Life, as I know it...this week! ;)

Cincinnati: madness certainly ensued! haha! Actually, it was really quite boring there (bitterly cold outside and not much for amusement around where we were), but we made the most of it and had a million laughs. The choir's performance was superb, my hotel room with Katie, Tifffany, and Haley was the best, we ate some pretty fabulous food, and we watched a lot of Olympic curling. Our favorite was Rock-Bottom Brewery. Mmm! I actually managed to crush my water glass into a hundred pieces while we were waiting for food. How I did it, I don't really know. One minute the glass was in my hand; the next, shattered across the table. Such a klutz! haha! There were fifteen or so of us at the table, and Haley, who was sitting at the other end, said that by the time the story got to their end of the table, I had crushed it in my bare hands. haha! The running joke was that, when the story got across the restaurant, I had just looked at it with my Harry Potter power. Oh, geez! ;)

Wandering around trying to occupy ourselves and pass the time till it was time to leave, we were lounging in the hotel lobby. Believe it or not, there was a Sam Adams conference going on in the hotel! haha! I was so close to just crashing it. How funny of a story would that have been?! Fantastic! But, I chickened out. Lame, I know!

Overall, it wasn't a terrible time...just not the most eventful after the concert. I was certainly not amused by the fact that we had 6am wake-up calls. Ew! In my mind, the time before 7:30/8am is merely an illusion...it doesn't really exist. If the sun isn't up, clearly, I should not be up. Just saying. ;)

Snow strikes Ohio once again. And there is quite a bit of it! Beautiful! :) Bryan, Katie, and I made it safely up north, and now, we are enjoying a little freedom. Back to my apartment on Monday for me, and off to New York for Bryan and Katie for her audition at Manhattan School of Music. My Katiekins is all grown up! hehe! ;)

As for me, my latest scheme is the Mozarteum in Salzburg!! :) Craig Courtney (our choir's accompanist) brought it up in conversation the other day...he taught there for six years. All I'm saying is: Austria. Salzburg. Singing. Mozart. Barbara Bonney. And me. Sounds pretty fabulous to me! We'll see...worth a shot, right? ;)


Gratitude 186
Last night, after a great dinner at an Italian place where the McGookeys knew literally everyone, we took a walk to the park through the winter wonderland. It was so pretty! Freezing, but lovely with everything sweetly frosted in a thick white fluff. Besides our own noisiness, it was quiet and peaceful with no one else to be seen around anywhere. :) And Katie and I only giggled for twenty minutes or so when we finally went up to bed last night. hehe! Such girls! ;)

(And thanks to those ugly big snow boots of mine for being so handy to trek through the snow with!)

*****

This afternoon, we went to the Merry-Go-Round Museum! (Gratitude 187) How sweet is that?! How many people can say they've been to a merry-go-round museum? hehe! Then, we went to Marblehead Lighthouse and walked out on the ice. :) So pretty! Of course, the trip ended up with a crazy snowball fight! Such fun!