Newest Adventure

Just in case I thought I didn't have enough going on, I am the new Acting Director of the Prairie Winds Chorus of Sweet Adelines International. Our previous director quit about a month ago. The Chorus Board met and offered me the opportunity to serve the chorus as the director. I have been one of four Assistant Directors in Prairie Winds, and none of the other three were even remotely interested. I have almost completed the Director Certification Program with Sweet Adelines and was hoping to direct SOME DAY! Well, some day is now! I am having a blast. The good news is this job does not really take much more time out of my schedule than all the other chorus jobs I was doing before. Thankfully, those jobs have gone to other willing victims...uh, volunteers. Actually I have a terrific Music Team who have all been very supportive. I appreciate each of them and admire their willingness to share their talents and time!

Sadly, my quartet, Star Struck, has dissolved. Jennifer, the bass, moved to Houston back in February. She returned to Amarillo for several rehearsals before contest in March, but had to stop doing that after contest. Kim, Julie and I looked for a replacement, but one was not to be found.

On a happier note, I now sing in Crossfire Quartet. A couple of the girls in Prairie Winds had been singing together in a quartet, which broke up around May. They wanted to continue singing, as did I, and we got a brand new tenor in the chorus...so...we formed a new quartet. We have our "official audition" before the Music Team and Director's Resource Team on Monday. Richard has all ready done his thing and has us a couple of cute outfits to wear. (He is so good!)

The garden did make a comeback. We have enjoyed several more vegetables. I will try to add a photo of my very cute pumpkins that grew in the garden.

Last weekend we made a very QUICK trip to South Texas. The church where Richard grew up and learned how to lead singing had a Friends and Family Day and invited him to return and lead the singing. He was honored to do so. We made it to Alice in time for lunch with Richard's parents, Doyle and Ida Mae, his sister and her husband, Beverly and David, and his brother and his wife, James and Sue. We enjoyed a lovely meal together and a great afternoon of visiting. For dinner, we went to Odem Railroad Seafood Station. The fried fish, shrimp, onion rings, and avocado salad are AMAZING. I ate until I thought I would pop! Everything was so good. We headed home Sunday after worship and lunch. We stopped for a little while at the outlet mall in San Marcos, which put us home a little later than we intended!

This coming weekend we are going to Kansas City, MO. I have a cousin getting married there. She is the 9th of 10 cousins on my mom's side to get married. I have only missed one of the weddings (sorry about that Paige. I still hate that we couldn't make it!) Sure am sorry about the cousins that won't be able to be there, but looking forward to seeing the ones who will!

Let's see, looking at the October schedule, it looks pretty busy as well. In the middle of the month, I will be going to Nashville, TN for the Sweet Adelines International Convention and Contest. I am so excited. I have never attended an International Conventions purely as a spectator. The two other times I went, I was there as a competitor. I am looking forward to hearing some fantastic barbershop!

Enjoy fall wherever you are. It seems like such a short season on the way to winter.

Garden Update

Good news! After pulling weeds last night, we were able to harvest quite a bit from the garden. We picked several yellow and yellow-crook neck squash, a couple of baseball bat sized zucchini (sheesh!), several cucumbers that had grown too big to make pickles, some okra, some cherry tomatoes, and our very FIRST watermelon. We cut into the watermelon and enjoyed a big piece. Even though the rind was still pretty thick, it sure was sweet! Richard and I agreed it would have been cheaper to just buy a watermelon...but not near the adventure!

There were lots of little squash on the plants, so I think they will survive! Hooray! We have given away most of what we picked previously, so it will be fun to have some more. Our elderly neighbor ladies have sure enjoyed it. If you have a spectacular squash recipe, please feel free to share it.

Our garden and other summer stuff

Don't have any pictures to post this time. I waited too long to take any, and now you wouldn't want to see it! We have been growing the most beautiful vegetable garden. It is my VERY FIRST garden ever! The whole thing is about 32 feet by 21 feet. Unfortunately, last Saturday night we had a bad hailstorm. It did quite a bit of damage in the garden. We had six rows and were growing several vegetables:

lettuce - which didn't really come up at all, even after we re-planted it
spinach - came up great and I have been enjoying it on my sandwiches lately. Hoping to make a salad soon.
4 cherry tomato plants - enjoying lots of cherry tomatoes
4 Roma tomato plants - just a few so far
4 Beefsteak tomato plants - just starting to get a few fruits
2 watermelon plants - I knew watermelons grow on vines. I just had no idea how long and happy those vines get! YIKES! Now there are hardly any leaves or vines because of the hail. We do have a few watermelons growing. Hope they survive!
(Side note: I had a friend offer me some watermelon seeds when he found out we were going to plant a garden. He told me when the watermelons grow, there are only seeds on ONE side. I was so impressed. I asked, "Really?!?" And he replied, "Yea, on the inside.")
2 cantaloupe plants - same thing with cantaloupe vines. Those vines really like to stretch out.
8 broccoli plants - harvested some great broccoli. Ate some and froze some. I had never seen broccoli grow. Very interesting!
2 jalapeno plants - these have produced a couple of very small peppers. The peppers were so small, I didn't really notice them until they turned bright red. How do you spell H-O-T?
2 bell pepper plants - 1 died and the other has made the smallest bell peppers I have ever seen.
some pumpkin seeds - on which, the vines are more prolific than watermelon and the leaves are HUGE. However, there are a couple of pumpkins growing under there.
about 50 running feet of squash in 3 varieties, zucchini, yellow, and yellow crook-neck - (this being our first time, we really did not understand how much squash those plants will produce) We have harvested quite a lot of squash and given most of it away. The hail storm broke almost every leaf stem, so I don't know if the plants will recover or not. VERY SAD! I have picked some very large zucchini (picture small baseball bats) because I was picking in the evening at dusk and was not seeing them until they were gigantic. A friend told me they are great shredded up and used in zucchini bread.
10 feet of pickling cucumbers - the hail did a number on them as well
10 feet of okra - I think the okra was close enough to the fence that it will be ok.

So, I need to get back out there tonight and pull weeds. They LOVE all the rain we have had lately. Yesterday it rained gently and steadily for about 8 hours. I guess if the garden has a chance at coming back, that gentle, soaking rain was good for it.

Aleisha has been enjoying her summer. She spent a week at the ranch with her Grammie, Grandy, Aunt Carla and her twin girls, Emma and Ella, and Aunt Clora Ann and Uncle Dennis (my aunt and uncle). She rode 4-wheelers, did some needlepoint and entertained the twins. Each week she is doing some chores to help out around the house.

Richard is enjoying his new job as the Executive Salesperson for Accolade Home Care out of Morton. We are pleased to report we are selling our fundraising company to a very capable and talented young man. We will help him book several schools for the fall and get him going.

I am still enjoying working as a secretary/bookkeeper for Blackwater Agriculture Association in Muleshoe. The hardest thing about it is working during the summer. This is the first summer in 10 years I have had to work. Summer off...paycheck? Summer off...paycheck? Paycheck!!!

In June, I went to Summer Music Camp for Sweet Adelines. It was a great camp, and of course I learned a lot. I have taken on the job of Regional Communications Coordinator. My job includes publishing the regional roster (choruses and contact information for chorus officers), keeping the regional web site up to date (I have a web master who makes the changes I request), regional elections, and sending out information to/from choruses and International headquarters as needed.

Just in case I thought that wasn't enough to keep me busy with my full-time job, I also accepted the jobs of Assistant Director (1 of 4) of Prairie Winds Chorus, Assistant Lead Section Leader for Prairie Winds Chorus, and Costume Chairperson for Prairie Winds Chorus. I said yes to each of these things far enough apart from each other that I really didn't consider what else I had all ready said yes to. Dumb, dumb, dumb!

Other than staying really busy, we are enjoying the summer! Hope you are too!

...the city that never sleeps...

Hello. I can't believe the last time I wrote was in November. Of course we have been busy since then...isn't everyone?

Over Valentine's weekend, I got to mark off one of the things on my Bucket List (which is still not complete and probably never will be)! I sang in Carnegie Hall. What an incredible experience! The Prairie Winds Chorus received an invitation about a year ago to travel to New York City and sing at Carnegie Hall. We decided to participate in this extraordinary opportunity and began raising funds. At that time, February 2009 seemed forever far away. Suddenly, it got here!

Friday, Feb. 13 - flew from Lubbock to Dallas to New York. Our hotel, the Grand Hyatt, is connected to Grand Central Station. It is beautiful and looks just like it does on TV and in the movies. Sara Yancey's husband paid for 4 of us to receive facials that evening as his Valentine gift to her. Thanks Charles!

Saturday, Feb. 14 - Got up bright and early to go on the Downtown Loop Gray Line Bus Tour. (Side note: If you are ever traveling and have the opportunity to use the Gray Line "hop-on/hop-off" tours, I highly recommend them. Included in the price of your ticket is a seat on the bus, a tour guide, and several stops along the way. As the name implies, when you are ready to see something, you "hop-off" the bus and stay as long as you like. When you are ready to continue, hop-on another bus and ride until you are ready to hop-off again.) We started our tour quite early, and many places were not open yet. We got off the bus and looked at Ground Zero. There was not very much to see, as the area is fenced all the way around, and they are starting to build.

Looking into the "hole" from the American Express Building across the street.

We walked from there to Battery Park, where we looked out and saw the Statue of Liberty. The sun was shining brightly, and it looked like the top of the torch was aflame.

The Statue of Liberty (top). Connie and the Statue of Liberty (bottom) just over my right shoulder.

From Battery Park, we rode the Gray Line around to the East River and South Side Seaport for lunch where we saw the Brooklyn Bridge (below). After lunch we went to the Gershwin Theater for "Wicked" (Broadway musical) which was incredible! If you ever have the opportunity to see it...DO IT! I like "The Wizard of Oz", but it always seemed strange to me and didn't make much sense. Well, after seeing "Wicked", the story makes every so much more sense. I loved it!

That evening we had a rehearsal with the 6 other choruses that were there to sing at Carnegie Hall, had dinner at Grand Central Station, and rode the Subway back to Times Square to look around and do a little souvenir shopping. We were looking for one shop in particular, but alas, we could not find it, even after walking several blocks.

Sunday, Feb. 15 - Morning rehearsal for just our chorus. Some of us gathered for a worship service. I walked with a group of friends to Tiffany's to see the Tiffany diamond. WOW! 128.5 carat yellow cushion cut diamond. Very brilliant! We had lunch at Trump Grill in Trump Tower and then hurried to Carnegie Hall for the first 4 chorus performances.

Carnegie Hall and marquee poster announcing our performance

After the performance, a couple of friends and I walked to Central Park It was beautiful, even though everything is brown and dry. I would love to see it in the spring when it is green and there are leaves on the trees.

We walked back to Times Square and saw the enormous billboards and the ball that fell on New Year's Eve.

From there we walked to City Lobster, which took us a while to find, where we met several friends for dinner. Restaurant Week had been extended, so we were able to eat a 3 course meal for about $35, plus tax and tip, instead of $75-100 for the same meal, which was EXCELLENT!

Monday, Feb. 16 - Lisa and I went to the top of the Empire State Building. Even though it was very cold and windy, the view was breathtaking! I could not get over the number of windows in the buildings around us.

View of Brooklyn across the East River

(We finally found the souvenir shop we had looked for on Saturday. It was close to the Empire State Building, not Times Square.) We had lunch in Grand Central Station, where some of our members encountered Jillian, from TVs The Biggest Loser. She informed them of the nutritional value, or lack thereof, of their lunches. While I did not see her, I heard she was just a prickly in person as she is on TV.

Soon it was time to board buses leaving for Carnegie Hall and our rehearsal there. It was more beautiful than I could imagine. Between rehearsal and preparing for the show, we went down the street and ate at Carnegie Deli.

The LARGEST sandwich I have ever seen!

The performance on the Carnegie Hall stage was incredible. The house lights were up enough for us to see the audience, which lends itself to a special connection that can be difficult to establish when the spotlights are really bright. At the end of the concert, the 3 choruses from Monday night, along with the 4 choruses from Sunday afternoon, all sang together (about 350 singers in all) under the direction of the Conductor-in-Residence at Carnegie Hall. The 4 choruses from Sunday were not on the stage, but we in the the two balcony levels that start at one side of the stage, go around the back of the auditorium, and come back around to the other side of the stage. At the end of the performance, we received a standing ovation. A STANDING OVATION in Carnegie Hall!! I can now cross that off my "Bucket List"!

To round out a wonderful performance, day, and trip, we rode the buses down to the pier where we boarded a ship for a lovely dinner cruise out to see the Statue of Liberty. The captain stopped the ship directly in front of her, and she was beautiful! (The photos I took there were terrible!)

Tuesday, Feb. 17 - We traveled back to Lubbock. When we arrived, several people in our group said, "Look, you can see the sky!" I said, "You could see the sky in New York, you just had to look straight UP!"

It was an amazing trip. I fully intend to return to New York and spend more time seeing and doing. If you would like to see more pictures, visit http://photos.walmart.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=45036774/a=18911582/t_=18911582 where all of the pictures from the trip are uploaded. Well, thanks for reading!

The next big step is Region 25 competition, which takes place in Richardson, TX, at the Eisemann Center March 27-28. Very exciting!

Just a quick update!

I kept thinking for several weeks now, that I would catch everyone up...but no time! Anyway, no time like the present. (I wanted to add pictures, too, but will have to do that later.) Of course, we have been very busy, just like everyone else we know. Back in October, our very precious friend (and Aleisha's namesake) Leisha Norwood came to Sudan to visit with her son, Andrew, who is in the mission field in Mexico. Andrew was back in Lubbock for a visit and came out to Sudan to visit the church there. He was part of the AIM group we had in Sudan last fall. We had a lovely visit! One of those friends you can be apart from, but when you are back together, it is like you have never been apart.

Halloween was a fun time. Aleisha was the cutest half-angel, half-devil you have ever seen! (Thanks, Sandra, for making her costume!) We went to the community fall festival the Saturday before Halloween. Aleisha had a great time roping calf dummies, throwing footballs, playing redneck golf, and doing the cake walk. Too bad we didn't come home with a cake! (Really not! Don't need any ADDITIONAL calories around this house!)

Then on Halloween, Richard and Aleisha went to Amarillo to set up some of our inflatable games for Comanche Trail church of Christ. They have a wonderfal fall festival every year. Aleisha got to see her pre-school teacher, Ms. Sally Lynch, who she still loves to pieces. She also got to see cousins, Ella and Emma, who were very cutie-patootie cowgirls.

You may, or may NOT, be wondering why I did not go with them to Amarillo for Halloween. Well, on Oct. 22, I started a new job. Fundraising is great, but there is just not enough of it this year to make ends meet. So...I am the new bookkeeper for Blackwater Agricultural Association in Muleshoe, TX. It is a private co-op that sells chemicals, fertilizers, fuel, and several other things. The bad news is I came into the HUGEST (don't even care if I just made up that word!) mess you have ever seen. The good news is the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, the accountant has the books to do an audit, and I am REALLY enjoying what I am doing! Being a very detail oriented person comes in handy when dealing with numbers, money, bills, and accounts. Since Oct. 31 was the last day of the fiscal year, I needed to work late and get several things finished, which I did.

As many of you know, working OUTSIDE the home is quite different than working AT home. I actually like both. When you are gone all day, no laundry gets done, no dishes get washed, mail piles up, and nothing that was out that morning has magically put itself away! Drat! Those things could be done around phone calls and other work, sometimes, when I worked at home. If not, though, I ran past it muttering that I SHOULD do something about it. The good part of working OUTSIDE the home is, I don't have to look at that stuff all day long!

Lots of fun stuff going on...and only 44 days until Christmas! YIKES!!!

A Funny Thing Happened...

Last Sunday morning, a very sweet little boy at church wanted to sit with us. Colby just turned 3 and is quite the heartbreaker! He runs up to you with his arms outstreched for a great big hug. Well, he was behaving beautifully while we were singing. All of a sudden, he stuck his fingers in his ears. Now, you must understand, Richard and I believe we are pretty OK singers. It was quite shocking to have our small charge put his fingers in his ears and begin "singing" very loudly. We got so tickled. And you know, it is way worse when you are not supposed to be laughing! This was hilarious! We could not sing because every time we opened our mouths...just more laughter. Pretty soon, the man behind us was not able to sing for laughing. Not long after, the chuckling had rippled its way through the auditorium, however most of the people did not really know why they were laughing. They were laughing because we were laughing. There were a couple of people who could actually see Colby, and really thought this was funny. They know us and know we think we are pretty OK singers, which made it even funnier!

After the service ended, we explained what had happened and apologized to the song leader. He could not see Colby, but knew SOMETHING was going on. We assured him the laughter had NOTHING to do with him!

Have a wonderful day!

First Day of School (a little late)

Here is a picture of Aleisha's first day of school! (It only happened about 4 weeks ago!) This was the 1st day of 4th grade. I can't believe how big she is. So smart. She is holding the VERY EXCITING "zipper binder." They get to carry it in 4th grade for paper, pencils, pens, etc. Aleisha was thrilled with this particular school supply. She is like me in that way, as she loves all kinds of school supplies. We both love pens, paper, folders, scissors, etc.

We are staying busy. I know you are surprised by that. Fall is a busy time for the fundraising business. I have also been substitute teaching at the school here to make some extra money. We are also busy with church activities (as AIM coordinators, Bible class teachers, and Richard leads singing sometimes) and singing activities (chorus and quartet rehearsals). However, we love it or we wouldn't do it!

Our annual chorus show went well overall. Just before taking the stage to begin the show, we were informed that one of our members had been killed in a car accident on her way to the show. We were able to delay the start of the show for about 15 minutes for the chorus members to try and get themselves together. The show turned out great and was very fun! We missed, and still miss, Cindy Blessen. She was a very precious person and a beautiful Christian lady!

I have been sick this week with bronchitis, but am starting to feel better. Man, that will really take it out of you!

Hope you are all well and happy!