Reflections on 2010

2010 has been a year of ups and downs as I guess is any year. There were times of great joy, disappointment, stress, pain, fun, sadness, celebration and all that goes into your typical year. It has felt like a tougher year than typical for me so I thought instead of reflecting on a somewhat disappointing year for me, I would reflect on the people in my life who amaze me every day; people I am more than proud and greatly honored to call friends.
Here is a breakdown of some of the amazing things I get to witness:
Despite a year of great personal stress, one friend of mine has completed 3 half marathons, managed to have more grace than just about anyone could expect and is planning to do a full marathon next year. I know I can’t quite keep up that pace, but I am so looking forward to another year of knowing her and watching what comes next.
I have another friend who is a few months into a yearlong trip around the world! She and a friend of hers started in South America and are currently finding magic and wonder and much of themselves in Africa. Later in the trip they will be in parts of Asia!! WOW. It has been so inspiring to watch their progress and read about their journeys, both physical and spiritual. You can follow them too on http://www.girlventures.net/
I have spent this year getting to know my neighbor whom I am now glad to count among my friends. She too is amazing. She is a gifted artist albeit a very humble one. She loves tradition – so much so, she cuts down her own Christmas tree every year. In addition to being artistically gifted – she is one hell of a sports fan and totally devoted to those Baltimore teams as well as a very special attachment to the Savannah Sand Gnats. OH and she happens to make, hands down, the BEST margarita!
Two great friends are raising a wonderful young man, composting with worms and now raising chickens?!? They are also accomplishing knocking off camping at GA State parks one by one and tackling new feats in running. Congrats on your first 10K – we will definitely do the next one together!
Losing both parents within a month, another friend has shown great strength and courage and as always, a delightful sense of humor. It has been a great privilege to count myself among her friends.
My academic genius friend is on book number three and continues to travel the globe with a trip to Egypt looming on the horizon. Her husband – a documentarian – is making sure we all know of and appreciate our troops in Iraq. This wonderful pair is also working on adopting who will be a very, very lucky child.
A son away at college, a husband with a hip replacement, a brilliant second son with a few special needs – this woman can put the energizer bunny to the test. I am so impressed.
A precocious grandchild of this friend wrote to an author about a liking a book…that author responded in a hand written letter and is inviting us all to meet her in February. This friend is also an AWESOME baker and a pleasure to know.
My best friend continues to share half of my brain and though she insists on living way too far away I always take comfort in the fact that she is ever present in my life and my heart. I don’t know how I would survive without her.
My family continues to be a source of love and support and I really couldn’t ask for more from them.
I continue to be amazed at the people in my life. I am so lucky to have them as examples of strength, love, support, and wisdom and many other adjectives I am sure I am missing. I look forward to 2011 with these and many other friends I am sure I forgot to mention here. I look forward to seeing the success my students find and hope that in some small way I am a part of that success. I wish all of my friends and family continued success and I will continue to be amazed by you all. I hope for a year of health and happiness and new adventures.

Summer 2010 - can kiss it!

Where have I been and what happened to summer?

My summer started out with a bang with the previously blogged performances with long lost friends and locals I don’t see nearly often enough. Then August came and there were no blogs of summer adventure, no tales of travel, no pictures of me in exotic places. Oh there were plans for summer 2010, yes, there were plans. So, what happened? Well the universe intervened. First up, the a/c in the car went out. Not a big deal unless you live in South Georgia and your summer plan includes travel in a said car. So, I put my beloved Mrs. Ticklefeather in the shop and $804.00 later, I can store meat in my car. The $804.00 put quite a kink in my travels. Now I couldn’t afford my plane ticket to Colorado or even hotels and gas to drive to New York even though once I got there lodging would be gratis. I accepted my fate and decided to stay close to home. I had just endured the expense of a move and a summer to unpack closets and organize a house wouldn’t be too bad right? Ah, the universe is not done with me yet. I jumped in my car to meet Julian – the newest addition to the family of very close friends. He was adorable – worth the trip and it meant too, that I could stop at IKEA and Trader Joes on the way home. The topper of the trip was to see the Braves in action against Milwaukee. Car packed and headed toward the stadium, the clouds open up and drop much needed rain on the city of Atlanta. Hmmm, no baseball. Spirit dampened, but not broken, I head the car towards home and decide to shop along the way or pull over and hike at a state park. Safely out of the Atlanta traffic, I stop for gas. Ready to hit the road I turn the key and hear the sickening sound of a car that is not going to start. I grab my jumper cables and immediately – in true Southern hospitality – several people offer a jump. I accept one offer and the car starts right away. I drive away trying to keep my spirit of adventure, but with the thought of stopping is the nagging feeling that if I do – the car won’t start. So…I head toward home and don’t stop the whole way. I get home, tired and annoyed, but hoping to salvage the summer in some way. The next morning I drive to the battery store and get the battery tested. Yup – it’s a dud. I buy a new battery - $100. Okay – new a/c, new battery, car is ready for the rest of summer even if all I do is drive to the park to run. I have a nice dinner, bemoan my summer for a few minutes and don’t give it another thought. I arise the next morning to face whatever adventures I may find and I see that my car has a flat tire. I finish my coffee and gird my loins and set out to put on the spare. An hour later I have the tire off – thanks to some final internet advice to just kick the tire – uhm – ok. I am skeptical but it works and the getting the spare on takes no time at all. It is still early and not a hot day by Savannah standards so I load the flat tire in the car and head to the tire store with the plan to run home and await the call that the car is fixed. I get to tire store and am apparently the billionth person in line waiting to leave my car. An hour later my paper work is complete and I am set to run. Of course NOW it is 11:30 and officially hot. I decide to ignore this and run home anyway. 50 minutes later I am home, hotter than I thought possible and then the call comes from the tire store. There is hole in the sidewall of my tire – I need a new one. Another $100 down the drain. Definitely the universe is telling me to stick close to home. FINE. I accept my fate begrudgingly. Now $1000 out of pocket I am too poor to even enjoy the city. I decide that I will just run every day and make the best of it. The summer whiles away and I get emails and pictures from friends who are traveling the globe and having untold adventures. Hmmpff. Now I am feeling sorry for myself. I stress eat and undo the good the running was doing. Now I am back where I started at the beginning of summer – showing no signs of all the physical work I did the past few months. I decide to get back to the running –more rigorous this time. I am doing well. I clock further and faster times every day. I am getting ready to start the new school year. The only thing left to do is go to the dentist. I have my cleaning and am told I am an excellent flosser – I beam with pride. My gums are in excellent condition, very little receding for my age, hmm, I guess that is a compliment. I am thinking I am going to get off scot free at the dentist. Then the dentist asks if I grind my teeth. I say, no. You look athletic (nice) do you lift weights – some small weights - not serious lifting. (now I wondering what the questions are for). The dentist then says “hmmm, interesting.” I think “interesting?” really, this is about the most boring conversation ever. Then he says well – it could be the age of these fillings, but you have severe cracks in your molars. I think okay, what does that mean? Before I can ask – he informs me that he recommends capping them. This is the best option. If I wait for them to break it would mean root canals or worse, pulling the teeth and then needing false teeth? ACKK! I have good teeth! I am a good flosser! These fillings all came when I got my braces off and had 8 cavities. I haven’t had one since and that was way back in high school. I take a deep breath. I pay for my cleaning. I get the print out of the estimate for the 8 crowns he wants to do – 10 if you count in the two that aren’t necessary, but cosmetic – to replace crowns from a fall I took as a pre-teen and busted my front teeth. So now I sit working on syllabi, preparing for school to start again. I have a summer vacation of car repairs and now I face a school year, with no dental insurance, wondering how I am going come up with $10,000.00 for dental work. Let this be a lesson to all of you who are jealous of teachers for having summers off. Am I better off for having had 6 weeks off? I can’t wait to get off this crazy roller coaster summer of 2010!!!! Bring on the exhaustion and overwork of the school year…at least I know how to handle that. And universe – GO PICK ON SOMEONE ELSE!

Night of Opera

I sang with an awesome bunch of friends last night - here are some clips of some of the songs

When I am Laid - from Dido and Aeneas
Ah quel diner - from Perichole
Ah perdona - from Clemenza di Tito
Crudel perche finora - from Marriage of Figaro

Video from Reunion

This the song that has gotten stuck in my head the most from the weekend reunion

20 years!

This weekend brought about a 20 year reunion with my college chamber choir. 20 years ago we toured Eastern Europe just after the fall of the iron curtain. It was a life changing event for all of us and though most of us have lost touch over the years, we fell back into our friendships with the ease of a worn pair of jeans. We spent 2 days rehearsing songs we took on tour, some well remembered, others not so much. On Sunday afternoon we put on a concert of the songs we deemed polished enough for public performance. Considering the gap of 20 years the concert was pretty darned good. Many parents and friends were in the audience along with many kids watching their parents sing for maybe the first time ever. It was truly an exhausting and memorable weekend. I sincerely hope it is not another 20 years before I see all of these wonderful friends again.

New Place - it will soon also be filled with boxes!

Moving

My sister and I are leaving a house we love, but it is growing too small and the owner wants to sell it. We love our neighbors and hated the idea of moving. We did some detective work on an empty house in our neighbor hood - literally three doors down from our current place - and we discovered that the owner was very interested - excited even - to rent to us. Awesome. We get to stay in our neighborhood and we don't need to rent a moving van. We also have about a month to get stuff moved over. All of these things are great. We have just started the packing process and I am already HATING the sight of the boxes. Unfortunately, we don't have a room in which to store the boxes so the walls are literally closing in on us. Eventually, it will all be worth it, but at the moment I am feeling anxious...I think it is my claustrophobia kicking in. Will post some pics when things begin to get moving. I am going to try to talk my sister into letting me get some stuff moved over this weekend. I could definitely get some bookshelves moved over and the dining room would be an easy move. The rest of the weekend plan includes a 5K - weather permitting - to support the robotics camp at Georgia Tech - good times.

Racing a Plenty

Racing a Plenty
Originally uploaded by lyricalmezzo

I ran another 5K this morning - one benefiting the local Ronald McDonald house. It was a nice course mostly flat with two passes over an overpass so a bit of a challenge with two uphill climbs - the second of which was about 1/2 mile from the finish line. I felt good about my time - 29:29 and when I got home I went to put my number with the other pile of numbers I have. I thought it was an impressive pile and I know there are at least 3 missing...so I took a shot of them. Unfortunately I haven't kept great track of my times, but last week I started posting the times on the back of the numbers - maybe this will keep me motivated to get faster and faster. Next week I will run my 3rd race of the month and it is a flat course, so I am hoping for a good finish. Hopefully the pollen count will be down by then. It was very high this morning - I had pollen on my clothes when I got home from the race!
Since finishing the race this morning I have planted my basil for the season, and am going to try growing leaks in a big container - we shall see how that goes. Last year my tomatoes did terribly so I don't know if I am going to try again. I had beautiful leafy plants, but no fruit...I may just stick with the herbs this year.
I am thinking of going out and enjoying even more of this beautiful weather today - sunny and high of 73...just about perfect!
Happy Spring everyone!

Easter Weekend

I had a great day on Friday. I ran at Forsyth Park and enjoyed all the beautiful blooms. After my run I strolled around the park and took pictures. Friday evening I sang at a Tenebrae service. Saturday morning started early with a 5K race on the beach at Tybee Island. It was a nice morning, but harder to run in the sand than I thought - the last 1000 yards were in the deep sand and I felt like I was trying to cross country ski in flippers, but I managed to make it through with a respectable time albeit not my best. After the race I went downtown to pick up some honey. We have the terrific local honey store and I was almost out of Tupelo Honey - my absolute favorite. I walked down to city market and saw the mascot for our local baseball team, the Savannah Sand Gnats. I ended up shooting a scene with Gnate - the mascot - in which he tries to make friends with me by offering me a praline and I take some Off out of my purse and try to spray him. Probably I will get booed at every home game for trying to kill Gnate the Gnat, but it was fun nonetheless. I finally got home and had lunch and then joined my neighbor on the lawn for an afternoon beverage. We watched the birds frolic for a while and then both decided it was nap time. I came in and watch some baseball and collapsed on the couch. Tomorrow it is Easter and I have to sing the sunrise service at the Isle of Hope Marina and then the 11:00 service before finally getting to enjoy some time with family and friends for Easter dinner. It has been a fun weekend, but I feel as if it won't be as restorative as I would hope to get me ready for the busy week ahead!

Blue Crab

Blue Crab
Originally uploaded by lyricalmezzo

These beautiful blue crab met their end in a steam pot. This is the before shot of the meal...it was the culmination of a short but sweet spring break. We gorged ourselves on the sweet meat of the blue crab as we sat in the backyard enjoying a fire, cold beer, and good company! Awww - it was delicious!

Awesome Moon

Awesome Moon
Originally uploaded by lyricalmezzo

February ends with a beautiful moon....a short but eventful month full of singing, eating, fellowship and even a bit of snow here in the deep south! Looking forward to warmer temps in March and more of all that February brought.

Bridge Run Part Deaux

Today I went with friend and neighbor Terri and several other fine folks down to Brunswick to run their Bridge Run. It differs from the one in Savannah in that it has a longer span and the entire race occurs on the bridge - you run the entire span of the bridge (up and over) and then turn around do it again. It was indeed a challenge, but it was a nice day - one of the first nice days we have had this year. We all enjoyed the run and then a nice breakfast in St. Simons before heading back home to recover from the run. Race times haven't been posted yet - I know I didn't break any speed records but I will be curious to see how it compares.

Yeah - 80's Party - need I say more?








Many fun memories remembered; ring pops, pop rocks, tater tots, and hair bands - what a weird decade! As the fashion of the 80's continues to find its way into 2010, we can all hope that, at the very least, the music will be better.

Where did January go?

So…it is Groundhog Day. Seriously? Seriously?? What happened to the first month of 2010? Let me try to recount – New Years….uhm….dinner at Heidi’s with lots of friends and a fabulous food and fire…both schools started – OH yeah…that is where January went. Let’s see – I have, best that I can manage, kept up with the running and the work outs. I have tried new recipes and have made new friends. Most of my leisure time has been spent hanging around the house around a fire pit – or making oysters for a crowd of friends…so all in all – the year is off to a good start. But really…where did January go? I have loads of things to accomplish, music to memorize, and a life to lead…the clock needs to slow down!

2010 - is it a decade already?

Another year gone - the time does indeed fly quickly; more quickly than I ever imagined it would. What did the last decade bring? Well for me it brought a masters degree and a doctoral degree - both in music - it didn't, however, bring a full time job to go with it. Perhaps this decade will provide the much needed full time job. I will put out in the universe the wish for that to happen also putting out in the universe meeting a wonderful man - even more elusive than a good job it seems. I rang out the old decade with friends and family, lots of food and festivity though missing family and friends are always missed at these times. I spent the first day of 2010 at home doing the loathsome tasks of life but not unhappy. I wish for you all a fabulous new year in which your dreams come true.