Holidays in Portland

It's always "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" around here, as Paul and I have 2 birthdays, Christmas, and New Years all in a 12-day period. We had an evening, 5 jam-packed days, and a morning in Portland with my family. It was mostly a really lovely visit, and for once nobody got sick (at least so far).

Memorable moments:

• Going to the NikeTown store to try on shoes with Eric and Rusty, who had given me a "design your own" gift card. What a fun idea! Wanna see what my future trainers will look like? They have a very girly color scheme! :=)



• Mom's delicious soups! She had 3 kinds: squash (with a nice kick to it), ham and bean, and chicken noodle. She and Ron hosted a soup supper and invited Dad, Becky and Hannah. With Eric and Rusty, Paul and me, it was a full table, but we all fit.



• Playing the bowling game on Hannah's brand new Wii with Hannah, Dad and Paul. I never play video games, so expected to suck, but I was pretty good and actually won!



• Making candy cane cookies and watching "It's a Wonderful Life" with Dad, Hannah, Becky and Paul



• Snowshoeing on Mt. Hood in a winter wonderland of snow that was almost warm enough to melt.
  

• Becky's car's troubles stranding some of us in a restaurant for 3 hours waiting for a tow that never came. Fortunately our group had 3 cars and Gene came back to get us.
  
• My birthday morning, low key, the only time I played the piano all week. Funny how when I don't see dancers I have a hard time thinking of things to play! Actually felt a bit self-concious as Dad and Hannah recorded me on their respective video cameras while sightreading. I was still playing when Mom came over to pick me up. I was sightreading one of Hannah's requests, a beautiful song her youth choir will be singing. I can't get it out of my mind. You can see it in this video.
  
• Seeing Betsy, Tim, Annie & Mike and meeting Annie's young kids for the first time at her open house for the christening of her baby daughter Katherine. My "birthday cake" was a silver bowl full of chocolate truffles with one long, skinny candle sticking out. Loved it.


• We went to the christening service a really cool jazz evening service with first rate jazz musicians. Haven't been to a Christian service in years, (opted out of reciting the Nicene creed along with the congregation) but felt pretty comfortable and was glad we went.


• Afterwards we met my old friend Bob Litt and his wife Sonya at a wonderful Mexican restaurant for excellent, adventurous food and margaritas.


• Rediscovering the "time capsule" box of my old treasures that has been lost in Mom's rafters for 25 years, which includes tons of old pictures and every diary I kept from ages 13-20. I mailed it to myself and it should get here by next Wednesday. I read one of the diaries and dreamt that I was in eighth grade again.


• Lunch with Dietrich and his bride Lisa. This was great fun, as the essence of Dietrich has hardly changed in the 30 years I've known him. Lisa was really nice and down to earth. It was fun to hear the story of how they met (skinny-dipping while camping at a state fair!) We hung out for 3 hours and even had a little photo session:
  

• A nice, quiet New Year's Eve hanging out with Mom & Ron watching the New York Philharmonic on TV. When Pink Martini came on at 11:30, Paul and I were inspired to do a rhumba and a cha-cha on the living room rug, much to Mom's delight! What a great band.

Soon To Be an Ex-Europe-Virgin

This trip that we've been anticipating for a year is finally almost upon us. In less than 48 hours, we'll be on a plane with only 1 carry-on bag and 1 small daypack each holding everything we'll need for the entire 3 weeks! We haven't even practiced packing yet. That will be tonight and tomorrow's project. I have been carefully considering how I can pare down the volume of what I consider to be essential stuff. We will be doing lots of laundry in sinks so we can pack minimal articles of clothing. The hair dryer, most of my liquid toiletries, and fat, heavy novel from the library aren't going to make the cut.

I'll bring a journal instead, so I can live more fully in the moment and give those memories maximum traction. We will be making room for the guidebook and phrasebook, of course. We will make a shopping trip tonight to get Paul some microfiber boxers (fast drying on the clothesline in the hotel), and maybe a jacket for me for hiking in the Swiss Alps, as everything I have is either too big or not warm enough.

One thing I will make room for, since I am currently clueless about it and need to know how to use it for my algebra class: my new graphing calculator and the book that will help me learn how to use it. I'll either learn something or it will help me sleep on the plane--either way, I win.

Day 7--Points South + Bonus Pictures

Technical note: As you know, I am one of the slowest writers on the planet. It is now actually Aug 22. I am still backdating these so I don't have to keep saying, "and the Sunday before last, we did such-and-such." Last night, Mom emailed me her pics from the trip. Great photos, by the way, Mom! My intention was to re-edit my previous entries and insert them into the appropriate places in the narrative, but the Blogger photo-uploading software is (surprise) not cooperating. It did, however, deign to let me add 10 of them to today's entry and no more. Maybe 10 is the limit? Anyway, here are some, mostly from the 8/12 family party and the next day.

Here's a really nice one of Mom, Paul, and me on Day 1, right after our first lunch together in Sausalito: At the family party with Aunt Barb
Mike, Uncle Jack, Jill
Rob and Alex
Eric and Rusty
E & R enjoying Rusty's B-day gift from us--Scrabble-themed mugs and wine charms!

On Sunday (our final day), we spent the day with Mom & Ron driving from San Jose to points south, including a stop in Carmel for lunch. It was a lot chillier than I expected close to the coast. We were at this lovely little Italian trattoria and sat on the patio. Our waiter turned on the outdoor heater, which was needed! Mom took this pic of us across the table.

Now I have to tell you a funny story here. When the sun came out and shone on my hair, Mom asked me with bemusement if that was a silver streak she saw in my bangs. I'd never noticed it, so I said I didn't think so. Paul and Ron said they could see it, too, so I insisted on checking it out in a hand mirror.

I wasn't freaked out or anything--actually, I thought it was sort of cool. I have noticed a lighter-colored area there, but in the incandescent light of the bathroom, it just looks like a lighter-colored variant in my mix of (natural) dark blonde shades. But in the sunlight, it had a definite silvery cast. We could see a few other little streaks in the sides, mostly in under-layers. You should have seen us parting my hair in different places, holding up the mirror, and exclaiming delightedly.

A woman watching us from the window inside was pantomiming what we were doing and shaking her head with a dismayed expression. I caught her eye and enunciated exaggeratedly, "But I like it!" Clearly she didn't believe me.

We did a little window shopping before getting back in the car to drive along the coastline, including the scenic 17 mile drive at Pebble Beach. In the late afternoon we turned around to head back to San Jose to make a cameo at Rusty's 40th birthday party at Eric & Rusty's.

The Birthday Boy
"Oh, it'll be a mid-afternoon party. We're not going to feed them or anything. Just some chips and salsa and birthday cake." Famous last words.
With Eric and Rusty's dad, Al
Because of the extra pain-in-the-butt security measures, ban on liquids, etc, we arrived at the airport 3 hours before our flight left. Which was fine--it was kind of nice to have a little time to just sit and read. It was a red-eye--we got in at 7 am, went home and slept until noon. I didn't feel too bad after that, though Paul was a little discombobolated. All in all, a great vacation and we had a fabulous time!

Day 6--The Family Party

Wisely, we decided not to try to cram in an activity this morning, but instead, took some much-needed down time just hanging out, enjoying a late breakfast, reading and chatting. We left for San Jose around 2 pm. Good thing, too, since parts of Highway 101 were inexplicably bottlenecked and came to almost a standstill, adding at least 1/2 an hour to our time. We still got there early enough to check into our hotel before the party at Eric's (and dump our stuff, including a generous bag full of fine chocolates that would have melted in the heat of the car!)

We were responsible for providing the dessert. We went to a nearby bakery Eric had recommended and Paul and Mom picked out a decadent tiramisu cake that later earned raves from everyone. We got a bit turned around and lost trying to get to Eric's, but figured it out after a phone call from the road and actually arrived right on time.

This was my first time seeing Eric's new house, which is gorgeous and furnished with beautiful things. Eric always had an eye for quality even as a little kid (unlike myself--I was always too frugal). I didn't take any pics of the house, but Dad did on an earlier visit this year--click here to get an idea.

My cousin Jill was there with her husband Rob and son Alex, soon followed by Uncle Jack, Aunt Barb, my cousin Mike and his wife Laura. Rusty's parents, Al and Peggy, were also staying for a few days from North Carolina. It was great to see everyone again (hadn't seen them since Eric & Rusty's wedding 2+ years ago) and get a chance to catch up.

This family can cook kick-ass food! Eric grilled chicken and chicken sausage on his giant, state-of-the-art gas grill. We had a beautiful layered fruit salad in a trifle bowl and 2 Mediterranean-inspired pasta salads.

Jill, Laura, and Mike:

Here's everybody just hanging out after dinner:

As it got dark, we all sat in a big circle on the huge, covered patio talking and throwing around a glow-in-the-dark Koosh ball. Around 9 pm, we decided to take a "cousins" picture. Here are, from left, me, Mike, Jill, Eric, and Alex:

During dinner, I had particularly enjoyed the sweet, hot, pickled peppers in a salad that Eric and Rusty had made. They were just hot enough to widen my eyes without bringing tears to them. When I picked up my purse at the end of the night, there was a cylindrical mystery package crammed into it. "Hey, look, a gift from the Un-Birthday Fairy!" I said.

"Well, some kind of fairy," Eric replied. (It turned out to be a new jar of the special peppers--that was sweet of them.)

We got Rusty to open his birthday gifts from us early, which was fun.

The hotel has in-room jacuzzis in every room. Paul and I enjoyed ours for about 15 minutes, along with 2 of our truffles, getting a head start on our anniversary celebrations.

Day 5--The Chocolate Factory and Yoshi's

Ron is a genius. From his AA Tour Book, he discovered that the Scharffen Berger Chocolate Factory, which just so happens to be located in Berkeley, is the only chocolate factory in the country which offers tours not behind sealed glass to the public. Now, I have been enjoying our winery tours like a good little adult, but if I had to choose between a good wine and good chocolate, you know what I would choose in a heartbeat. (Hint: it's not the wine.)

After a morning of downtime while Phyllis and Alec packed and got ready for their weekend camping trip, we said our goodbyes and headed down to the factory. We got there right on time (15 min before our 2:30 pm tour started). As we entered the gift shop area, the wonderful smell of premium chocolate in the air made me giddy with good feelings. Instant aromatherapy! The store was full of various products from this fine factory, and I already knew I was going to spend some serious money on our way out.

When the tour started, we sat in a classroom for an hour while the guide explained all the steps from bean to bar. Turns out that cacao is just the seed part of the fruit and tastes a lot like an aspirin in its raw, unprocessed state. It needs to be processed, aged, and roasted before that familiar chocolate scent and flavor as we know it comes out. We got to sample a delicious milk chocolate (42% cacoa, much higher than most), a 62% bar, an 82% bar (a little too dark even for me), and nibs, which are pieces of the roasted bean covered in dark chocolate.

Next (the fun part) we got to don hair nets (some of us needed beard nets as well!) and bright red protective earphones and walk right into the factory.

Now, if I had to have a factory job, this is definitely the one I'd pick. I was always concious of (and never sick of) the heavenly smell. Here is some chocolate being mixed with extra cocoa butter to give it smoothness.

Here are some ladies packaging the bars as they come off the conveyor belt.

Paul and I went a little wild in the store, even buying a box of 4 truffles for private anniversary celebrations later. There was a cafe on the other side of the building, where the 4 of us stopped in for hot chocolate and/or coffee. Mom said she was chocolated out afterwards. Such a state is an impossibility for me!

When we went home, the folks napped, Paul played his horn for a while and I went out for a 3.5 mile walk. It was a brilliantly sunny day with a foggy view of the bay from the high hills. I got to enjoy the chocolate smell all over again as it sweated out of my pores!

Evening saw us on another adventure, this time to Oakland to meet a connection of Paul's and see a zen monastery where she is a Buddhist nun. Pam is the founder of the dojo where Paul teaches on weekends. Years ago she left her sister Debbie in charge and moved out to the Bay Area. She has been out here for visits and always says to Paul, "Hey, if you're ever in San Fransisco, come out and visit me." We took her up on it. She is a delightful person, down to earth and full of joy. Her tea ceremony teacher, Yoshi, is also a shrewd businesswoman and founder of the famed Yoshi's Restaurant and Jazz Club, a fixture for some 30 years that features an unlikely combination of excellent Japanese cuisine and top-name jazz acts.

After seeing the monastery, which is austerely beautiful, we took Pam with us to Yoshi's as previously arranged. Yoshi herself was behind the counter, and greeted us and showed us around a little before seating us. The place is huge--about the size of a city block--and hopping. Pam knew just about everybody who worked there and it was fun listening to their banter. The food was absolutely first rate--at least as enjoyable as the Culinary Institute! Paul & I shared a dinner for two that had a little of everything--sashimi, tempura, vegetables, grilled fish on a stick--and was a delight of flavors, colors and textures.

We opted not to stay for a show as we were all feeling the need to get to bed at a decent hour. I'm really glad in retrospect because we got lost twice on the way home and didn't get back until after 11!

Day 4--Muir Woods and Musicale

Last night was our last at Deborah's. We invited her to come join us at tonight's family musicale, on the condition that she perform something (as all of us were doing). She seemed a bit taken aback at first, but proved to be game. After a lovely breakfast of oatmeal and cinnamon toast, we spent a little time going over maps for the day's trips and set off in Mom's car for Muir Woods National Monument. (They went home with Phyllis last night, so we had the day to ourselves with the car.)

We wanted to do something seriously active, like hiking or biking. Paul had seen Muir Woods when he was out in S.F. for a martial arts convention 20 years ago, but I had never been. What could be more quintessentially California than The Redwood Forest from This Land is Your Land?

It was blessedly cool so near the coast after yesterday. I was the only one I saw there in a sleeveless shirt, but we walked so much, I was never cold. I had brought my pedometer with me (gadgets are fun!) so I had proof of the 7 total miles we walked. Well, 2 of them were just getting back and forth from the car, but still.

It was extremely crowded--the crowd was so thick around the monument boardwalk area that we could only shuffle helplessly along at about 1.5 mph. We took the first turn-off for a hiking trail we saw, a 3.5-mile loop up a steep hillside. It felt so good to walk our normal speed (we finished it in an hour) and work up a bit of a sweat. It was almost entirely in a deep woods, which was beautiful and smelled good.

By the time we returned to the boardwalk, we were in the mood to slow down and the crowds were smaller. Here is a redwood so tall you can't see the top from below:

An interesting growth pattern on one of the trunks:

We were really hungry by the time we got back to the car at about 2:30. We had lunch at the Pelican Inn at Muir Beach just a few miles down the road, as Phyllis and Alec raved about it. It had the atmosphere of an old English pub (Tudor architecture, etc.) and they served hearty fare that actually reminded us of Cleveland food (shepherd's pie and other "mitten season" favorites).

Afterwards, we took a short 10-minute walk to the beach itself. A bracing sea breeze whipped all around us--I was glad I had thought to bring a light jacket. All around the street there were signs warning people that they would get in deep doo-doo if they parked--here's one that's not exactly world peace.

We managed to get to Phyllis' house in Richmond in one piece in spite of rush hour and a wrong turn that led us on a maze around the back end of San Quentin. Eric had left work early in San Jose to come and join us. Phyllis' neighbors across the street, who were in the Netherlands for a month, had offered to let Paul & me stay there, as there isn't enough room at Phyllis'. They also have a well-tuned piano, which gave us the idea of having a musicale.

Alec, who is 14, has been playing the violin since he was maybe 5. Usually when I've been out for family get-togethers, he's played something with me accompanying. But this time, all of us played, sang, or did a reading. As soon as we arrived at about 5:30, a buffet of salads was set up at Phyllis', and people grazed and came over to rehearse as needed. I felt a little like I was on the job, as I was accompanying 2 pieces with Alec, 2 with Paul, one song with Eric (sightreading, but at least my part was easy) and the Java Jive by ear with Mom and Phyllis. Not to mention my solo, a live rendition of my latest composition Galion, which I had to practice for at least 20 minutes because at first I forgot a huge chunk of it. I ended up only having 10 minutes to eat.

I was originally planning on recording it with my new digital recorder and microphone, which I had brought on the trip especially for the occasion. But, unfortunately, I had overestimated my ability to remember how it worked after not using it for 2 months. Of course, I hadn't thought to bring the manual or even read it before the trip. I couldn't even figure out how to listen to what I had already recorded last time! Slightly frustrated, I said to hell with it. Instead, Phyllis used a mini cassette recorder.

The evening got to be fun as the performances started. The tedium of rehearsal always pays off--everybody played, sang, and/or did their readings well, and I thought, we have such a cool family! Deborah really surprised us with 2 solliliquies (in character!) and a song from My Fair Lady. She says she's never done anything like that before in front of other people. You'd sure never guess it as far as I could tell.

Afterwards we were all pretty wired. We enjoyed a dessert of homemade lemon cake with homemade whipped cream and organic strawberries while Eric entertained us with funny stories about cats, snakes, and snake phobia (all true).

Here's a pic of us with Deborah:

We want to be sure to stay in touch!

Napa Tour Day 3

Blogger, in its far from infinite mercy, allowed me to post some photos today but then inexplicably got in a capricious mood again and now won't let me post the rest. So I'll do what I did yesterday and do the linky thing.

Deborah really knows how to make a great breakfast. Yesterday we had locally grown, organic strawberries (the kind that are red all the way through) in a fruit salad to die for, it was so flavorful. Today it was French toast made with deicious cinnamon swirl bread.

We went to the Sebastiani winery this morning and had a very early picnic lunch (11:15!) to accomodate our 12:30 tour appointment at the di Rosa Preserve. Here are Paul and Ron in front of one of Sebastiani's famous decoratively carved barrels.

In tribute to Miles (from the movie "Sideways," which we own on DVD and love to quote lines from), here's Paul in front of the Pinot Noir barrel. Now I know enough to know why I don't like the taste of Pinot--its high level of bitter-tasting tannins. But Paul likes it!

There was a lighted window with an elaborately decorated wine goblet inside. I was able to get a gtreat close-up!

Here's Paul induging in a little tasting at the front counter.

Once again, today's tour guides provided us with a magnificent picnic lunch. This time, I had the presence of mind to request a picture. We were very full afterwards, having just finished breakfast a scant 2 hours before, not that this was a problem!

We finished just in time to make it to the di Rosa Preserve by 12:35. We had to drive down to another building to catch up with our tour group. I took this picture of an outlandishly decorated car before I realized we weren't supposed to take pictures inside!
This place houses the modern art collection of 87-year-old Rene di Rosa, who started buying local modern art by young unknowns over 50 years ago. He just bought what he liked. Now there are over 2000 pieces in his collection, which is open to the public. Some of it is moving, some striking, some funny, and some just off the wall. Here is the one piece by himself, called "Lynched Volkswagen."
There were cawing peafowl strutting around the grounds.

A very few of the art pieces were interactive. Here's Mom enjoying one of these, a musical percussion instrument.

The tour lasted about 2 hours, but we were exhausted from the standing, the 90+ degree heat and mentally digesting everything we saw, so all of us headed back to Deborah's to relax for a few hours before dinner, which was at the Culinary Institute where gourmet chefs-in-training practice their craft. Deborah joined us and we met Phyllis and Alec there.

We brought the bottle of Sterling's Cabernet Sauvignon that Paul had bought, and that one bottle (excellent, by the way) was plenty for the 6 adults at our table. We looked at the wine list just for fun, which included a couple of references to our friend Miles from "Sideways."

We started with Today's Temptations, a selection of delicious appetizers. I only had 3 (out of 8) because I didn't want to be full before dinner arrived. I needn't have worried, since my selection, scallops, though beautifully presented, only came with 3 scallops, 3 small spears of asparagus, and about 1/2 cup of rice mixture. It was delicious, and the small size didn't bother me at all--more room for dessert! Chocolate souffle, to die for, plus 2 sides of cherry tarts we all shared.

Napa Tour Days 1 & 2

Note: It is really Aug 18. We got back from our trip on the 14th--we loved it, had a great time, and took a total internet and news holiday. I must not really be addicted because I didn't miss it one bit. But I have spent an awful lot of time since our return catching up on "what I've missed" (salon.com, etc.) instead of immediately editing and posting the photos you all have been waiting for with bated breath. Sorry about that! Well, it's time to get off my butt and get to it. I've decided to backdate these entries so it won't be one big long one, and pretend I had online access the whole time.

What a luxury to live in a "hub" city. We had a direct flight to San Francisco from Cleveland and arrived before noon, when Mom and Ron picked us up (they had driven from Portland). We had a delicious lunch in a restaurant with water on 3 sides in Sausalito, window-shopped for a while, then took our time getting to Napa.

We stopped in at Bob & Sylvia's house (where Mom & Ron were staying for their B & B). We were just meeting them for the first time. Over iced tea and limeade on their patio, we got to know them a little, then took a little walk on the paved walking path behind their house.

We had dinner in a pub restaurant in downtown Napa. Even their pub had a pretty comprehensive wine list though I abstained. After dinner the folks dropped Paul & me off at Deborah's house (our B & B). She has a really sweet cat (Gracie) who even came in and slept on our pillow since we left the door cracked.

Today we went to Sterling Winery for our first tour. The winery is only accessible by sky tram! It was a beautiful view, although the thinness of the cable and the way the car swung in the breeze did make me feel a little anxious! Here is a view from the tram:

The winery, like so many buildings in Caifornia, looks like it was built 200+ years ago by Spanish missionaries--lots of stucco, terra-cotta tiles, and walkways bathed in Mediterranean sunlight. We went on a self-guided tour, where we learned how the different wines are made. I never knew that white wines were fermented slower and at a cooler temperature than red ones, for instance. We learned about the different kinds of oak used in the barrels and how different toastings of the wood adds flavor complexities to the wine. Here are some of the barrels. The technology for barrel making has hardly changed since the Middle ages.


**technical details intermission**

Alas, no matter what I do, Blogger has decided it doesn't want to let me post any more pics in this entry. Last time I got around this by posting them on my website and uploading them as links, but now it won't even let me do that! Boo. From now on, you'll have to click on the links to view.

**and now, back to our regular programming!**

After the tour, we emerged into the blinding sunlight on a terrace overlooking some of the vineyards.

Paul and I trying not to squint

Mom and Ron relaxing on a bench

The beautiful Sterling vineyard

The same vineyard, this time in a panorama view

And finally, it was time for our tastings! We found a table on the patio and tasted 5 different wines, starting with the light white, ending with full-bodied red and then a dessert wine. We got the server to take a picture of us. This is such a great picture!

Tasting

2 1/2 hours later, it was time to take the sky tram back down the hill. Check out how thin that cable looks!

We went to 2 more wineries. Someone in our party bought at least one bottle at every stop. One of them had a shaded picnic table area, where our tour guides unpacked a lovely lunch of artisan breads and cheeses, fruit, and oatmeal cookies (accompanied by wine, of course!)

Tonight we had a grilled homemade dinner at Deborah's and just sat outside on the patio and talked until after dark. Great food and great company!

Travel Plans, Now and a Year From Now

Ah, August, when our fancy turns to travel and vacations. It's that rare time of year when all of my jobs come to a standstill and both of Paul's martial arts dojos have breaks. And, unlike any of my employers, Case gives Paul some paid vacation. As long as he plans it in advance, he's never had trouble getting a week or two off during August.

We've been talking since the month we met about the dream of taking a European vacation together someday. I've never been and he's only been once, on business. We already have enough money in savings (and then some) to pay for it upfront. It was just a question of picking where.

Eric helped us speed up the process by asking if we had any idea where bacause he wanted to send us some travel resources for Christmas last year. I said Salzburg (Mozart's birthplace) since that's always been my gut answer to that question. He gave us a wonderful travel info kit from Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We've watched all the DVDs and started getting excited. These tours are a little off the beaten path and are designed for people who want a more genuinely European, less touristy experience. You have to be in shape, as in able to carry all of your bags for 15 min over uneven cobblestones and flights of stairs. Lots of standing and walking up to 6-10 miles a day is par for the course. We thought, wow, this sounds perfect. And we're not ready to try to do this on our own, deal with driving and finding transportation, etc.

On the 4th of July, we celebrated that hot, muggy evening by deciding for sure that this is how we want to leave our country. 2 weeks ago we put a deposit down for this tour. The written confirmation just came yesterday! So August 7-22, 2007, now you know where we'll be.

This August 7 (tomorrow), we'll be taking off to Napa Valley for a B & B/wine tour for three days (2 of which Mom & Ron will join us for), then some family visiting time around the Bay Area through the weekend. A family musicale this Thursday is among the planned activities. Paul is going to bring his new horn! Since it has a cut bell, the case is actually small enough to fit carry-on specs, unlike his old one. No one in the family has ever heard him play, so we're all looking forward to it. Well, off to pack--the plane leaves in 12 hours.

Great Times With Darce

Yesterday I had the special treat of hearing the high-profile debut of Darcy's group, The Milwaukee Brass Quintet. They were awesome and got a well-deserved standing ovation. Darcy had arranged a couple of the numbers and even got credited for it by the MC, something she was not expecting!

I got a closeup during the sound check. I figured it wouldn't be too cool to stand right there in the middle blocking people's view during the actual concert!

Here they are during the performance.

Behold the magic of an optical zoom lens!

Darcy got to play MC a couple of times.

The teeming multitudes enjoying the music.

Right after the concert, all five of them had to rush to the performing arts center for a 2 1/2 hour rehearsal for the Milwaukee Symphony concert that night. So I was turned loose with a map downtown to check out the Old World 3rd Street area and the Grand Mall.

I had lunch at the Jewel of India. I am proud to report that, for the first time ever in my life, I ate at a sit-down restaurant, by myself, with no book. I felt a little self-concious but it was fine when I concentrated on my food. I got the buffet lunch and particularly enjoyed the spinach paneer and chicken marsala.

At the mall, I discovered a store I'd never been into, Dress Barn, that has some really cute stuff that's pretty inexpensive, so I bought a multi-colored pastel t-shirt (to replace the one I loved that's now too big for me) and a pretty yellow and peach chiffon dress with a little yellow sweater that I wore last night for the concert.

The concert was American Favorites, the kind of things you hear on the 4th of July, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Here's a great pic of Darcy and me taken in the lobby afterward: Today we went out for an excellent Italian lunch and did some more shopping, takling a mile a minute the whole time. I really wish we could do this more often! Love you, Darce!

Milwaukee Down Time

I feel like such a jet setter. Paul came to pick me up Monday at 7:30 am after my red-eye from San Diego. It's amazing what some of us will do to avoid paying for another night's lodging. But actually, it really wasn't that bad. Sure, I was a little sleep-deprived, but a 3-hour nap fixed that.

I spent Mon. and Tues. eating the highest fiber foods I could (sort of a college cafeteria food detox), catching up on some of my online haunts, doing laundry, practicing the Reinecke trio for Sunday, a little house cleaning, and packin' my bags again for my trip to Milwaukee to visit Darcy!

So here I am sleeping in, chatting, catching up on my email while she does her yoga session, and looking forward to lots of downtime today as she finishes arranging Phantom of the Opera selections for the Milwaukee Brass Quintet to play at next week's Concert on the Square. I have a big, fat, 1,000-page novel from the library that I'm only halfway through. This past week was stuffed to the gills with activities--I had the energy to handle it, but I did get tired!

I have a few posts on the Windsong blog from last week:

Wow--What a Full Day!
I've Been Humbly Beseeched
Last Day

Report From the Front

I am having the best time here in San Diego. I've been up since 5:15 (after being awake for 21 hours in a row from yesterday's 6:30 am flight here) and just now the tiredness is starting to hit me. Not only am I playing for Windsong, but I played for Columbus Women's Chorus and I'll be playing (and singing) for the mass chorus concert on Sunday. I have done nothing but exercise, eat, sing, play, and listen to concerts all day.

Here's something cool: Windsong has set up a blog for our experiences during this conference, where all of us can contribute. Some have even transmitted audio posts from their cell phones. Check it out! I'm off to post over there.

Love,
Karin

P.S. I'm beat--but in a good way.

Texas Family Reunion

You know, I was expecting Texas to be more of a foreign country. Well, beautiful 70-80 degree weather right after Christmas was a pretty dramatic shift. And it is true, everything's bigger there. Even the traffic lights are 2-3 miles apart, and it takes at least 45 minutes to go anywhere there. We passed by signs pointing out Tom DeLay's district and the Halliburton headquarters--we were definitely in BushCroneyland.

Most of our time was spent near where Paul's brother David lived. All of us visiting family members stayed at the Holiday Inn about 2-3 miles from David's house, and spent most of our time hanging out together talking, eating, driving, and eating some more, having an overall good time.

We all first met, some of us straight from the airport, at a Sears portrait studio for family pictures. Paul's family always does this at reunions, as they tend to happen only once every decade or so. I think it's a great idea.

We decided to get some taken of the two of us, and I think they turned out pretty cute.

We ordered prints, including some wallet-sized ones, plus a CD of all of the images so if people want to make calendars, cards, extra prints, etc, just email me and I'll send you the original jpeg file. You can see them all here, along with the pics I took during the rest of our trip.

I really enjoyed meeting and hanging out with Paul's people. Everybody knew not to talk about inflammatory topics, so there was no weirdness on that issue. I loved seeing family resemblance here and there, and seeing family photo albums.

You have to see this pic. It's Paul's grandmother holding a tuba with Paul's father in it! :-)

Married 2 Years

A week ago today was our 2nd wedding anniversary. We like to make a big deal of romantic milestones whenever possible so, since we were in Colorado, we stayed in the Hotel Teatro,"Denver's #1 Rated Hotel." Check out the Deluxe Room on the Virtual Tour page to see exactly what our room looked like. It was huge and gorgeous. This is the kind of place where everybody on the staff treats you like you're one of The Rich People. After a delicious dinner of western fare (bison filet mignon!), we returned to find our bed turned down with premium Belgian chocolates left on the pillow. We couldn't help chuckling at the open TV Guide, encased in leather, along with a very elaborate remote, that was also carefully placed on the pillow. We certainly had much better things planned than an evening of TV watching!

A delightful surprise--there was a note from all four of my parents wishing us a happy anniversary and crediting our room with $40 for breakfast the next morning! That was really sweet and unexpected. (The next morning we thoroughly enjoyed a lavish room service tray with pastries, tea, orange juice, fruit platter and an omelet which we ate in a state of total indecency!)

After we got back to Cleveland we had a long weekend off work together. On Sunday night, we continued an anniversary tradition we started last year--attending the Cavana Ballroom's Sunday dance party in our wedding attire, which we can get away with because it's comfortable, lightweight and only a little over the top.



Lat year, we also wore our duds (sans hats) for a special dinner out. I don't feel bad that we skipped that this year. Unless I am leaning forward with my head directly over the plate, food, especially if it is covered in something tomato-based, tends to land directly on my chest, especially when I'm wearing something in a solid, pastel shade. I love that this dress is machine washable, but I just don't think it would have survived buffalo with barbecue sauce!

What a great trip!

We had a very rich, wonderful time in Colorado this past week. Grandma's memorial service was just right, and after a couple of days in Denver, we enjoyed a few days in the Rocky Mountains.

From eating out on the town and toasting Grandma's memory,

to cooking out and enjoying our "Magic Fans" from Eric,

to hiking along bridle trails,

to enjoying stunning views of mountains, forests and lakes,
to just hanging out on the back porch of our cabin to watch the hummingbirds,

we had a great time with the family. See all the pics on my website here.