Gratitude 351

Daddy came to visit! He came in yesterday evening for dinner, stayed the night, and just left a little bit ago.

Shortly after I made my post about it being a "boring" weekend, my friend Caitie popped in to visit and we went for a beer and chatted for a few hours. Then, I went to the Asian Festival with Barb and the girls on Saturday...that was an...interesting...experience, to say the least. It was hot, and the girls were having meltdowns, something I haven't really seen them do all too often. Plus, a sinus headache set in, so needless to say, that was quite the trip! I am not sure I would ever like to take children to Disney World...esp. in the summer! haha! Then, of course, Dad's visit yesterday. And today, despite it technically being a national holiday, I'm off to work...nannying...and all three kids will be home the whole time because there isn't school today... *sigh* ;)

Down to approximately 6 weeks left in Ohio... =O Crazy!

Gratitude 350

Penny can! ;) Cheapest entertainment ever but so much fun! Q and I spent an hour straight playing it yesterday.
Also...I found a message in my inbox today from Sun Xing!!! I miss her!


Fairly boring evening (and weekend, actually), which isn't necessarily a bad thing...just boring. However, I was just cooking with wine and am pretty sure I inadvertently inhaled all the alcohol evaporation fumes... Guess that'll add some life to the evening! haha! ;)

Gratitude 349

Chianti and/or tea and story time/chats with Barb. :) Such laughter and ridiculousness!

Gratitude 348

Last night (and, again, tonight because a huge storm just rolled in before I was going to leave), I stayed over at my voice coach Barb's house. She and her crew have acted as a pseudo-family for me the past couple of days and are simply the nicest people. Barb was so adorable, also, handing me a small glass of wine, making sure a teddy bear was placed on my "couch bed," and making the girls' turtle star projector light up the ceiling with blue stars. A little ridiculous but much appreciated. Thanks, Barb and the zoo, for being so awesome! :)

(Also, I seriously want her couch...it's so pretty, yet so functional...the top pillow come off and become the most comfortable single bed ever! Seriously, this is the perfect piece of furniture for when you have that 9x12 studio apartment. I'm certain not a cheap investment, though...haha! ;) )

Gratitude 347

I love Skype! This evening, I got an out-of-the-blue pop-up message on Skype from my British friend Vincent, with whom I haven't chatted with in quite a long time. :) His wife Christa was finishing up a few years of study at the Kodaly Institute while I was studying there. They have a house in Kecskemet, Hungary, and I was offered its use whenever I am back in that corner of the world. How sweet! :) And hopefully, Vince, Christa, and their three boys will take a venture to this side of the pond in the not-too-distant future!

Reminiscence

Some days, I have this sort of flashback montage of memories. Today was one of those days. Laughing memories. :)

Gratitude 346
This is my gratitude today: Janos's ridiculous vocalises... (It's the conversation between him and I at nearly the end of the post. I miss that Hungarian! And our crazy voice lessons!)  :)

Grace for the Moment

It may come as no surprise to some when I admit this, but lately I've had quite a bit of anxiety about life...and money, in particular. I chose a career path for love (and perhaps, also, the inability to do anything else), not money. I don't regret a minute of those decisions; that is what makes me who I am. There are moments like these, however, when I wonder how wise that was. Certifiable dreamer. I'd love to just make some of that "dough" materialize, but it unfortunately doesn't work that way. And I don't get to decide how many hours/how much my paychecks will be with my "pay-the-bills jobs." (But at least I have a pay-the-bill job! Could be worse.)  So if any of you know of a trust fund somewhere I can hijack... haha! (Totally kidding! I'd never do that, but I wouldn't have any problem with some of it coming my way... haha!) 

Gratitude 345
Last night, I flipped open this book by Max Lucado entitled, Grace for the Moment, and it fell to a page reading this:

"Blessed are the Focused.
Each of you has received a gift to use to serve others.
1 Peter 4:10

...Blessed are those who recognize their God-given responsibilities. Blessed are those who acknowledge that there is only one God and have quit applying for his position. Blessed are those who know what on earth they are on earth to do and set themselves about the business of doing it."

And the irony: the date of the page is September 8, my birthday. Coincidence? I think not. ;) I flipped to another page and found an entry about worry. Another page flip, and a note about when the last penny is gone before the last bill is paid. I think God is trying to tell me something... ;)

Gratitude 344

Frozen fruit. Such a simple thing, yet such a tasty, refreshing, and nutritious snack! :)

Lots of rain, rain, rain here and sudden cooler temps, again. Hey, Mr. Weather! Let's make a decision and stick with it! My sinuses are having a field day. :/ Despite intermittent strength in my speaking voice from all the wonderful effects of this psycho sinus infection, I was singing quite well today!! Not sure how, but I just went with it and actually got a fair amount accomplished. FINALLY some practicing is coming back into my life! All this no-practice business has been driving me CRAZY! I have noticed how much I am not like myself when I am not able to sing daily. Plus, I've got a lot of work to do before I hit "Grad School: Day 1"... (Cue silent freak-out: ACK! haha!)

Dear Voice,
Let's keep it up with this daily singing thing, again. I rather prefer it. Please and thank you. :)
Sincerely,
Your Keeper
P.S. Now, let's get my money notes (aka soprano high notes) back, please!

Gratitude 343

A pretty decent day at nannying thanks to the kids actually [mostly] listening and behaving. This may seem like a silly, simple thing, but those of you who have never nannied/babysat will just have to trust me...Nanny days are not always a walk in the park! Puts a whole new outlook on the movie The Nanny Diaries! haha!

The New Glasses (...and some CRAZY hair going on!)

What do you think? ...

They are a black plastic front with wine red metal stems. (I know, I said I did not want another black pair, but for some reason, the ones that look the best keep being black!) I was going for "Harvard chic"...  ;)


Gratitude 342
Having a washer/dryer in my apartment. I could actually really care less about the dryer part, but the washer is my must-have. (Number 1 thing on my features list for my Boston apartment search!)