Too Incredibly Busy

Sorry . . . I have majorly slacked in the posts and will continue to until who knows when . . . there is too much going on right now! Of course CCFA and IMTA have big meetings this month, and along with that my studio Christmas recital is in a week. I am teaching 33 lessons a week and have been helping sell raffle tickets with the wrestlers over at CHS during lunch . . . and I'm accompanying for 3 hours every other day at CHS also. Not to mention I am playing for 3 other choirs their entire Christmas programs which will all be happening (including extra rehearsal time at each school) within the next 2 weeks. Plus it's CHRISTMAS, and Collin's birthday is next week! I'm also still in my own piano lessons, and also still clogging. And you know, you'd think there would be time for working out and stuff like visiting teaching and sending Christmas cards and making Christmas treats and getting/wrapping presents in there. We'll see! Jeeze! So, that is my excuse and I know you're all just as busy but it's Sunday night and I've yet to even sit down since I got up at 7:00 this morning so as of right now I'm a teensy bit stressed! Happy Holidays!

It's Here!

Wrestling Season Starts TODAY! I have kissed my husband goodbye and I'm ready to cheer for those boys! GO PATRIOTS!

Our Saturday

Saturday is a weird day for us. That is, a normal Saturday when neither of us has to work, go to class, be at a tournament, competition or practice, we don't have any company and we're not out of town. It doesn't happen very often! But we had one yesterday! And now that we're big bad homeowners we actually have tons of things to do when we get a free Saturday! We worked in our yard for like 5 hours. Actually I should say Collin worked in our yard for 5 hours--I did about 2 and a half. :) We have quite a few giant leaf-dropping trees around our house so we have been putting off cleaning up the leaves . .. but no more! After tons of raking, bagging, mowing, and even cleaning out the gutters, our house is much cleaner and ready for winter! I have a bad feeling that tons more leaves are going to drop before fall is over . . .
I finally got around to a project I've been trying to do for like 3 months--these ugly crappy old stools we have from Collin's bachelor days are being transformed! I'm half way done but I'm planning on sanding them down a little and then staining them. So if you have any wise suggestions on that process let me know!

So, the painting turned out to be a very very bad experience. See my hands? Yea, that is like after washing them for like half an hour. I won't point fingers but someone went to get paint for me and apparently he didn't even check to see if it was oil or water-based . . . which wasn't a problem until I came inside after painting and asked Collin "how do I clean the brush?" And he said "just run it under water and get the paint out with your fingers."

So I went into the bathroom . . . and after a few seconds of doing those exact directions my hands were coated in thick black paint and there was nothing but little specs of paint in the sink and the paintbrush was still coated. " . . . um, Collin, can you come in here?" (he was watching a football game so of course he didn't want to) "what's wrong? Just rinse it out under the water!" (he said, annoyed.) To make a long story short, he finally came in and realized OH it's oil-based. So me, with the greasy black paint hands, staring at the greasy-black coated bathroom sink, had a few choice words with my husband and sent him right off to get some paint thinner.

So I sat around for about half an hour with greasy black paint hands. I mean, what do you do in that situation? I couldn't do any of what I had planned to do next: fold laundry, organize food storage, or practice. so I did what any fuming wife would do--I sat down in front of the football game and finished off his chips and salsa. SO THERE! :)

Collin was very nice through the whole thing--he knows I do not deal well with "surprises" like this. I still need to get better at being patient, but I was laughing when he got home (especially about the chips and salsa) so it was alright. And yes the paint did come off my hands and the sink, thank goodness. And just so you know, oil based paint makes your hands really greasy and doesn't wash off. Ever.

By the way. . . we had a fun night too--at Bar Gernika with Cam & Chaly and watching some Friends.

Yummy!

A few of the creations I cooked up for Halloween . . . Delicious pumpkin chocolate chip cookies of course . . . it's tradition! I made a double batch and gave all but like 5 away so we wouldn't eat them all!
I made lots of treats for my piano studio group lessons which were in October. These two little guys were the last of like 100 sugar cookies to get eaten

Mummies on a stick! Andrea and I made this for the fam Emotion Bowl night! It was a hit!

It's a Melted Witch Puddle! (Ever seen the wizard of Oz?) All edible and delicious!

Amazing!

I got to play this piano! For an hour! There are only 24 of them in the whole world!
This is the Steinway and Sons Rhapsody Piano if you didn't know . (and why would you unless you're a pianist??) It was made in honor of George Gershwin's 100th birthday in 1998, an dis definitely one of a kind! Like I said, they only made 24! World-wide!
Anyway, Steinway is by far the most prestigious piano--you just can't compare it to any others. And BSU is working on an initiative to become an All-Steinway school. So . . . to sum up, this is the piano Dr. Hansen played at half time at a football game a couple of weeks ago. . . and it was also featured in the big Steinway artist Richard Glazier's Gershwin concert this past week.

WELL, Myself and a grad student from BSU were chosen to play background at a swanky club in Boise (that I had definitely never heard of but was of course incredibly nice) for the lunch hour today. President Kustra sat by me to listen! Scary! But it was AWESOME! And someday I can tell my grandchildren that I played on a Rhapsody piano because I will sure never buy one seeing as they're $145,000 a piece!