more unexpected free time!

well, well. could it be?? 2 posts in one day??

It is an absolutely beautiful late afternoon. I just rushed home from teaching at my school, to teach a student that comes to my house, to find a message on the phone saying that she is sick and not coming, and so now I have a whole free evening to myself. So, I opened up the windows to let in the fresh spring air (it actually can smell fresh in Toronto, incredibly..... could also seem fresher since we are only a 5 minute walk to High Park). anyways. I thought I'd elaborate on my earlier post, since I don't have to cook dinner ( yay left-overs!) and Jeremy won't be home until 8.

It's funny really. I spend so much time alone- practicing, doing the home thing, until I teach in the afternoons. I feel like this evening should just be like any other time I spend alone. I wonder what it is that makes some moments seem just that little bit more special than others. I just feel really lucky to have some free time, to do whatever I want- on such a sunny and calm evening.

Jeremy is going busking with a bassoonist after work today. I can't wait to hear what kind of comments they get!! Tuba and bassoon! how awesome is that?? They have plans to do it all summer long. I'll try to sneak some pictures one day and post them on the site!!

I am so thrilled with how all of my students are doing this year. I was a bit worried that I was starting to feel burnt out, but starting up teaching this week after March Break has completely erased all doubts in my mind about that. I love it. Next fall I am going to be taking an Orff training course- which I am really looking forward to. Basically it's all about making up games, and dancing and using special instruments to teach little kids music- I can't wait to adapt it all to teaching my flute students. I've already started making up games this year for some of my younger students- which is totally fun! Not only are they learning music, but they get to do it without realizing it- they just think they are playing games for half an hour. It really is a great way to teach, and make a living.

I think it's time for dinner..... and then I'm going to attack all of my disorganized music, and put it all in its proper place. Wish me luck!! (for the organizing that is, not for the dinner part!!)

finally a spare moment!

Okay, Okay!! It's only been a week! And things are going to be even crazier for the next month!

So, things are going really well here. really well. I had a break through with one of my students yesterday- finally he could tongue and play the correct rhythms and all at the same time!! We've been working on articulation and basic rhythms since September- and FINALLY all the hard work paid off. YAY!!! I was so happy and proud of him. And I think that he was thrilled too. He was practically dancing by the end of his lesson. too cute.

Yesterday before teaching, I had a Doctors Appt (I needed a referral to see an allergist) I also had a massage, and finished up shopping for Jeremy's Birthday, which is April 11th. I bought him a Lululemon hoodie/jacket the other day, planning to stash it somewhere for a few weeks, without realizing that I was teaching late and Jeremy was going to be home when I got there, so- Surprise! Happy Birthday 2 weeks early. I'll try to post a picture of it later this weekend.

I have a ton of playing coming up. I'm playing with Mississauga Symphony next weekend, and am playing with the Conservatory Orchestra for their concert next Friday (Bartok Concerto for Orchestra- fun!) and I am playing principal flute for Scarborough Philharmonic for their last concert- May 6th. Also am playing Principal flute for half of Toronto Wind Orchestra's next concert. Needless to say, I have lots to practice.

We are also in the process of starting our own business. We've bought our domain names, and hopefully next week will be able to register our business names. So we will be busy designing our web page, making business cards and all of that jazz. I am also working on designing some fun music games- which will be available to purchase in limited quantities off of our website. I'll post a bit more about all of that once all of the legalities are finalized.

Okay, sorry for the boring post- but that's all I've got for right now.

time to practice!!

nesting, nesting

All I have to say is poor Jeremy.

For the past few weeks I have been absolutely crazy, and he being the wonderful, amazing man he is, hasn't said a word about my very neurotic and uncharacteristic behaviour.

That being said, I have (or, more accurately, my Mom has) figured out in the time of a 2 minute phone call that I have SNS or, Spring Nesting Syndrome. believe it, it could happen to you- you might even have it already.

let me tell you my story.

obviously, being in the music business (and not on the producing side) we don't make a ton of cash. so, in the spirit of being good and saving money, i have been fighting my sns and not buying anything......... that is, until yesterday afternoon.

It all started with a trip to physio (turns out that I have a sprained joint/ligament in my shoulder as a result of my car accident this past December). Physio was great, Lisa (my physiotherapist) actually knows what she is talking about, and I am confident that she'll mend me! So after physio, full of confidence, I decide on my way to the subway to pop into Ethan Allen to have a browse and see all the nice furniture and displays. This was a HUGE mistake. there, in the very back of the store, behind all of the sale intems, was one of the cutest floor lamps i've seen. it's okay, i tell myself- it's Ethan Allen, even if it is on sale, I still won't be able to think about it.

At that point, I should have stepped away, or- maybe even sprinted out of the store. but, noooo. I gently turn over the price tag to reveal......... shit. It's much, much less that I thought it was. now the danger signals are going full force, red lights blinking, alarms shrieking..... and instead of bolting, I decide it would be a much better idea to ignore all of this commotion in my head, and go to find Peter- the incredibly nice salesman who greeted me so unpretentiously at the door.

We all know what happens next. Shauna leaves the store, with not only the perfect floor lamp in hand, but also with it's cute partner in crime, the matching (only with a white shade) table lamp. beaming. (me, not the lamps).

Jeremy, who patiently listened to me on the phone describing the lamp, (note the lack of s on lamp). Is expecting to come home to a floor lamp....... and upon entering our home, sees a cute lamp on our side table..... Do you think he believed my story that the floor lamp gave birth? Perhaps........ he was very kind. I think he might even like the lamp(s).

Anyways. I was talking briefly to my Mom this morning, saying I don't know what has came over me (I am in the process of re-arranging our living area) and she's like- 'It's Spring!! you're nesting!!!' smart Mom :)

it's just too bad that my Spring Nesting costs more than some random pieces of twigs, straw and grass, with a bit of mud thrown in to stick it all together. I guess it's only appropriate that the floor lamp has a robins egg/tiffany blue lamp shade!!

what could make me into a sprinter.....

I'm back home from my gig, and it was fine.
I think I might write this so that it all rhymes.
Then again, perhaps I'll save that for another time.

bet you can't wait!! haha.

Really, the gig tonight went really well. The pieces weren't too crazy, although one was pretty fast and had some tricky counting things. But it all went really smoothly. The funny thing is that I have previously played for the women who hired me tonight! In my first year in Toronto I played for her daughters bat mitzvah- small world huh?!

I have to say that the most stressful thing about tonight, is that I got asked to page turn. It shouldn't really be a big deal, I did up to my grade 10 rcm, so I know how to read piano music. But there is something about having the pianist rely on you to make his performance go smoothly that I find so SCARY!!! Give me a solo to sight read under a spot-light and I'm fine, but make me turn pages for someone and I just want to run away- really, really fast. More like sprint away- Ben Johnson watch out!

anyways, I'm (obviously!) tired, so it's time for me to sprint away to bed. (a whole 8 feet, ooooh, out of control!) turning pages has worn me out!!

forgotten!!

after my long wait, it turns out that I was indeed forgotten. She called this afternoon and was VERY apologetic- they even sent someone for me when they realized, but by that time I had left. So, I am still playing the concert on Tuesday night- could be some interesting sight reading!!!!

time to bake cookies......

waiting game

stupid day. I got a call the other evening to play a gig- a rehearsal today, and the concert on Tuesday night. They were even going to pick me up at a subway stop, and take me to the rehearsal. So, I got up earlier than I would have liked (thank goodness for coffee!!) and got ready, and left to go to our meeting spot (a 45 minute subway ride, if you don't have to wait for a train) got there early, only to wait outside in the cold and wind for 50 minutes. ARGH!! So the question I am asking myself is what should I do?? I know the rehearsal is supposed to start at 1, and here it is already 1:05. I think my ride must have forgotten. She didn't call and of course, I was stupid and forgot to get her phone # the other night. My answer was go home. Because she was picking me up, I didn't have the address for the rehearsal location so I couldn't take a cab. sooo frustrating, and a waste of 2 subway tokens. Now I can only wait for her to call me tonight. yippie.

The good thing is that I have now written up a gig checklist, with all of the info I need to get when the person calls.

The rest of the weekend wasn't too crazy. We played poker on Friday night (we won!!) and then again last night at our place (we won again!) Yesterday day we had a cleaning fest and now our place is spotless! Jeremy even moved out the fridge and stove and vaccuumed and cleaned out under them. We even hung some pictures in the bathroom, although they need different mats inorder to match a bit better.

I'm still pissed about waiting in the cold and wind for 50 minutes. I think I need to go for a walk and work off the rage.

Happy Birthday Kristin!

Today is my beautiful sister's birthday. And since I live so far away, and can't be there for the appropriate birthday bumps or partake in any other parts of her birthday fun, I'm going to be a brat and post one of my favorite pictures of her. (one of the few advantages of living far apart is that I won't have to feel the wrath!!!)

Too bad the quality isn't so great, but this picture is still awesome. My sister is one of the few people I know who can look that amazing first thing in the morning. Lucky girl!!! Anyways, even though I am enjoying being able to post this photo without having to worry about getting my ass kicked (she might be the younger one, but she totally kicked by ass growing up) I would trade that to be there to spend her Birthday with her. Oh well. Happy Birthday Kristin!! Enjoy your day, and your Lobster! I miss you babe!

Thanks Jill!!

Your advice helped a ton Jill- thanks!! So for all you who are wondering about my new blog photo, it is a picture taken from New Years Eve. One of our good friends is a helicopter pilot, and inevitably, after a few drinks, I decided it was time to play dress up!!

Jeremy also had an amazing photo op while wearing the helmet.....

Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise watch out!!

I think it's worth the 55 grand it would cost to become a helicopter pilot, just to see Jeremy wear this helmet as part of his uniform everyday!

It is March Break here, and so I am mostly off this week from teaching. So today, I cooked up an Indian Feast, and made Chicken Tikka Masala, and 2 types of Samosas. I was going to make Matar Paneer as well, but the samosas took longer than I thought, so there wasn't enough time to make the paneer (kind of a cheese, made from milk curds...... sounds gross, tastes delicious!!) The chicken dish is really easy- marinade the chicken all day in yoghurt and spices, then skewer it and roast it in the oven till is gets all brown, then add it to a tomato, curry, cream sauce. sooooooo good! Not so surprisingly, making samosas is very similar to making peroghies. And after all my hard work in the kitchen, Jeremy is very kindly doing the dishes while I type away at the computer.

Not too much else going on here at the moment. I just finished reading a really great fantasy novel by another one of my favourite authors, Guy Gavriel Kay. It's called The Last Light of The Sun, and if you enjoy reading fantasy I HIGHLY recommend it (and any of his other books!).

I'm exhausted, so it's bath time and then bed time. And hopefully (unlike the past 2 nights) a good sleep and not crazy dream time- but that's a whole other topic!!

blog photo woes

argh! i am having difficulties. inorder to get my photo under 50k, it is so freakin small that you can't even tell what it is. any suggestions? I've used photo shop, i-photo, changed the quality, the size, the resolution. i don't know what else to do. hopefully i can figure it out later today.

rockin out and doin dishes to brahms 4

well, if you have to do dishes to end your evening, you might as well do it right and listen to Brahms 4. I have to admit that I haven't always been a fan of Brahms. Infact, not until about a year or 2 ago did I really start to appreciate him. Maybe I'm just getting older (and wiser, haha?!!!) but I think it's actually because Brahms is really, really good.

What a week it's been so far. There is a crazy cold and flu going around, and every single one of my students in the past 2 weeks has had some sort of cold, cough, sniffles or flu. Jeremy had it really bad- poor guy. he's in bed already. By the way.... HE ROCKS!! It's the end of Brahms 4 and it just got really loud, and I ran to turn it down and he's like "NO!!! Keep it loud or turn it up!!!" and here I thought he was already sleeping....... maybe it was just to get out of doing dishes...... hmmmmm!!!

I ordered a few new things from Flute World the other week, (yes, there is such a place as flute world, and yes I am that big of a flute geek!!) anyways, I got the delivery stub yesterday and excitedly went for a walk to pick up my package today. Sadly, the cool piece I ordered must have been back-ordered, and my new piccolo gadget I was so excited about didn't come either. (if you can call a piccolo spit flag thing a gadget.....) I did get a new cd- which is SO COOL!!! I am learning one of the pieces on it, and having the cd is going to help a ton. And a new flute choir piece for my students this summer at band camp came as well.

By the way- my hair in a pony tail goes past the end of my neck! I don't think it's been this long since I cut it all off in grade 3 and started my chameleon hair life style. the big square head home perm (not such a good idea if you have natural waves.... but who knows that in grade 5?), a disaster almost bald hair cut in grade 7 which dashed any dreams of popularity for the rest of that year (you just can't be cool when your new nickname is 'baldy'), the mushroom cut, almost longish again, then back to short all through high school... although every natural(ish) shade of the rainbow (does fire-engine red count as natural??) blonde, brunette, red. I've done it all. And before I go all crazy and run out to the 24 hour shoppers drug mart to get my colour fix (even after 2 years I crave the adrenaline rush and anticipation of seeing a new colour!) I better go to bed! Good-night!!

the ants go marching one by one

What a weekend. Dinner at Gilles place on Saturday was a blast. The beef tenderloin was so tender, delicious mashed potatoes, salad, and cherry flambe on vanilla ice cream for dessert. Between the 7 of us, we managed to polish off 6 bottles of wine...... needless to say, it was a good night.

The pictures above are of some roses which Jeremy brought home on Thursday. They have opened up beautifully- and are still looking as amazing today. Can you believe they were $5.99? wow. I have to say that he has great luck with flowers- they usually last at least a week. When I buy them, they usually go limp after a day or 2, all the petals fall all over the place, or they don't open at all. At least one of us has good luck!!

It has been a very mild winter so far here, and as a result we have had the occasional ant show up in our bathroom. This past week the temperature dropped a bit and we had a full on invasion. eew. We were talking about ants last night, wondering about their sense of direction- and how they are able to walk upside down on the ceiling- and if they would survive if they were to fall from the ceiling to the ground. Shortly after this we went to the bathroom to inspect the ant situation- and not 2 seconds later the one walking on the ceiling dropped off and fell to the ground, where he landed right side up and continued on his merry way. I had a huge laugh at this- what are the chances that we'd happen to see this, just after wondering about it?!! I have to say that even though they are disgusting, ants are pretty amazing bugs. Even so, it's time for them to get out of our home, so we've left some yummy ant poisin on the window for them to eat. It seems to be working. Last night they were all crowded around feasting on the stuff, looking slightly drunk (maybe that explains the one falling off the ceiling and surviving.....). I just hope that in a day or 2 the colony will be destroyed, and the only bugs we (by we, I mean Jeremy) will have to kill are the occasional spider.

our little place!

I thought I should post a photo of our little place!! (The BMW parked infront of the garage is not ours, unfortunately!). We took this photo back in September, just before we moved in. This summer we plan to add flower boxes on the window sills, and some potted flowers going up the stairs. Inside the door, on the left of the garage, is where our laundry machines are.

It's really great to hear it when it is pouring rain outside! And sometimes we have squirrels and raccoons run across the top of our place. It's especially funny when the squirrels are chasing eachother and you can hear them doing laps and running back and forth!!!

it's friday already?

What a beautiful Friday it is turning out to be! It's chilly outside, but the sun is really bright. I'm sitting at the window and enjoying the sunshine streaming into the house- and our plants are loving it as well!!! The past 2 days we've had sun, so I opened the linen blinds and now our plants are going crazy!! Especially the plant beside the window, which Jeremy says is a money plant. I can only hope that as it grows, it means more money!!! haha, you can always dream!!

We had a group of our friends over last night to play cranium- which was a riot. We played girls vs. guys, and naturally, us girls kicked butt!!! It was the most people we've had in our place at once- there were 8 of us in total, and surprisingly it didn't feel too crammed. Our new friend Leonie brought over a delicious chocolate cake (from a really nice french bakery) and Melissa and her new man (who did a brilliant portrayal of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) brought us an organic butternut squash from his dad's organic farm. Now I'm trying to decide what to do with the squash, while trying not to eat the left over cake in our fridge!!

Plans for the weekend look great. Lot's of time for relaxing, and for friends! We might head out tonight to the 'revue' ( a cheap theatre close to our place) and see Memoirs of a Geisha. Tomorrow night we're going over to see Gilles, who's Mom is in town and wants to cook us all dinner! Sunday we might have brunch plans, but those are still to be confirmed.

I've pretty much digested everything about the audition last week, and after a great (although expensive, $180) lesson with Paul Edmond Davies this week, I feel like I can dive in to practice with some new goals to achieve.

Time to work out...... and then practice!!