Weekend Update
This weekend has been nice, but very "practical", so far. I guess that's a good thing.
Yesterday, after getting home from work, James and I "harvested" our herb garden and pepper plant. We'd discovered weeks ago that the peppers were just too hot to eat -- no matter what. So, James gave away about seven or eight of those babies to his classmates. I tied the sage, basil, oregano, and parsley into bunches and hung them to dry. It was nice to be able to have a little garden, this spring and summer. I tried a few times, in my last apartment, but there just wasn't enough sunlight in there -- and where the was enough sunlight, Amanda's cat (Zachary) was able to terrorize the plants until they gave up their will to live.
So, uprooting all that stuff and cleaning off the back stoop made the approach of autumn seem so much more real. Leaves are starting to change and I'm hoping that the weather will stay nice for a while. I read that sunny days and cool nights make for a wider and more vibrantly colored autumn. Hopefully we'll have those conditions, but -- so far -- there seem to be a few too many overcast days. Oh well.
I went to NU's Regenstein Hall, today, to use their practice rooms. I really like their setup, there. There are sooo many rooms -- and they're all like the ones downstairs in Pottle -- none of those vacuum chambers. I always hated practicing oboe in there... my ears kept popping and I could hear every single breath that I gasped between eighth rests. I really enjoyed, too, the view from my practice room. The window opened out over the beach and then Lake Michigan. A thunderstorm rolled through and made the window appear as though it were a study in the color of blue. The sky was differing in shades from grayish blue to nearly royal blue and then the horizon met the sky with a "true" blue and then aqua. It was quite serene.
Then, for the second time, I went to the Noyes Street Barber Shop. I was always afraid to go to a barber. Aside from being terrified by Sweeney Todd, I also thought that they probably only knew how to do hair just a few ways. Well, after getting my hair weed-wacked at nearly every Hair Cuttery, Great Clips, and other chain places for the past year and a half, I decided that it couldn't be WORSE than that. They actually do a great job... and they're so precise it's almost scary. The chairs are even comfortable. You walk in, though, and it's like stepping back in time. You hear Bing Crosby singing "Small Fry" followed by Ella Fitzgerald with "Like Some Other Men Do". They wear white lab coats and everything seems so sterile in there. I'm just impressed by the whole thing. Their hands all move the same way... it's very "musical" in a way, like watching a harpist or a pianist at work. And you don't have to go on and on describing how you want your hair done or tell them things they should watch out for that are "different" about your hair -- they already know (unlike that Korean chick who sheared my head back in July at Great Clips). "Do your heah awways do dis?" she asked. (rolling my eyes). Anyways, it's good to have a haircut! I was starting to look like a cross between Elvis and Beethoven.
The "choir" at my church (I put it in quotes because the "choir" has 4 people in it) are performing in the service, tomorrow. I'm a little nervous for them, but I'm sure they'll do fine. The pastor selected the piece and it's in unison, so there won't be any train wrecks unless someone locks their knees and just passes out right there. So, I guess it's pretty safe! :-D
I'm really excited to be heading to Nicholas' wedding on Thursday. I'm looking forward to the drive, too -- even though it's going to be a doozy. We're stopping off in Ohio to spend the night and visit with James' mother and sister (and his sister's giving us two TVs and his mom is giving us a microwave). Then, we'll be off on the 10hr drive to Winder, GA. I'm hoping that the music goes really well. I've never written music quite like this before... so it's kinda scary. I've had to really improve my piano skills in order to play this.
Well, I guess that's all that's been going on. Hope everyone's weekend is going well.