New Year Adventures

So, for a New Year, this one is starting off on an irritating note. First, I have had a sinus cold since before New Year's. I can't sing, can barely talk, and have had to go and get antibiotics to get rid of it since it has become an infection.
We still have piles of branches all over town from all the trees that were destroyed in the ice storm. Our street has them on both sides. There have been some trucks in the neighborhood today. It would be nice to get rid of the stuff. I don't like the smoke from them burning the branches, though. We had lots of smoke blowing across town last week when they started burning. Some of us are allergic to wood smoke.

Also, to make for even more irritation, Google didn't want to let me log in to this blog today. Had to reset my password and the whole nine yards. Google needs to work on being less dorky if they want to keep customers happy. They keep changing things without notifying people first. Not very courteous.

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. Ours was pretty nice. We ran things on a shoestring, and hence have no credit card debt additions from Christmas. That is a good thing. We are paying those suckers off as fast as we can. (Not fast enough for my taste, but still, the more I see the balance going DOWN the happier I am.)
I am anxious to get back to voice practice. I feel like I have lost so much ground, I'll never make it up. I also feel like I will have permanent damage from all the irritation to my vocal cords from this crud. I hope not, but I am afraid that every day this crap lingers adds to the possibility of damage. I am also afraid we'll lose our spots in choir from missing too many Sundays. Probably not, but still, it feels too weird not to be in choir. Church is no fun if you can't sing. (So much of our service is sung.)

That's about all the angst I have to share this time.

Of Ice and Men (Original, I Know)

We have apparently survived the Ice Storm of the Century here in Central Oklahoma. Our damage was limited to a couple of stained spots on the ceiling where the ice made the roof leak. Our roofer says the roof is in good shape, he had to re-set a couple of nails, but other than that, no problems. (We asked for an estimate of any needed repairs, just to make sure he was not just trying to get them out of warranty liability. Our insurance covers ice damming, which is what caused the leaks. )
We may not make an insurance claim. The leaks appear to be gone, and we were going to repaint the ceilings and walls in the living room and our bedroom eventually anyway. (Stains are not even noticible unless you know exactly where to look.) (But we'll see what happens next time it rains. )
I am of two minds about the insurance thing. I don't want festering damage to surprise us later, but I also don't want the insurance company to have us claim what is really minor damage and then raise the heck out of our rates. We mainly have insurance in case the house blows away in a tornado or burns down. We figure we can fix minor stuff on our own dime. (Have in the past.)
We got off pretty lucky, actually. Most people were without power at least part of the time. We were not. One of our trees broke apart, but it didn't do any serious damage to anything but itself. Matt was able to haul most of that stuff out of the yard by himself.
I just wish I could lose this feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop.

First Sunday of Advent (Already?!)

We had a good day today, if a lazy one. (For me, anyway.) Matt did a practice run on a dish he wants to take to the potluck at work, so he cooked and I goofed off today.
I don't have anything done that I should have done by this point for Christmas. I don't do much, but the few things I do tend to be time-consuming. Like making potholders for everyone on the library staff. (Not that everyone wants one, but they were wildly popular when I made them before, and I have bookmarks, which are always a hit with library natives.)
The Great CD Recording Project has almost been completed. Matt needs to record some of his tracks over. They came out way overmodulated. Most of mine sound better than I feared they would. As for the bobbles, wrong notes, and sinus glitches, well, stuff happens. It would happen if I were singing live for people, and so if it happens on the recording, I guess I can live with it.
I finally succeeded in snaring the elusive Advent Candles that actually go in my Abbey Press Advent Wreath. The Cathedral Books and Gifts store run by the ECW finally had some in. So, I carefully packed away the ones I got at the craft store, and we lit the first official Advent candle this evening.
I still have to write the Annual Cursed Letter of Christmas and send forth the annual greetings wondering who I won't hear back from this year.
There isn't too much to tell everybody this year. 2007 has been fairly benign. The only major trauma was to our credit pay off plan, as the Air Conditioning and Heating system had to be replaced to the tune of $8,000.00. There were also a couple of car repairs for Matt's Taurus, but we managed to get those taken care of fairly quickly. No major health scares for us or the pets, thanks be to God.
We never have major accomplishments to tout, as we are middle aged, childless, and rather boring. Boring isn't always a bad thing. Being boring gives me plenty of time to think. Mostly I waste that time worrying about whatever apocalyptic scenarios I dread most. (My secret motto is "It isn't IF, it's WHEN AND HOW BAD")
Meanwhile, back at the library, we have completed our annual 'canned goods to reduce your fines' campaign. This benefits a local food pantry. Gee, I hope they really need ten tons of chicken soup, green beans, and corn. That's what we got the most of. Some people were really into the spirit of it. They brought stuff like canned chicken and tuna, and Spam. They spent more on the canned goods they brought than they actually owed in fines. Some people just brought us the canned goods, they didn't have any fines. This community is really refreshing sometimes.

Catching Up

We spent this Thanksgiving with friends. I haven't seen them for awhile, and it was nice to get caught up on everyone's activities. We had a nice meal and good fellowship.
I spent Black Friday cleaning house, since my husband had to work but I had the day off. I got the whole place cleaned, and even did some re-organizing for less clutter.
We made our "Thanksgiving" meal today. We had a turkey breast that we had meant to cook for Thanksgiving before I ran into my friend Susan on Monday. So, now we have our own leftovers to work on.
I am not ready for the Christmas season to be upon us already. I have grown to hate the over-commercialization of what is supposed to be a religious celebration. The church activities are a real lifesaver for my sanity this time of year. Concentrating on the reason we are supposed to celebrate is more satisfying now than running after gifts and trimmings etc. I like to bake some treats, share them, and buy a few small gifts, send a few cards, but I no longer try to buy stuff for everybody.
That is one of the luxuries of not having children. I don't have to do much about the season gift wise if I don't want to . My husband is hard to buy for, and he knows that there will be a few little things, but mostly we are just happy to have the time together, after all the years when there was always the possibility that we wouldn't be. We never missed a Christmas together, not even during the Gulf War. (Thank you Col. M+11, wherever you are. ) His crew was home for aircraft maintenance, and the Wing commander wanted to go back down with them, but he wanted to do it the day AFTER Christmas. So one whole crew got to be at home base for Christmas.
So, I must plan what I will do for the season, and get busy getting things done. So far, we have part of my Mom's present complete. We have recorded about half of the Christmas music we want to send her. Now we have to finish it, Matt has to tweak it and put it on the cd. Ought to be interesting to see what we end up with.

Today's Activities

Today was Monday, so voice lesson was at 10:30. This was a real workout, because I have crud in my throat off and on these days due to allergies and shifting weather conditions. (Leaf mold is not my friend. We have a yard full of oak and pecan leaves.) She got me all set to do some recording of Christmas music tonight. Once the voice recovers from the vocal workout/torture, it actually sounds really good.
The HVAC technician came this afternoon to give the furnace its annual once over. As this furnace was installed with the new A/C unit in May, it hasn't had much wear and tear yet. He ran it through all its paces and pronounced it healthy. (I should hope so!)
Our friends have invited us to their home for Thanksgiving. It will be good to visit with them as we don't see them as often as we'd like. Susan's folks will be there, too, and I always have a good time with Elmer and Renate. Renate is the only German speaking person I know these days, so I will get a chance to practice a little. I will take her one of the German books I received the other day. It is Mark Twain. "Adam's Diary", I believe is the title. She might find it amusing.
This afternoon I had a little time to read, so I read some more of The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs. It was an admirable quest, but all throughout his journey, he is discovering that compromise must be made to exist in the modern world. To literally live by the Bible might land you in prison in some cases. The book is really good so far. Thought provoking and funny, and he really doesn't pick on or make fun of any religious group. He is honestly seeking information from all the representatives of various faiths that he speaks to. His ex-uncle Gil is scary, though.
This evening, we did a few recordings for the Christmas CD we hope to send my mother. My stuff mostly, since Matt knows how to run the mixer board, and I don't yet. (He is greatly simplifying the process so all I will have to do is hit one or two things with the mouse.) I think they came out pretty good, but not with the full force my teacher likes me to do. On the Christmas recordings it isn't necessary. In a big hall, it is, but not when I am literally inches from the microphone, and I don't want to sound too boomy. I never like the way I sound on recordings, so I am no judge. Matt says it sounds good, but not like I'm really going after it like I would in the recital hall. I don't know if that will sound good in the end or not. We shall see. Mom will probably like it no matter what, because it will be us singing,which she hasn't gotten to hear much of.
I got really tired about 9:30, so I called it quits for tonight. We still have to get our duet recorded and Matt's solo pieces.
All in all, today was a busy day.

Hypno-Books

A hypno book is a book that keeps you so involved in reading that you lose all track of time. It is the book that you read for hours on end with no break.
I have met a few of these over the years. Usually good stories like the Pern novels by Anne McCaffrey, or a good mystery by any of my favorite authors. (Susan Wittig Albert, Sue Grafton, M.C. Beaton, Sarah J. Mason, among others.)
Right now it seems the latest novel by Jan Karon is a hypno book for me. I have to be careful not to pick it up in the middle of other projects, because it is hard to put it down. Her books can be awfully sentimental, and some might say sappy, but I like their quiet Southern charm.
I almost didn't get my housework finished today because I got involved in that book while waiting for the cleanser to soak in the sink. (Old porcelain sink, must let the cleanser soak in to get rid of stubborn stains.)
I must not fall victim to it again until after the dishes are done this evening.
I have to come up with something for dinner, and get the cleanup done after before I can rest and read.
Even then, I will likely be disturbed because my husband and I need to start recording our Christmas cd. That will be time consuming and I hope not too frustrating.

Reading In Another Language

I have recently been given some reading materials in German. This is not a big problem for me, as I spent four years in Germany, speaking German every day, and reading a good many things. (Most puzzling and amusing were notices from the local utilities!)
I am amazed at how much comes back to me. I need the dictionary for some words here and there, but I can usually get the gist of things, especially the Reader's Digest magazines. The ads are interesting in those. Nearly all of them are for herbal supplements or financial services. There were a couple of ads for major appliances, but mostly financial services and herbal supplements. I was expecting an ad for ADAC, the Allegemiene Deutsche Automobil Club, but I haven't seen any. Their ads were ubiquitous in the German publications I ran into in Frankfurt.
We were members of ADAC all four years we were in Germany.
I miss Germany a lot. There was reliable and safe public transportation, we lived on a farm, so we had peace and quiet and forest paths to walk on. I know that actually living on the economy there, without the military support we enjoyed would not be easy, especially now as the dollar is so low against the Euro.
I can usually read the signs on the Formula 1 race tracks, whatever part of Europe they are in, as they are usually in English, German, Spanish, or Italian. (I've read enough Italian lyrics for arias that I can make pretty good guesses as to meanings of things. Helps that it isn't too far off Spanish, too.)
When I lived in California, I learned quite a bit of Spanish. I have forgotten a lot of it because the German is more recent. I can still make sense of most of what I read, though. I have trouble following what people say because they speak so quickly. German can be hard to follow in spoken form, because you may get someone who mixes local dialect with the HochDeutsche, and that can be really confusing. (Kind of like trying to understand someone from Brooklyn if you grew up in Savannah.) (Or someone from either place if you grew up in L.A.)

The one language (besides the Asian ones) that I may never be able to decipher is French. It just doesn't make any logical sense to me. I can't pronounce it, even with extensive coaching. I think I have a mental block against it. No offense to the French. They have a grand and illustrious history, I just cannot fathom their language.