St. Louis Symphony Orchestra concert

The gorgeous ceiling at the Powell Symphony Hall

Last month, Husband and I got to attend a concert in the beautiful Powell Symphony Hall. Since this particular concert had open general seating, we were able to get an amazing spot.

There were four selections on the menu for the evening – Panda Chant II and a premiere work by Meredith Monk. Then there were the more traditional Stravinsky and Bartók pieces.

The first piece by Monk I actually liked. There’s really no way to describe it other than saying that the forty or so singers were onstage with no orchestra accompaniment and they created different sounds with their voices and made it sound like the orchestra by just using different vowel sounds. Kinda weird but sort of neat.

The second piece, the world premiere, was even weirder than the first. It used the orchestra along with a chorus and two principal singers. DEFINITELY not my cup of tea. But at least we sat through it and know now what we don’t like!

The Stravinsky was kind of creepy – it’s the music from the Shining. Not like I’ve seen the movie, but that’s what the conductor told us before he started the first movement.

The Bartók piece was beautiful. Apparently he was able to make it sound like surround sound years before that technology was created. It was really cool to be able to hear in person.

So check off another thing off the list – seeing the SLSO in person!

98. Organize the craft room

Ok, so I don’t have before pictures – and I’m not quite sure I could actually show them to the whole internets. :)

Since we moved in last fall, I’ve been trying to figure out how to organize the new place, including the craft/sitting room.

The walls look more blue than they really are – it’s actually a nice turquoise/teal. The red papasan chair and red coffee table will hopefully be replaced with white ones – to match everything else in the room.

I had to get more storage for all my crafting supplies. You can see the Cricut machine peeking up over the chair – that’s on another bookshelf that holds the machine and the cartridges. On the bottom shelf I have a bunch of binders that I plan to use to organize the household – someday, that is.

The corkboard hiding behind my crafting table will be covered with white fabric so I can showoff my Disney collectable pins. I’m not quite sure where it will go because my storage units are taller than I had planned.

But yes, I can cross off number 98 from the list!

SLU Night at the Ballpark

We had a great time at the Cardinals win over the Mets last Sunday night.

The night started out at the Hilton Ballpark for a pre-game dinner of hot dogs, burgers and yummy Cracker Jacks.

Off to the game and we had a row filled with SLU alums. We screamed our throats raw at the homeruns and I got a little happy with my frozen strawberry margarita. YUM.

Out with friends is just checking off another thing from the 101 in 1001 list.

Roses are red…

And I love them. :)

$6 for ten roses at Sam’s this weekend. I had to pick them up!

It just makes my craft room look loved and lived in.

This is why I don't go the gym...

Source

Yesterday morning, I was determined to get up early and work out. One of the items on my big 101 in 1001 to do list is to work out three times a week, as well as completing the Couch to 5K program. I REALLY want to do this. I started out in November but didn't get past the first work. So I tried AGAIN in January but didn't get past the second day.

C'mon, J. Anyone can do something for thirty minutes every other day. SERIOUSLY. I used to be a cheerleader. This should NOT be so difficult.

So Tuesday morning, Husband and I both wake up at 6 am - me to the gym, him to the library. It was so much easier to get up at the same time!

At the gym in the complex, there was already someone there when I rolled in at 6:15 am. Ok, no problem. We both got a treadmill. Awesome. I plus in my ear buds, set my iPhone's playlist and start on Week 1, Day 1 of Couch to 5K.

Things were going swimmingly well - the playlist matched up almost exactly to the running vs walking schedule of the program and I was about halfway done. I had even rocked out to the overture of All that Jazz, a personal favorite.

And then .... IT happened.

When I told Husband this story, he nearly chocked on his sandwich at dinner. Because, well, I, um, fell off the treadmill. Literally.

My headband needed to be adjusted and I was on the walking portion of the program so I figured I could pull it off the top of my head and onto my forehead and replace it without stopping the treadmill. The headband then proceeded to get stuck somehow and I couldn't get it out of my eyes...

The next thing I knew, the earbuds had been ripped from my sensitive little ears, the world went spinning and I was on the floor behind the treadmill, apparently having hit my head on the wall behind me.

And yes, the two other people in the gym - the first one joined by another lady - both stared at me and asked if I was ok. Um, yes, just a big klutz attempting to WALK on a treadmill. Apparently, I'm just not coordinated enough for THAT.

Wanna know the sad part? I majored in theatre in college. I took a class called "Movement for the Theatre." I was a cheerleader in middle and high school. Walking on a treadmill should NOT be a problem! God help me if I ever need to do something that requires real coordination.

No e-mail? UGH!

I borrowed this from Kelsey @  The Seattle Smiths – she put it so succinctly, I figured I could just put it here for all of you!

You know when you read a blog entry and it moves you to write a nifty comment? I love those. :) But sometimes when I click reply, it says noreply@blogger.com instead of your email address.

So please check your settings! I would love to be able to reply to your comments by e-mail! If you don’t want to give out your main e-mail address, you could always create a separate one that you use on blogs. For example, I’m using actingadult at gmail dot com, rather than my main e-mail. It forwards on to my main e-mail so I can just respond from Gmail. That makes it so much easier!

Step by Step to Change your Settings:

1.  Click on the Customize link in the upper right hand corner of your screen.

2.  Click on the Dashboard link in the upper right hand corner of your screen.

3.  Click Edit Profile, which in on the left hand side of the screen next to your profile picture.

4.  This will take you to the Edit User Profile screen.

5.  Look in the Privacy section.

6.  Click on the box that says, "Show my email address."

7.  In the Identity section, enter in an email address.

8.  Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click on Save Profile.

This whole process takes only a few minutes but it’s so worth it!

31. No fast food for one week

For Easter, Husband and I decided to give up fast food in order to save some money and eat better food.

Our definition was any drive thru situation that didn’t serve me food with a waitress – so things like McDonalds, Lion’s Choice and Arby’s – all of those things.

If I had to go out to a restaurant for a work thing or something similar, we didn’t count those. I figured we could eat better even at a sit-down restaurant than a fast food one.

Let me just say that it was SO much harder than I thought. We ended up cheating a bit – after all, Sundays don’t count in the Lenten observance. Did you know that? The 40 days of Lent don’t include Sundays so my Grandma always ate whatever she gave up for Lent on Sundays after church. I figured that was good enough for me in this case, too!

In any case, we got thru it (sort of) and now we’re back to normal. You know how some people give something up for Lent and then they can’t ever go back to those things they gave up? Um, yeah – that didn’t happen. I am saddened to say I’m craving fries drowned in fat just as much as I did before.

But it did fund Husband’s new Xbox. So it’s a win all around, right? :)

Yes, I realize I’m a dork… but I’m ok with that

This is my latest favorite thing. The Disney Mr. Potato Head. Complete with Mickey Ears and a Disney nametag.

Oh yes. That’s really there on my desk. :)

A colleague at work and I were talking about how many more days until I’m back in Walt Disney World [41 days, 11 hours, if you’re wondering] because she’s a big Disney nut too. :) Who knew?

She asked me if I had seen the Disney Potato Head. I asked her if she meant the one that greets you when you’re in line for Toy Story at Hollywood Studios. She said no, silly, the actual Mr. Potato Head.

I said no, I hadn’t, and immediately ran over to the internets and realized that it’s quite a collector’s item. It’s hard to find!

So this morning, my colleague brought in that little guy to show him off. Isn’t he cute?! She mentioned that she’s a big Potato Head fan and has a bunch of them in various outfits, including this Disney one. I squealed and awed appropriately and then she said…

“He’s yours!”

I couldn’t even believe it! Wasn’t that so sweet? She said she has a bunch of other ones at home and that she thought I’d really appreciate him.

He is currently residing in a place of honor next to Thomas the Tank Engine, my crown from the Shakespeare Festival and all-important calendar.

  It totally made my Tuesday morning. :)

Something that’s been on my to-do list for two years

It’s on of those things on my 101 in 1001 list that I added in the beginning because I thought I could accomplish it really quickly.

This has been on my 101 list since early November when I created that list. But before that, it’s been on my list for YEARS.

We got married three years ago this month and our wedding album arrived around six months after. Since then, I realized that we made a mistake in the ordering. One of the pictures was a duplicate of the one before it – we had two pictures of his immediate family with us but none of mine. I’ve been meaning to replace it and I finally did!

A few weeks ago, Shutterfly had a deal on photos so I was able to get a 5x7 printed to finish the album.

And ta-da! Almost three years after we got married, now we have a complete wedding album!

Now it’s on to the honeymoon scrapbook that isn’t finished…and the wedding scrapbook that isn’t even started. Oh well, at least one item is checked off the list!

I’m actually thanking the IRS now…

A few weeks ago, I gathered up all the W-9s and donation papers and sat myself in front of the computer to file the taxes on Turbo Tax. It was a really easy way to do it, actually – I was QUITE surprised. I picked the most basic package and given our income, we were able to file the federal return for free!

Husband and I made an agreement that any refund we received would go into our “Disney fund” – did I mention we’re going back again? 48 days until we’re there for a family wedding. :)

So imagine my surprise when I saw that refund calculator sitting at $6 – wow, I could buy an ice cream bar at Disneyworld. Well, I realized that I had only entered the income and none of the deductions.

Thank you SLU for giving my husband a place in law school and letting us defer his undergraduate loans!

That green refund calculator kept rising and rising and rising…

The number at the end was VERY pretty. :)

That means we get to pad the savings account, get a nice couples massage before final exams, have some fun money in Disneyworld…

AND get me a new laptop!

Please excuse the poor iPhone quality photo but I’m too lazy to go downstairs to get the real camera.

You can totally see the difference between the new one on the right. It’s a wide screen Acer Aspire with lots of goodies in there, the most important being a memory card reader, three USB ports, good memory so I can run lots of program like I do.

We’ve been shopping for one for a few weeks now, after we realized we would get a refund. My old laptop has been SQUEEKING along for the past year and I’ve worried it was going to up and die one day. I’m lucky that we were able to get the new computer – albeit refurbished – for our price now, rather than waiting for the old one to die.

I would tell you how awesome it is to type on RIGHT NOW but unfortunately the battery died when I was downloading iTunes. Oh well. It’s sitting on the floor next to the bed and charging. I can play with it in the morning.

OH! And I didn’t even tell you the BEST part. Windows 7 allows you to customize the look of your screen and windows and stuff. I picked PURPLE. And you can even pick the shade of purple. WOW. Ladies, it even matches the adorable mini purple mouse I picked up at Target so I wouldn’t have to use the track pad all the time.

It’s the little things in life.

The Easter Vigil

Three and a half hours after I got to the church to practice at the lectern with the other lectors for the Vigil, we left church again.

It was a long evening full of fire and words and songs and silence.

I hope that I was able to breathe a little life in to the Genesis reading at the beginning of the service. I think I did ok… Husband says it was a bit dramatic – but I’m ALWAYS dramatic. That’s why I’m such a good lector, I think!

When I went up to receive Communion, even the pastor said how much he enjoyed my reading. That’s always a good thing to hear, I guess!

I’m looking forward to the next time they’ll let me lector. I love being able to contribute to the service.