International Youth Symphony rehearsal - Day 4

Today was a short rehearsal. It started at the same time but ended a little after 10, making it about an hour and a half. We basically ran through both symphonies and did some minor detail work. The time flew by. I came home and took a nap (finally!) It was great. I finally felt rested after the whole week. I taught 2 students later in the afternoon and just relaxed the rest of the evening.

International Youth Symphony rehearsal - Day 3

Today's rehearsal was pretty good (another 7-hour one.) We ran through the symphonies and did a lot of detail work. My concentration level was not so good after lunch, but I didn't make any major mistakes. I also had a headache. Afterwards when I came home, I felt absolutely exhausted. I don't remember ever feeling that drained in my whole life (including all-nighters.) I felt like I hadn't slept in days. It made me really moody (my poor husband.) I finally took some Excedrin for my headache before my students. Combining Excedrin with exhaustion is one of the strangest feelings I have experienced. These long days have been very hard on me physically and emotionally. I haven't been able to take naps after rehearsal (even if I had time) because then I wouldn't be able to get to sleep at night. So, even though I've had pretty much enough sleep, the combination of getting up early and rehearsing until I feel like I'm gonna crack up and then coming home and keeping myself awake so I can teach feels like I've been doing everything half-asleep (including driving. Yikes!) I've done the summer camps before (and many other things that have kept me a lot busier than this) but this one is the hardest. Probably because of the longer rehearsals at the beginning. At least the 7-hour days are now done. Even with all my complaining, the camp has been so rewarding. I look forward to the rehearsals because I get to interact with students from all over the world and make beautiful music. I have a new appreciation for Beethoven and Mozart and all the amazing composers. It's given me a different perspective on music and just life in general. And it will only get better!

International Youth Symphony rehearsal - Day 2

Today was another 7-hour day. We learned the second movements of both symphonies, plus worked some more on the other movements. It was even more exhausting than yesterday. After 2 hours, my back started to hurt. After lunch, I could barely continue. Somehow I managed to finish rehearsal. I had In-N-Out for lunch during the break. Yummy!

Then I came home and had about a 30 minute break before I had to teach 4 students.

Afterwards, I went to the "G" Group. We ate Moroccan food and played Bunco! It was so much fun! I won the most "loses" so I won a bucket and shovel!

Mom and I won the first round so she got to wear the crown

My prize

First Rehearsal

Ok, so I am absolutely DRAINED! Rehearsal started this morning at 8:30 and went until 3:30. We had 2 breaks plus lunch, but still, it was an awful lot of rehearsing. Usually, my back starts to hurt right away but I played for 3 hours before it started hurting. I was so happy! It doesn't hurt as much as it has but it still hurts a bit. So, we're rehearsing in a classroom at a middle school (it's been a different location every year) and we are playing Beethoven's 4th symphony and Mozart's 35th symphony. They are very neat pieces. We learned the 1st, 3rd and 4th movements of each symphony today and got them pretty much up to tempo (some go FAST) and barely started sight-reading the 2nd movement of the Beethoven. So we got through most of the music. There are kids from 14 other countries in our group. I met some really neat people and I'm anxious to get together with them again. I think the most exciting thing that happened during rehearsal was one of the pictures on the wall fell off and crashed to the floor. There was glass everywhere. I saw it wobbling and start to fall but obviously there was nothing anybody could have done because the only people who saw it were facing it (those on the other side of the room.) It scared those who didn't know it was coming because it was loud. Luckily nobody was hurt. Oh, and the bell kept going off. It was an F# (yes, I'm a geek.) More to come later.

Exciting weekend

Yesterday, Douglas and I went on a double date with our friends Paul and Marlena to Applebee's. It was yummy. I had one of their 3-course specials and got full so I boxed up the shrimp and fries. We came to my family's house and watched Cars and then I remembered I left the food at the restaurant! I was so mad at myself. But, there's nothing I can do about it. Oh, well. Yesterday, I also found out that someone close to me is pregnant (and I'm trying really hard not to be jealous) and also I missed out on a party that I chose not to go to because I thought it was going to be short and I wasn't hungry. Turns out it was great. Grrr. So, I wasn't really a happy camper. Now these things seem silly that I was upset about. Overall, it really was a fun day, despite my complaining. I'm trying to cut back. :)

Today we went to church (which was extra good today) and then came over to my family's house for chicken dinner and cookies!

Tomorrow starts the International Youth Symphony's summer camp I'm participating in (put on by the San Diego Youth Symphony.) I'm really excited but I'm nervous too. This is my 4th year in a row that I'm playing with them so I know it's going to be fun. The first day is always nerve-wracking, though. It's going to be a long, tough two weeks, but it will also be very rewarding. I'll let you know how it goes. :)

Sweetie?

I went to 2 business establishments today (the bank and Jack in the Box) and both times when I left, they called me "sweetie." (both girls, btw) Do I look like a sweetie? I'm not sure whether to be flattered or... something. Yeah, I just found it weird that 2 random strangers would call me sweetie in the same day.

Random pictures and such

We went to the beach on July 12 for the ward beach party. It was very hot and we had fun but we didn't stay very long.

Jared bummed out because he wanted to stay longer

This past Monday, we went over to the Busaths for Family Home Evening. We ate spaghetti and garlic bread (yum!) and played In the Manner of the Adverb. It was very fun.

Here's Jared and little Caelum. I love Caelum's face. He's just studying Jared, trying to figure out who this human being is that is not quite as big as everyone else, but not as small as he is

I just thought this was pretty. It was taken in our driveway

I love my family!

For a family home evening recently, we played one of our favorite family games (if you can call it a game.) Everyone has a piece of paper and starts writing a story. You start out with about 3 or 4 lines and then fold the piece of paper over so you can only see the last line. Then you pass it to the person next to you. Only seeing that last line, they continue the story and write about 2 lines and then fold it over again so you can only see the last line. You continue around the room until the paper is filled. Then everyone reads their stories and they are absolutely hilarious! Here's my favorite:

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Jared who loved to watch Sponge Bob. One day while he was watching Sponge Bob he decided to leave the room for a minute. When he came back he saw a bunny hopping down the hill. It had a carrot stuck straight out of his mouth. It looked so funny that he exclaimed, "Holy moly, that is one big pimple! I've got to get some cream for this or something." So he went to the local CVS and bought some TP and I drove to a house and I TP'ed it til the morning light. And guess what!? It rained! The next morning the owner came outside to get his newspaper and said, "Dear, did it snow last night?" "Well, I don't know; let me take a look out the window! Oh my, what do my eyes behold?" Popcorn popping on the apricot tree. So, where are all the apricots? Since when does popcorn pop on apricot trees? Those crazy Mormons! They teach the strangest songs to their children. I think there are strange meanings behind these songs. Songs are fun. K, bye.

And here's the one I started:

Twice upon a time, there lived in sunny Cali-five-nia... Wait, let's start over. No more inflationary language [Victor Borge reference, if you didn't catch that.] Once upon a time, there lived in sunny California a young man named Bob. He lived in a grass hut named Wayne-O. Wayne-O?! What kind of name is that? Well, Bob can name it what he wants, I guess. Anyways, Bob was living in a log which was way too small for him so he looked in the paper for a house. There was one foreclosure he found but it was so trashed that it turned him off. Even his dog whined a lot about it, but soon got over it as dogs usually do. Give them a dog biscuit and they'll forget all about it. Pretty soon, they won't remember anything anymore and they'll have to be checked into the Alzheimer's Unit for the rest of their lives. Good news is they were visited by their grandchildren for years to come. They would come and read stories to them. The end of the story and the paper for that matter. So I wrote "The End" on the paper and turned it in. I got an "F."

I'm sitting here laughing at all these stories that we wrote. I doubt you'll find them quite as amusing as I do, but I just thought I would share some with you.

The adventures of being sick

So, remember my post about the fever after giving blood? Well, that was only the start to a month-long illness that I am finally freed of. It really wasn't all that bad, but the worst part about it is that it would not go away. Since the first two weeks were mainly feeling light-headed and nauseous every morning for 3 hours (I had to stay in bed until it would go away,) I thought for sure I was pregnant. (I didn't tell anyone I suspected it, but somehow the word spread because I said I was sick in the morning.) I went to get a pregnancy test that came out negative so I requested a blood test since they are more accurate. The regular test was free but the blood test was $12. No big deal, I thought. I need to know if I'm pregnant so I can stop the morning sickness (since it was interfering with my activities.) So, the results came in a week later. They wouldn't tell me over the phone, I had to come in and pay them $30. So, I sit in the waiting room for over 2 hours (I ended up having to cancel a student because of it) and then I go in and the doctor says, "So, you're here for the results." I said yes. Then she says, "They came back negative. You're not pregnant." (That's it??) So, I asked her if she knew the reason I had been sick for almost 3 weeks. She said, "It might be the flu." Really?? I paid $42 for THAT?? So, I was not happy about it. My only choice was to wait it out. Slowly but surely, every day got better and better until it was all gone. Since I had no appetite and could hardly eat, I lost 12 pounds. That's one good thing that came out of this. Sorry to all of you who thought I was pregnant. Hopefully someday soon.

So, while I was sick, I played 2 gigs and a funeral. That was really tough. Then, I played in church when I was almost better, which was my second time in a month (the first being Father's Day.) Counting the funeral, that's 3 times. I guess people can't get enough of my playing. :)

So, now I'm all better! Down 32 pounds, I only have 18 more pounds to lose!

Julian

Saturday, July 5 - Thursday, July 10

On a whim, Mom, Jared, Douglas and I drove to Lake Cuyamaca to my grandma's cousin's cabin near Julian to get away from stuff. We needed to just relax. We had the best time. We drove there Saturday evening and just vegged. We played Rummy and watched tv.

Sunday was eventful. We had our own little church service. We all prepared talks and presented them to each other. Later on that day, we saw some guys parked out in our driveway yelling and cursing. One of them seemed very drunk. Since they were on our property, we decided to call the police. After a while, they left so we called the police again to tell them they were gone, but that the drunk guy was behind the wheel. No more than 5 minutes later, the drunk guy came back and ran into a tree. So we called the police a 3rd time to tell them what had happened. While we had the police on the phone, an officer arrived at the scene. Soon, more and more cops came (there ended up being 4 or 5) and questioned the guy for a long time. Douglas had seen the accident so we talked to the CHP and he gave a statement. They finally took him to jail and got his car towed.

Monday morning, the police called Douglas and got a formal statement since they were too busy to really get much on Sunday. We drove down to Julian to have lunch and to go look at the cute little cottage shops. We had lunch at Buffalo Bills and Mom and Douglas had buffalo burgers. I tried some and they were really good. At one of the shops, I bought an ornament in the shape of an 8th note with a bell in it. We also bought some candy at a couple shops. We stayed downtown for about 3 1/2 hours and then went back to the cabin.

Buffalo Bills

This was right above our table. Jared didn't like it


Need I say more?

Jared, Mom and Douglas taking a break

Rob a bank?

Tuesday we went to Julian again, but there was hardly anything open. Construction was going on that week and it was worse on Tuesday than it was on Monday. There were only about 3 or 4 shops open. We went to Poncho Villa's Mexican restaurant and had pizza! It was really good pizza with plenty of leftovers to take home. Douglas and I bought new T-shirts that are kind of matching. His is "Advice From a Bat" and mine is "Advice From a Butterfly." We brought home a rhubarb strawberry pie. It was so good! The rest of the day was spent at the cabin.

Beautiful downtown Julian (with the lovely construction in the middle)

I didn't realize his eyes were closed, but I thought this was funny

Our new shirts!

Wednesday, we relaxed at the cabin all day and then walked across the street to Lake Cuyamaca right before sunset. We hiked all the way around. It was so beautiful! It reminded us of our honeymoon because we stayed at the same cabin and walked around the same lake. We even found the tree where we took our honeymoon pictures. But, this time we had Mom and Jared with us!

Give us a break. We were tired.

Jared under a tree!

The cabin is up there someplace

The lake was so pretty

And here's the sunset

Thursday we packed up and left. We stopped in Julian again on the way home and ate at another Mexican restaurant. This time we actually had Mexican food. We walked around in a few more shops and then drove home. Then I had to teach later that day and jump right back into mundane life.

Another honeymoon picture re-creation

All ready to go

This was a much-needed vacation and I'm so glad we were able to go.

4th of July/Jordan's Birthday

Friday, July 4

We celebrated Jordan's 18th birthday with a BBQ, yummy cake, opening presents and fireworks. We started out the day at my family's house and then went over to Grape Day Park in the late afternoon for the festivities. We had a picnic and listened to the performers. Most of them were ok, but the best one was the Marine Band San Diego. I went to the other side of the park and watched the YMCA baton twirlers for a few minutes. They were pretty good. Most of the day was spent relaxing and reading a book. After the Marine Band played for about an hour, we watched fireworks. The sound guy and the fireworks people weren't quite coordinated. Sometimes there would be about a 30-second lull between songs or between fireworks. I got a video of the sky (and the background music) that lasted for 30 seconds without a single firework. But the finale was nice. Afterwards, we came back to my family's house and went swimming. It felt great.

Look how happy he is to receive a Padres bedspread from Mom
(I guess I just caught his expression at a bad time)

And he's even more thrilled to receive our gift to him: A floating baseball!

A book from Grandma and Grandpa Button...

And a Lakers toothbrush (they also renewed his subscription to ESPN magazine)

His friend Nick gave him a Kouzmanoff jersey

Dad played "Happy Birthday"

And then we ate cake (probably one of the most delicious I've ever had)

This doesn't have much to do with the blog, but I thought it was funny.
Grandpa and Jared sharing a blanket

And here we are at Grape Day Park
(Grandpa Gray joined us, too. He's sitting on the far left in the white T-shirt)

There were TONS of people there

Marine Band San Diego

And, of course, the fireworks

The fireworks finale

Douglas' birthday

Wednesday, July 2

We celebrated Douglas' 25th birthday by going out to eat at Old Town Buffet (Chinese,) his favorite restaurant. Then we went over to my family's house and opened presents, ate cheesecake, played games and watched "The Pink Panther." We played a new game I had never heard of before called "In the Manner of the Adverb." Someone from the room goes out and everyone picks an adverb. The person comes back in and picks 2 or 3 people and a scene. Then the people have to act out that scene and the person who had to go out has to guess the adverb. For example, I had to drink beer gently (that was hard,) jog clumsily and go grocery shopping frantically. Some had to fight like gladiators lovingly and others had to dig a ditch cowardly. It was hilarious!

Again, I don't know what my obsession with taking pictures of people eating is all about

Paul played a mean trick on Douglas

The squares were empty boxes

And the thingy at the top was a wire

All it was was a stick! (Yes, thank you Paul for fixing his walking stick.)
To make up for it, Paul gave him money

I gave him the shirt he wanted

And here he is modeling it

Jared brought him a box of stickers and a pencil. Only a 5-year old

Here's a card from my Grandma and Grandpa Button with a Payless gift card inside

And here's what he bought with it

A book from Josiah (and Jared's stickers on Douglas' face)

My charming husband

Blueberry cheesecake

And what's a party without Apples to Apples?

San Diego County Fair

Monday, June 30

My family all went to the fair and we had a lot of fun. First, we had a picnic lunch together, then headed over to the worm racing, turkey stampede and pig racing! We did a lot of shopping (Mom bought Douglas a fighter bracelet and Celtic necklace for his birthday) and then we had dinner together. We shopped some more and then headed over to photography. I love looking at the photographs. They're fascinating. We ended the day with the Weird Al concert (which was awesome!) and then had dessert and waited in line for over 30 minutes for the bus to take us back to the parking lot.

Jared watching his worm, which didn't move at all. He didn't like that


Official participant of the worm racing!

Turkey Stampede!

Weird Al concert in the nosebleed seats

Mom and me waiting in line for the bus

Jared hanging out the window on the bus, ready to go home