Update on Snow

It's been nearly 24 hours since my other snow post, and it's still snowing outside. I haven't been out (am still so grateful to be hooked in from home!), but I think we're approaching 14-17". Check out the photo from today, also taken off my deck!

It's Snowing!

Today marks the first real storm of the season for Denver. Yes, we've had some snow over the past couple of months, but nothing that has accumulated. Today, we've officially been hit with approximately 8-14" of the white stuff!

The drive into work this morning was a challenge - there's a lot of uphill to get anywhere around here. It is definitely time to have my tires looked at and probably changed, and I'm hoping I can get that in either Friday or Saturday of this week so that I'm prepared for the next storm. Right now, I am happily working from home for the afternoon and watching the snow fall!

Now, it can officially be Halloween...I can't remember a Halloween when there wasn't at least a little snow on the ground!

Here's a photo off my deck:

New Volunteer Venture

This morning I had plans to go volunteer at a local no-kill cat shelter - it's one of the activities under Metro Volunteers, the group I've done some volunteering with in the past, and I'd wanted to check out the animal shelter but hadn't been able to get it to mesh with my schedule.

Unfortunately, this morning I woke up with a migraine (becoming way too common for my liking) so I thought for a few minutes that maybe I shouldn't go. And then I thought of getting to play with all those cats, and my decision was made. It's true, probably not the best decision...driving when you've got those visual auras is really, really hard...but it was so worth it.

The work part of our detail involved wiping down all the surfaces in the shelter. The place houses approximately 160 cats at any given time, so there is a constant need to clean. There was a fairly large group of us, and it was great meeting some new people. Seems like anytime I volunteer with Metro Volunteers, I meet really cool people, so added perk to the work! It didn't take very long for my partner and I to clean the room that we were assigned to, and the second half of our two hours was supposed to be spent socializing the cats. You got it - I volunteered to play with and pet all the 160 kitties who needed attention. Hard work, right?

I met some very friendly adult cats who were determined to be picked up (they must have come from the same gene pool as Lucy). I found some standoffish ones, and there was actually a room for the shy kitties and one for those who could get sick if they had contact with the other cats. And best of all, there was a kitten room! I'll admit I spent the better part of my socialization time being climbed on by kittens of all shapes and colors...they were so cute and tiny! One curled up in my lap to be petted, and a few minutes later a big white one (not a kitten, just one of the cats that liked to hang in the kitten room) laid down right on top of the little kitten who was already there, lol. Guess he decided that my lap belonged to him!

A few were complete spazzes (btw, did you know that word's in the dictionary??), leaping off all four feet at once, or sitting there completely calmly before bounding across the room and jumping on another kitten. And then - I found the most darling orange boy, who settled into my arms, flipped over, and went to sleep! Oh...if only I could have taken him, but my house is too small for two cats and I know it. I held that little guy forever, I just love it when they choose you...and then I handed him off to someone looking to give a cute little male kitten a home.

Anyway, it was a great volunteer opportunity and I can't wait to participate again. Next time I need to remember to take my camera, and I can post pics of the cute ones who borrow me for the hour.

PS - Lucy smelled me for the first 20 minutes I was home. It was the guilt sniff...but in the end it was fine. She knows I'm wrapped around her paw.

Rachmaninoff - The Bells

Saturday night was the closing night for the Rachmaninoff festival that has been playing at Boettcher Concert Hall for the last two weeks, and we got to play to a sold out house. I love that energy - there's nothing like seeing a venue filled up like that.

The performance opened with one movement from The Vespers, which is an acapella piece and was performed by a small chamber choir selected from the CSO Chorus. That group of select individuals did an amazing job with the piece, and it makes me curious to go look up the rest of the piece. Honestly, I've been so busy trying to learn our various pieces in Russian that when I got to sit and listen to the chamber chorus it occurred to me how beautiful the Alleluia in Russian really was. The piece isn't performed often, so if you ever have an opportunity to go hear it - definitely take advantage.

The second part of the first half of the concert was the full CSO and Chorus performing The Bells, which is the work that Rachmaninoff considered his best and is based on the Edgar Allen Poe poem of the same name. Rachmaninoff had a great love of bells, a carry over from the deep bells of Russia, and this piece explored a variety of these bells. The first movement was based on sleigh bells (light and childlike), the second was on wedding bells (full and solemn), the third was based on alarm bells (just wait until you see the translation for this - Maestro Kahane described it as scary - true because of the music, not just the translation and I think most of us in the chorus would agree that scary is accurate, lol - but I think Mary Louise captured it best when she described it as a mid-life crisis), the fourth and final movement was based on funeral bells. But in the end, there is peace and I love that I could hear and understand each of these shifts in the music. For me, it's always exciting when you really can read the music.

It was a unique experience, and the piece grew in leaps and bounds for me as I got more comfortable with the language (and how to spit out that many consonants at one time)! Ultimately, I don't feel that we did it justice the way that we do with pieces that are more common...there were some places where truly I was just praying that we would all wind up in the same spot at the same time. But, I'm on the lookout for the review to see what, if anything, the reviewers had to say about the performance. Our usual supporters were in the audience (I love that they hoot and holler for us no matter how I personally feel about the performance) so that made it a little easier. I can say that I was definitely working - I was kinda gross and sweaty at the end, which always tells me how into the piece I was. Hopefully someday I'll have another chance at The Bells, so that I can try to hone what I've already learned. With a little luck, I can pick up the score tomorrow at lunch so that I can transfer all my notes...not sure I want to start again from scratch next time we do this work, and my notes would be handy!

The second half of the concert for me was the highlight. Olga Kern played the Piano Concerto #2 (if you find it, you'll recognize it. I didn't think I would, and I absolutely did. Hmmm...actually, I need to go download it). That woman is so incredibly gifted and so much fun to watch that I feel fantastically lucky to have even shared a backstage with her. And her gown...seriously, that was a performance gown if I've ever seen one. It was strapless, light yellow with a yellow sash, and yards of tiered lace that actually ended in a train. I swear, if I'd seen more of those performers as a child, I might have been a little more adamant about learning to be a performance artist...if only for the dresses!!!

The one single sad moment occurred at the end of the second movement. Olga had just played the final notes of the movement, notes that were as delicate as they could possibly be and still be heard and the magic in the auditorium was palpable. And one beat after she lifted her hands, as the silence was still settling...someone's cell phone went off. Yep, that's right...it went off on a pitch just a little higher than the last notes of the bar, which completely destroyed that delicious tension the 2nd movement had created. Seriously, people...when they say to turn off all cell phone, watch alarms, or other electronics at the beginning of the show, they're not just announcing for their health. Shoot, they're announcing it for your own health - no one wants to be at the mercy of pissed off theatre goers!

Ok, now that I've vented that...as soon as I find the review, I'll post it, along with the translation. I still need to get the Three Russian Songs on here as well...so all of that coming soon!

Haunted House

So when Lande was here visiting two weekends ago, we got our crew of friends together to do a haunted house. The plan originally started out as a corn maze, but Colyn was sick over the weekend so we didn't want to drag her out into the freezing cold weather we were having over that weekend.

So...we headed off to dinner at Cheesecake Factory downtown (fabulous as always) and then up to Primitive Fear by the dog track in Commerce City. That haunted house gets two thumbs up - it's as good as I remembered it from years ago, with some new twists and turns. My friends let me lead, which is so the best place to be since you get all the scares first (and usually right in your face). I love just letting yourself be scared and screaming like the girl I am! Plus, when you've got a date it's a great reason to hang on...The only down side is how quickly it was over!

Anyway, thought that I'd post the photo of our group to share...we had such a great time!!

Rachmaninoff & Weekend

This weekend was the opening to the Rachmaninoff Festival and the first show of the season for the CSO Chorus. Our part in the performance was fairly short with the Three Russian Songs and it went as well as could be expected considering the difficulty of the language. The big piece is next weekend - The Bells - and should be a pretty fantastic performance (well, we hope). The third movement, the scherzo, is written for the chorus...and that's unusual, because it's typically so fast and lively. So, we will be singing fast & lively in Russian - it will be a unique experience!

As for the rest of the weekend, I was lucky enough to spend it resting, playing frisbee in the sun, going to an improv show downtown, and then today reading in the park for a couple of hours. It was so relaxing and so needed, especially considering how hectic last weekend was (Lande was here to visit and we just talked and talked...until 2am each night). But I'll admit, the lack of sleep was totally worth it and I can't wait to see him again in November!

A couple of pictures of our beautiful and unseasonably warm day:


My spot in the park - it was very comfy :)

Wednesday Funny

I have had a brutal week this week - too much to do, too little time, and so worked up over it all that I'm not sleeping right. Add to it the nerves and excitement about Lande's visit this weekend, and some of the challenges I've had with a couple of organizational things around that and it's a small miracle that the men in the white coats haven't come after me yet.

But then, this afternoon, I got an email from a client that was so ridiculous that all I could do was laugh. It said (among a couple of other things):

"I've changed the radio buy on a couple of stations in x, is that ok?" (not including the town because I haven't learned yet how big brother blogger is and don't really feel like risking my job over a funny anecdote).

Really? REALLY? This location is so small town, that my client literally called up his pals at the stations and asked them to move the schedule around without telling us a thing about it!! Especially hilarious because (A) we traffic their radio spots, so if we don't know that the schedule has changed it's likely the stations won't have anything to air and (B) we check the billing to make sure it's right before we send it on to the client for payment. Imagine what THAT bill would have looked like without the heads up! LOL!!

I'm not being sarcastic here at all - this completely had me laughing at my desk because it was so OUT there that someone would pay an agency to do the work, and then just go and shift everything around without even telling them!

Awesome!

Adventures in Plumbing - Part II

I did it!!! I replaced my whole garbage disposal and a corroded pipe, by myself, and in only about 3 hours. I am so proud, I actually did a little celebration dance when I was done! I will admit, there was one step that inspired some interesting swear words all strung together...seating the darn thing where it belonged and then trying to push the metal connector ring onto the attachment while turning it was near impossible - either two tabs would catch but not the third or I couldn't get the whole disposal in straight - and this thing is HEAVY. I think I pulled every shoulder muscle while trying to hold this thing with one hand while pushing and twisting with the other. But...VICTORY!!! :-)

Here's my old nasty one (see afore mentioned duct tape):


Here's my kitchen/temporary disaster area with the kick-ass tool kit that Mindy gave me for Christmas last year. I wouldn't have been able to do this without the kit!!



And here's my bright shiny new one, with the new pipe included:


Oh, and just because it wouldn't be complete - here's Lucy taking over where I left off. She was determined to help by chasing screws or trying to sit on me while I was working:

Girl Power!

This is going to sound really random, I know, but I discovered there's nothing like buying a garbage disposal and a baby gift all in one day. Talk about girl power!

I hit the hardware store early this afternoon (it was supposed to be early this morning, but I woke up feeling like a**...sux when there's so much to do) and the man who helped me was so nice. I love Home Depot for exactly that reason. No one there treats you like a girl who knows nothing unless you admit you're a girl who knows nothing! And at least I'd looked at all the ins and outs of my garbage disposal - literally - and had written down the details before I went to the store...so that definitely helped.

Anyway, he took me over and gave me a general run-down of the tools I would probably need and how it all worked together. Then, as we were heading to the register he gave me what I would consider great advice: "Get yourself some beer or wine and go to work on it...and just be patient!"

Now that is a man after my own heart :-)

More to report after I actually get started on the process...hopefully tomorrow morning when I wake up full of energy (knock on wood)!

Avs Game - Opening Night

I am one lucky girl. Every now and then (and more then than now) my job will net me some awesome perks, and last night - Avs Opening Night - was a prime example.

My friend Dawn and I went to the game and tried to make it to the party beforehand which my fabulous rep invited us to. We finally made it in close to the end of the party, but still made it in time to enjoy a premium adult beverage each and that fantastic spread offered by Capital Grille (if you've never been there, it's definitely a treat). All of this happened under arena and on the level of the ice, and the decor was really beautiful - maroon table clothes (of course!) and ice blue lights shining everywhere.

Finally, we hustled upstairs because of the ceremony...they were retiring Joe Sakic's jersey number and raising it to sit beside Bourke and Roy's numbers at the rafters. It was such a neat thing to be a part of - they tracked his whole entrance to the arena, through the locker room, greeting teammates and coaches, and then the speeches and presentations with his whole family on hand. I can't believe that Super Joe is retiring, but I suppose in the long run a 20 year career in a sport that can be as rough as hockey is really a pretty great achievement.

But...for all of us fans, he'll be missed!


The game itself went well - I think it was more that the Sharks sucked than the Avs were really excellent at this point - but we scored quickly and kept it up. Avs won, 5-2.

Ahhhh - I LOVE hockey games!!!

Adventures in Plumbing

I swear, sometimes the universe is just out there conspiring against you! My house is slowly but surely falling apart...it makes me wonder if there's some rule that at the 5 1/2 year mark everything needs to be replaced. My garbage disposal is going to get replaced this weekend - I'm not sure how old it is, but it has actually corroded through so that when you run it it sprays water like a sprinkler. In keeping with my trying to be more frugal (not to mention the fact that I don't have a CLUE what I'm doing when it comes to plumbing), I decided the best way to fix it would be to use duct tape on the holes.

Let me just say...this does not work. It does, however, force the water downward into a bucket so at least my entire undersink area does not wind up like the shore at low tide (meaning: damp with a weird, unidentifiable smell).

So, this weekend I'm digging in...going to buy a new disposal and attempt to put it in by myself. I should blog about how that goes, because I'm sure it's going to be interesting!

Then, this morning my toilet tank decided to quit holding water. I think before too long the sound of running water is going to put me on anti-anxiety pills...when I heard that sound as I climbed out of the shower this morning, my whole gut clenched because I thought I had just fixed this problem a few months ago! So apparently it's back to the drawing board. Here's hoping I don't have to take the entire inside of the tank apart again, and that it's just the flapper.

I am so wishing right now that I were back to renting!