happy thursday!

I've managed to keep pretty busy this week. Tuesday, Nick and I had his final music and movement class in a 7-week series. This was a nice little class that involved singing songs, keeping beats, and using different little instruments, like egg shakers, maracas, drums, etc. During this final class, Nick impressed the teacher by keeping a nice, steady beat on a washboard while we sang the ABCs. The boy definitely has an ear for rhythm!

Tuesday evening, we tuned in to "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" while we "made" Halloween cookies. (I had to put "made" in quotes because these were the completely ready-to-bake ones that you literally just put on a cookie sheet and bake. I did sprinkle on some colored sugar, though, to give them my own personal touch.) :) It's funny - when I was a kid, I watched the Charlie Brown Halloween show every year and just loved it, I guess because it was animated and had kicky music. As a grown-up, though, I just have to shake my head at it and go "Seriously? World War I stuff in the middle of a Halloween show? What's up with that?" I mean, it's supposed to be a show about kids and Halloween, but most of it is about Snoopy, flying around on his doghouse and getting shot at in France. It's like some sort of acid trip.

Yesterday, Nick and I met Brian and our friend Mike at Pizza Hut for the lunch buffet (Don't even ask about my eating this week - you don't want to know!). It was nice to see Brian in the middle of the day, since he had class last night and was gone until after 9 p.m. I managed to keep pretty busy all day and evening, doing stuff around the house. In the evening, Nick came with me to the gym, and after my class, we went and visited Rebecca, Cooper, and Jack for a while. Nick and Cooper were rather combative with each other, so it wasn't the most relaxing visit! It was nice to see them, though, and to eat one of Rebecca's moist, delicious Halloween cupcakes (See? I told you!).

This morning, I shot up to Rolla while Nick was in preschool and bought him a few garments (Gotta love the KMart 2 for $8 Wonderkids separates!), and got back to school in time for the little fall party. It was so nice! The teachers had covered the tables in orange paper, and moms brought food and supplies. We had PB&J, potato chips, succulent fresh fruit, and yummy cookies. It was a nice little gathering, and the kids were all really cute. Now, Nick and I are chilling out at home, and I have exciting plans - laundry, etc.

Tomorrow, we're off to St. Louis for Jessica's wedding, so you probably won't hear from me until after that. I'm looking forward to getting all gussied up, and to seeing my various relatives. I'm also excited about hitting one of the Trader Joe's stores there.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

october pictures!

To see my latest online photo album, click here. Here's one to get you started, of Tim and me before we left for our gig at Drury University on Friday:

Hope you enjoy the rest of the pics!

amy's back in town

Hey, peeps! Nick and I are back home after our weekend in Springfield. As usual when I'm in Springfield, I did a goodly bit of shopping - I got a few things for myself and some Christmas presents for Nick and Brian. Nick is really into the planets lately, so I found him a cool book about the planets and a planet mobile that we can put together and hang in his room. Tim is going to try to find him some of those glow-in-the-dark stars and planets for his bedroom ceiling - he'll love those! And I also found him some space PJs, in keeping with the theme. I also went to a music store and got Nick a selection of little instruments, since he's really into music and rhythm. I got him egg shakers, a drum, a harmonica, an ocarina, rhythm sticks, and a tone block. I think he'll love them, and I got them all for around $30! I also got him a scarf and slippers, both of scrumptious fleece. For myself, I found a jean jacket and some fleece PJs.

The main reason for this trip to Springfield was the singing gig that Tim and I had at Drury University on Friday evening. We were hired to sing some musical theater numbers at a fancy Board of Trustees dinner, and it went really well! First of all, we looked smashing. Tim wore a nice suit with a tie that perfectly coordinated with my dress. The dress was lent to me by Angela (Thank you, girl! It looked amazing!), and consists of a celadon green, satiny under-layer with a black lace overlay. It has a black ribbon that ties around the waist and looks very elegant and sort of 50s-ish. I wore it with hot black peep-toe heels (also courtesy of Angela) and pearl jewelry, and the overall effect was quite nice. Our numbers (all sweet love songs) went really well, and we got lots of kudos afterward, which is always much-appreciated. It was nice to see some people we know and to just enjoy the fancy evening.

On Saturday evening, Nick, Dad and I went out to dinner at Cafe Roswitha, a nice little restaurant that has German dishes on its menu, in addition to other fare. The chef is a nice German lady with whom we visited at length. I had chicken salad and Nick had a PB&J, but Dad indulged in Rouladen, as he really enjoys German fare. It was all delicious, and we capped it off by sharing a piece of blackberry pie. Yum!

So, that mostly sums up the weekend. The downside to going to Springfield is the lack of exercise, but I'm going to be back at the gym tomorrow to start making up for lost time. I no longer believe that I'm going to be able to get down to 140 by Thanksgiving, but if I just hold steady where I am, that will be OK, too. I can always try to drop a few more pounds after the holidays! Hope everyone had a good weekend, and have a good week!...

so, i lied

It turns out that my last post was not, after all, my last post before I head to Springfield. I forgot to tell you guys about the most zesty pendants that I found on Etsy! If you haven't heard of Etsy, it's a really neat website where people sell their handmade products, like jewelry. You can find really cool, unique stuff, and some of it is very reasonably priced. I found this amazing store on there called HomeStudio - they make pendants out of real Scrabble tiles, and they are the cutest, most whimsical things you've ever seen! I double-dare you to visit the website and NOT fall in love with these pendants. There are tons of designs, and they would make wonderful gifts for girlfriends. The best part is that they're totally reasonable: each pendant is $6.95, or you can even order a set of any four you'd like for $25 (you can get chains included with the set for an additional $10). Right now, they're offering free shipping, too! This offer ends on Halloween, so check it out and order soon if you're going to get any. And let me know if you love these as much as I do. I ordered 4 pendants (I can't say which ones, since some of you might be receiving them as gifts), and I'm totally in love with them. OK - now I'm really signing out for the week. :)

i guess i owe you guys a post :)

First of all, here are a couple of pictures for your viewing pleasure. The first is of me and Nick getting ready for the hayride out to the pumpkin patch during his preschool field trip yesterday. The second is of the three of us at the Great Pumpkin Patch in IL earlier this month:





Now, on to my post. After being chastised by my friend Rebecca today for not having posted in a while, I have realized that I guess I should post, especially since I'm going to be gone this weekend. It's weird - it's not that I haven't been doing anything this week (quite the contrary); the spirit just hasn't moved me to blog. It's sort of like cleaning the house or trying on clothes - I really have to be in the mood, or it's not gonna happen. :)

Highlights of this week included getting our flu shots (which, for Nick, was a MAJOR trauma, though quickly forgotten once he had three Thomas stickers in hand), Nick's preschool pumpkin patch trip, and my MOPS meeting today. The pumpkin patch trip was fun - good weather, though a bit too breezy for my taste! The kids had a lot of fun jumping from straw bales, checking out the petting zoo, and taking a hayride out to the patch to pick their very own pumpkins. The most interesting moment came when the male donkey in the petting zoo decided that he needed some lovin' and mounted the female with his stuff right on out there for everyone to see. The reason we could see it was because she kept moving forward, so he could never actually do the deed. We adults laughed at this, while the kids seemed to be blessedly oblivious. It certainly shook things up! :)

MOPS was nice today. It was a low-key meeting with lots of yummy food and convo, and a game whereby we learned very unique facts about one another. Among my MOPS peeps are a lady who has been on a professional women's football team, someone who has met Olga Korbut, and someone who can bend her thumbs behind her hands. Who knew? Very interesting stuff. The interesting fact that I supplied (which turned out to be not-so-interesting, compared to the others!) is that jobs I have had include newspaper obituary writer, medical assistant to a podiatrist, and Girl Scouts administrative assistant.

Tomorrow, I'm off to Springfield for my gig at Drury University with Tim. I'm going to get some shopping done while I'm in town, and will return Sunday. I'll try to get a picture of me in my gig finery and share it on the blog! Have a great weekend, everyone!

it's been a nice, but busy, week!

Hello, everyone! Sorry I haven't been blogging this week. I've been busy and just not inspired to blog. But, my week has been good. Midweek was fairly uneventful, but things perked up on Thursday, when I went to my friend Brigitte's house for a "singing party." Brigitte is a German woman who loves to entertain and also loves music and singing, and she likes to invite people over to eat and then sit around the piano and sing hymns and, in this case, Christmas carols (in October!). Her gatherings are always very "international" - she has this way of collecting friends who happen to be from all over the globe, and then bringing people together so that they can all benefit from knowing each other. She's at her best and happiest when entertaining and hosting friends. This time, there were several Germans, along with a few of us Americans, a Spanish woman, and a British woman. All lovely people! We ate delicious brunchy fare and then sat around the piano and sang, and it was really fun. I was sad when I finally had to leave to pick up Nick, and the party was still going.

Friday, Tim came from Springfield and arrived just in time to accompany me and Nick to the 399th Army Band chili cook-off and fundraising auction. What fun we had! We met Brian there, in addition to the rest of the band and many spouses and kids, and availed ourselves of the delicious chili - there were 12 batches in all, so there was no way one could try them all. My chili didn't win, but I didn't really expect it to. It's good chili, but isn't particularly exotic or "different." There was also cornbread, tortilla chips, various toppings for the chili, and dips. And, of course, there was a dessert table. Yum! (groan). After the eating, there was an auction of stuff we had donated in order to raise money for the band. There were some funny moments as people's "junk" was auctioned off - or, in some cases, virtually given away for free. :) All-in-all, it was a really fun afternoon of good food, good conversation, and laughter.

Yesterday evening, Tim and I went to the commissary together for some grocery shopping, which was fun because, well, pretty much anything Tim and I do together is fun! There's always all manner of ridiculousness, hilarity, and public embarrassment. :) It's all good.

After we were home for the evening, we worked on the duet that we'll be singing next Friday at our gig at Drury University - we hashed out the song itself and also our staging, and it's going to be really cute! It's a love song from The Fantasticks. Then, we spent some quality time with Nick, eating popcorn and turning off all the lights so that we could turn on our Halloween shadow lamp and ooh and aah at the effect. Nick loves that thing, and it has become an October tradition for us.

At almost 10 p.m., Tim and I went for a late-night snack at Wendy's, and then we almost got Tim his first tattoo, but the artist was working on someone already, and it was going to be a long wait. By this time, it was after 11, and we were tired, so we gave up. :(

This morning, we worked on our song again and then had a "fashion show" with my various dresses, shoes, and jewelry so that Tim could help me pick which stuff to wear for our gig, my cousin's wedding, and the Army Band Christmas concerts. Tim is so invaluable when it comes to these things, and I honestly don't know what I'd do without his input!

Tim has gone back to Springfield, and the rest of the day will be devoted to domestic chores, exercising, and just bonding with Brian and Nick. Tomorrow, I'm doing the usual Sunday Walmart trip, and in the afternoon, I'll be accompanying my friend Mike to the local high school choir concert. Should be fun!

Another busy week starts Monday, with flu shots, a pumpkin patch trip, MOPS, and my trip to Springfield!

monday, monday

It's a gloomy Monday here in central MO, but I'm happy to be back home and back into my routine. I hate the fact that I haven't worked out for four days in a row! But, I worked out today, and should be working out every day through Saturday, barring any unforeseen circumstances. And, I'm back to counting calories. Let's just say that I didn't eat very responsibly during our visit to IL. :) But, boy, did I enjoy what I ate! It was nice to eat at a couple of our favorite restaurants, and to see friends Carrie and Patty. We had beautiful weather for our pumpkin patch visit, but it was way too hot - mid 80s! Where art thou, fall? Nick really enjoyed staying in a hotel and sleeping in his own queen-size bed, and I rather enjoyed it, myself. I always like staying in a hotel. It feels so luxurious, and there are no chores to be done! All that I need to do is sleep, eat, bathe, and watch TV. That's the life!

So, I hope everyone's week is off to a good start, and hopefully, I'll have something worthy to post about very soon....

just busy!

I feel guilty for not posting in several days - I guess that means I'm a real dyed-in-the-wool blogger now, huh? :) I've just been rather busy, and really haven't felt compelled to blog about anything. Nothing major has happened - just life as usual. We'll be going out of town this weekend, so I probably won't be blogging for several more days, either. Sorry! Rest assured, though, that I'm alive and well (but not living in Paris). And if you get that obscure reference, then kudos to you!

BTW, did you guys watch the presidential debate last night? Very good stuff! If you haven't watched any of the debates, then you should really try to catch the last one (I think it's the last one) next Wednesday. And be sure and weigh in on my sidebar poll...

my son is a creepy stalker.

So, Nick is quite the ladies' man, and usually professes to have one or more girlfriends at any given time, most of whom are actually adult women. His latest obsessions have included moms of his classmates, my fitness instructors, etc. Well, we went to St. Louis recently and spent some time with my cousin Jessica, who is 28 and is, incidentally, about to be married. Since then, Nick has decided that Jessica is his girlfriend. (Let's face it - he's too young to understand the incestuous implications there.) Today when I was processing pictures, Nick saw a picture of Tim and Jessica standing together, smiling for the camera. He looked at it solemnly for a second and then said "Why is he standing next to her? He can't do that." When I asked him why, he explained "Because she's mine." (cue creepy stalker music) :)

new pics!

I just processed my latest digital pics, and now that I've pretty much lost all the weight, I thought I'd share a few that show the new me:

This pic was taken on the campus of Drury University in Springfield, when we were there for Alumni Reunion Weekend. We had a lovely stroll around the campus, enjoying the beautiful weather!





These were taken outside my dad's house as Brian and I got ready to leave for the alumni brunch on Sunday morning. (My dad babysat Nick for us!)

And here is a shot of me vogueing and showing off my buff upper body. :)

disappointments/new goal

I've had a couple of disappointments the past couple of days. First of all, I found out that the Army Band clarinet quartet gig at MSU will most likely have to be postponed until next semester, due to scheduling problems with the band. I was really looking forward to performing that Mozart aria with them! Oh, well - I just hope the gig does, indeed, happen next semester. Also, I found out last night that my friend Amber won't be coming today to visit. She's in St. Louis with a friend who is about to have a baby - Amber went there to help her out with the birth. They expected that she would have had the baby by now, but she hasn't, so Amber won't be leaving St. Louis today after all. Hopefully, the day she does end up leaving will work out for a quick visit here - she's going to keep me posted.

I was also a little disappointed to have gained a pound this week, since I feel like I've eaten pretty well and have worked out quite a bit, but that's OK, because it has galvanized me to set a new, very do-able goal: I would like to lose 6.5 more lbs. and get down to 140 by Thanksgiving. That's less than a pound a week, so I should be able to do it if I buckle down. I have chosen 140 because I think it might be a little low for me to maintain, so my thought is that if I can get down to that before the holidays, that will give me some leeway to gain a few pounds during the holidays without worrying about it. I think I'm going to end up leveling out at 145, so I just want a little wiggle room! Or I might end up deciding that as long as I'm somewhere between 140 and 145, I'm good. Anywho, here is how I'm going to lose 6.5 lbs. by Thanksgiving:

*Start really counting calories again, limiting myself to 1400 calories at least 6 days out of the week
*Start using www.my-calorie-counter.com again to keep track of my calories and to also make sure that my fat, sugar, fiber, and protein intake is desirable
*Continue working out for an hour most days of the week, maintaining a good balance of cardio and strength-training
*Start adding more jogging to my exercise routine, by jogging a mile after class as often as possible and using my treadmill at home

If I stick to this plan, I'm sure I can achieve my goal!

Have a great weekend, everyone.

sometimes ya gotta make a choice...

I'm feeling a little guilty, because I have decided to drop out of the Rolla Community Choir this semester, after having already attended a few rehearsals. The reason is that I was just offered a lovely paying solo gig for the very same day as the choir concert. And when one weighs a paying solo gig against a non-paying choral gig....well, the choice really isn't that hard to make. So, I shall have to go to next Monday's rehearsal to tell the director and turn my music in. Another plus of this is that I will save a ton of money on gas, since I won't be driving 50 miles round-trip each week for choir rehearsal!

I have realized that in the next 3 months, I have 5 gigs that I know of (3 of which are paid!), which is quite unheard of for me in recent years. The pickin's are usually quite slim for me, living in these small towns, but things seem to have come together for me this fall. On October 20, I will be singing a Mozart aria with the 399th Army Band clarinet quartet at their concert at MSU in Springfield. On Oct. 24, Tim and I have been hired by Drury to sing at a dinner - I'll be doing a Broadway solo and duet. On November 16, I will be singing at National Avenue Christian Church (NACC) in Springfield (not sure what I'm singing yet). In December, I will be performing two solos with the Army Band in their Christmas concerts ("The Man with the Bag" and "O, Holy Night" - what a dichotomy!), and on December 14, I will be singing again at NACC in their lessons and carols service - probably Messiah stuff, since that's sort of my "specialty". What an embarrassment of riches! It's going to be busy and stressful, but I say "bring it on!"

ode to october

October is here, and I am joyful at its advent. I'm not sure exactly what it is about this month that I love so, but it is absolutely my favorite month of the year. Perhaps it's the fact that I was married in October, or the fact that Halloween is in October. I think that for me, fall seems to really begin in October, you know? September is sort of like this odd limbo betwixt summer and fall, but come October - bam! Autumn is just HERE. And just as October is my favorite month, autumn is my favorite season. Also, I just love the way the word "October" sounds - it really rolls off the tongue, don't you think? (OK, OK - I know I'm bordering on the ridiculous here, but it's truly how I feel!) This weekend, I'm going to put out my fall/Halloween decor, and I'm looking forward to the cozy autumnal atmosphere it will create in my living room. (sigh of joy and contentment) Happy October and happy fall, everyone!

P.S. Just in case you were wondering and didn't feel like having to count, I used the word "October" exactly eight times in this post. :)