2019 in Review

 I was out of town about half the year travelling.  When in Maryland, I did some chamber music and old-timey folk music jams. Had a chance to play in a couple of flute quartets.  Went to the Maine Fiddle Camp in August and Fiddle Hell (near Boston) in November.

Sad Times

I see my last post was in November before things really fell apart.  Hubby got quite ill in October and unfortunately, didn't get better.  By February, he was admitted to hospice and went to sleep to never wake up again.  We never did find out what was wrong.  It was a rough five months.

March was busy with memorials and travel.
https://www.facebook.com/EarlGalitzMemorial

April, I officially retired.  No more tax seasons for me.

May found me moving boxes from Miami to Maryland.  Then took a break and went on a camping tour of the Western USA Parks and also visited friends in Arizona.
https://sites.google.com/site/2015bestofthewest/home

So, now I am dialing back the clock to age 20 and exploring hobbies and interests that were neglected during my married life.  It's time to try new things and get out of my comfort zone.

So far have tried, liked, and will continue..

• Yoga
• Rock climbing, inside gym and once outside
• Biking
• Knitting and crocheting

Have tried but not sure about...

• Horseback riding
• Karaoke

Want to try...

• Kayaking
• Starting a pop band
• Creative writing

Need to get back to ...

• Cello, Violin, Viola, Keyboard, Guitar
• Hiking
• Chinese Language Studies
• Other Language Studies
• Traveling abroad
• Drawing, Painting, Photography

Obviously, keeping healthy is the most important thing in life so activities that promote a good diet and exercise should take priority.


Postscript: I had saved these notices from the Peabody concerts we were able to attend October and December. I doubt I'll be going to any more of these in the near future. It's too sad.

Summer update

It's been a busy summer.  Between dental work, physical therapy for a frozen shoulder, and taking two online courses, there doesn't seem to be that much time for music, art, and socializing.  We've been trying to go folk dancing once a week in Columbia. Getting hubby to walk at least 15 minutes every day is a pain.  At least he lost eight pounds since last summer.  Doctors would still like him to lose another ten pounds. 


Did get to see some art museums earlier this month as a friend from North Carolina came to visit -- so we went for an overnight trip to NYC to see the Neue and the Met.  Also went to DC for a day to see the Smithsonian Folklife Festival (China and Kenya) and dropped in at the National Gallery and Freer.  Took my friend to the Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore for something different and that polished off our week together.


Travel plans -- nothing abroad this year. Between grad school and medical bills, there isn't any spare money.  Been mostly visiting stamp shows -- New Jersey and DC last month and planning to go to Milwaukee in September.


Just pulled out the cello to practice.  Planning on going to a 3 day strings workshop the end of this month as it is nearby.  My first music camp -- should be interesting.
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Unfortunately, cut my pinkie the week before the strings workshop and had to cancel. Maybe next year I can go.

3 Months Later

Uh, where did the summer go? Ended up working for the CPA most of it (he lost an employee). A week trip to Minneapolis for a stamp show. A few projects finished.  Did manage to attend a drawing class at the local community college. One assignment was doing cross contours which I would never have suffered to do at home alone.

The calligraphy class I signed up for was cancelled though.

Helping out at the Magnet High school started up mid August and my FSU SLIS Organization class began this week.

I have to schedule some more fun before the end of this year.

Are We Having Fun Yet?

It's almost summertime. I did get out of Dodge for an extended Memorial Day Weekend.  Traveled to Ohio to visit friends and relatives -- some of which I hadn't seen in thirty years.  It was a very nice trip especially since I had a frequent flyer reward airline ticket to use up.


My summer 13 week FSU class is on website design, etc. I have some "experience" with websites ;p so it shouldn't be too horrifying.  Class is a prereq for the courses I really want to take for my Masters Degree.


Also signed up for 5 weeks of drawing and 5 weeks of Chinese calligraphy at the local community college.  I enjoyed the Chinese calligraphy studies I did last summer in China.  I already have all the supplies so taking the courses should get me back in the grove.


The stamp clubs that I belong to (proxy for husband really) have meetings in Minneapolis (July) and Baltimore (September).  Other than those trips, I plan on staying close to home this summer. 


Note on the home front -- we redid our 90 gallon fish tank.  Hubby had one wild sunfish from the Eveglades in it.  I got tired of having a fish that hid all the time in our main tank.  So changed out the sunfish -- moved it to our 55 gallon tank and put zebras, minnows, cherry barbs, etc. in its stead.  


Also our corydora catfish laid eggs and I managed to keep a dozen babies alive this time.  This is the 3rd generation from catfish donated by a friend 15 years ago.  


Got a discounted Wii and WiiFit in the hopes that it will inspire me to exercise.  So far so good.


Cello front isn't looking great.  I haven't practiced since chamber music class ended. Don't know how to inspire myself into practicing.  I'd like to lose my fear of sightreading tenor clef.  Does anyone have any ideas?


The only dark cloud on the horizon is work.  I may have to do some work this summer.  There are threats of projects that might soak up all my spare time.  Oh well.

Surviving.

Been somewhat overwhelmed this past month.  Earl's mother died and that sort of put school work on hold for a couple of weeks.  She was 95-1/2 so had a good run.  We had an excuse for a nice family reunion in Baltimore.

All my delayed assignments came due at the same time as the final paper for FSU.  Add some heavy tax season work to the mix and I was an unhappy camper for quite a few days.

Did have an exciting thing happen on the home front.  The two remaining burners on our stove blew out the day after Earl's mom passed away.  This gave us a good reason to finally go to Sears and replace the stove and the nonfunctioning dishwasher.

Preparing for the new appliances prompted a whole kitchen re-arrangement and a large donation to goodwill.

Also determined that since we can't afford to move, the next best thing would be to get some breathing room.  So, rented a storage area -- our new attic is 5 x 10 and only 5 minutes away.  It should help us recover some of our apartment.  So far I've done about 20 boxes and still don't have any closet space.  However, I can now open and close the closet doors without having to stuff things that were falling out back in.  Also, there are a few flat surfaces that are seeing the light of day again in our apartment.

Anyway here's a video from tonight's recital. It's sort of blah...not bad enough to be interesting and not good enough to crow about.

It's March Already - Time Marches On...

Wow, time doesn't march, it flies at jet speed.  I've been busy with school, classes, tax season, etc.

Haven't done any drawing.

Cello has been limited to chamber music class pieces.

Learning Chinese has been mostly trying not to forget too much and attending a once a month workshop.  Happy Rabbit New Year Everyone.

My first online course at FSU last term was fairly easy.  The course this term is more demanding.  It has lots of reading and writing assignments.  Also have to give two online class presentations.  First one is coming up in a week.

Not planning on travelling anywhere exotic this year.  Only Minneapolis in June and Baltimore in September for stamp shows with hubby.  Probably try to get another couple of FSU classes out of the way this summer.

Checking in - It's November Already

What shall we do for my bday this year? I can't remember what we did last year. Hubby says "Well, there's a stamp show in Bulgaria". Sure, why not? We have friends to visit, cheap dentistry besides great food and historic tourism.

It turned into two weeks off from work and school. I was planning on doing my online class and some work remotely. However, on the first day of the trip (having just punched in the wireless key for the hotel) the netbook crashed and wouldn't get up again. Thus, I had Enforced Vacation.

It was worth it. Friends took us to classical music concert -- Schumann's Manfred Overture, Strauss' last four Leider, and a very crisp Brahms Symphony #4. This orchestra gives a 30 concert season. Hubby was jealous.

Some pics at: https://sites.google.com/site/2010bulgariasofia/home

Chamber Music teacher wasn't amused by my two week absence. I did take the Martinu Nonet seriously enough to actually see a cello teacher for some tips on how to tackle it. The class ran through it this week and I think I will need to memorize one section because it just flies by too fast to sightread.

Summertime

Once again I have fallen into the no practice mode of summertime. After chamber music class stopped in April, I haven't felt compelled. Did join my husband to play continuo at some early music recorder workshop sessions. The music was pleasant and within my range for sightreading.

Vacation begins in two weeks -- I'll be off to China for 33 days to study Mandarin and plan to spend a couple of days at the Shanghai Expo. Then my sister-in-law invited me to join her at a Eastern European Folk Life Workshop in upstate New York for the second week in August.

August 23rd school starts and I begin working on my Master's Degree.

Neat

The magnet school I help out has been just listed as one of six finalists in the White House Commencement Challenge. Pretty neat, huh? http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/notifying-commencement-challenge-finalists

Happy Tiger Year - Happy Valentines Day!

White tiger, Miami Metro Zoo

Spent the holidays repairing desktop computer - two power outages in a row zapped the video card. Yes, I know I should have had a UPS, but when the last one died I didn't bother to replace it.

Went to a huge Chinese New Year's Eve Party Saturday night which had tons of food, backyard fireworks, and "Karaoke". My first time / attempt at this sport. I made a the lowest score of 22 trying to sing "Under the Boardwalk". Seems I only knew the refrain. I made a decent score of 83 with "When I'm 64". "Raindrops keep Fallin' on my Head" was sung with style and was a crowd pleaser, but the machine only gave me a 66. Of course, I couldn't sing any of the Chinese songs. I only know one folk song and it wasn't available on the DVD.

Sunday, we joined ten friends for a dim sum brunch that lasted from 11am to 3pm. We got a big surprise when a guest of one friend decided to pay for the whole table!

Then we went to Walmart to buy some flowering plants to add to our "dead zone" list. Plants don't live long in our house generally, but we figured that flowering plants would live longer than cut flowers.

I rounded out Valentine's Day by going to sleep at 5 pm and not waking until 7 am!

2010 Why I Am I So Busy?

Monday evening I have a Language Principles and Acquisition class. One of 3 courses needed for a ESL certification in Florida.

Tuesdays, I have Chamber Music Class

Fridays, I have Chinese Workshops.

Mon, Tues, Thu and Fri I help out the local magnet school either volunteering in the morning or subbing.

Wed and Sat I help out the local CPA with taxes.

In between I'm supposed to squeeze exercise, celloing, Chinese writing practice, and playing Scrabble on FB with my cello friends.

This reminds me of when I was a kid, I had to write letters all the time to relatives.

Dear Aunt Theresa,

How are you, I am fine.

I am very busy.

Oh well, "they say" No Rest for the Wicked.

Happy New Year

I have no resolutions for 2010.

Will continue to do the best I can and not worry.

Hopefully 2010 will be a good year for us all.

Sunrise by my home.

Bed vs. Cello. The Cello Won.

Ha, I bet you thought this post was about not getting enough sleep due to practicing the cello. Nope, sorry to disappoint you.

Let's start from the beginning. A few months ago, my cello lost the rubber protector on the end pin. The plastic cap just disintegrated away one day.

I have a habit of lying the cello on the bed between practice sessions.
One night my husband was complaining about sharing the bed with the cello. So I picked it up and tossed it back on the bed just to spite (spike?) him.

Not smart. You see, we have an air mattress. Or rather, had an air mattress.

George Harrison and Leonhard von Call

Thanks to a Facebook friend I've learned about George Harrison via YouTube.

Also, YouTube has a group playing the Leonhard von Call Guitar Trio in C Major which I will probably be doing for chamber music class.

Status Report

Passed the FTCE Professional Ed Test yesterday. Signed up for TESOL training and then will take ESOL test. This is about 100 hours of study so should keep me busy for the month of August.

Chinese continues to march. Met a young fellow who just came back studying Chinese for4 months in China's Nanjing University. His spoken Chinese is pretty good. Hopefully, he'll do some studies with me. New computer tools for writing in pinyin, chinese characters and looking up meanings are helping to speed me along at a faster clip.

Off to Key West this weekend with my sister-in-law who is in town. Going to camp at Bahia Honda State Park. Should be interesting but probably not too comfortable with the heat and mosquitoes.

Past and Future

So far so good. Two more FTCE tests finished. Signed up for one more while the going rate is $50. After August, the cost will increase by $25.

Local community orchestra is having a "strings only" summer reading session on Wednesday nights. Signed up for it although they want me to bring the viola. Strange as there are usually plenty of violists. Played last night and was completely worn out afterwards. Not used to holding a viola for 3 hours anymore. Only 2 cellists showed up although they tell me that five said they were coming.

Chinese classes are going well. Thinking about going again to China for the summer of 2010. Perhaps take an intensive immersion course there for $1,300. Price seems reasonable to me for 20 hours a week for four weeks plus room and board. I think I have enough frequent flyer points to get me there.

I think I am grounded for the rest of the summer. I can't justify going anywhere, my friends/family are very busy as well. Besides I have too many projects to do at home.

Enjoy playing the games on FB but have to limit myself to 30 minutes plus self-imposed rules. I'm not allowed to play unless I accomplish 4 things on my daily to do list. Feeling like a kid again. No playing unless you do your homework.

Two Weeks Later

It's been two weeks since my last post and I've yet to really study for the ESE test. I've managed to find plenty of things to fill my days with anything other than cello practice as well. Did finish some old projects -- things that have been on my to do list for over a year. Entertained out of town guests and friends. Cooked treats for hubby. Caught up on TV eps that we follow. Played games in real life and FB. Made 80+ flash cards of new Chinese words/phrases to learn. Memorized a Chinese folk song and a poem by Ai Qing. Signed up for the July ATC whose theme is "Birds" at Drawspace.

Guess I must be mostly "externally motivated" on the cello. Without a pressing cello project, other things become more important. Still it sure would be nice to finish Suzuki Book I this summer. On the other hand, Book I is certainly not inspiring me to practice. I need to do some "negotiations" with myself to see if I can get moving again. I used to have a rule in place that I couldn't play on FB if I hadn't practiced the cello that day -- I may have to resort to that again!

Back to Normal?

The past week has been just getting organized after my 3 week trip in Europe. First, there's the photos and travelogue to post. My friends and family have been vicariously enjoying my adventures since 2002. It's a lot of work but nice to have the logs later. I probably wouldn't do them just for myself. Yesterday, I finished all the homework my chinese teacher assigned while I was out of town.

Today, I visited SMA and reacquainted myself to the cello after a two month hiatus. R ran off the checklist and all systems are go for continued practice.

I had signed up for a class to cover ESE for FTCE and registered for the test July 13th. However, a phone call today states that the class has been cancelled. Oh well, guess I'm going to have to do self-study. SOP for me.

Vocal Mimicry and Rhythm.

I've been trying to teach rhythm to a student.  What finally seemed to work was having the student sing the tune with words before attempting to play.  I was telling my husband about my success when he showed me an article about Snowball. Seems that vocal mimicry and rhythm are neurally connected.  Now if I can somehow apply this to my cello playing :)