Milkshakes

You know it's slim pickins in the material department when there's a posting about milkshakes, but hey, here I go.

We made some yummy milkshakes tonight. The little beggar had to have some; it was 7:00 pm. He had a LOT. Are we stupid? Probably. We'll see when he decides to go to sleep tonight. It's now 7:30 and he's a crazy man.

2nd Haircut

Yes, it was already that time again, so we got it pretty short this time. Sport Clips didn't provide the ingenious animal cookie distraction, so Andrew didn't think quite as highly of this haircut. The trimmers really tickled! He was happier, though, when his dad got into the chair beside him for a cut at the same time.

G.R.I.P.E. Session

Jon's high school percussion studio hosted the first annual Global Rhythms Interactive Parent Experience (G.R.I.P.E.) session at the band hall last night. Besides having a catchy name, it was a great event in which the students demonstrated and taught their parents and other relatives parts of the world percussion pieces they have been working on and will debut on their May 7 concert. They did parts of their Japanese Taiko drumming and and African drumming and dancing pieces. Of course, we know something best when we are able to turn around and teach it to someone else, so I found this evening to be a huge success. Everyone had a lot of fun: the students as teachers, the parents as learners, and the few like Andrew and me who got to enjoy it all from the sidelines.

Lessons Learned (again), All This Morning

• A surprising amount of people DO read your blog. You'll probably never know it, because they secretly like to peek in on your life.
• Those people never, ever comment unless, of course, it's something controversial.
• The only person you can ever, EVER really trust is yourself.
• If you feel a little uncomfortable about doing something, there is a 99% chance that it's actually not a good idea to do it. Abort, abort!
• And on President's Day, of course, the best thing Honest Abe ever uttered, "'Tis better to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt."

Happy Valentine's Day

2008 2009

The Facebook Tagging Monster

I love old photos. And by old, I guess I mean before the millennium hit. I love the way they feel in my fingers, especially since the digital versions of today rarely get a chance to be printed and held. Old pics are [USUALLY] good for the soul; they help folks remember happy times, funny hairdos, and old friends.

I also love Facebook, and its ingenious photo-tagging capability. It's a monster of sorts; sometimes scary, sometimes funny, and you never know just when it's going to strike.

A third love of mine is the good ol' scanner. It enables me to combine the wonderful worlds of old, paper photos and digital, easily-taggable ones. Here's my latest hilarious damage.... hope the folks I've tagged are still my friends this afternoon.....

cheerleading camp in the summer of '90

my bff lori and me at the grand canyon in [probably] '86

my high school bff scott helping with xmas cookies in '90

bff lori again... '82ish...we're on my wv home's front steps, obviously off to the pool

ah... the illustrious 8th grade dc trip with my bud libby. super cool hats, man.

Weekend in Charleston, sans Toddler

The South Carolina music educators met this weekend in Charleston, so I drove down to hang with Jon for a couple of days while Andrew stayed back in Columbia with Aunt Phyl and Jean. As an added bonus, Jon's school was honored as one of the featured performing groups this year, and their concert was amazing. It was wonderful being out and about among adults for our first visit to the beautiful, historic city. We learned a lot and had great fun. Jon's percussion ensemble also performed at the concert; here's a small clip.

Glen, the head band director, and Christy, his wife. Fun people!
This artist started and finished this painting during a world music group's performance.

The famous bridge

Peering out to Fort SumterFort Moultrie is in the distance behind me, although the photo doesn't depict it. Happy to be home this afternoon to see the little boy!

Super Bowl Sunday

As per tradition, we had friends over to watch yesterday's big game. It was particularly fun this year because the Steelers were playing, and won, of course (although it was definitely a nail-biting, Mountaineer-esque second half). Jon grilled burgers and dogs and the kids had a good time playing together. Everyone kicked Andrew's butt - he asked us for bed at an unheard-of 8:00!!! Congrats to the Steelers on their record-setting 6th super bowl victory.