This is the Title of an Uncreative Violinist.:)

PIADA STYLE SALMON SALAD   HOMEMADE BANG BANG SHRIMP (SIM. TO APP. FROM BONEFISH GRILLE)  

After skimping on a TON of long runs the past two months, I slapped myself in the face and told myself that I ABSOLUTELY could not do that anymore from here on out.  I only have practically 2 months left until the marathon so it's really necessary that I get my lazy butt in gear.  With that, I did a half-marathon yesterday afternoon in 2 hours, 19 minutes.  The first 11 miles, I felt actually pretty good; the last 2ish miles, I felt like my legs were about to break off.  Why is it that the last mile or so is always SO damn hard?  All I could think to myself was, "How in the world am I going to do 26.2 miles if I feel like dying after 13?" Well, I won't really think about that now.  As soon as I got done with the run, I ate myself silly stretched my legs and used a foam roller which felt SO GOOD.  I'm glad I remembered to stretch, because today, my legs felt so much better than I remember from the last time I ran a similar distance.   Last time I ran a half, I c

--I had my six month dental check up today and can happily report no cavities or issues whatsoever. --A little disturbed to learn that the voice behind E.T. was mostly contributed by an elderly woman who smoked two packs of cigarettes a day.  Way to ruin that adorable alien for me. --I'm currently lusting after and deciding if I should buy this dress from Nordstrom: -- I have not done laundry in weeks.  I'm irritated. -- I feel so bad ass driving my new Mini Cooper . -- For the past two nights, I've eaten fried potatoes, scrambled eggs and onions mixed together for my dinner.  Because I'm too lazy to make anything else. -- The weather has been in the 50's the past few days, but I still ran on the treadmill.  What's wrong with me? -- I still hate Facebook.  Maybe I should give that up for Lent--even though I'm not Catholic. -- When I'm driving the Mini Coop,  I suddenly feel delighted that we don't have kids yet and no longer envy our friend

I caught this show on TLC called Extreme Cheapskates last night.  I'm always intrigued by penny pinchers because a lot of them tend to be financially free and are able to retire early (like my parents).  However, these particular individuals have taken penny-pinching a little too far.  One man goes so far as to ask other patrons while he's out dining, if he can take their leftovers.  Gross.  Another woman--a mother of six--doesn't buy toilet paper for her family.  Instead, they cut out cloth squares and re-use those.  Disgusting.  For the most part, they all were a little quirky and it's safe to say that their respective spouses must be incredibly patient and special people:) There was another man whose head seemed to be in a slightly better place, and he was pretty logical about the reasons why he lives the way he does.  Something he said resonated and stuck with me, and that was the idea that most people tend to increase their standard of living when more money fal

So remember how I mentioned that I stumbled upon my "super secret" V-day surprise?  After finding out what the hubby had been planning, he took a detour on his plans and made me think that it wasn't going to work out after all.  I'm not a very materialistic person, so I wasn't heartbroken or anything and just moved on.  Well, last night, he tells me that he has to be up early for a company meeting and the most I think of it is, "That's kind of weird, doesn't he usually have meetings on Fridays?" but don't really question it any further.  It turns out that he actually took the day off to go to Louisville, KY to pick up my Valentines surprise: A MINI COOPER!!! WHHEEEEEE!!! He drove it out in front of our condo late this evening after I had made dinner (I was grumbling the whole time about cooking it too, because I had just gotten home from teaching and the kitchen was a mess--the last thing I wanted to do was make dinner.  Ryan said, &quo

Last week, I participated in two separate performances of Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring";  the first performance was of the original written for a chamber group and simply called "Ballet for Martha", and the second was with the full orchestra version that most people are familiar with.  There are parts of both versions that I enjoyed, but I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the smaller, more intimate version.  Maybe it had something to do with the piano and flute being responsible for those annoying scales:)  At any rate, since the past week was filled with more rehearsals and performances than my typical week, I was reminded of how much I enjoy performing and playing as opposed to just teaching.  For sure, the two complement each other:  I know I'm a better teacher when I'm being active, and vice versa--I'm a much more self-aware player when I'm teaching and being forced to think through what others are playing and what I'm playing

I don't have a whole lot to report on.  My running has not been spectacular, so far.  Although February is looking better than January, for sure, I've really skimped on the long runs which is NOT smart.  This past weekend, for example, was supposed to include a 10 mile run; instead, I ran 5.4 mi. with my husband and a friend who both told me that they definitely could not do 10 with me, but encouraged me to run the remainder later on in the evening.  Well, that didn't happen.  I felt so tired and a little achy after that run and there were a million other things I preferred to do, like catch up on the week's grocery shopping.  Mondays are supposed to be "off" days, but now I feel so guilty, I'm telling myself that I should run 4-5 miles today to make it up.  That doesn't make ANY sense, since the point of the long runs is to do it all at once.  Argh.  When will I learn? Should I be worried?  I think my friend is scared for me, but I'm not really

I got an email yesterday informing me that I was to start a new violin student in a few days.  When I looked at my schedule, I realized I already had a student in that time slot so I had to ask the studio's office manager to call the prospective student back and ask the father if they could wait a week while I changed things around in my schedule and would be happy to fit him in at the time he wanted a week from now.  I figured that was reasonable.  Apparently, that was unacceptable to this dad and he said something to the effect: "That's too long.  We're picking up the violin tonight and there's no way my son won't be able to keep his hands off for a whole week.  We need lessons NOW", and so the office secretary scheduled him with another violin teacher who could fit him in this week. When she told me that, I said "okay" but on the inside, a wave of relief came over me as I suddenly realized that I dodged an annoying bullet.  What that father