Wow.  Where has the month gone?  Jessica went off to visit Switzerland and Spain.  She spent several days in Geneva, Switzerland and 2 weeks in Alicante, Spain.  She had a great time.  She and MaryEllen had a lot of fun and have stories to tell.  She got to see her grandparents and Aunt and Uncle.  It was great for her.

 

Tom and I spent some time at the beach.  We sat on the beach, rode bikes, put together a monster jig saw puzzle and hung out with friends at the Shark.  The whole family was there so it was nice to see everyone.  It was a bit odd without Jessica but she's growing up so we gotta deal!  The weather was "so so" but it was nice to get away.  The winds were so high that the fireworks were postponed for a day. 

 

Now, Jessica is home and getting ready to head off to camp.  She is going to a two week residential musical theatre camp in Baltimore.  She went last year, too, so she is excited to see all of her friends.  This year they are performing the musical "Working".  Auditions are Saturday night.  They arrive at 2 p.m. Sat.  She really looks forward to this camp all year long.

 

Right now, she is trying to cram a week's worth of stuff into two days!  Last night, she wanted "american food" so we hit Glory Days in Lorton for some mozzerella sticks and mac and cheese (that's what SHE had).  Today, she is off seeing the new "Harry Potter" movie with MaryEllen.  Tomorrow, it's off to the orthodontist, see "Hairspray" at the movies, and pick up the new Harry Potter book at midnight.  Normally, we wouldn't do the "midnight" thing but she wants to take the book to camp. 

 

Tom and I are planning another long weekend at the beach.  He'll need it.  He's been busy preparing congresssional testimony and is exhausted.  The hearing is Tuesday so things will get better.  I'll complete the sewing class I've been taking on Tuesday.  We'll learn zippers which is one thing I really wanted to learn (I know, I need a life....).

 

Just wanted to catch everyone up on what's going on!

 

 

At long last!  Summer is here.  No more tutoring for the summer!  All my "kids" passed their classes!  Yippee!

 

Jessica is getting ready to head to Spain on Friday (6/29).  She is going to Alicante to visit her Grandparents.  I've looked at the city on the internet and it looks lovely.  She is taking a girl friend with her (as well as her Dad, Stepmom and baby brother, Alex).  They should have a nice visit.  They are also making a brief stop in Geneva, Switzerland on the way there and on the way back to visit Corinne's parents.  Jessica has never been to Switzerland, one of the few European countries she's missed.  She has been to England, Spain, Greece (twice), Italy, and France so far.  I don't think I missed any. 

 

She is relieved to have Freshman year behind her, especially Biology, which was NOT her subject.  She ended up with a B in Spanish 2.  Hooray!  The teacher NEVER gives A's and only a few B's.  Jessica was VERY pleased.  Maybe she can practice her Spanish in Spain to get ready for Spanish 3.  This is the final year of her language requirement so she's happy.  

 

Tom and I are off to the beach once we get Jessica underway.  Mom and the rest of the clan will be down for our annual Family vacation.  It will be strange not to have Jessica along.  This is the first vacation she's missed.  However, she has her Summer Stock camp on July 22-Aug 3 and Marching Band Camp starts Aug 13 so the Spain trip had to be now.  What a busy bee she is.

 

I'm looking forward to a little "down time" at the beach.  I'm taking books, knitting, dvds to watch and a jigsaw puzzle or two (as well as a bottle or two of vino!).  Very quiet.  We hope to catch a few movies.  We saw "1408" last night - very Stephen King.  I want to see "Ocean's 13". 

 

Guess that's all for now.  Prayers for safe travels!

 

 

 

 

Last week, I bought myself a brand new hybrid bicycle.  I got a Trek 7100, which was a good bike that didn't require me to get a second mortgage.  A hybrid was definitely the way to go for me since I wanted a few things:  1)  a bigger seat, 2) a basket for my "stuff", 3) enough gears to get up hills and 4 ) Flat handle bars; but I didn't need 1) A titanium frame (easier to take a few pounds off me than pay for a few less pounds on the bike), 2) to ride all crouched over 3) to go really fast.  I also wanted it to have a bit of "style".

 

I got my bike, a basket, a new matching helmet (of course) and a bike lock.  I was ready to ride.  Only problem, it was about 100 degrees on Friday.  I had to wait until 10 p.m. to go for a ride. 

 

Yesterday, I rode to the bank and to my meeting at school.  Today, I rode to the post office to mail a letter.  I'm trying to replace the car on at least one errand a day and ride a minimum of 30 minutes. 

 

I noticed today as I was pedaling around Kingstowne, taking the scenic route (and not just trying to avoid hills!), that on a bike you take the long way home!

 

 

 

 

 

Why do "short" weeks always seem longer????  I guess it's all in our heads.

 

First things first, the big news.  Jessica won the "Most Promising Newcomer" at the Thespian End of Year Banquet last night.  She was surprised, honored and excited.  It means a lot to her since she was voted for by her peers.  The Banquet was lovely and the kids looked great (party dresses for the girls and suits for the boys) and were incredibly well behaved.  I've been at receptions with adults that behaved much worse.  They were respectful, quiet and well mannered.  It restored my faith in teenagers!  (I lose it every once in a while with my tutoring kids!!!)

 

My life is a bit crazy.  Tutoring High School kids through SOLs (Standard of Learning Tests, although whoever made the acronym had a sense of humor) and Final Exams is no picnic.  They are all moving their appointments and I'm getting REALLY tired of SOL review packets.  The problem with the packets is they are made up of questions that were "thrown out" of the tests for being either poorly worded or containing errors.  Great practice, huh?  Geez.  Who's idea was "No Child Left Behind"????  Don't get me started.....

 

Anyway, the last day of school is June 18th.  11 more days!  More importantly, 11 more mornings to drag a teenager out of bed to be at school by 7 a.m.!  That's the worse part of the day.

 

Enough grumbling.  The weather has finally turned to summer.  We are headed back to the beach this weekend to finish up the work from last weekend.  We, hopefully, will get a little beach time and Tom hopes to play some golf.  We could use a little R&R.

 

Not a lot else to add.  BTW, I did fix my commenting feature (at least I think I did) so feel free to comment!

 

 

After a long weekend at the beach with warm temperatures, I feel like summer is finally here!  I guess we just skipped spring.

 

Our Memorial Day included a visit to Ocean City, MD.  We had a great time.  It's one of the few times Jessica will be able to go with us this summer.  She is off to Spain to see her Grandparents for 2 and a half weeks in July.  After that, she comes home for 3-4 days and is off to her Summer Stock Theatre camp for 2 weeks.  It will be "different" for me.  I have a lot of projects to take care of during that part of the summer.  Let's see how much I get done!

 

We had fun working around the condo, doing those chores necessary to "open up" for the season.  The family was all down and we celebrated my Brother-In-Law's 50th Birthday at "The Shark".  It was an amazing dinner and we all had a great time.  Tom and I bought new "beach bikes" and rode them around.  We got an amazing deal on the bikes  -- we got both for under $200.  They don't have gears, but hey, it's flat there.  Jessica already had a bike down there.  We walked on the beach and couldn't believe that folks were swimming.  The water HAD to be 50 degrees.

 

The BIG news is the Jessica was chosen for the Hayfield Chorale.  She was soooo excited because she really didn't expect to be chosen.  The auditions were grueling.  She made it through as one of the 7 Sopranos in the ensemble.  They chose 3 new Sopranos.  We are proud of her.  It's a big honor for a rising sophomore to be chosen.  She is stiill floating.  I'm working with the guidance counselor to get her classes worked out.

 

There are chores to be done before my tutoring students arrive.  Enjoy the day!

 

 

We became the proud owner of a brand, spanking new Ford Edge yesterday.  I have hated the van for years - it has a rough ride and drives like a long bed pickup truck, so I was happy to oblige when Tom decided he wanted to go look at the new Ford Edge. 

 

We called up my sister, who very happily allowed us to drive one.  It is sooooo smooth and quiet.  It has a double sun roof, navigation system, leather interior, heated seats and dual climate control - my side can be 80 and his can be 65!!!  We have never treated ourselves to a car like this!  I adore my Focus and our van was adequate, but this is a real treat!

 

We took it out for a ride last night and played with all the gadgets.  We are very excited.

 

Now, if I can just get Tom to quit punching EVERYWHERE we go into the Navigation system.......

 

Today is "Preakness Day".  After growing up in Baltimore and going to the in-field for years, I get a bit nostalgic.  I never bet on the races, but I sure enjoyed the fun party atmosphere!  In fact, I don't recall even seeing a horse all those years!  It looks like "Street Sense" is the favorite, but don't count out "Hard Spun".  I'll be watching the race!

 

 

 

 

Wow.  It's Finally Friday.

 

Today was busy.  I worked at Weight Watchers this morning, filling in for a friend.  We were busy!  76 members.

 

After that, me and the GFs hung out for lunch.  I live for Friday lunches.  They are my anchor! 
We went to Mike's American Grill and had great soup and salads, as well as good talks and good times.

 

Jessica is excited.   She was called back for "Chorale"!  That is amazing since she is only a rising sophomore!  We are so happy for her.  Even if she doesn't make the ensemble, this was quite an accomplishment.  She is going to a color guard info meeting on Monday.  She is excited about being part of the Marching Band Color Guard.  A good week, all in all.  Call backs for Chorale are Thusday.  It is an exercise in "blending",  which Jessica is very comfortable in doing.

 

Jessica is at Ardonna's Sweet Sixteen Party tonight.  We will pick her and her pals up around 11 p.m.   We bought a new Ford Edge today.  It is very cool!

 

Enjoy your weekend.

 

 

The show was AMAZING.  The kids did great and everyone that I spoke to really enjoyed the show.  The costumes and hair looked good and the dance numbers were energized and fun.   The storyline was also really cute.  Saturday night was the last erformance and after striking the set, I think everyone was exhausted.  They did the whole show from Audition to Opening Night in just 6 weeks.  It was well worth all the effort.

 

Today I went back to my knitting group in a bit of a funk.  The cotton stria tee is in a place where it requires concentration and none of my winter projects feels appealing when it's 80 degrees out.  After chatting with Perri and Penny, I decided to make the old standby "Simply Beautiful Tee" in Poppy.  I'm making it on size 11's so it will go fast and be really nice and soft.  I'm using Color 12, which is light to medium blues with white.  It is very textured and will be fun.  It will also go FAST.  I need a quick WIN right now.  I did my gauge (good girl!) and have about 2 inches done in just about an hour.  I'll hopefully get some knitting time this afternoon.

 

As for "Idol", I hope it comes down to Blake and Jordan.  I just can't get past the fact that Melinda is a pro.  She also just feels "too old" for me.  I love Blake and he does the most contemporary songs.  It's hard to say at this point who will go.

 

I'm also getting excited for the "Grey's Anatomy" season finale this Thursday!

 

Things are quiet here.  Jessica has an audition for the "Hayfield Chorale" tonight.  The audition piece is very hard and must be sung acapella.  Sophomores hardly ever make the ensemble but it's good audition experience.  If she gets in, she will most likely have to take Algebra II online so she can keep both Drama and Chorus in her schedule.  I wish she could drop Spanish but she needs 3 years of a language.  She is going to be a fine arts major in college so fine arts electives what's important to her.  Good thing her mom is a Math Tutor!!!

 

This is basically "catch up" week.  Lots of chores, errands, etc.

 

I think I'll go outside and enjoy this awesome weather (sunny and 80 degrees) while I wait for a repairman to come!

 

 

 

"Opening Night" is finally here.  Rehearsal ran until after 9 p.m. last night but Jessica thinks the show is "ready".  She is very excited.  She even stayed awake while I was putting up her hair last night.  Now, all the hard work is done, and we get to enjoy the performances.

 

During the Hair last night, we watched "American Idol".  Lakeisha is finally gone.  Phew.  I think Blake is the next to go.  I was just tired of seeing Lakeisha take NO advice from the "mentors".   This year's Idol is extremely lame.  Why do I watch????  I'm as bad as Mr. Tony.  I can't help myself.

 

I really need to carve out some knitting time soon.  I've just been way too tired and busy.  Maybe tomorrow.

 

Today, call is at 5:30 so it will be finishing the hair, makeup and dinner!

 

Break a Leg!

 

 

My good friend, Jean, took these amazing pictures!!!!  It was hard to pick which ones to put up on the site!!!

 

Things are crazy!  Hair spray, pin curls, setting gel, dancing shoes, costumes.......rehearsal after rehearsal.  The kids are tired but are working VERY hard.  Right now, they only see what "isn't working" rather than what "is working". 

 

I'll keep adding photos as I get them.  I just loved this one of Jessica and Cole!

 

Yesterday was disappointing.  We thought the pictures were at 3 p.m. so Jessica went to school with her hair in curlers.  We fixed her hair and it was ready to go.  The photographer had the wrong date -- the photos are TODAY.  Yes, another evening of doing hair.  At 10 p.m., the poor kid literally fell asleep while I was putting up her hair.  She kept nodding off.

 

Tonight we should have a night off from HAIR.

 

Stay tuned.....

 

This week has been consumed with preparations for "The Boyfriend".  Jessica has the part of "Nancy", which is one of the friends of the Leading Lady, Polly.  It's a great part and she was the only freshman cast in a speaking/singing role (shameless brag).  Although she would have been happy with a chorus part, she is REALLY excited to get a lead role.

 

The hair requirements for this show have been brutal.  The boys were asked to cut their hair short in the fashion of the 1920's.  The Leading Man, Matt, had beautiful long hair which is now coiffed in a short but stylish cut.  The girls on the other hand were not required to "bob" their hair, although they have to look like their hair is bobbed.

 

Jessica decided to cut 5 inches off her hair to make styling more "doable".  Hair is not my strong point so I was grateful.  We wanted to simuate finger waves without all the icky gel so we went with tightly wound pin curls.  You put them up the night before, sleep in them, and take them down before the show.  She wore her pin curl "do" to the South County High School show last night.  She was going to a sleepover cast party and didn't want to do the curls at midnight.  All the girls were wearing curlers or pin curls!  They will wear the curlers to school on show days!  Life on the stage!

 

I spent the week sewing costumes.  I finished up Jessica's dress on Wednesday.  Isn't it cute?  I finished the last of the dresses I needed to sew by 3:45 yesterday to meet the 4 p.m. deadline.

 

Today is Tech Saturday.  The kids had call at 11:00 a.m. and will be done around 11 p.m.  Pictures are Monday and Tech Week after school on MTuW. 

 

Opening Night is Thursday!

 

All I can say right now is I'm tired of hair and I hope this "do" passes the hair inspection today!

 

 

 

I added some pictures from "Broadway Night" in the "Photo" section of the page.  Jessica sang "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar as her solo number.   She tap danced with a group to "Sing, Sing, Sing".  She is in the orange and black up front.  Her jazz group also did a number from "Grease".  She is a "Pink Lady" and is the second from the right when you are looking at the picture. 

 

Another beautiful day here in Alexandria. 

 

 

 

For once, we don't have a thing scheduled for today.   After being so busy with Broadway Night, it's a treat to have some "down time".  The show was a huge success, raising almost $5000 for the choral programs at Hayfield High School.  The kids were great and the show was entertaining.  However, it's nice to have it behind us.

 

Jessica is playing "Nancy" in Hayfield's Spring Musical, "The Boyfriend".  She is off painting signs to publicize the event.  The show is May 10-12.

 

Today, Tom and I are working in the yard.  It's time to get it "tidied up" for spring and summer, now that spring seems to have finally arrived.  We bought some plants and mulch.  It should brighten up the house and yard some.

 

I hope to get some knitting done, but that's still up in the air.  I really want to finish this sweater.  However, the yard needs to be dealt with.  First things first.

 

Tonight feels like a "glass of wine on the deck" night.  We have so few really nice days that you just have to take advantage of them.  Maybe we'll listen to the O's or Nats on the radio. 

 

Not much else to add. 

 

ttyl

 

Wow.  It's been over a month since I added to my blog.  A lot has happened.  I won the basketball pool to the tune of $500!  That will either buy some wool or summer shoes!! 

 

I finished the Iro Sweater.  Pictures are included on this blog.  I love it but now it's too warm to wear it!

 

I put the Mavis Sweater "on hold".  I've finished the back and half of the front, but I wanted to work on spring/summer weight projects so I can wear them now!  I was too sick to knit for 3 weeks with a horrible cold like thing so that put a crimp on finishing the Mavis.  I'll get back to it.  It's beautiful!

 

I started making a top out of Manos del Uruguay Cotton Stria.  I want to finish it this weekend so I can wear it.  I have no real plans so I can get some serious knitting done.

 

Last week, Kim, one of my knitting pals, showed me some Rowan Bamboo tape, which I immediately fell in love with.  I'm going to make the Sakura Pattern (see photo below).  I want to make myself finish the cottom stria top before I start the bamboo tape sweater but.......

 

We shall see!

 

ttyl

I just started a new project.  It's another Noro pattern; this one is called "Mavis".  It basically has a chevron pattern in the lower portion of the sweater and is stockinette around the bust and up.  I'm using Noro Silk Garden, Color 264 and love it.  I had seen the sweater in a different color and was unsure how I would like this color combo, but I'm pleasantly surprised.

 

It was hard to set up the pattern but once I got it started, it is going really fast.  I hardly have to count anymore.

 

Stay tuned for more updates! 

I just finished up the sweater I knitted with Noro Iro.  It was so quick and easy!  I love it.  I think I'll wear it today!

 

It took me 6 skeins of Iro and 2.5 weeks.  I even did all the finishing without grumping.

 

Now I'm making another Noro pattern, Mavis, with Silk Garden.

 

 

It's March and the brakets are out!  I've got my copy of USA Today and my pencil and I am so ready!  It's hard to decide how far to pick Maryland to advance.....such a decision.

 

Check back later to see my picks!

It's a beautiful day here.  The sun is out but it's chilly. 

 

We had a great time at the Basketball game.  Maryland beat NC State for their 7th straight win.  It was "Senior Day" and good to have a win.  Now we wait for the rest of the games to play out today to see what seed Maryland gets in the ACC Tournament.  If UNC loses, we get a bye in the first round.  That would be nice.

 

Our Maryland Women lost to UNC in a close one in the semi finals of the ACC Tournament.  Now it's a NC-State vs UNC Final.  I would love to see NC State win but I don't think so.

 

Jessica is still under the weather.  It's frustrating for both her and me.  She wants to get back to her normal schedule and so do I.  Poor kid.

 

I moved the buttons on my Einstein since I took the picture.  I moved them 2 inches to make the coat fit a bit snugger.  I like it much better!

 

Now to figure out what to say on a blog.

I thought it would be fun to have a blog to post pictures and share stories with my friends, especially those that are "on line".  I am always asked to share photos of my knitting, trips, and other fun things.  This will be an easy way to do that!

 

Today is a Sunny Saturday!  We are deep in "March Madness" discussions and trying to figure out bubble teams, ACC tournament seedings and other fun college hoops things.  We are off to University of Maryland for the game against NC State - a MUST win, as all games in March are.  The women also play UNC today.  We will have to TiVo the game.  Off to set up my page!

 

I just added a bunch of new knitting projects that I have finished recently and a recent headshot of Jessica that I took for an audition.

 

Enjoy!