My fingers hurt!

Yes, I had an earlier post with the same title, but then I was talking about hours at the piano. Now I'm talking about 15 minutes with the guitar. I'm taking a music education class on how to teach guitar, and as part of that, I have to learn to play the guitar, as well. (go figure!) I'm using Eric's classical guitar. I'm enjoying it, but it may well be the most physically painful course I have ever taken.

Overall, I am absolutely loving graduate school. It feels great to be learning on a large scale again. I have good professors and I love the collegiate atmosphere.

And the 75 minute drive is not too bad either. I am borrowing the first Harry Potter book on audio CD from the library (8 in the set) and a 75 minute CD works very well with a 75 minute drive. :-) I had been wanting to re-read the series and enjoy it from the all-knowing perspective. I'm finding some interesting foreshadowing that I had missed the first time through. And it makes those otherwise long commutes fly pleasantly by! :-)

First day

Well, I feel lonely. Yeah, it's only been one class, so there's plenty of time, but I'm just not feeling connected. I feel like a visitor. My Monday evening class has only six students and we're all in the same program, so that's the one I had pinned my hopes on. It probably doesn't help that we didn't have any sort of introductions during class. We all kind of introduced ourselves after class. Nonetheless, it looks like it will be a fascinating class!

I have also discovered that my laptop is very heavy. I only carried it around a little tonight before class and my neck was sore all through class. So, I don't think I will take it to classes tomorrow. If I find that I will want it, I can start taking it on Thursday.

I saved the good news for last. Remember those advisory exams? I passed them ALL! Not with flying colors, but I passed, so I don't have to take any music theory or music history. Yay Ellie!! That really made my day. :-)

Strange afterthought: I've lived in Colorado for 15 years and I never knew what the school colors were at UNC. I knew DU, CU and CSU, but not UNC. For some reason, I have always associated UNC with purple. So, I am having a really hard time adjusting to the fact that the colors are blue and gold.

My 10-year High School Reunion

Excerpts from my diary:

When I was a junior in high school I visited the high school I would have attended had I not moved to Colorado when I was 13 years old. We were a very small class – about 90 students. I was excited to see these people that I had grown up with from Kindergarten through 7th grade, whom I hadn’t seen in years. But I was hurt and disappointed when they weren’t excited to see me. Some of them even ignored me. I could hardly believe it. I never went back. I think I subconsciously expected my classmates from SHHS to react the same way, but I was pleasantly surprised.

When we graduated, I think all of us IB kids were very career minded, and over the years some of us have discovered that there are things more important to us than being “successful” by the academic standard. This is not something I would have expected ten years ago. And those who have continued to be ambitious in their careers have done so because that’s what they enjoyed, not because they had something to prove like we did in high school. At least, this is true of those who were there tonight and others I know who did not attend.

Yana made an interesting observation: those who attended the reunion were the ones who really enjoyed high school and the ones who are happy with their lives now and comfortable with the decisions they’ve made. (Yana and I were pleased to fit both categories.) I added that it was the ones who really enjoyed high school that were drunk and the ones happy with their lives who remained sober. (And there was a clear distinction between those of us who were sober and those who were not!) But I think Yana was absolutely right. And that’s not to say that those who did not come did not enjoy school or were not happy with their lives, but those who either disliked school or were unhappy with their lives would be considerably less likely to want to spend an evening with people they hadn’t seen in ten years.

I was surprised to hear people say that I looked like I had grown up. Particularly my IB friends mentioned this. They said that more than anyone else, I looked different. That really surprised me! I didn’t do anything to make myself look better or older today than any other day. Maybe it's the shorter hair and the extra 15 pounds.

I wish that more IB people had come to the reunion. We were all a big family in high school. We went through a lot together in that program and we had a lot of respect for one another. I think that’s why the IB folks that did come were my favorite to visit with. We had a lot in common in terms of the character traits that put us together in that program, and those are things that last, so we still have a lot in common. I didn’t see it back then because I hadn’t met enough people to know the difference. There were plenty of others at the reunion that I knew, but never spoke to because I just didn’t have anything to say.

So, I’m glad I went to the reunion. It's put my high school memories in perspective and given me a new appreciation for this chapter of life. But I’m still glad these only come up every 10 years.

Can a person star in two long-running TV shows?

Yes, that's the question of the day. I saw an ad on TV that Debra Messing is starring in a brand new TV show now that Will & Grace ended its lengthy run. But can she ever be anyone but Grace? Lucille Ball tried it a few times, Julie Louis-Dreyfuss has tried it a couple times and they've never been able to sell themselves as a character other than the one that made them famous. So, they try to recreate the same character in a different story, and these shows never last more than a few seasons. Eric mentioned that Ted Danson did it with Cheers and Becker. Maybe it's different for men. I guess there are also some who wait a generation before reintroducing themselves to a new audience. But Will & Grace just went off the air a few months ago. What do you think? Is it possible for an actor/actress of a major hit TV show to be accepted as a new character in a new TV show? Is there a certain length of time that has to pass?

In unrelated news, the world's smallest monkey was born this week in Sweden weighing in at 3.5 ounces. You think they had to convert that from the metric system before they printed it in the American newspapers?

And for those who are keeping track, today was my last day at the Parade of Homes. I enjoyed working there this summer. Met some really cool people and made a little money while I was at it. I recommend it to anyone looking for a summer job next year. Rumor is next year's parade is in Parker.

Highlights

Hello, I survived!
You know how I like to be thorough, but to write in any detail about today would require pages and pages, and my Lord knows I've written enough pages today, so here are the highlights:

1) I have a student ID again! Anyone up for a movie?

2) The music building and the education building a pretty far apart, and I'm really not sure I can make the walk in the 15 minutes I have between classes.... this could get interesting.

3) My advisor is thinking I should drop a couple of my undergrad ed classes and try to take the grad level ones later so the credits will count toward both of my programs. Still waiting for approval from someone at the ed school, so I probably won't know until sometime next week. The possibility of having to change my schedule this late in the game is uncomfortable.

4) Ran into my cousin a couple times on campus today. He's starting his freshman year next week in music. Music education, I think, actually. Percussion major. It's comforting to see a familiar face up there.

5) Oh yeah! The tests! Well, I didn't ace them and I didn't bomb them. They say they expect very few people to really ace the tests. I think I did really well, especially considering how long it's been since I learned this stuff and how little I was able to study. It's just hard to congratulate myself when my brain is still smoking from the ordeal! And there's all the things I missed that I know for certain I knew a few years ago! That's so frustrating!

So, it's finally starting to sink in that I am really a student again. Seeing all the parents on campus helping their kids move into the dorms reminded me a lot of my orientation days at IU. Kind of made me wish I was staying up there so I could really experience the campus life again, but I'm just in a different chapter of life now.

So, I can't say I feel much more relaxed about things yet - I think I need to get through the first week and figure out what this lifestyle is going to feel like. But, I've figured out a lot that I didn't know this morning. That's got to be worth something.

Question of the Season

I am so stressed out, and I really can't remember the last time I felt this overwhelmed. So, is my life really that much more stressful, or is this merely confirmation that Welbutrin doesn't manage anxiety as well as Paxil does? I'm just usually more even-keel than I've been lately. The good news is that I think there's some spiritual growth going on. The feeling that I can't balance life on my own has forced me to rely more on God, and He has not let me down.

Bummed

Some personal issues really bumming me out, so I decided to play the piano for an hour when I got home tonight. Further bummed out to discover I've forgotten how to play my favorite Chopin nocturne! (Bb minor, fyi.) I've been playing that song for close to 15 years, but I haven't played it much in the last 2 to 3 years. It was sad to see how much muscle memory I had lost. Not quite like riding a bike! Fortunately the new piece I learned over the summer is in excellent shape. :-)

Her 79-year high school reunion

Today Eric and I attended his grandmother's high school reunion.

Fort Collins High School opened in 1899, so it has over a hundred years worth of graduates, unlike my high school which has only been open 32 years. So, they have this thing called the Fifty Year Club, and you get to join it when you have graduated from FCHS fifty or more years ago. They have a brunch every August. Pretty nifty idea, actually.

At the age of 99, Granny was the oldest graduate in attendance and the only graduate from the class of 1927. There was also a list in the program of "other FCHS graduates in attendance" to acknowledge graduates who were attending with their graduate relatives. Eric finished off that list, class of 1987. So, he and his grandmother were the bookends of the event, so to speak - oldest and youngest, other than the new scholarship recipient who attended to deliver a thank you speech. Eric's mom was also there. She just retired from FCHS this year, so she was listed as former staff. She graduated high school in Grand Junction.

Our US Senator Wayne Allard was also there as an "other FCHS graduate in attendance." He was attending with his mother, a graduate of the class of '38.

I had to laugh as we were walking through the parking lot. I've never seen so many "Pioneers" license plates in one lot before!

This was an interesting prologue to my 10-year reunion which is coming up next weekend.

Double-crossed!!

Ooooo....I am so mad. The defendant in my small claims case moved to Texas sometime within the last two months. So, my court papers came back to me "undeliverable." According to everything I have read online, I can still sue him, but I have to sue him in the county in which he resides. That's going to cost me a lot more than it's worth. The money I have already spent on this case is only recoverable if I am able to sue him and win the case. This is really frustrating, unfair, unjust. After all, he doesn't deny that he owes me the money. He just thinks it's funny that I can't do anything about it.

So, here's my next plan. Rather than sue him in Texas, I'll try to sue him on court TV. Eric watches those shows all the time when he's home after a night shift, so he got a kick out of this idea.

I submitted the case to two courts: People's Court, because it's my favorite; and Judge Hatchett, because she has a special heart for America's misguided youth and frequently uses her courtroom to snap some sense into young people headed in the wrong direction. I once saw an episode where an African-American mother brought her teenage son to court as an intervention because he was very smart and had great potential, but he was heavily involved in drugs and gangs. Judge Hatchett sent him to an African-American history museum for a day with another young man who had left gang life behind already. He learned all about the sacrifices his ancestors had made so that he could enjoy his rights as an American and do something meaningful with his life. (They showed clips from his day at the museum on the show.) His attitude next time he appeared in the courtroom was completely changed. I don't think my client is that "at-risk," but teaching him a lesson about life was part of my reason for suing him to begin with, so this would be a good courtroom for my case.

My reasons for suing were:
a) to recover the money he owes me.
b) to discourage him from cheating future sole proprietors, such as music teachers.
c) to teach him that failing to pay one's debts carries steeper consequences than failing to turn in one's homework. Better he learn it from me than later on from a credit card company or the like.

And I would still like to accomplish those three goals if I can do so without it costing me a lot of money. Eric says court shows pay the litigants to appear on the show. I don't have any great expectation that one of these courts will actually accept my case, let alone in a timely manner, but you never know unless you try.

I don't like being double-crossed.

I'm such a ditz!!

I enjoyed a bowl of ice cream after dinner last night. This morning I found the container in the refrigerator. For anyone who ever wondered, ice cream doesn't stay frozen in the refrigerator.

Small world

I'm online going through the list of textbooks I need to acquire in the next couple of weeks. One of the books I need is a book that I bought from a book club in 5th or 6th grade and read "for fun." Some books you read and forget, but not this one. It's the story of Alex Deford, a little girl who died of Cystic Fibrosis when she was eight years old. The book was written by her father three years later in 1983.

The course requiring the book is "Exceptional Students in the Regular Classroom." So, my guess is that this book is designed to stimulate discussion regarding how we deal with chronically ill and/or physically disabled or "different" students in regular classrooms, how to comfort them when other kids are afraid of them or poke fun, how to educate and encourage the other students without unnecessary "singling out" of the "different" child, and how they can enrich the lives of those around them and bring out the best in people. And how to talk to children about death, both the dying child and those left behind.

One of the reasons I chose to read this book when I was so young is that I had actually heard of the girl before. I had been involved with a children's acting troupe called "Imaginating Dramatics Company." I remember the founder of the troupe telling us that the word "imaginating" (as opposed to "imagining") was coined by this special little girl, and that she had written to this girl's parents for permission to use the word in naming her children's drama company.

Out of curiosity, I googled Imaginating Dramatics Company, and it turns out they are still going strong and the same lady is running it now that was running it 18 years ago. Apparently they've even received a donation from the Millionaire's Hall of Fame. And in the google search, the book about Alex Deford comes up as one of the links. It sure is a small world, isn't it?

So, I can't seem to escape this story. But imagine that.... I'm already ahead in one of my classes!!! Of course, I'll read it again so I can appreciate it from the educator's standpoint, but it should be easier since I already know what to expect. We always get more out of a book the second time, don't we? Which reminds me, I want to read those Harry Potter books again...

In Memoriam

Renowned German soprano Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf has died at her home in Austria at the age of 90. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5243696.stm

I own several of Schwarzkopf's recordings and have admired her talent both as a singer and an actress. I can hardly believe it took nearly a week for me to see an article about her passing!

I DID IT!!

I'm a triathlete! This morning I completed my first triathlon, Tri for the Cure, A Women's Triathlon at Cherry Creek Reservoir. Eric volunteered as a safety boater with his kayak, as he has been doing for 5 years.



Let me start by saying that I couldn't have asked for better weather. It was cloudy all morning, but never rained. So it was cool, but dry! Unbelievable! YAY!

I almost cried when I saw the encouraging notes Eric had taped to the crossbar on my bike. I felt so special!! That totally made my day. Unfortunately, the next thing I saw was my front tire, completely flat. We had arrived in enough time that I was able to locate another tube and get the tire fixed before the race began.

SWIM (1/2 mile): In my training, the swim was my easiest event, but in the race it was my hardest. The open water itself didn't bother me, but there were just so many people in it!! Every time I started to get into a rhythm, I'd kick someone or they'd kick me, or I'd get a mouthful of water. I can't say I enjoyed this portion of the race, except for the part where I got to say hi to Eric who was out there in his kayak. (Perception: My swim time was actually just as good as my best time in the pool, but it sure felt longer!)

BIKE (12.4 miles): The bike portion ended up being my strongest event. Unlike in the water, here I was passing nearly everyone and feeling great! That is, until I got my second flat tire! This time the rear tire was flat. (I've been training on this bike for two weeks without a flat, and then two on the big day!) Earlier, about halfway through the course, I'd encountered another lady with a flat and, thinking I'd had my flat for the day, I gave her my repair kit and went on. My tire went out with roughly two miles to go. Another biker stopped to let me use her repair kit to put some air in the tire (I didn't feel like sitting there and taking the thing apart to find and patch the hole), but the air kept getting back out almost as fast as it went in. So, I slowed myself down significantly and rode it the rest of the way on the flat tire. But I'd lost 6 or 7 minutes just working with the repair kit, and who knows how many more by riding slowly the rest of the way. (Earlier, I'd maxed out at 28.6 mph, my fastest ever, on a downhill, of course.) This was really disappointing, but thank God I was nearly done with the bike portion anyhow.

RUN (3.1 miles): I've found a theme song for the run portion. You remember that song from The Music Man, "Pick a little, talk a little?" Well, the running song goes like this, "Run a little, walk a little, run a little, walk a little, drink, drink, drink, drink!" The entire first half of the run was steeply uphill. But, of course, that means that the 2nd half was completely downhill. And it's the only time all year that pedestrians are allowed on Cherry Creek Dam Road. :-)

I'll never forget passing that FINISH banner, and seeing my Eric standing right there at the finish line waiting for me. It was among the most difficult physical challenges I have ever faced - right up there with climbing the top 2000 feet of Mount Evans last summer.

Despite the flat tire, I did improve my ranking during the bike portion, and improved it even more in the run (which surprised me). I finished with a time of 2:13:13. This is even better than I expected to do without the setbacks on the bike course, so I'm really pleased.

Fotojack.com took pictures at the event, inc luding the finish line and some other strategic spots along the course. They haven't had time to upload all those photos yet, but I will try to share them with you when they become available.

For those who didn't know or don't remember, I ran in honor of my stepmom, Karen Veigel, who kicked breast cancer in the pants in April. The Tri for the Cure triathlon raised over $100,000 this year for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Thank you so much to everyone for your encouragement and for believing I could do it! You all made the experience even more special for me. :-)

13 hours to go....slight setback

I think I've approached both dieting and training for this triathlon very intelligently. I was careful not to overdo things, I consulted professionals, I listened to my body. And I haven't had even the tiniest stomach cramp until this evening.

The training website for the Tri for the Cure triathlon recommended nothing more than a 30-minute workout the day before the race (which is today). So, this afternoon I took a 30 minute bike ride and then tried to run around the block (less than a 1/4 mile) just to see what it would feel like to go straight from the biking into the running. And I immediately had stomach cramps - big ones. So, I'm no idiot - I stopped running and walked the rest of the way. I took my shower and prepared to eat dinner.

The day before a big race, one is supposed to eat their last substantial meal no less than 12-14 hours before the race starts, so I needed to be done eating by 7pm. I've been drinking watered down gatorade throughout the day and eating regular foods in small amounts to ease digestion. But no more than 2 bites into my dinner, without any warning whatsoever, my digestive system went into reverse. So, there I was, 14 hours before my start time with a completely empty stomach.

I only felt sick for about 30 seconds beforehand, and other than being slightly dizzy, I haven't felt sick since. And I just finished a big bowl of chicken noodle soup. So far, so good. All this is great. It means I'm probably just nervous or something stupid like that, rather than actually sick, which would just be unfair. Still, I could have lived without the drama.

If I could only read ahead and see what tomorrow's blog post would look like! But I suppose that takes the fun out of it, huh?

Back in the saddle again!

Yep, feeling better every day, and I got back on my bike this evening for some exercise. I rode the 6.8 miles from my house to my mom's house along the bike paths in Aurora, arriving just after dark. (Eric picked me up so I didn't have to ride home after dark.) It was a beautiful ride and it was nice to be back on the bike again. Riding on those paths is very relaxing, whereas riding along the streets is just stressful. And I am confident again that I can handle the triathlon on Sunday. I know it's going to be grueling, but somehow I'm still looking forward to it.

And tonight I saw another rainbow! This is the third day in a row I've seen a rainbow! And I really love rainbows - I am always in awe of them. Mankind has learned how to control so many things in the world, but he still cannot tell the sun when to rise and set, and he can't paint the sky with vibrant rainbows whenever he wants. We still depend on God for at least that much. I especially appreciate those things God gives me that the world simply can't.

Miscellaneous catching up,

Gosh, I can't believe it's August already! Where did my summer go?

Mom gets back from her three-week vacation in Bali today. I think I will be more relaxed overall knowing she's back in the USA and out of the tsunami zone.

Start my new summer job with Parade of Homes today. Went through three training classes in July, but this is my first day actually working on-site. I'm working in the ticket trailer, which makes me happy. It should be faster paced than being a hostess, which is what I did last year. Also gets me off my feet. This is a short term thing to bring in some extra $$ for school while things are slower in the studio. The parade only runs for a month anyway, so it's really an ideal situation for me. There are some really neat homes in the show this year - worth seeing if you're into that sort of thing.

The triathlon is now only five days away, and unfortunately my training has come to a halt. Some of you know that eight years ago I was finally diagnosed with neurocardiogenic syncope. I treat it primarily with medication and haven't had much trouble with it at all in the last four years. For some unknown reason, it has chosen this week for a minor relapse, so I'm lying low and hoping that it doesn't interfere with my race on Sunday morning.

Other than that, it's business as usual. I'm still studying for my advisory exams in music theory, music history and music education, but I've accepted the fact that I don't have the time to devote to studying that would be required to ace the exams after being out of school for 7 years. The music theory is coming back quickly and easily so I'm planning to get through all of that material and do really well on that test. Music history I have a pretty good grasp on overall, but these kinds of tests usually involve memorizing a lot of names, dates and terminology, whereas music theory is more of a how-to sort of thing that comes back to me kind of like riding a bike. Music education? Who am I trying to fool? I've never taken a music ed course in my life. I'll do my best and take whatever "remedial" courses I need in order to catch up.

School starts on the 28th, the day after my 10-year high school reunion. And believe it or not, I need to study for that, too! I've been remembering events from high school and have been surprised at how many names I can't remember right away. It would be embarrassing not to remember someone's name at the reunion!