Swing Girl

Next week I'm going to a retreat in Michigan, where everyone's supposed to wear 1940s attire for one of the dinners. I hunted high and low for the right thing to wear, but settled for a dress and cardigan I already had which look kind of 40s/50s. So then I rented the hat (the costume store lady called it a Casablanca hat, which isn't really true, but it's similar to Ingrid Bergman's), bought the gloves and shoes (2 1/4 " - my highest heels ever, I think!), put on some pearls and bright red lipstick and called it good! So what do you think -- could I step back in time, or do I still look like I'm in the 21st century? Oh, just so you know, my hair was just pulled back in a pony tail for this picture, but I'm going to try to find a cool 40s chignon style or something. I'm so not creative with hairstyles.

Trivia: After watching Casablanca again, I looked up some info about Ingrid Bergman. Imagine my surprise when I learned that this Swedish beauty was exactly my height -- 5'10"! But Humphrey Bogart was only 5'8 1/2" so he had to wear platform shoes and they must have used some other creative means to make him always look taller than her. She said she enjoyed working with Gary Cooper (different movie) because she could wear shoes! He was 6'3." O the challenges tall actresses must go through! Nicole Kidman and Minnie Driver are also 5'10" I believe.

Appealing Career

I was at Quizno's today looking at pictures of marvelous looking sandwiches, when it hit me that it would be so much fun to be a food photographer! I mean, what talent it must take to make the most ordinary food look succulent beyond all description. It never looks that way in real life. They must arrange every little morsel in the most advantageous way, spray it with something to make it shine, and then photograph it to make it look huge. And I bet they get to eat it when they're done. Think of all the waste if they didn't!

Ladies, check it out!

You've probably all heard of Nancy Leigh DeMoss, the wonderful speaker and author. But maybe you haven't heard her radio program or checked out her website. If you can't get a radio program in your area, you can read or listen to the daily programs on the web. Also on the web is a wealth of resources to read or buy. She speaks to many issues that are relevant to women these days, but does it in such a Spirit-filled and gentle way. She doesn't come across sounding like a preacher like some other women speakers do.

The address is www.reviveourhearts.com

Uhhhh...

I am in the worst blogging rut. I honestly feel like I have nothing interesting to say, but feel a compulsion to say it anyway. So you can continue reading or not at your pleasure. :-)

Fall weather is finally starting to kick in around here and I love it. I love the crisp coolness of the air, cool enough to feel good in a sweater or leather jacket, but not too cool to be miserable. I love the darker evenings when I can be cozy inside with a book and cat. I love the lovely colors on the trees and the harvest products here in the country.

Last night and today I went to a choral workshop in Tacoma. Last night we sang through a bunch of choral music we were given. It's so cool to sight-read cool music with a whole bunch of other adult teachers who can sing and sight read, too! Today the teacher was Henry Leck from Indianapolis. He's a world renowned choral conductor, clinician, teacher, etc. So I was excited to sit under this master for the day, even if I'm not doing much conducting right now. It was great to get new ideas, insights, and inspiration (how alliterative of me), and also to realize which things I had been doing right all along. He spent a lot of time working with a local youth chorus, who sounded great. Their teacher is awesome, but he somehow managed to pull more out of them. This afternoon we did some Dalcroze exercises (done those, Craig?), which are basically exploring body movement to feel rhythm and melody. Some great techniques for helping students tap into the music in a whole new way. One of Leck's good quotes was, "We don't teach music, we teach children." He kept reminding us why we got into music in the first place. It wasn't because we just fell in love with the quarter note or the dominant 7th. Early on, we felt the "magic" of music, something that touched us to the core of our being. And that's the music we need to convey to students. We can't get bogged down in the building blocks. Well, I could go on, but it was a good reminder for me and inspiration to help my students feel the joy of music themselves and express it in their music.

So then I came home and had a little piece of my mom's fabulous pumpkin cream cheese pie. Mmm...I love anything pumpkin in the fall! I need a pumpkin latte and scone from Starbucks right now! Or just a chai latte and pumpkin scone will do nicely.

Wednesday night was the first rehearsal of the season for my orchestra. Good to see everyone and get back into it. Playing in an orchestra used to scare me the first few years I played youth symphony in my teens, but now I really enjoy it. One of those things that gets much easier with much experience. We're doing all Russian music. One of the pieces I play in is the Berceuse and Finale from Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. I love, love, love that piece! I first fell in love with it when I played it in youth symphony, so I was thrilled to play it again. If you haven't heard it, go get a copy because it will send chills down your spine and hit your music spot. But anyway, they're also doing Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, which I don't play in. However, I was talking to a friendly percussionist during the break, and he somehow talked me into playing the bells for one part. There are only two percussionists covering about five parts, so he was obviously feeling a little desparate. So I'm a percussionist. Maybe a new career? I think I might stick in some ear plugs so I don't get deafened by all the cymbal crushes and drum pounding. Exciting stuff, music is. Especially Russian music.

How's that for randomness in a post? I'm going to go eat dinner and watch a movie probably.

Chocolate Power

My mom saw this bumper sticker that probably a few will appreciate:

Chocolate makes my clothes shrink.

Ain't that the truth! :-)

Remembering 9/11

The memory of that morning is indelibly imprinted on my mind. I was still in bed, not really awake. I heard my dad leave for work, and then just a short time later rush in and turn on the TV. A little alarm signal went off in my head. He did the same thing after the Oklahoma bombing. I stumbled out to the TV where my parents were watching something that looked like it belonged in a movie. The Twin Towers (I barely knew what they were) were billowing smoke. The news men and women were looking very harried, repeating the only information they knew: that planes had flown into the Tower. Of course this was happening three hours ahead of us, but it was live coverage. Time seemed to stop as we gazed in horror at the spectacle before our eyes. Then, as if in slow motion, one of the towers collapsed in a pile of billowing smoke and rubble. Not long after, so did the other one. NYC was in an uproar. I cried silently as the realization hit me that so many lives were being obliterated or changed forever. It was obvious the world would never be the same. Then we heard about the Pentagon and the other flight in Pennsylvania. What would be next? I stayed anchored to the TV most of the day and watched the continuing drama. I cancelled my homeschool choir rehearsal, and had to inform several families what had happened because they hadn't heard.

I can't believe it's already been five years. So much has happened in the world. But two things are certain: we must never forget and we must never give up the war on terrorism, even if it seems like a never ending conflict. God bless our troops, God bless our president, and God bless those families of the lost that are remembering this day.

Flying Cats!

Someone emailed me this picture and it cracked me up! Click on it to make it larger for full impact. Everyone's expressions are priceless, including the flying cat.

Ain't He Cute?

Why do all cats gravitate toward windowsills? And sunshine?

Does Cheeky's expression spell contentment or what? :-)

The Beauty of Simplicity

It's 10:30 on a gorgeous sunny Saturday morning, and here I am inside, still in PJs, being a total sluggard while I consume apple pie and peruse blogs. Isn't that terrible? Don't worry, I will spend some time outside, because we won't have too many more weeks of this kind of weather. I'll probably read outside, swim if I get hot enough, and if I feel really ambitious, I might go for a bike ride. But the beauty of a good Saturday is not having an ambitious agenda. Amen?

What's with the title, you ask? I'll tell you. I don't know. Ha ha, not really. That is, I'm learning about it. Now that I'm not teaching at the school, and I have fewer students, I'm experiencing a whole new pace of life. Something about our culture urges us to always be busy, stressed, doing something, going somewhere, being superman or superwoman. But I've been thinking about the great value (a Biblical one, too) of being quiet, of enjoying each day, finding pleasure in simple things, and just listening to His still, small voice. I've realized how much my attention span has shrunk in the past five years, where I find it difficult to just sit and read or cross-stitch or even pray. And how often have I just sat and listened to a gorgeous piece of music?

Wouldn't it be nice to step back a hundred years into a slower pace of life? Not that everything was wonderful back then, but I wonder if people were generally more relaxed, had better social relationships, and found more joy in small things.

Life is like a book: it has chapters, some exciting, some not, some short, some long, but all are crucial to the whole story. I think the secret to a great story is yielding to the Author and Finisher of our faith, Who has a divine purpose for each chapter. The challenge is that we can't skip ahead to the see the next chapters like we can in a real book! So all this to say that God's taking me through some challenging times right now, where I'm tempted with depression, sadness, bitterness, anxiety, etc, BUT somehow through His grace, I'm learning more to trust His heart, trust His goodness, be still, and know that He is God - my anchor, my hope, my song, my strength, my shepherd.