This is the Title of an Uncreative Violinist.:)

For my birthday yesterday, we mostly hung around the condo--me on my shiny new laptop, Ryan on PS3 playing COD: Black Ops:P--but at some point, we both decided we needed to get out, especially since it was...um...my birthday:)  We first attempted the Olive Garden, but for whatever reason, it was packed for a Wednesday evening.  We then drove around aimlessly, shooting down all the options of miserable chain restaurants that C-bus has to offer.  We finally settled upon a place nearby called Cap City Diner which turned out to be excellent.  Even though it has the name 'diner' in it, it's actually more of a finer dining 'diner'.  Ryan got the fish and chips, while I chose the southern chicken which was the best I've had so far.  The batter was atypical of your usual southern fried chicken...it was sweet and scrumptious, and I finished the rest today for my lunch.  Mmmm.  Instead of ordering dessert there, we opted to get Buca di Beppo's amazing tiram...

Sitting here in my parents' newly renovated kitchen, typing this post and eating the lovely burrito my sweet mom made for me.  Unfortunately, I can't post any fun pics because my a) camera is back home in C-bus and b) I can't find the battery charger for it, so it's useless anyways. So far, not much has happened except I slept in again and am still in my pj's.  After lunch here, I'll probably get ready and head out with my mom to hit the after christmas sales again. It's very quiet around here, and I'm loving it. If you all are on your vacation as well, hope you're having a peaceful and enjoyable break.  If not, hope you can at least find some time to enjoy the sales!!

Well, Christmas day was the ultimate "veg out" day for our whole family yesterday.  Everyone somehow woke up extremely late (we had opened our gifts the night before, so no one was up at the crack of dawn like little kids), and then shortly after we woke up, my mom and I got the case of the "sleepy's" and took a 4-hour nap in the afternoon.  Blegh.  Definitely not a productive Christmas day, but no one felt guilty about it! This morning, I attended church with my mom and then the whole family met up at the best Indian buffet--Bombay Sitar in Belden Village--where we stuffed ourselves on curry, mango lassi and naan.  We decided to brave the crowds at the mall to see if there were any good after Christmas sales, but there weren't really any.  I still managed to get a cute sweater from Talbots, however, and a fleece jacket that fit me perfectly at Gander Mountain, despite the fact that I found in the kids section:P We also stopped in at Wal-mart, where we u...

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!  Arrived at my parents' home last night just in time for Christmas Eve dinner and am now enjoying a laid back Christmas at home in my pj's:) Oh!  Am typing this post on my Christmas gift:)  Very excited. Enjoy the day!

Yes! One more day until freedom!  Actually, today didn't feel like a regular work day because only two students showed up.  I was expecting to teach four, but the last two were a no-show, and when I called the dad to see what was up, he sounded dazed and confused and basically apologized for forgetting to call me.  I didn't care too much, b/c that just meant I got to go home earlier than expected.  I know this whole week is probably crazy for most people, either traveling or preparing their homes for guests. I'm happy to say that I got pretty much all my Christmas shopping done for my side of the family; I only  managed to find one gift for Ryan--even though it's what he primarily asked for--because it's so hard to buy anything else for him, particularly clothes.  He needs to try them on before getting them, so I just figured I'll wait until after Christmas and we'll go shopping together. My parents told me they didn't want anything (they always say ...

This is awful...I'm still up and it's a ridiculous hour. I hate, hate HATE going to bed.  I'm like a little kid who thinks they're going to miss out on something.  But this is Columbus.  Nothing to miss out on here.  Hubby doesn't have to go to work until late evening tomorrow b/c of tons of vacation time he didn't use up yet, and the company wants him to use it.  So now he's up playing COD like there's no tomorrow.  I don't know how the man does it.  But because he's up, I feel like I need to stay up, too. I'm going to try finishing Decision Points on my kindle...I'm sure that'll put me right to sleep.

Well, I flaked on the plan to bake cookies for all my students, but I'm still bent on baking some for my husband to bring to his office.  I don't know what it is, but I'm just not a baker.  I've never been great at baking, nor have I ever had a great inkling TO bake.  I'm pretty comfortable doing everything else, though.  I once seriously considered going to culinary school because I was so into cooking, and if I didn't have a job (and someone just took care of all my basic needs), I could be content to stay in the kitchen all day long. I feel bad.  Every Christmas I intend to bake something for my students, but I just end up not doing it because I don't think it will turn out very well, and I definitely don't want to hand out crap to my students.  Oh well.  Turning them into excellent violinists/pianists will have to do! This past weekend, I made a chicken pot pie for my guests and this morning I received a message on FB from my friend's mother-...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZkMvwwLfhw&feature=player_embedded I just read about this violinist--who allegedly went to my alma mater and studied with the same violin teacher--on violinist.com, and I can't tell if she's being serious in her playing or if it's all a huge joke (and the LSO is playing along, as well). If it's genuine...then it's AWFUL.  If it's not, and it's just some stunt for publicity...it's just dumb.  At least that's how I feel. If someone actually admires her intensely--and insanely--wide vibrato, then I guess everyone can just play anything out of tune on their violins and be considered 'amazing' because when one uses that kind of vibrato, they ARE playing out of tune!

This lovely weekend started off with a few makeup lessons, and now that I'm back at home, I'm just waiting for myself to muster up the will to clean up this place.  I tend to want to do housework type stuff when I should be doing OTHER things like practicing, or getting ready to go teach.  Of course when I'm done with those things and find myself back at home staring at the long list of chores to do, I do exactly that: stare at them blankly.  And then I go read some blogs or watch a movie on Netflix instead. I'm hoping to turn our spare room into a guest room since at least two couples will be needing a place to stay when they visit in the next couple of weeks.  We used to have a guest bed, but when we moved into the smaller apartment on the west side of Columbus, we got rid of it.  I'm mad that we now need to get another one:( I have no idea what is going to happen to this condo.  I'm so worried that the moment I start decorating and painting, that's w...

Today I was thinking about how many of my students are long term; that is, those who have been with me since I started teaching here in Columbus. Discovering that only a handful out of 40 have stuck with me for the last 3-4 years kind of depressed me, but then I realized that most teachers probably experience the same statistics.  Ryan once told me that every teacher probably only really has a couple of good students for every hundred students they ever have. I find it interesting that the ones who have remained with me have families who are very involved in their musical endeavors and are pretty strict--or at least respect my instruction and strive to repeat what we do in the lessons.  The ones who don't get any help from parents or just have a problem with a teacher who continually tells them to practice (the nerve!) have fallen off the radar and I probably will never see them again. I used to get bitter and a little hurt whenever I received an email from a parent that ba...

Wow. Glad this week is finally over.  The new orchestra I joined this year is about an hour or so away from Columbus and we had rehearsals/performances four days in a row.  I was going to try and drive each way for each service, but I ended up staying in a hotel for one rehearsal b/c we had a children's concert the very next morning.  It was a cheap hotel, but I still loved it, lol.  I don't know what it is, but I LOVE hotels and airports.  It doesn't matter if they're crappy or nice--I just love anything having to do with with traveling.  Ryan thinks I'm a weirdo.  He's boring. Anyways, I just got back from our sold out concert tonight.  This weekend's program involved contortionists/aerialists (think cirque du soleil) and while it was definitely an interesting program, the music was a little annoying for the orchestra, I think.  All numbers were basically fast showpieces.  I will say that we sounded a lot better in our performances t...

I didn't really have access to a computer (or rather, a good one) over Thanksgiving break, so that's why I wasn't able to post anything or check email and crap like that. Thanksgiving was held at my brother-in-law's house, and both Ryan's family and my sister-in law, Sarah's family were there.  I concurred with Ryan that TG was much better when it used to be held at his parent's house--conversation was more interesting, setting was more intimate and warm;  my brother and sister-in law's house is nice, but we were all seated at a makeshift long table to accomodate all 15 people and couldn't really participate in any solid conversations.  Also, people pretty much ate and left.  Usually, in our families (Ryan's and mine), people linger for hours after the food for the conversation. Overall, though, it was a good Thanksgiving and I'm pretty sure I gained 2-3 lbs. over the course of 4 days.  Ryan and I went to the gym on Saturday, and I was sur...

Since this week will inevitably be devoted to mostly eating, I knew I had to get at least one day of running in there somewhere, and I'm more likely to go when I go with a friend.  So I called up a former Starbucks coworker--who originally got me running in the first place--to see if she'd want to go any time tomorrow or the next day.  The plan is to run 5 miles tomorrow, and I'm hoping I can continue that throughout the rest of the week. I have the rest of the week off,  so after running tomorrow, I hope to get a bunch of items on my list done and over with (oil change, finishing laundry, cleaning...etc.) before I have to run to a student's concert later in the evening.  Hope to keep the productivity going on Wednesday, and that will probably also include making a few side dishes to bring to the in-laws for Thanksgiving.  We're leaving Wednesday evening and will return sometime over the weekend. It was unseasonably warm today and it'd be awesome if it were t...

Here is what I'm thankful for:  a one day work week starting today!  Long teaching day, but I do it week after week after week during the rest of the year, so I WILL make it through today! I was supposed to originally teach two days this week, but one of my students has their first concert tomorrow, and I'm always missing students' performances because of my teaching schedule. So after looking at my calendar and realizing that the Tuesdays students were getting 5 lessons this month (months that have 5 weeks in it count as a "free" lesson), I thought "dammit! when do I ever get a break? I'm going to only teach one day this week".  I think last time I had a "vacation" was back in June, and that doesn't even count if one goes to their in-laws family reunion in Kentucky.  Hmm. So last time I went on a real vacation was probably a year and a half ago when we went to Cape Cod. I'll definitely have more time to write later tomorrow an...

I am starving and eagerly awaiting for the salmon I'm baking right now to be ready.  I'm also exhausted.  As far as work goes, I guess I didn't really work that hard today, but it felt like I did because around 5am this morning, Zoe, the yorkie, woke me up due to a diarrhea problem.  I had to spend a good hour cleaning up her accident and then giving her a bath.  That was fun.  So I go back to bed, but couldn't sleep very well after that, b/c I kept worrying I'd oversleep and miss the performance class I taught today.  I DID oversleep, but fortunately made it just in time.  Class only lasted an hour, but it was actually wonderful and my students blew everyone away. I was extremely  proud of them.  There was a little "masterclass" segment towards the end where two of my more advanced students played the 1st and 2nd movements of the Bach Double.  It was the first time they both played it together, though, so it was interesting for everyone...

Thanksgiving break can't come soon enough.  Since Wednesdays are my "light" teaching days, that will probably be my first day off starting next week.  Few students than I expected are going out of town for TG, so I decided not to cancel.  Around the holidays, teachers use the 5th week as a makeup, and I almost did that, but when I glanced at the month of December and realized everyone would be short a lesson b/c of Christmas, I said, 'nah, not gonna cancel'.  Not worth it.  I get bugged too much about makeups around that time, so I'm trying to avoid that this year. So it was finally decided where we're going to spend TG this year.  After a long and difficult deliberation (difficult= intense arguing and yelling) I realized it was only fair that we go to the in-laws this year since the last time Ryan and I went somewhere together, it was my parents' place, even though that was two years ago (last year, we split up and spent it with our respective famil...

Ryan and I voted today.  Fortunately, it was not crowded by the time we got there.  Since we don't have cable right now, we're feeling a little antsy about not being able to watch election coverage as soon as we get home from work tonight.  So Ryan's planning on going to the gym straight from work so he can watch from there.  I begrudgingly agreed to meet him there, even though I know I won't feel like it after teaching. Not much else going on. I guess we'll find out how everything turns out tonight.  Not that it will silence any whining on either political spectrum. I hate politics.

Today is our four year wedding anniversary.  R. and I aren't really too much of an exciting couple (lol), so for our past anniversaries, the most we've ever done was just go out for a nice dinner.  I believe last year, we both forgot about it because we were so busy with work, we just let it pass by without doing anything.  We both nearly forgot about it this year, but when I mentioned it in passing a few days ago, R. said he'd like to do something a little special.  We don't have the time to go anywhere, but I think he was planning on making something special when he got home tonight from work.  Usually on Thursdays, I teach really late; this morning, however, I thought 'it's my 4 yr. anniversary darnit! I'm going to stay home and surprise the hubby.'  So that's what I'm going to do.  Rescheduled all my students for another day and when R. comes home tonight, dinner will already be ready (hopefully), the house will be clean (um, again hopefully)...

I just rediscovered this abandoned blog (how many I have out there, it's hard to say) and since I have easy access to it, decided to drag all previous posts from ANOTHER blog onto this one and see if I can maintain one consistent blog. We'll see if I even remember this one by the end of the week.

Well, our Zoe came home yesterday, and it was such a relief to see her almost back to her old self. She is on strict cage rest for the next 4 weeks, so no running, jumping, or playing around. I can tell she so wants to do all those things, but we have to restrict her to be cautious. I'm now wondering if we were right to put off surgery, although the main reason for doing so was the cost. We just didn't want to put ourselves in a hole for vet costs (so now, I'm considering pet insurance and have also obtained a Care Card); however, she made such a vast improvement during the night we left her at the hospital, the same vet who was strongly pushing for surgery talked to me the next morning as if he was expecting me to come get her that same day. I'm not doubting his expertise, but it's strange how it seems like most doctors--human and other--always want you to go for that most expensive treatment right away . If Zoe continues making improvement and it turns out s...

I ran 6-7 miles today! I ran with some former sbux coworkers, and that helped a lot. For whatever reason, when I run with Ryan, I lose my motivation and I get whiny and stop. I know him too well, so when he tries to push me...I just resist. But with people you don't know quite as well, you just don't want to seem like wimp. That sounds awful, but it's true. So excited! I'm also off this week and towards the end of the week, we'll be going to Kentucky for Ryan's family reunion. Hopefully we can run somewhere by Natural Bridge. When I'm running, the prospect of doing a half marathon in the future doesn't seem tangible; but after I'm done with the run and I still feel good, it starts to feel like it could be within my reach again. I really hope that's the case when October rolls around (Columbus half marathon/marathon). As long as I can keep this up!

Umm. Okay, so my weekly menu planning fell through mid-week. I'm ashamed. BUT....you know what, it's cool, because on Memorial Day, I ran a 5k on my own accord. So I feel slightly redeemed, goal-wise. Sunday, I only managed to run about 2 miles, then the 5k on Monday, and tonight I ran 4 miles w/ Ryan. I'm so excited, because every time I go for another run, I swear I enjoy it more; it feels good to do something that's good FOR you without the aid or nag of someone else pushing you. When I went for my first run maybe last October (I think), I couldn't even run a whole mile without stopping to catch my breath. I didn't run again for a couple of months until wintertime, and again, I couldn't ( or thought I couldn't!) get past a mile without walking a bit. The first 5k I participated in was at the end of March of this year , and that was a hard one for me. I ran a few more times with a friend in between that one and the second race I did in the mi...

I've got nothing. Absolutely nothing interesting to write about. Yet I still feel like I should try to keep up with this for no particular reason. Just like everything else I should keep up with--running, practicing, reading, cleaning, cooking more at home, etc. Some of those things I'm getting better at, but I'm trying to reign all of them in so they can all become a part of my daily routine. This week, I'm experimenting with a plan to eliminate all take-out food. I'm trying to plan out the coming week's dinner menu and shop for everything I need on Sundays. I know it's not original or anything, but I've never actually done it and been successful. There was always at least one day I caved, blaming how tired I was at the end of the day to cook at home, and got something totally gross and unhealthy. And now that I'm running more often, it makes me feel even more guilty to eat junk food than ever before. So today, I'm going to attempt to d...

This past Saturday, I did the Race for the Cure with a couple of my former Starbucks coworkers, and I really had a great time. I wasn't sure how I was going to do, and I was a little nervous that I'd seem wimpy and crash in the middle of it. But seeing so many people there (over 50,000) really pumped everyone up, and at every corner there seemed to be a rock band or music group of some kind playing (some good, some...not so good) and that really got me revved up to keep running. Towards the end right before the finish line, there were rows and rows of motorcyclists with their "choppers" revving them up and giving high fives, and that was pretty awesome to see. I'm definitely going to do that again next year, and have been really encouraged to keep running since I seem to be able to run a little further every time I go for another run, even if it's not every single day. I took Ryan to Sharon Woods in Westerville, OH. yesterday b/c they have a neat path ther...

We recently moved back to our old condo in Gahanna, Ohio from the other end of Columbus, where we've lived for the past year and a half. When we were here originally, I hated it and couldn't wait to get out. Now that we're back, though, I'm pretty excited to have all this space, and there's some strange comfort and excitement in knowing that when I'm done working at the end of the day, my home being further away makes it feel easier to separate work from home life. It's stupid, I know, but it feels that way. I'm such a slow un-packer! It's been a week and a half, and stuff is slowly being put away and I'm cleaning one room at a time. My first priorities were the kitchen and main bathroom, which were the most disgusting, of course. Our former tenant didn't do a very good job leaving the place clean, which really angered me, since I worked so hard to leave it spotless for him when we rented it out almost two years ago. He also had some l...