X-treme Flushing: The Great Toilet Upgrade

Wow. We were actually serious about upgrading all of our toilets after this lovely episode last month, and are now the proud owners of 3 brand spanking-new pressure-assisted toilets. These things are the piranhas of the toilet world. You'd better make sure all arms and legs are inside the cabin and the lid is down before flushing or somebody could get hurt.

I would much rather have a mighty fanfare announce my business for 4 seconds than deal with the sluggish, finicky crap toilets we had before. Is it normal to have to plunge every other day or am I just really hard on conventional toilets?

These things could probably handle 5 or 6 golf balls and have so far effortlessly whisked away even my most challenging offerings without leaving so much as a calling card.

Did I mention I'm thrilled?

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!

Family Recipes

I took note of a couple of recipes that came up in conversation. Here is a really easy one for a moist, delicious, reasonably nutritious cake from Mom:

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake
1 Pkg Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 Can Pumpkin (sm) the plain kind, not pumpkin pie mix/filling
Use a 9x13 pan. Cook according to package directions.

And from Eric, one that's low starch, high nutrition, and sounds delish:

Tacomole Salad
Brown 1/2-3/4 lb taco meat. Season to taste.
1 lb spinach leaves.
Toss w/6-8 oz guacamole.
Divide into 2 servings.
Top w/meat, crushed tortilla chips, tomatoes, and olives.

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.

Colorado, here we come!

Tomorrow we leave for a week in Colorado. Paul and I will be joining Eric & Rusty plus Mom, Ron, Phyllis, Alec, Peter and Roxanne for a second memorial service for Grandma in Denver. I was really disappointed I couldn't make the first one in Portland last December due to my cast & crutches, plus 3 jobs. I am going to be playing selections from Phantom of the Opera because it was her favorite music ever.

We've decided to make a vacation of it and will be staying in a charming place in Estes Park called Idlewilde by the River for a few nights. We'll spend our 2nd wedding anniversary (8/17) in Denver at the posh Hotel Teatro and maybe see a show or have an elegant dinner. We won't be returing until the 18th, and I anticipate a total internet vacation the entire time, not a bad thing.

Here are my reflections on Grandma that I will be sharing during the service.

One of my earliest memories of Grandma was the Christmas I turned 5. I was in my ballerina phase, and I wanted a ballet tutu more than anything in the world. When I opened my present from Grandma, it was this wonderful creation she had made herself--a skirt made out of stiff pink tulle, decorated with an array of colorful poufs commonly used to scrub pots and pans. *holds pouf as visual aid* I gasped in my excitement, "It's a ballet dress!" She laughed her famous laugh and said,"Oh, no, it's a Silly Grandma!" I thought it was the most beautiful skirt ever.

We always lived far away from our grandparents and didn't get to see them very often, so a visit to their house was a Really Big Deal. Grandma would bend over backwards as a hostess, wanting to make sure we were comfortable, well fed and had enough to do. When Grandpa would sometimes get fussy or grumpy when we inevitably got on his nerves, she would say, "Oh, he's just being an old fuddy-duddy!"

I was kind of an uptight kid and she was always loosening me up. Even in my 30s she spent several years encouraging me to try margaritas, which I didn't like at all at first. Now it's my favorite drink ever, and I always think of her whenever I have one. She was very proud of "corrupting" me at last.

Peace to you, Grandma. My life is better because you were part of it.

Bush or Chimp?

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While on a message board discussing our president's views on evolution, a poster asked, "How can a man who looks so much like a chimpanzee not believe in evolution?" It's so true! Check out this site -- it's frickin' hillarious!

Hazardous Waste

I never thought taking out the trash could be so dangerous as it was last Tuesday. These things always seem to happen to me when home alone. Paul was at Joy & Dale's, at a barbeque which I could not go to because I had Troy's ballet class to play for and then the piano competition to attend.

So I got home around 9:45 and thought,"I'm gonna get the trash now so it'll be done before Paul gets home." Everything went harmlessly enough until I took the kitchen bag out of the can. It was heavy and over-filled so I set it down on the kitchen floor. I took a step and ended up stepping on the bottom of the bag. Next thing I knew, something really sharp had cut the inside of my big toe, deeply I might add, as most of my weight was on that foot at the moment of impact.

It was the worst pain since I broke my foot. My immediate, instinctual response: a yell that made the walls vibrate, lots of cussing, and bursting into tears as blood started dripping all over the kitchen floor.

I was freaking out, hopping to the bathroom to get a kleenex or 3 to staunch the flow. Poor Mouchie was very upset by my antics. Usually when I yell like that only when he pounces on me while I'm running up the stairs, an attempt at behavior modification. Every time you scratch me, I will cause you to lose some of your hearing. This time I had to reassure him that for once it wasn't about him, but he still looked like this:
I limped upstairs to my bathroom where the band-aids were, but it was nowhere near ready for that. I went through about 10 kleenexes. Every time I took my finger pressure off so I could get another one, it would start gushing again, leaving giant drops of blood (like 1" in diameter!) all over my bathroom floor, some of which landed on my pristine white bathmat, upsetting me further.

I was still cussing and wailing like a frustrated infant when Paul called about 15 minutes later. I tried to calm down so as not to alarm him unnecessarily, so I just told him the short version. By the time he got home it had finally stopped bleeding and I was able to cover it with a band-aid, but if I bent the toe a certain way or accidentally put any weight on it at all, it felt like a burning hot poker.

I am so sick of foot pain, and it doesn't help that this is the same foot I broke. I couldn't walk much until Saturday. Now, a week later, it is just starting to feel halfway healed. So much for getting in better shape for hiking in the Rockies next week. I am glad, though, that it happened last Tuesday and not tonight, so it should be almost normal by early next week.

An Approximation

You wouldn't know it, but I've been growing out my hair for the past 8 months. I had a super-short pixie cut for about 3 years and loved it, but decided I wanted something softer and more girly, still easy but not The Mom Haircut (TM). I don't want to be mistaken for one of those women who've Just Given Up.

After a few hours last winter perusing online hairstyle websites, I found this cute style:

I figured, oh, by April or so, my hair could resemble this more or less. What I had forgotten to consider was that this model's hair was at least 3" long at the back and sides, whereas mine was about 1/2". Four haircuts later, as of today, here is my version:

It's cute and I love it but it ain't just like the picture. And this is after Steve styled it for me today. Who knows if I'll ever be able to duplicate this on my own. You'd think after 27+ years of actually caring what my hair looks like, I would've had enough practice by now, but you would be wrong.

High-Profile Gigs Coming Up

The Gospel Choir I've been playing for is going to sing 20 minutes' worth of music this Sunday at Archwood UCC for a "Raise the Roof Gospel Service" that is part of the Black, Gay and Proud Celebration 2005! It doesn't even matter that I'm not Christian, black or gay--I know it's gonna be great, it will have wonderful energy and I'll meet some great people.

Also, this week I talked with Mary Verdi-Fletcher of Dancing Wheels, and on October 1 I'll be playing at their 25th Anniversary Gala at the Intercontinental Hotel Cleveland, which by the way I can walk to in 10 minutes from home. I'll be accompanying actress Patricia Neal as she sings "Send in the Clowns" and playing background music for the silent auction and dinner. Mary said she immediately thought of me and didn't even call any other pianists. :-)

The First Cut

It's amazing I can even string 2 sentences together. Since Wednesday afternoon, I have attended 12 rounds of the competition--that's 39 hours of music by 30 pianists, only 3 hours of which I missed due to what little work I still have.

Yesterday afternoon I was seated next to a woman whose girth threatened to overflow around the armrest. I'm not small myself and we spent the next 3 1/2 hours trying not to invade each other's Personal Space Bubbles. I'm glad I didn't miss the round as it included three of the eight semi-finalists later picked by the judges, but I came home feeling as if I had spent the afternoon in the middle seat of a packed airplane.

Sometimes you've just gotta take a break. Since the competition is being broadcast live over the radio, I decided to listen at home to the first half of last night's round. WCLV's reception is so sucky it won't come in on any of our radios (except the car), but fortunately you can listen to it via streaming audio online. I blissfully stretched out on the couch, drinking a cherry coke while I listened, then took the five-minute walk to the theater after intermission.

When I got home, I finished picking my eight semifinalists so I could later see if I agreed with the judges' picks. I knew it would take at least 45 minutes before the announcement broadcast, so I settled in the office. The minutes crept by. 11:15 pm and we still hadn't heard.

Paul offered to make dinner and bring it up to me so I wouldn't have to leave the computer and miss the announcement! Of course I told him how sweet I thought that was. He just said it was nothing millions of wives of TV sports fans don't do every Sunday.

Minutes later we heard the announcement live, and four of my picks made it. On to the semi-finals today!