I have been craving pizza since yesterday. No, not that kind of craving, just the “boy does that sound good” kind. So, after LG and I went to Michael’s, we drove around trying to find one of those Pizza Hut drive-thrus. I never found one, so I’m thinking they don’t have those anymore, but via GPS, we ended up at Streets of New York. I went in, told them I needed a pizza to go and I only had $14 and what could I get for that? He showed me and I ordered it. When he rung it up, it was a little over the $14, so he said, I’ll give you a dollar off, so it came out to under $14.

I’m not sure if that’s a sign of the times or just really good customer service, but either way I really appreciated it. And the pizza was really good, too!

And a very interesting one as well. LG decided about a week ago that she didn’t “need any pwesents” and every time we brought up the whole “Santa’s coming to visit” thing, she would have a mini-meltdown. But, knowing that three year olds are nothing if not fickle, we went on about our business and told her if she didn’t want her presents, Mommy and Daddy would play with them instead. However, I did coax her into opening a present last night, and she was quite pleased with the red Christmassy jammies inside and wanted to put them on right away. A step in the right direction!

This morning when she woke up, she came out to the living room and saw the Santa gifts (that she had requested) under the tree and had a meltdown. But we remained calm. We had already discussed our plan of action, you see, so we just calmly went about our business. She didn’t want her stocking, so Daddy got his stocking and found white chocolate Reese’s inside. Half a Reese’s later, she decided she might like to look at her stocking. And found all kinds of wondrous things in there. And then she thought she might like to look at her Santa gifts. And then she thought she might like to open her presents. And it seems that getting presents wasn’t so bad after all. ;)

Mike and I don’t really exchange gifts at Christmas anymore, since our anniversary is in less than a month, but it’s more about her right now anyway, so that’s perfectly okay. I’m sure it will change in the years to come, but for the time being, that’s what works for us.

I did get an amazing Christmas gift this year, though. I got to hear my creation brought to life. It brought tears to my eyes, not only because it was sung beautifully by Marlene, but because it was sort of like giving birth. I nurtured it and molded it into something I was pleased with and then let it loose upon the world. Maybe it’s more like your child becoming an adult than giving birth, I don’t know, but either way, it was an amazing feeling. And it was even better that it touched people’s hearts.

So thank you to Marlene who inspired the song and brought it to life and to Mike without whom my songs wouldn’t ever become more than lyrics and a melody line. And who knows? Maybe some day you’ll hear it on a radio near you. ;)

My life has been truly blessed this year. I hope yours has as well. Merry Christmas to all of you who read this blog.

Now it’s time to get ready for Our Lady of All Sales tomorrow! Shop til you drop baby!

So, Mike and I were discussing all the shows I have sitting on my dvr that he needs to watch so I can get. them. off. And I kind of joked that we needed another dvr so I could record his stuff in the living room and my stuff in the bedroom since he tends to keep later hours than I do most of the time.

He asked how much it would cost and so I did some checking and found out that it would be $11 a month more than what we are paying now. He said if we get rid of our Netflix subscription (which we never use because I always have too much stuff to watch on the dvr - surprise!), we could get another one.

So I will be getting another dvr this week. And what that means is that, theoretically, I can record four different shows at the same time.

Awesome.

I looked out the window this morning and I saw beautiful puffy clouds, and I knew. I knew deep in my bones that it was finally here. Fall. Here the temperature decreases slowly from the 100s to the 90s to the 80s and then it takes a steep dip and you wake up one day to feel a nip in the air.

There are no beautifully colored leaves to herald the arrival of autumn. Here, you notice a change in the clouds - from the dark threatening monsoon clouds to the gentle puffy clouds I saw this morning. Here, you notice a change in the wind - from the hot summer winds blowing in the monsoon storms in the evening to the gentle rustling breezes of fall which make you want to stay outside all day and enjoy the coolness on your skin.

It’s different than what most of you are used to, but it’s no less thrilling to feel the change of seasons. And the end of the oppressive heat of summer is very welcome. I couldn’t resist going outside to take some pictures today.

Clouds…

Melody trying to flush the cottontails out of their hiding places…

More clouds…

Yardwork…

Even more clouds…

A Little Girl zooming past…

And yet more clouds…

Because of the heart issues I had earlier in the summer, then the wear and tear on my throat from the transesophogealechocardiogram (when they stick the tube down your throat to get a better look at things), and finally the nastiest summer cold I’ve had in many years, I realized today that I haven’t sung a real solo at church (other than a few lines) since probably the beginning of June. That’s a long time for me. It was sad and frustrating and at times I wondered if my voice would ever come back.

Well, it’s not all the way back, but it’s well on the way again. Today, I sang a solo at Generations (our monthly religious education program) and another solo at mass tonight. And it felt really really good. By no means was it my best work, but just to be able to do it without coughing or without wondering if my voice was going to come out when I wanted it to was a true blessing.

Music is my escape and my joy and it was really hard to be without it for so long. But I think I’m back! Thank you Lord!

And, by the way, Marlene did a really cool song that was a little different from what she normally does, but it was kicka$$!! (Can I use that word to describe a God song? lol!) I think we did pretty well for the first session back from summer break, if I do say so myself. :)

My new phone arrived safe and sound (and unlike the last time I got a package from FedEx, they apparently decided to believe the address on the box and not change it to a non-existent one so that the package didn’t get delivered on time). Now I’m charging it. Does it charge faster if you check it every 5 minutes?

And if you think I’m excited about the phone, just wait until I’m able to order a new iMac! ;)

Take an instrument (the flute in this case) that’s been around in some form for well over 30,000 years, add a beatboxing flutist, and you get this…

Why do I love music? Because it’s not static. You can take a centuries old instrument and still make it sound modern and fresh and new just by experimenting a little. Music is not static - it’s alive. Oh how I love music. :)

The flutist is Greg Pattillo. Thanks Rochelle!

For almost as long as I have known him, Mike has worked in smoky bars playing in bands. And if I had a dollar for every night he came home smelling like bar smoke, well, I would probably be able to have a really nice shopping spree.

I remember when we were still early in our marriage and he came home from a smoky bar and climbed into bed with me. I rolled over to cuddle up with my hubby, got a whiff of him, and told him to “Get out!” So from then on, he took a shower when he got home from work before he came to bed.

Of late, he’s been too tired to shower when he gets home, on top of not wanting to wake the little one, so the poor guy usually just sleeps on the couch.

But, those days are over. As of midnight last night, there is a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants in the state of Arizona. Yes, this will cause some business to be lost, but I think it will also attract people who didn’t want to deal with the smoke. And since the entire state is under the ban, it’s not like customers can go to another city or town to get around it.

So, hurray for no smoking! I wonder how long it will take for his equipment to lose the stench of stale cigarette smoke?

Today Rochelle can finally (legally) do pretty much everything except run for president. Yep, she’s 21 today! Do you remember when you were 21? I actually do. But since I didn’t start drinking until my 30s, the only exciting new thing I could do was buy lottery tickets.

Either way, go wish her a happy 21st bday will ya? And maybe tell her what exciting thing you did to celebrate!

Have you ever heard of Vienna Teng? If you haven’t, you are missing out on a very talented artist.

I “met” Vienna through her blog via Mr. Syndromes a few years ago, and the last time she was here on tour (when I was very very pregnant and couldn’t get out to see her), she came to this very house and visited with me. So, I can say from personal experience what a genuinely nice person she is. I can also say from having listened to her cds, that she is an extremely talented musician. I have yet to see her live (although she’s got Scottsdale on her tour schedule next month, and I’m going to do everything I can to get out to see her this time), but every review I have ever heard or read about her shows has been glowing.

All of that makes it very exciting for me to tell you about her Green Caravan Tour which starts this very night at the Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia (fitting huh?).

The Green Caravan Tour is not just about music. It’s about helping the environment by working with Habitat for Humanity, selling eco-friendly merchandise, and getting others involved in volunteering.

So, please, check out the website, see if there’s a show near you, and go see Vienna. I am positive you won’t regret it. (And if you can’t make it to a concert, buy some of her music and immerse yourself in her hypnotic tunes.)

You might remember me telling you about my friend T whose little baby J came 8 weeks early due to T’s pre-eclampsia. Well, good news! Baby J has finally come home and she weighs almost 5 pounds now. Thanks for all of your prayers!

Mike and I provided music for a wedding today - not at our church, but at a church a few miles away. It’s a very pretty church - there are a few odd things about it - like the distance the priests are from the congregation, but lots of lovely things otherwise.

The loveliest thing though? The microphones and the monitors…lol! I was drooling over them (figuratively of course) because they were just so sweet and smooth and sounded so good. The mics and monitors that we have at our church are not quite that quality, and it’s always nice to work with good equipment.

For those of you who might be of the technical persuasion, they have good old SM58s which are used by live performers everywhere. They’re so awesome - it almost feels like the songs sing themselves, and the monitors? Just so clear and sharp and smooth. Top-notch equipment definitely makes for a pleasant experience.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled non-music-techno programming. ;)

I went to see my friend T today and when I arrived (after having driven halfway to New Mexico it seemed…lol) she wasn’t in her room. The nurses station said maybe she was “in a class” and that she’d be out in a half hour or so. Uh huh. So I called Mike who was supposed to be with her husband taking care of his stupid truck. Her hubby said maybe she was in the nursery, so I trekked over there and talked to those nurses and long story short, I ended up in the NICU with T and the baby, even though technically I wasn’t supposed to be in there…lol! T was finally getting to hold her for the first time and was feeling much much better because of that.

I have to tell you that up until today, Little Girl was the tiniest baby I have ever seen in person. And I thought she was very very tiny. But this tiny little girl is a little more than half the size LG was when she was born, so she is amazingly tiny. But she is doing wonderfully, and boy is she feisty. To hear her cry is so funny, because she sounds more like a little mewling kitten than a baby. But that will change. I told T to make sure she saves one of those impossibly small diapers for her scrapbook, because you forget how tiny they were. And to record that mewling cry because it will go away. All these things will pass so quickly. She says that is what she is trying to hold on to - the knowledge that all of this will be over relatively soon - at least compared to the many many years that they will have together as mother and daughter.

It all brings back so much to me - to see how tiny she is and the tubes and things attached to her and how she has to grow and learn to eat on her own and regulate her temperature. Just like LG. She’s smaller, so she’ll probably be in the hospital longer, but even though it seems like it’s neverending sometimes (especially considering the trek they’re going to have to make to the hospital - probably about 40 miles one way or so compared to about 5 for us when we were doing the twice-daily visits), it will be over in a flash. It really will. I can only hope that I was able to offer her some comfort having been through this myself. I am just truly honored that I was able to see the tiny angel in the flesh.

I did take a picture, although to protect the anonymity of those involved, I cropped her sweet little face out of it, but if you want to see her holding her mama’s finger, visit my photo blog.

Update: T’s blood pressure has gone back up, so please keep praying.
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Thank you to all of you who have been praying - prayer is really a wonderful thing and it works!

My friend T is up and about, her blood pressure is back in the good range, and they’re moving her to another room. So all good news. She finally got to see her little one and she is doing great as well. She just “has to grow” as they say. LG was a “feeder/grower” herself, although she didn’t have quite as much growing to do before they sprung her from the hospital.

So things are looking up for them and that is truly a blessing. We didn’t get to go see them today as Mike is trying to deal with his truck and my car has not been available so that I could sneak away before church, but I just spoke to her on the phone and promised her to come visit tomorrow. She sounds a lot less “fuzzy” than she did yesterday and that made me feel a lot better, too.

Thanks again for the prayers, and keep them in your thoughts when you are able. I’ll have more on this topic tomorrow I hope!

Well, obviously it was a good day to begin with since it was our anniversary. But, the day started off good and just kept getting better. (Read on …)