Five recent purchases that I really like:

1) This is a ruffled sweatshirt from New York and Company, but the picture doesn't really do it justice. The collar actually stands up, not flat like in the pic and should never be clipped in the middle. NY&C can be hit or miss, but sometimes they hit it right on. I love a sweatshirt that I can wear with my Target yoga pants or with a nice pair of black pants with almost anything underneath. Also, I can wash it over and over again after a dousing of baby spit up and it bounces right back.

2) This reversible 'puffer' vest from Target for only $15.00! The thing that I love (besides its reversible-ness and the two great colors) is that it's very thin. It doesn't feel or look all bulky.

3) Kroger brand White Cheddar Rice Cakes. I'm sure there are better ones at Trader Joe's (don't rub it in Ashley and Sarah), but I always crave crunchy, salty snacks. These are only 40 calories each, they're cheap and they taste really good so I'm not trying to go back for a round of potato chips later. Being at home long chunks of the day is good for laundry, but not so good for the snacking.

 

4) Dan in Real Life: I love this movie! It's so clever and moving and witty and I'm so glad that I own it now! I like to watch it every other day or so and it's the perfect movie for a farm or lake weekend! I got it used at Blockbuster-that's a great way to buy movies because they're $10 and you can take them back if there's anything wrong.

 5) I'm completely obsessed with this Emmi Swiss yogurt. It is amazing! The flavors are so unique - pink grapefruit and apricot and more, plus the typical strawberry and raspberry- and it's lowfat, but is much more creamy and rich than other kinds of yogurt. I've never been a particularly big yogurt fan, but this makes me crave yogurt and want it for breakfast and snacks and everywhere in between. That's a good thing because Dr. Oz says that it's one of the best ways to boost your immunity and fight off colds. You will love it!

The tough guy that I made cry...

I've had several requests for what I did to make that poor young man cry. Yes, I said cry...I'm still crying over it myself.

Well...let me just say that in a college choir setting, if you can't match pitch (this means, sing the same pitch as others or the pitch being played on an instrument...i.e. the right pitch), then you know about it. Actually, you probably aren't in that choir in the first place, but if it's just a momentary lapse, your neightbors give you the stink eye and the director may point at you and say, 'You're flat, dummy.' This is completely acceptable in a semi-professional setting like a college choir.

In a non-professional group full of teenagers, this is not a good method and it is very difficult to gently let a student know that they cannot sing. Really...can not sing...while still keeping their young, fragile egos in tact.

The problem is, that the tough guy that I made cry is not the student that can't sing. Go figure. The student that can't sing is completely unaware of this fact and I can't get him to realize that when he thinks he is singing the same pitch as his neighbors he's actually singing a dissonant interval below them (a note that absolutely does not belong with the right one to any ear, even crazy 20th century composer's).

To enlighten the singers to pitch problems, it's common practice to stand in a circle and sing. They hear the right thing coming at them from all directions and it usually fixes the problem, in this case the ones singing the right thing started holding their ears, crossing their eyes and doubling over in pain in the effort to stay on the right note. So, I changed the drill. One person starts singing, then his neighbor starts, and so on around the circle. This makes them really listen and hopefully hear themselves a little better. The 'student that can't sing' went merrily along singing the wrong pitch and the tough guy got embarassed. I looked up at him (he's about twice my height, curly brown hair and dark complected) and he started to blink back tears from his huge brown eyes. My heart melted and I stopped that excercise immediately and said 'Good job guys, blah, blah, blah...' and he left the room shortly after. He did come back and I tried to diffuse the situation some more. He was smiling by the end, but only time will tell...Ugh...

There you go.

The fist bump is something that can only be passed on from master to pupil, you couldn't possibly get the coolness of it through the written word.

The difference between children and teenagers...

               As a choral director, I get to work with lots of different age groups. Right now, I'm helping direct a college choir, an adult church choir, a children's choir and a youth choir (teenagers). I love the challenge of being 'everything to everyone,' but sometimes I'm surprised by how much it takes to keep each different group interested and enthusiastic and confident. The college group is pretty easy: they like to laugh and hear stories about your life (there's a squirrel eating my fake berries right now, by the way), but they don't have to be funny. They like to talk about their studies and clothes and the music we're working on. The adult choir doesn't need to be entertained, they just want me to explain things clearly and be consistent with my decisions about directing. It's more about the music for them, since they all have busy work days and are taking time from family to be a part of a choir. It's nice to work with a serious group like this, we make some beautiful music!

               Now, the children and teens are about as different as water and coffee. Well, water and coffee should be very different, it's too bad some people don't know how to make coffee and it ends up more like water. You shouldn't be able to see through coffee, sorry, tangent...they're as different as night and day. Maybe a list would be the best way to convey this:

1) Being the center of attention: 

Children: love it, thrive on it, try to do things to be it

Youth: Not including the 'class clown,' make them the center of attention (particularly with something like singing) and they may cry, leave, and never come back. I made this mistake last night and am trying to put out the flames (totally unintentional).

2) What I have to do to keep them coming?

Children: They always think you're fun and awesome, just email parents when and where.

Youth: Jump through major hoops, invite them individually, bring candy and food, send lots of reminder emails, be cool and funny and musically talented, pick music that they like, make each one of them feel wanted and talented and missed if they weren't there (althoug not too much or they might be the center of attention), sometimes guilt trip ("you're a leader, dangit"), make sure to call them by name. It's completely exhausting, I go home after a Youth rehearsal, curl up in a ball and cry then sometimes dream/nightmare about it.

3) Time spent building morale and enthusiasm:

Children: None, they are totally excited about everything we do. They actually make me more excited and enthused. They bring their buddies to choir because they love it. You can have 2, 10 or 50 children and they will be at the same level of enthusiasm.

Youth: Hours, days, weeks, years.... I'm not joking about years. It took me two years to build the youth choir from zero teens to about 30-35 who come consistently. It is a hell of a lot of work. I have to try to do things, like activities and food, that give them something to look forward to. Heaven forbid they invite someone to come--too embarassing. If we have rehearsal and are missing a number of our singers or leaders, it's like someone took away their iPod Touch. There is no enthusiasm and they are way too cool to be there if 'so and so' isn't here and smiling is totally out of the question. I'm so, so glad I'm not a teen anymore (especially a middle-schooler)

4) Time spent babysitting vs. time spent having fun and making music:

Children: 30 or 40% babysitting and 60 or 70% making music. Depends on how many preschoolers are on the front row. Last night two adorable little preschoolers were having a tickle fight in the middle of one of our songs--not kidding. 

 

Like this but more smiling and less choking.

Youth: 3% babysitting 97% having fun and making music. Besides the occasional "put away the gol-durned cell phone and quit texting," we can be goofy and silly and make lovely music all at the same time. I love taking a surly teenage boy who never smiles and teach him how to sing and have fun doing something other than strolling the mall or punching unsuspecting siblings in the bicep. 

So, while the children are easy to inspire and make me cheerful after every rehearsal, there are few things more rewarding than helping teenagers, who could be up to no good, learn to sing and take pride in creating music with other young people for the glory of God. Plus, that surly teenage boy who never smiles taught me how to do a fist-bump handshake the other day...'not the white way, the right way.'

Outlander...

                The past few weeks, I've been reading a series of books by Diana Gabaldon called Outlander. I'm already on the third book of the series, but haven't written about them yet because I wanted to see how the series progressed. I started Outlander because it was free on the Kindle, I really enjoyed the mix of romance, drama and history the author incorporates into the story. It's about a young woman, a nurse, who travels back in time from World War II era to the year 1745 in Scotland, when the Scots were attempting to overthrow English rule. I hesitate to call it historically accurate fiction because Gabaldon has taken many liberties, particularly with the way that people lived, medical practices-or lack thereof- and other small details. The overall story, dates and major figures seem to be accurate though and I do enjoy having a gap in my knowledge filled while enjoying a good story.

               I was surprised to find, on a recent trip to Joseph Beth, that the books are classified as romance (not fiction) and in a section that I never, ever approach because it makes me physically ill and disturbs my sense of literary morality, amongst books like this:  

Yuck, yuck, yuck...While the Outlander books do include a number of steamy liaisons (between married people, I might add), I would never have put them in this genre. They deal with so many other ideas as well and focus on the internal struggles of the characters, their relationships with family and friends, personal sacrifice, political intrigue and more. Look at the cover!

That's a pretty serious looking book if you ask me, and they're about 800 pages each. Maybe the Kindle is teaching me not to judge a book by its section...

                Anyway, I do recommend these books, unless lengthy mention of kilts, dialogue in Scottish burr, and a hugely tall, red-haired Scotchman bother you. While the series probably will not enter the ranks of 'classic,' they have more substance than the typical 'chick lit' and in many passages Gabaldon writes really beautifully. Let me know what you think! 

Halloween!

               We had a great time last night celebrating Baby P's first Halloween! Pizza and wine, brought by Auntie Caris and Uncle Rick, combined with gorgeous, fall weather, dark chocolate oatmeal cookies, and lots of little chillens in adorable costumes topped off our fun! We handed out about 5 pounds of Dumdums (one of my favorite candies and probably the cheapest) "ooh'ing and ahh'ing" over a tiny Superman; little-bitty hillbillies in overalls; a small girl with vampire fangs who bared her teeth at us growling through the front door; a boy mustard, girl ketchup and their dog, hot dog; followed by lots of fairies and princesses and mummies. By far our favorite though, was Baby P (no surprise there) in his... are you ready?...wait for it...LION COSTUME complete with wired tail, paw print shoes and mane. The result of my poll was a three way tie between monkey, cow and pea in the pod so I just chose a different one (plus I'd been hunting for a lion costume for months). Here he is, the "King of our Jungle!!" Sorry, couldn't resist.

Am I really going to be subjected to this kind of torture?

Roar?

                 Happy first Halloween, Baby P! We had way too much fun looking at him, walking him around the neighborhood and trying to get him to smile for pictures. He was such a good sport! I've been putting this costume on him every few days for the past 3 weeks or so to help him get used to it. He handled the the bundle of fir on his head and fir flaps covering his precious fingers (no longer available for the slurping) like a champ!

         Yes, we even stooped to laying him in a pile of leaves...he didn't make a peep. Maybe he was glad to be set down for a bit after all the jiggling and singing songs trying to get that smile...no luck, not one smiling picture!              

Poor, Baby P! Is there no end to the pictures? Eventually there was, but I'm definately going to dress him up again to take some more!

Don't you love those little orange ears peeking out?

Appropriate for Halloween...pretty horrifying...

               So, when Baby P turned three months old, I started noticing that I was shedding more hair than normal, definately more than while I was pregnant. During my pregnancy, I barely lost any and it was more thick and shiny than before. For the past eight weeks, I have been losing hair by the handful. I am not going to gross you out by photographing the full toupee of hair that fell out of my head after I washed and brushed it yesterday, but I assure you it was horrifying. I had two friends tell me that this would happen, but I definately underestimated it. There is hair in our laundry, on the floor, in the baby's hands, in the shower, in the sink, on the baby's clothes, in the couch, on the kitchen counter (I know, I know!)...you name a place and I have found hair there. It is awful. I can't believe I'm not bald. Oh, wait...I am! The front of my hair is really thin and now there are little, short, spiky hairs showing where it's growing back in- for which I am very, very grateful but not very aesthetically pleased. To quote Aaron the Allergic Shepherd (our children's Christmas musical this year):

"My, oh, my! Why? Oh, why is life one great big myst'ry? (Doo doo doo doo!)

If I could, then I would just make my problems hist'ry!

If I were perfect, how nice life would be!

Just perfect! I'd live happily forever.

The sheep would be perfectly in line each time and never, ever stray!"

(for perfect, read: 'full head of hair,' for sheep, read: 'hairs on my head')

               BabyCenter.com says that for the average "un-pregnant" woman, "85-95 % of the hair on your head is growing and the other 5-15% is in the resting stage." After the resting stage, the hair falls out and is replaced by new growth. "The average woman sheds about 100 hairs a day." During pregnancy, high hormone levels keep your hair in a growing stage instead of progressing to the resting stage- so you get thicker, fuller hair. Snaps for that!
              Here is the grim post-pregnancy truth, hormone levels drop dramatically so suddenly all that growing hair rests and then falls out, now you're losing not 100 hairs a day but...are you ready?...500...FIVE HUNDRED...F-I-V-E  H-U-N-D-R-E-D!!!!! I'm telling you, it looks like way, way more. The great thing (according to Baby Center) is that it should be totally back to normal within a year of the baby's birth. I'm sorry, Baby Center. I know you're trying to be all upbeat about this, but in what world is it great to have bad hair for an entire year? You try being the hairdresser that says, "Oh, don't worry! That horrible color will be all grown out in a year!"...or the doctor that says, "That itchy, red rash on your FACE will be gone in no time, give it A YEAR!"

      
Now, dear friends, I don't want to scare you off from pregnancy,
there are some great things too!

1) ????

2) ???????

3) Just kidding, you get a baby out of the deal-that's the best thing!

4) You have fantastic skin when you're pregnant.

5) You are treated very courteously by everyone! Random peeps in stores, family, friends

        husband (i.e. lots of opening doors, offering the comfortable bed, carrying heavy things, foot rubs)

6) A whole new world of shopping opens before your very eyes: baby stuff! It is so fun. Like when you were 6 (or 14) and pored over the American Girl catalogue drooling over teeny beds with teeny bedding and miniature button boots and 'wittle yewow waincoats.'

7) Maternity clothes: For real, they are great! Stylish, stretchy waist so you never feel like you've gained any weight (although you'd have to be blind not to notice your own belly), cuts or styles that you could never get away with when you're not pregnant (for me that's a flower print maxi-dress), and they hide everything. Really there are days when I miss maternity clothes!

8) You can feel a baby move around in your belly and actually see where it bumps its little elbows and kicks its little feet! That's very cool.

9) You get to pick out baby names! There are so many great names out there and you have an excuse to make list after list and force your husband and friends to discuss them in detail.
 -"Is that a pretty name, sweetie?"
-"Yes, we have to talk about it now! We're having a baby in 8 months!"
-"Do you think that boy's name sounds like a girl's name?"
-"No, I don't like that one, I used to know a Syracuse and she was mean. What about you?"

10) Last one, not everyone loses their hair after pregnancy. I've known several people who didn't notice it at all. So don't let it keep you from having a scrummy, cuddly, chunky-thighed baby if you want one someday, they are pretty wonderful. (Scrummy is a Roald Dahl word so I don't want any comments about it.)

Notice, I'm wearing a hat in this pic!

Bistro Beef Stew (from one of my fave cookbooks "The Art of the Slow Cooker"

Ode to Stew

Oh, Stew, how I do long for you on cold, blustery evenings,

With your stewy goodness and sometimes unidentifiable ingredients.

You're the best of meat and vegetables and wine cooked for hours on end.

So flavorful and thick and bone-sticking, you warm my soul and fill my belly.

Though low cal, you may not be,

You don't leave me raiding the kitchen for chips and sweets just a few short hours later.

Thank you for not leaving my side or my crock pot during the long, gray days of winter.

You'll need, 1/4 c. flour, 1 T of kosher salt (plus more later), 1 tsp. black pepper, 1 tsp of thyme, 5 cloves of garlic (I just use several tablespoons of minced), 1 large carrot or 2 small (peeled and sliced), 2 medium yellow onions, 1 stalk of celery (I forgot to buy this), 2 pieces of bacon, 2 lbs of stew beef, 2 c. of red wine, several T. of olive oil, a little chopped parsley and a slow cooker

Mix together the salt, pepper and flour, dredge each piece of beef in the mixture then...

(Oh, yeah, keep what's left over of the flour)

Pop it in a medium hot skillet with a T of olive oil, brown the meat in batches for a couple of minutes on each side. (The meat will be raw on the inside.) Add dashes of oil as needed then put all meat in the bottom of the slow cooker

Peel and chop the carrots, dice the onions...

Then cook the two slices of bacon in the same skillet you used for the beef until crispy, crumble and add to the slow cooker. Don't clean the pan, use the bacon drippings to brown your veggies.

After the onions, celery and carrots have browned a bit (about 5-7 minutes), add the garlic, thyme and the salt/pepper/ flour mixture left over from browning the meat, cook for a few more minutes.

Add the red wine and bring to a boil (this will cook off the alcohol and leave you with lovely flavor, you usually don't want to add wine directly to a slow cooker because you might be left with alcohol flavor)

Pour the veggie/wine mixture over the meat and bacon.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6.

Delicious! The wine reduces down with the juices of meat and veggies, and combined with the flour it's thick, rich and yummy. If you want a more 'soupy' stew, add a little beef broth when you boil the veggies and wine. NEVER add water to a soup, you'll dilute all that fabulous flavor!

Rich and flavorful. Hearty enough for a dinner by itself with some thick, buttered slices of bread.

Don't you want to eat that bite...sorry, already done did! Make it yourself!