Sunday, busy Sunday

[tunes]: Nothing, though I could use some right now.



Hey all, I meant to tell you about Sunday sooner, but I've been busy with things and, honestly, not quite in the mood. Still not quite in the mood, but I figure I should probably tell you about it anyways, since, if I put it off much longer it'll get lost in the upcoming days.


Sunday was busy, to put it simply. First, there was church, which I had to be there by 9 for choir warm-ups. I hadn't been there in awhile, since I wasn't in town the Sunday before and I completely forgot to go to Thursday's practice until I was sitting to dinner at Erin's. By then it was after 6, and a little too late to show up. Oops! After church I zipped back to my place to iron my Chorale dress, since I forgot to do it before then and get ready for the rest of the day.

Carrying all my stuff, (except for the presents for Maura and Sammy, which I completely forgot at the time,) I walked over to Erin's for the birthday party. Her parents and sister (my aunt, uncle, and cousin) were there already and my parents got into town not too long after. My grandma and Aunt Mary also showed up, and it was really nice to see them. I had to skip out fairly quick for the Chorale concert that was also that day, but I was coming back afterwards.

The Chorale concert was hot. Really. I was sweating so much on that stage. Other than that I really enjoyed it. I actually missed singing in a chorus. It's been over two years since I last did! I also enjoyed most of the music we sang, which is also a plus. Out in the audience, my parents were attempting to take pictures, much to my dislike. Luckily, they told me afterwards they lighting was bad and they didn't turn out well. Phew!

Then it was back to Erin's for a little while longer, after swinging by my place to grab the gifts I forgot that morning, of course! Have I mentioned I love my family? Oh, more than once? Well, it bears repeating. My mom's side of the family is awesome. (My dad's side of the family is non-existant since he is an only child. That doesn't make my mom's side any more or less awesome, though.)


Well, that was my Sunday in it's very basic form. Sammy and Maura loved their presents, and everyone loved the little baby shoes my mom picked out for baby Emily. (I was with my mom when she picked out the outfit... You should see how excited she gets when baby shopping. Good to know my future kids will have way too much stuff because of her.)


Writing this actually put me in a slightly better mood. Hmm.

I love to sing-a! About the moon-a and the June-a and the spring-a! I love to sing-a!

[tunes]: none.



So. I feel like I should probably tell you how that audition for the music department went. Besides messing up a little bit here and there, it went pretty well. I was shaking like crazy, though, which is very unusual for me. Normally I get a little nervous, but don't shake much until after I'm done. This time, my legs were going like crazy and I couldn't get them to stop. Strangest thing ever. But, once I was done, they talked to me for a little and then I left. Later that day I got a call from one of the people in the audition and got the unofficial results of it. They are as follows; in my own words, of course...

I was an idiot for trying out for the BFA since I don't really have any classical training. Apparently, the BFA is for people who have been doing that kind of stuff for years and years and such. Oops! While I felt a little bit like a prize idiot, I'm not all that fussed by the mistake. Nothing I can do about it now, and I learned a lesson from it. However, they did think that I have potential and I will be, instead, doing a BA in Music-Performance. I can start with that and then audition again later after I've had more training. The fact that they think I have potential is an encouraging fact and I'm quite happy with the results as they are. My Chorale teacher, who was also part of the pannel for the audition told me the same thing the other day and it makes me really happy that he felt that way. I think, if he had his way, I might have even been in the BFA program, which makes me feel special. He's such a sweet guy and I'm really glad to have him as a teacher.


Let's see. Is there anything else I was going to talk about? Well, I had this really strange dream the night before last where this guy who I'm kind of sort of interested in turned out to be gay. Rather disappointing in that respect, but it was an interesting dream overall. I think the whole "him turning out to be gay" part was due to the fact that, for awhile, I wasn't exactly sure if he was gay or not. I'm still not 100% sure, actually, but I'm pretty certain he's straight. My life, sometimes...

Other than that typically strange dream of mine, I don't have much else to say about the past few days. Tomorrow, on the other hand, is a completely different story. I haven't been so busy in quite awhile. First, there's church, which I haven't been to since the week before last. (That whole being in a lot of pain thing had a lot to do with that.) Then, my parents should be arriving sometime after that and it's over to Erin's for her kids' birthday party a little after noon. From there, I have to go over to Gorell at 2 for warm-ups before the 3 o'clock concert that my parents are coming to. Then, it's back to Erin's for mor birthday party-ness and general visiting with relatives. It'll be a busy, but fun day, I think.

WAIT! I forgot to mention that I finally got to see Erin's new baby! She is so cuteeee! I got to hold her, too! I went over there Thursday evening after the audition for dinner, which her Aunt Cami brought and I had a lot of fun playing with Maura and Sammy. I gave Sugar plenty of attention, too, and she was loving that. She was even giving me kisses, which Erin said meant that she really loved it. (I miss my doggie!)


Well, that's it for now. I think I'll head back to my place and read that chapter for history class that I'm supposed to and finally clean my room. I should also head over to Goodwill and look for some stuff for my Halloween costume... I'm feeling unmotivated to do that, though. Stupid overcast weather...

First name, Bob...

[tunes]: nothing currently, although I might go listen to Star Wars A Cappella (John Williams Is The Man) on YouTube after this.



So, this one is going to be a short update because I really out of it at the moment due to the fact that I couldn't fall asleep until 2am last night and I took a pain killer a few hours ago for the evil pain in my side that was threatening to return.

The main reason I'm updating today is because my cousin, Erin, had her baby today! I got the completely unexpected text from Ryan at the end of my psych class. She wasn't due until the end of the month! It was especially unexpected because I just saw her last night and she was completely normal. (Well, as normal as you can be when you're super pregnant.) Now, the baby is here, (a girl, named Emily,) and I can't wait to finally meet her!

As for why I saw Erin last night, I was invited out to dinner with her and Ryan and the kids and my aunt and uncle and cousin Mel. It was a lot of fun. I even got to see the kids Halloween costumes afterwards. So adorable! Sam finally got over his fear of dragons and is wearing the costume he was too afraid to wear last year. Maura is a Bumblebug, which is half Bumblebee and half Ladybug, just in case you didn't know. My Aunt Patti made them for the kids. It reminded me of when my mom used to make costumes for my brothers and me.

Okay. I'm going to stop now, because I could keep rambling for hours without making any sense in my current state. I'm already quite sure my flow of thought isn't easy to follow for anyone reading this. Hahaha. Sorry!

Shopping!

[tunes]: None, currently, but I did watch the video for "If I Could Cry" from Sleeping Beauty the Musical.



I should probably start off by saying that I'm in a much better mood today than I was in my last post. Excluding the fact that I woke up at 5am sweating since the heat came on in the night and I have no control over it. So I turned on the fan, which was really loud in such a quiet room. I couldn't fall back asleep because of the fan, but I couldn't turn off the fan because I couldn't fall back asleep in the heat. Somehow I got to sleep and all was right in the world.

That isn't what I intended on talking about at all, but, apparently, my mind is still holding a grudge against that incident. What I was going to say was that, today, I went shopping with my cousin after church. She had to get a few things for the kids' birthday party next weekend and she wanted to know if I wanted to tag along since she could use some company. Of course I said yes because she wasn't the only one who could use some company. It was really nice to spend some time with her. We ended up not only getting what was on the list, but a few things for the new baby that's due at the end of the month, also, as well as grabbing some lunch at the little hibachi place. It was nice to be able to talk about things with her. I may have said it before, but my cousin is really awesome. My family in general is pretty awesome. (Okay, so I may not say that about my immediate family very often, but I've been living with them all my life. Give me a few years on my own and I'll feel different about that. I'm already starting to, at least when it comes to my parents.)

Speaking of Erin, I can't believe she's going to have another baby at the end of the month! This month, in general, is shaping up to be an interesting and event-filled one. Next week is the kids' birthday party and the following Tuesday I'm going to see Celtic Thunder with my parents in Pittsburgh. Then, Thursday, is my audition for the Music Department, which I am so not ready for yet. I should get on that... Sometime at the end of the month Erin's having her baby, and I'm going to another double-birthday/halloween party around Halloween for a couple of friends. Oddly enough, I feel like I'm missing something. Oh yeah. October 25th is a Chorale concert. I'm probably still missing something, but that's okay. You get the gist.

Before I go, I must do what I always do, which is write a little ditty about whatever it is I'm listening to. This time it was "If I Could Cry," which is one of the songs from an upcoming musical called Sleeping Beauty. While I have no idea when it will be premiering, I do know that it will be premiering on the West End (i.e: London.) A bummer, really, since I read the synopsis and it seems like an interesting twist on the tale of Sleeping Beauty and would very much like to see it. Maybe by some odd stroke of luck I'll find myself on that side of the pond when it's there. Lord knows I want to study abroad. I know of the song because Paul Byrom of Celtic Thunder sings it, and quite well I might add. It's supposed to be released as a single shortly, but I don't have an exact date yet. Here's the link for the video: http://www.youtube.com/user/SleepingBeautyVideo and here's the link for the musical: http://www.sleepingbeautythemusical.com/ Not too much information on it yet, but there are some clips of songs from the show, which I am about to give a listen to right now.

DOUBLE TRUE.

[tunes]: Oslo Campfire - Port O'Brien



Hello, all (one of you.) Nothing earth-shattering to discuss here, but I though I'd leave a little something today. On my way over here to the library, I had a 90s nostalgia moment. It's extremely windy out today and I caught myself reminiscing of the days of windpants and their matching jackets. God, 90s fashion was so bad. I remember having a wind suit when I was little. (Was that what they were called?) Believe it may have been purple. Or blue. Or both. It was as I was remembering those windpants that I had this sudden urge to listen to the Backstreet Boys and N*Sync. Ahhahahahaha.


Last night I spent the evening at my cousin Erin's. I walked over there by myself for the first time, and I am very, very proud to say that I did not get lost! This may have partly been due to the fact that I looked up the directions on Google Maps previously. Google Maps is a life saver. You can bet that when I finally get a car I am so getting a GPS unit for it. I won't use it around town back in Erie like my brother has been known to, but I'd get lost anywhere else without one. Especially long-distance trips.

Anyways, I went over there for dinner and help with some of the songs I have to memorize for my music department audition on the 22nd. I ended up staying until midnight watching Harry Potter! Hahahaha. Erin actually went to bed before I left and Ryan gave me a ride home after the movie was over. I was pretty much dead for church today. Maybe staying up that late wasn't such a good idea, but it was Harry Potter! Come on!

I don't have too much planned for today besides cleaning my room, which desperately, desperately needs done. I was busy last weekend so I didn't have time then. I'm really not in a cleaning mood, so we'll see how that goes.


Before I go, I'm going to do what I usually do, which is plug a band. Maybe one day I'll get payed for something like this. Or, perhaps, someone will be doing that for me! Who knows? I'll keep dreaming. So, Port O'Brien. I quite literally just started listening to them today. Never heard of them before, but I'm already really liking them. They remind me of The Shins in their early days a la "O Inverted World." I love that CD, so it's only natural that I would like these guys. They've actually got a tour that just started, but they aren't coming anywhere near me. Not that it matters, since I'm broke poor. They describe themselves as folk/acoustic/indie, which was pretty much what I was going to say, so I'll just go with what they said. If you like that kind of stuff, check them out! If not, do it anyways. Maybe you will find out you do. Should probably give you a website, huh? http://www.myspace.com/portobrien

Things I do instead of homework...

[tunes]: None, currently, though I did just get finished with watching the latest episode of Glee.



I should be writing my reaction paper on accidents as one of the top eight causes of death, but I've been avoiding it all evening. I think I'll start it after this, since it is due tomorrow at noon. So far, I've just been messing around facebook and twitter and such, and watching Glee, of course. This last episode, I think, is the best one yet, and I'm including last week's episode with Josh Groban in it, which was VERY hilarious. I was trying so hard not to laugh out loud in the library while watching it and there was a moment where I nearly cried. If you haven't started watching Glee yet, I highly suggest hopping over to Hulu.com and catching up because it is worth it. I won't spoil anything for you, but I want to make a mention of Mike O'Malley's performance as Kurt's dad. I thought he did a wonderful job, as he always seems to do. You might recognize him from all the Time Warner Cable commercials or from the TV show "Yes, Dear." (For you 90s kids, he was the host of "Global Guts." lol.) I should probably confess that part of the reason I think he's awesome is because I had his aunt as a Music Theatre teacher and she was AWESOME. But enough about that...

Tomorrow I've been invited over to my cousin's for their pizza and a movie night, which I am quite excited for. The main reason for going is that Erin is going to help me find a couple more songs for my audition on the 22nd, for which I will be eternally grateful. I have such an awesome family. I really do. I'm also going to enjoy getting to hang out with them all, especially Maura and Sammy. They are so adorable. Sam, of course, wants to watch The Bee Movie, which I haven't seen, but who knows what we'll actually see. I haven't seen Cars yet, either, so maybe we'll watch that. Those are the only two movies I ever hear about from him, so I don't know what else they have. lol.

Well, I think that's it for now. I'm kind of excited for tomorrow, so maybe if I finish this reaction paper I'm feeling less than excited about it'll come sooner. We'll see.

I am FINALLY back!

[tunes]: Practice Me - Urban Sun



Well, the title says it all. Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. (Although, I don't think anyone actually reads this regularly, so it's not like anyone's been too upset by it. I should work on that.) Why haven't I posted in a week and a half, you ask? Beats me. I think it's partly due to the fact that I've been busy and whenever I got enough time to sit down at a computer and write something on here, my brain has been bust and I wasn't going to be able to write anything coherant. The better question is: What have I been up to since my last post? Let me go see what that last post was, and I'll tell you!

So, I left off with saying I was going home for Labor Day weekend. That Friday evening, my mom and Grandma, along with my older brother who I was not expecting, came to pick me up and drop off my TV. Then we went over to my cousin's where the the four of us, plus the four people in her family, plus her sister and parents who came in all had dinner together and visited for awhile. That's not even half of my mom's side of the family, just so you know. I then spent the night at my Grandma's before coming home, where I spent all day relaxing.
Sunday, I went to breakfast with Sam and Sarah, which was fun. I wasn't sure if I was going to get to see Sam while we were was in town, so I was particularly happy about that. Now that I think of it, Sunday was quite busy. That afternoon was German Fest, which Alyssa met me at. As soon as I walked up to the entrance I couldn't stop laughing because the whole thing is rather amusing. German polka music blasting all over the place, men in Leiderhosen, and more beer and German food than should ever be in one place. For how German I happen to be, I am not a fan of German food. I actually picked off all the sauerkraut on my brautwurst sandwich when I got one. Nasty stuff, sauerkraut. Don't get me started on Liverwurst and Braunschweiger. I shudder when I think of how my mom used to try to make me eat it when I was little. The only reason I really go to the German Fest is so I can pet the llamas and cows and such they have there.
Sunday night was Teen Mass church times, also with Alyssa, and we were much less mature about it than usual. We spent the entire homily counting how many times Fr. Mike said the word "breadline," (13, if I remember correctly,) and trying not to laugh too much. I think everyone was jealous of our mad clapping and dancing skills during the Lamb of God, though. Chris approved of it, though, since he said that's the spirit that's been missing lately. (It has. I won't get into the issues I've begun to develop with the Teen Mass Band... Unless you want me to.) After church, we all went to the Ringside, of course, and had lots of fun being silly and stupid, which is what we do best. Chris probably thinks we're all crazy, but we're okay with that.
Monday and Tuesday morning were spent doing pretty much nothing, so I won't bother elaborating on them, then I was back here Tuesday night with my TV stand, and back into the swing of classes on Wednesday.

Then a bunch of stuff happened between there, mostly classes, but my brain has just shut off and I can't remember much of it. Sang at mass with the choir on Sunday, which was nice. I found out one of the girls from my Corale class is going to join the choir. She's an Alto 2 with me in Corale, so it's doubly nice, since that means I can sit next to her in Chorale as well as choir. Yay!
There was one more thing I wanted to mention... Oh yeah! In my health class on Monday, we had a one page paper due on a topic of the Health Care Reform bill and watched Obama's speech on it. I wrote mine on the Public Option, which was oddly relevant at this point in my life. Now, I always considered myself for the bill as it currently stands, and watching the speech only confirmed my support for it. I hope it passes, before it gets changed too much.


That's about all for this post. I apologize for the slightly rambling nature it took on. I'll try to write better from now on. And more often. Before I go, though, I'd like to suggest taking a listen to Urban Sun. They are a funk rock band that I happened to go see with some friends while I was in NYC, and I really like their stuff. You can check them out here: http://www.myspace.com/urbansun. Their full album is also on iTunes, which is where I got it from. I really suggest listening to it. I'm a fan of "Practice Me" and "Destination" especially, but I love it all. Funk Rock. It's good. :)

Labor Day Weekend!

[tunes]: I was watching the Crazy Christian Lady from Wife Swap earlier on the Tube of You...


Before I get to the reason why I'm writing a second post in one day, I wanted to share with you that I fought my fear of going to strange new places by myself today. Twice, actually, if you really wanted to know. I did indeed go to the gym, which is always a good thing. I got in a decent work out for it having been two weeks since I was at the gym last. (There is a story behind that one, but I don't think you want me getting into it. Let's just say that I've seen hospitals wayyyyy too many times this summer.) I also went to choir practice for the church that is about two feet from my building. My cousin, Erin, invited me, so I plucked up my courage and ignored the "OMGNEWPLACEWITHPEOPLEIDON'TKNOW" feeling and went. I had a good time, and little Sammy was so excited to see me. He's so cute. I actually colored him a picture of Lightning McQueen from Cars since he loves anything and everything car and train related. Can't tell you how many times I've heard about all the different characters in Cars and what sounds they make. Still haven't seen the movie, though, except for this part right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8GJHJlN7VA. (All because the minivan goes "MiniMiniMiniMiniMini..." as he drives. heeheehe.) But, yeah. Back on topic, choir practice was nice.

Now for the big news. I get to go home for Labor Day Weekend!! I'm quite excited, since I wasn't sure what I was going to do for 4 whole days all by myself. My mom's picking me up on Friday and we're staying at my Grandma's overnight, then I'll be home Saturday, possibly swinging by my Aunt's, since my cousin Jackie may be in town. I may have to tell her that story about the random guy thinking I was Jackie, since my mom and Erin both wondered if the guy thought I was her. Apparently we look alike, although I don't really see it.

Well, that's the lowdown for the next few days. Can't wait to go to the Teen Mass at home with Alyssa on Sunday and see Anita at the Ringside afterwards. I don't think she'll be expecting me.