No Excuses...Just Ran Out of Time

     There's no way I can recap everything that's happened between my last post and now.  In brief, these were the major events over the summer:  

1. Put on the first ever Adult Band Camp sponsored by the New Horizons Band of Northern Colorado.  (June)  I was Project Manager and this music camp culminated a year of planning with our Band Camp team.  We had 116 participants from all over the U.S. and Canada and the overall feedback was that this was the best camp yet!
2. Had surgery (biopsy) which was negative for cancer...yay!  (June) I'm still healing from the large incision and it could take up to a year until I'm completely healed.  The surgery put a damper on my hiking efforts this summer and the hikes were on hold this year.
3. Mark and I participated in 3 band concerts with the Loveland Concert Band, including the exciting 4th of July concert with fireworks!  (July)
4. We were thrilled to have Holly, Zoe and Ezra visit for 3 weeks (July - Aug).  We managed to get to Minnesota for a few days and spent a couple of days in South Dakota on the way up to Minnesota.  Visited Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, the Sod House, and Wall Drug.  Had tons of fun!
5. Our newest granddaughter, Haley Belle Goldberg, was born to Sara and Zach on September 3, 2013 at 5:47 a.m. weighing in a 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 20 1/4" in length. She is a sweetie pie!!!  Big sister, Sophia seems to think she's pretty special, too!
6. Band rehearsals started back up on Sep 3rd.  I finally made it into the Jazz/Swing band as their drummer!!!  Now play in the Concert Band, Jazz/Swing Band, and Dixieland Band as the drummer!  So much fun but A LOT of work!  I've also put together a "Jazz Jam" group with a few people to meet a few times each month in the evening to practice beginning - intermediate jazz tunes.
7. Flew to Philadelphia at the end of September to celebrate my Mom's 80th birthday!!! Several of our Connecticut relatives were able to join us:  Barbie (Mom's sister), Nancy, Judy, Debbie (cousins) and Debbie's family, Tom, Marissa, Danielle and Stephanie!  Julie, Ray, Alex and Zachary, Larry, Stephanie, Lucas, and Samantha, Helen, Rob and Alyssa, and Grace came, too, from New Jersey and Delaware.  We had a reception after church and then followed up with a luncheon.

There are no signs of things slowing down...wouldn't have it any other way right now. Mark and I are busy preparing the Fall newsletter for the New Horizons International Music Association right now and are readying for our Fall band concert later this month.  Next weekend I'm re-taking the Motorcycle Safety Course...it's a great refresher course and I can certainly use two solid days of riding.

So, that's where I've been.  I hope to provide more frequent entries...at least I'll try.  :)

A Sabbatical...Sort of

     Where have I been since February?  I guess the nice way to put it is on a sabbatical; the truth is, I've been on overload.  We managed to squeeze a trip in to California to visit Holly, Erich and the kids in Ventura and Tom, Mona, Joleen, Jack and Maelee in Merced in late February returning home the 2nd week in March. Had a wonderful time seeing them all again!  Went out on a whale watching boat...didn't see a thing, but it was a fun day just the same!

     Once home, I ended up filling in as a Percussionist (bass drummer) for two Loveland Concert Band performances which required a great deal of practice on my part.  (The first one actually occurred just prior to our California trip.) (The Loveland band is a higher level band than the one I currently play in.)  Those concerts turned out just fine and though at times taxing on me, helped push me to improve my drumming skills.  Then, it was on to more rehearsals for the New Horizons Band, playing snare drum, bass drum, crash cymbals, suspended cymbals, and other percussion instruments.  I had a Dixieland gig to ready for in late April and then our final concert band performance for the season in early May.

     In between all the music (and drum lessons, I might add), I've been doing a tremendous amount of planning for the Adult Band Camp that kicks off in just about 3 weeks at Colorado State University of which I've been the project manager for the past year!  We have 117 participants from across the United States and Canada!  So, I'm in a big crunch mode right now getting last minute information packets together, etc.  (One of our primary committee staff members decided to up and quit last week which took us all by surprise!)  Oh well, that's what makes things interesting!

         Adding to our already busy schedule, both Mark and I joined the Fort Collins Newcomers Club Motorcycle Group and recently bought motorcycles!  Mark has two touring bikes (a BMW which is his "solo" ride and a Yamaha Venture we is the long ride bike that I ride as a passenger on).  I have a Suzuki S-40, 650ccs.  Nice bike!  Still trying to build up my skills.  

     Needless to say, something has taken a "back seat" to be able to fit all this activity in.  That has been my blog writing and our long hikes!  :(  We are so anxious to get out and hike the mountains again!  This week is the first time we've had decent weather!  It's mostly sunny and in the 80s.  Our goal once band camp is done is to do a weekly hike!

     Since Mark and I both hit the big "6-0" this year (Mark in February and me in April), we decided to hold a new decade party and were so happy that my Mom came out for it and was able to stay for a few days!

     We have some very exciting news to share that I wasn't able to do earlier but can now...we will become grandparents for the 4th time at the end of August!  Sara is expecting another baby and she and Zach found out that Sophia will have a sister!!!  We are so thrilled!!!

     Along with the excitement and anticipation of another granddaughter, we are really looking forward to Holly, Zoe, and Ezra's summer visit here in July!!!  

     Sabbatical...not really.  Just lots of activities that keep us busy and enjoying life to its fullest!

     

A Little Too Much?

     No matter how hard I try to squeeze more minutes into a day, there are only 24 hours, or 1,440 minutes in a day...no more and no less.  I've gotten myself involved in so many things that I've neglected my blogging!  

     My latest schedule addition was saying "okay" to filling in as a bass drum player for the Loveland Concert Band, a much higher level band than the one I'm currently in. With just two rehearsals before their concert (and only one with their director), I have two especially difficult pieces to learn, one of which is at a very fast tempo.  The other two pieces aren't as difficult so I think I'll be fine with those.

     I managed to find some recorded versions on YouTube and have been practicing with them over and over and over.  These two pieces are:  Sky Dance by Richard L. Saucedo and American Fanfare by John Wasson.  I'm almost there and I think I'll do okay Sunday night at the performance but  I'll be so glad when this concert is over as I've been on overload with the music for the past week and a half.  

     We'll be spending a few days with Sophia while her Mommy and Daddy go to a wedding in Las Vegas.  I know she is a busy little girl and I'm sure Mark and I will be quite ready for lights out shortly after she goes to bed each day!  But, we are so happy to be able to be with her while they are gone.

     I've also been quite busy as the Project Manager for our Music Camp.  Yes, our band is sponsoring their first ever music camp for adults in June and I've been organizing the effort.  Things are ramping up quickly now that registration is underway.  My days are sure to get busier between now and then.

     And, speaking of our local band, we have 3 elementary school performances next week and two that we'll be missing due to our trip to California.  We are REALLY excited about seeing Holly, Erich, Zoe, Ezra AND Tom and Mona again soon!!!

     So, I'll do my best to get some updates posted over the next couple of months...

     

Happy

Just finished watching a documentary on Netflix called "Happy".  Very interesting insight into how people achieve happiness.  Wish everyone could see this...might make a lot of lives better!

Watched another good Netflix movie called "Craigslist Joe".  It was about this guy who decided to leave home for 30 days and get by solely on Craigslist.  It was quite interesting although not something I would attempt.

This past week, we enjoyed spending a few days with our long-time friends, Kevin and Heidi Conrad while they were visiting Estes Park, Colorado.  We spent two days early in the week with them at Estes Park where I experienced my first time snowshoeing!  (It was Mark and Heidi's first time, too!)  We went to Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park and it was absolutely beautiful out!  

We were quite surprised and lucky when we returned to the cabin one afternoon to find two bull elk munching on grass right outside our door!  Got some amazingly close pictures, too!  We were very cautious and didn't make any obtuse moves. Kevin got the door open to the cabin and we kept it open as we took pictures of the elk.  One was quite curious and slowly moved towards us.  He came within a few feet of us.  I don't think I'll ever see that happen again in my lifetime!

Later in the week, Heidi and Kevin came to our band concert and spent two nights with us here at our house.  We showed them around Fort Collins a bit, and, more luck...they were treated with a bit of snow during their visit which was quite pretty!  

So, they are back in Atlanta, GA now readying their house to put on the market in the spring.  They hope to sell and move out to Colorado within the next several months.  (Hope the stars are all aligned just right so it will happen for them!)

Happy New Year!

How many of us make New Year's resolutions?  Chances are the majority of us do...either by stating our new found motivations to friends and family or we inwardly think about the things we want to change this year.  

After years of vowing to lose weight and get healthier as part of a recurring resolution, I've managed to reach my goal and keep the weight off.  So, it's time for me to challenge myself with even more meaningful things.  To help me identify things that I want to improve on and lift my spirits, I downloaded an app on my IPhone that my daughter, Holly recently recommended.  And it's appropriately called "Lift".

Lift is a task tracker that is set up with different categories such as: learn something new, read, spend time outdoors, write in a journal, stop and enjoy life, exercise, be grateful for something, practice musical instrument and many other things that a person can improve upon.  There are many, many items and if something isn't there you can add new ones.  

By tracking daily the things you've identified as meaningful to you, you'll become more aware of them and hopefully, this will lead to them becoming a habit.  The outcome of creating good habits would be an improvement in your mood and bring a lift to your life!

I just started using this application today so I'll be able to report more on the effects of using this at a later date.  But, I must admit, it sounds quite interesting and is worth trying.  You can go to:  www.lift.do to learn more about it.

SNOW for Christmas!!!

How exciting to wake up to a couple of inches of snow on Christmas morning!  This is only the 14th time in the 112 years since they've been recording the weather here in the Denver area that it has snowed on Christmas Eve!  Light and fluffy...so pretty!

Sara, Zach, and Sophia came up on Monday afternoon to spend two nights with us.  We went to the early Christmas Eve service for the children at the United Methodist Church and that was definitely the right service for Sophia.  She wasn't quite ready to sit down and enjoyed walking around just outside the sanctuary.  She came back in and enjoyed the singing of "Silent Night" and the lighting of the candles.

Sophia enjoyed opening her presents on Christmas morning, but I think next year she'll be old enough to understand it more and it will be more exciting to her.  We had a nice Christmas dinner with everyone including Zach's Mom, Ellen later that evening.  (His Dad wasn't able to make it since had to work.)

We came up with new sleeping arrangements for Sophia since she had outgrown the travel crib; we set up a futon for her to sleep on.  She did really well the first night despite waking up at about 5:30 a.m.  Christmas night was another story!  Since she'd gotten up earlier than normal that morning, she really should have had her nap during the day.  But, with all the excitement and everyone around, she was having no part of a nap that day!  She went to bed about 7 p.m. and we all thought she'd be sleeping in until at least 7 a.m.  Wrong, try 1 a.m.!  Poor Sara walked her around for two hours and she wouldn't go back to sleep!  Both she and Zach had enough, so Zach drove her home at about 3:30 a.m.!  (I know for sure that when we babysit her in February for a few days, we'll be doing so at her house so she's used to her bed! )  :)

It was a very nice Christmas...but what would have made it even better is to have had Holly, Erich, Zoe and Ezra out here, too!  We really do miss them!!!  We are certainly looking forward to our visit with them in a couple of months!

Where Have I Been?

Time has definitely gotten away from me these past few months!  Ever since Mark and I finished up our hikes for the year, band rehearsals have started up again, along with our music lessons, almost daily trumpet (Mark) and drum (me) practices, band camp planning, daily exercise workouts, and lots of social activities with our friends.  This has left us with little "free" time, but I'm not complaining!  I love everything I'm doing!  One thing is for sure...I'm never bored...life stays quite interesting!

We managed to fit in a trip to the East Coast to visit with Mom and Gene (PA), Julie, Alex, and Zachary (NJ), and Larry, Stephanie, Lucas, and Samantha (DE) during Thanksgiving.  We just missed seeing Ray as the only place he could find "union" work was in Florida!  After 7 1/2 weeks working down there, the "travellers" were laid off...again!   

We are so glad we took the trip back East because it was so good seeing everyone again!    Gene celebrated his 87th birthday while we were there.  He's had a lot of health issues over the past year, so this was pretty special that we got to be there for his birthday get-together!  

I'm also happy that we were able to fix (renovate) Mom and Gene's bathroom while we were out there.  It was a disaster for over a year, but not anymore.  Mark did a fantastic job and worked quite hard!  It really looks nice now!  It took a little pushing to get Mom moving on it, but we managed to get it done in a week.

Christmas is just 5 days away and we are really looking forward to having Sara, Zach, and Sophia stay with us a couple of nights.  We are bummed, though, that Holly, Erich, Zoe and Ezra aren't able to join us, too for the holiday this year.  :(

Mark and I are having West Coast grandchildren withdrawals so we've planned a trip to visit them in California the latter part of February.  We'll be there to celebrate Ezra's 5th birthday with him!!!  We plan to see Tommy and Mona in Merced for a couple of days, too.  And, we also hope to take in a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on our way back to Colorado.

Despite all the things planned on the horizon, I will try to be more timely with my blog entries...promise! ;)