthday. (At least I hope she thinks it's nice.) And I got to pick out stuff for my granddaughter's 8th birthday.

I also got (yay!) a winning Priceline bid for the Provo Residence Inn so all the troops will be able to enjoy swimming in the indoor pool while I'm there. Michael doesn't get to go this trip (still building the cafeteria at work) but we've stayed there before. Seth took the tour of the grounds and the laundry ladies gave him the tour of the whole laundry. Pretty cool. Also, Catherine opened up the fridge in our room and in shock and dismay said, "You have ZERO food!" I will make sure there's food in that fridge as soon as possible. Don't want to damage any more of my grandchildren's psyches.

Some days are just better than others

Some days are just better than others. I think we all agree on that. So here's my day today. The endodontist moved up my appointment for my very first root canal. So it's today instead of next week. Fun, fun, fun. And to cap that (excuse my pun), it's sleeting. Yes, indeedy. March 30th and my car is covered with ice. Even though weather.com says it's raining in my zipcode, the radar shows a tiny pocket of ice and it must be stuck over my house. So I'm counting the minutes until I can dress warmly, scrape off my car and go have my teeth drilled. And as I wait, I'm listening to the rhythm of the falling sleet and the rumble of the snowplow which sounds like a giant skateboard going down my street. It makes it a tad difficult to concentrate on my writing.

There's always an upside. This tooth has been sensitive for a while. I've cracked it, probably grinding my teeth when I had migraines. (Isn't it bad enough that I have to have migraines?) So it will feel better if not today then tomorrow. And I can always think about one of my darlings having fun in Paris as we speak, and another having the time of his life preparing a race car, and another basking in the glory of her recent accomplishments and awards and another one getting hugs and kisses from her wee ones as she homeschools them. Some days vicarious enjoyment is all you get.

Easter Program

I am the music chairman of my ward or congregation. This means I am a facilitator more than anything. But sometimes, my job is more demanding. Today we had our Easter program. Although I was rawther busy, Eloise-style, I did notice from time to time that people were listening and and were touched by what they heard.

The choir did three numbers, a quartet including my honey sang, we had two solos, a young women's choir and the children sang too. We had scriptures read in between all the numbers.  A beautiful young mother from our ward read all the scriptures. She's studying broadcasting at a local university. Her readings were beautiful and touching. The performances represented many hours of practice and it showed. The messages came through loud and clear.

A hint to those putting on this kind of thing. We are often tempted to end with the big finish. But I had felt inspired to end the program very quietly. I had a tenor soloist sing "Lean on My Ample Arm." If you don't know the words to this hymn, they are here. This website is really cool. You can also listen to the hymn tune here. That page takes a while to load so you might have to be a bit patient. But it will play you the hymn in any key you want. It will even just play your part so you can learn to sing alto, tenor or bass. How cool is that?

I had many hats to wear--choir director, accompanist and organist. I didn't play or conduct as well as I usually do because of ....NEW CONTACTS! Sorry I had to yell there. But I haven't had them for years and years. And these new ones seem to be really working. Even though they're new this week, I decided to wear them because church day is one of my most frustrating days vision-wise. When I'm playing the organ I have to wear my computer glasses which means that chorister (music director) is blurry. Then I have to use regular glasses to see distance. And to read scriptures in classes and things, I might have to pop off my glasses altogether to read small print. So even though it was not my best idea to try out the contacts on the service, it went well. I dropped a few notes on the piano and I had trouble reading the words to the music I was conducting (note to self. I should always memorize the music beforehand.) But the prospect of not having to tote around two pair of glasses and alternate between them was so tempting.

When I arrived here two years ago, there was no called organist. I had an instant job. We had one young father who was teaching himself to play the piano and another gentleman who played by ear. (They're both gone now and we miss them.) But now we have a pianist for the children, a pianist for the women's meeting who also does choir and who loves to play the organ when I'm not there, a lovely lady who plays beautifully by ear and moi. Amazing!

The picture of the iris is from last year. It doesn't look very Easter-y outside right now. We've had a couple of freezes and my crocuses are the only things blooming and they look rather limp. I see why my cousins always had Easter coats! Br-r-r. But I"m thinking spring.

I love my pattern shop

I think I've said this already. I do love my pattern shop. Here's my new banner that my brilliant daughter made for me:

Isn't that the cutest thing? I had this dress in green in the sixties. It was actually an Easter dress. And it's my granddaughter V's favorite color: owange. She came to our house a long time ago and was just learning to point out colors. She just walked around the house saying "owange...mo owange"

Also, I ask my pattern buyers to send me photos of their finished projects and finally someone took me up on it. She used one of my patterns to make costumes for a high production of "Annie." First the original pattern and then the two she made from it. She did a fabulous job. Firstly, she did a wonderful job altering the pattern to add the puffed sleeves and changing the pleats on the skirt. Second, they're beautifully made. Those gathers in the puffed sleeves? Not easy folks. Neither are those sharp pleats and the perfect middy braid placement.



I love my job.