according.to.kim

Katy Perry concert!

On Wednesday, July 13, Laurel and I took Bronwyn, Sophia, Madeline, and Georgia to see Katy Perry on her California Dreams Tour. It was a spectacular show! Very fun to watch. We had waited a long time for this concert and I'm happy to report that it was worth the wait. First, we had our tickets for nearly six months before the concert date; and then we arrived at the Brandt Centre shortly after 6:30 pm (an hour before the start time) and waited 2.5 hours for Katy to appear on stage. I was asked many times, "Mama, where's Katy?!"

Here's a photo to show the location of our seats. We were in section 222 with a railing in front of us which was kind of nice. The best part about our seats was that we could see everything in one view. Some of the light shows were very cool and we had a great vantage point for that. I wish I had taken a picture of the awesome lights during E.T.! I'm glad Laurel did, though. (I wasn't getting my camera out too often because I was warned that if security thought it was a professional camera, they'd take it away.)

There were two opening acts: Janelle Monáe and DJ Skeet Skeet. Janelle Monáe had quite a unique show with an orchestra band. I thought, at least where we were sitting, the sound was terrible (thankfully, it was much better for Katy Perry). My favourite of Monáe's performance was her cover of The Jackson Five's ABC. She really sounded like the young Michael Jackson. Madeline entertained me with her comments during this opening act: "If I fall asleep, don't wake me up." and "Is she a famous singer?" No. "Then why is she singing?" I'm sure Monáe is quite talented, but it may be impossible to impress an 8-year old who is waiting for Katy Perry!

DJ Skeet Skeet was confusing -- to me, anyway! I've never heard of a DJ for an opening act. But what do I know? :) We kept thinking Katy Perry would be coming out any minute, and it wasn't happening. He was trying to get the crowd going with a dance party atmosphere, which worked to some extent. I think he was playing popular songs, but I was paying more attention to the screens showing tweets from people who used the #ReginaDreams hash tag. I tried to get on there, but didn't appear. It was a good distraction for the kids anyway: "Watch for my face on the screen!"). After yet another break, Katy Perry finally started her show about 9:00 pm.

The show was a dazzling spectacle of lights, images, dancers, acrobatics, costumes, and glitz. The stage was set with giant candies and colourful steps. (This reminds me of Madeline's question during the second song: "Are these all going to be candy songs?") There was a running dream-sequence story that played intermittently throughout the concert on the three big screens. And Katy Perry wore 17 costumes! Seven of those were during one song. (Costume stats and set list were published here: Katy Perry delivers a sweet, sweet dream to Regina crowd.) The first two photos above were from the first set. The third photo shows Perry on a small platform that rose out of the stage. In this picture, the platform had already lowered about 1/3 of its total height, but I chose it because you can see the aerial acrobat above/behind Perry. (Click the photo to enlarge if you'd like to see her better.)

The next two photos are from when Perry boarded a pink "cloud" and "floated" above the crowd, so everyone could get a closer look at her. She played guitar and sang a slower song during her flight. Since we were on the upper level at the back, we did have a good view of her on the cloud. She was securely attached to the thing behind her that looks like a candy cane. The third picture below is of Sophia and Bronwyn when Katy Perry was closest to us.

The next images are from one of our favourite songs: Hot N Cold. This is the song in which she wore 7 different costumes. That was pretty cool. Some of her changes were like magic. For example, glitter falling down on her and voila! new costume. Georgia and Madeline were very impressed! (I was impressed, too!) For the third image, I created a sequence of shots showing a costume change (of course this one wasn't like magic at all, but I never knew when those were happening!)

The photos at the beginning and end of this post, I took during Firework which is my favourite song of Katy Perry's. (If you haven't seen it, check out the video for Firework. I think it's quite touching.) This was the last song before the encore. When it looked like the concert was over, the girls were wondering why she hadn't played their favourite, California Gurls. And that, of course, was the encore performance. The girls were so excited! Sophia and Bronwyn were screaming at the top of their lungs. The concert didn't end until after 11:00 pm -- a full 2 hours with Katy.

I'm glad we were able to get tickets. (We were lucky to get them! The public sale sold out in six minutes, but Neil used a presale opportunity and was on it immediately). The concert was very memorable, not too expensive, and the girls loved it! They have been fans of Katy Perry for quite awhile, based on a handful of songs: California Gurls, Hot N Cold, Firework, and Teenage Dream (which is a bit mature for kids). I wasn't familiar with her other songs at all -- except I had heard I Kissed a Girl and E.T. once before. (And there were definitely some songs inappropriate for kids, but they weren't clear enough to understand if you didn't already know the words. The girls were so focused on all that was going on visually, I'm sure deciphering the lyrics was the furthest thing from their minds. It would be over their heads anyway. Phew!)

Mid-May weekend + Monday

Last Friday, I had the day off work (my work as an employee, that is), and I woke up with a cold. Not how I wanted to start my three-day weekend! At least it's just me; the rest of my family is cold-free.

Friday, I spent much of day preparing a new free sampler for Bite-sized Scrapbooking. It includes the first three layouts issued for BSS in February. In those early weeks, I wasn't providing a sneak peek or a sketch, so I needed to create those elements for the sampler. Please go and download the sampler if you're interested! It will give you three inspiration layouts and a good idea of what subscribers receive.

When the kids were out of school, we all went to Cherrylane Greenhouse near Grand Coulee to shop for plants. Laurel came with us, too, while Bronwyn stayed at a friend's house. We all LOVE going to greenhouses. This is one of my very favourite things to do every spring. We hadn't been to this place before, and we went because I had purchased vouchers on SwarmJam. It was a lovely greenhouse and the people running it are super nice and eager to help. We had fun picking out a bunch of plants. I let the girls get whatever they wanted, so we'll have an eclectic variety of flowers! I'm very excited that I picked out seven perennials for our yard (one was Sophia's request, actually). I love perennials, but we don't have many. I decided it's time to start investing in perennials. I will write more about the plants we purchased in another post.

Saturday, I took Sophia to her piano lesson, then shopping for dressy sandals (for her piano recital) and a birthday gift for her friend. (She went to Haley's party later in the day.) The shopping took much too long but we came home with good purchases. Sophia's feet are the same size as mine and it was challenging to find sandals that weren't too high or too expensive. We found some at Walmart for $15.

It was mid-afternoon by the time I started working on Madeline's clothes -- my real plan for the day. Clothes, clothes, clothes. There's no end to them, it seems. Madeline is quite particular about her clothing, so she easily rejected about half of the clothes that were available to her (and those were separated into two piles: donate and keep for Georgia). The remaining third is still more than enough. Madeline's dresser and closet are full and we didn't even open any of the other three bins of 7/8 clothes in our basement. I'm still going to have to go through these soon because I would rather get rid of at least half of those clothes NOW, than have to go through six bins of 7/8 when Georgia gets to that size. Can you feel my pain? At least the job of going through Sophia's clothes will be much easier. She actually doesn't have that many clothes that fit her any more. I hope she has enough but we'll see about that next weekend.

*Okay, I need to insert here that we did not buy all of these clothes! In fact, we have purchased very little. In addition to a few gifts of new clothes (which the girls LOVE), we have received hand me downs from three families. Our girls are always overjoyed to receive these clothes and I am very thankful for them because we can't spend much money on children's clothing, but the price we pay is the considerable space they take up in our house and the time I spend sorting through them. I am not ungrateful; just slightly frustrated.*

I continued dealing with children's clothing on Sunday because we had a bunch of bags and piles and bins that contained a mixture of sizes. This photo shows just some of the 10s (which are too small for Sophia), 7/8s, 6X/7s, and 6/6Xs I sorted that day. But here's the best part: While I worked on this, I had the laptop set up so I could watch Penny De Los Santos teaching Food & Culture Photography on creativeLIVE. The course was three days long (May 13-15) and I only caught about 20% of the live broadcast over the weekend, but what I saw was absolutely riveting! Neil and I both wished we could see all of it, so we purchased the course for $99, which I think is incredibly inexpensive for 24 hours of video. Certainly a bit of a splurge, but now we can watch the whole thing on the TV downstairs whenever we want. I'm so glad I noticed a tweet from @thepioneerwoman about this course. After seeing Penny's short video, The Power of Food Photography, I just had to register. I don't really aspire to BE a food photographer; I'm just fascinated by Penny's photos and her approach to food and culture photography.

Meanwhile, Neil started cleaning the incredible disaster of a place we call Sophia and Madeline's room. (Neil got possession of the laptop when I had to spend some time dealing with the clothing/toy storage room downstairs.) We had not seen the floor in their room for quite some time, and he made some good progress on it before we all had to stop and get ready for the girls' piano recital. After the recital and supper, I continued working on the floor until it was finished, but I wasn't able to get to all the surfaces in their room before the girls' bedtime. I will try to squeeze this into my vacation week (next week) because it simply has to get done.

And where were the girls during all of this bedroom cleaning? Playing elsewhere and that's fine with me. In fact, I prefer they stay away; it's much easier to throw things out when they're not there to protest! Madeline did show up at one point and rescued several silly bands before they were swept into the dust pan. (I can't even imagine what it would be like to have carpet in the girls' bedrooms. Scary!) Although it seems easier to declutter without the kids' help right now, I know they need to learn how to do this -- and I'm not sure how to teach them -- so I am considering signing up for this class at Simplify 101: Organizing with your kids.

Sophia and Madeline's piano recital was at 4:45 p.m. on Sunday. It was a nice event, as always. This was our fourth one. Madeline (pictured below) played a solo on the piano (Autumn), played sand blocks in the rhythm ensemble (Waltz), and sang with several other children (MYC Theme Song). Sophia played a solo on the piano (The Greatest Show on Earth). She played so clearly and enthusiastically! It was great to hear! Unfortunately, she got stuck about 2/3 of the way through and couldn't finish. She got up, visibly upset, and came straight to me. Sadly, we hadn't brought her book along, so she couldn't refer to it.

The recital continued with another couple private students, and then Sophia's teacher asked if she wanted to try again. Sophia agreed. She played just as enthusiastically as the first time, and then... got stuck in the same spot again. :( Mrs. Young tried to help, but without the music for reference, they were both unsure what came next. What a bummer. We all learned a hard lesson about taking the book. We should have had it with us even though Sophia didn't think she needed it. Well, it won't happen again! It's over, and she's okay. (I think this helped a tiny bit: another private student had the same problem and he didn't have his book there either.) The thing is, she knew the song at home when no one was paying attention, but she was nervous about the audience. And the entire song wasn't quite etched in her brain. At the end of the recital, her teacher praised her for trying again, and several parents patted her on the back afterward, saying she was very brave. She is, and I'm proud of her, too!

On Monday (yesterday), Sophia participated in the track & field day at her school. She competed against other girls in grades 4 and 5, and came home with a fist full of ribbons: five 2nds, a 6th, and an 8th. The 2nds were in high jump, and the 60m, 80m, 200m, and 400m races. The 6th was in triple jump (she claims she thought it was a practice jump), and the 8th was in shotput. (A very determined and trained runner in grade 5 won 1st place in all the races.) Our niece, who's in grade 5, won 1st place in triple jump, 4th in high jump, and 7th in the 60m race. Sophia (and B) also had a 90-minute dance class Monday evening and she said her legs were burning in class. Not surprising, huh?!

PI 11/52: In the distance

Taken Saturday en route to Avonlea to have dinner at Donna and Lou's. The sky wasn't what I had hoped to capture for this prompt. Oh well; I didn't have time to go for another shot on a brighter day. This photo was extremey dull SOOC, but I hit it with some Pioneer Woman actions: lighten, sharpen, boost, and edge burn at 50% opacity. (And it's still pretty dull!) Two things strike me about this shot: (1) That it was May 7 and there's not a speck of green in sight. Seeding was delayed this year due to the very wet spring; and (2) The old barn and graineries make it seem like this photo could have been taken 50 years ago.

My mother-in-law, Donna, had knee replacement surgery on Monday (her second one) and I hope she's doing well. I know she was in a great deal of pain the first day, but I think it's a little better now. I wish her speedy healing!

P.S. On Tuesday, Sophia had another quad meet (four schools). She got 3rd in triple jump and 4th in 200m.

On Wednesday evening, I took Madeline to her last Music for Young Children class. Over the past two years, she learned a great deal about music in Sunbeams 1 and 2 (and so did I!), but it was time to close the book on this one. I don't know why, but Madeline started detesting piano practice around the beginning of 2011. She would complain and cry through the whole thing, every time. It was painful and we're both glad it's over! She's going to play ringette and continue Irish dancing next year, so I think it would have been too much anyway. Sophia, on the other hand, will be doing all three (piano, ringette, and dance), but I'll think she'll be fine with it, as it's no change from this year.

On Thursday evening (May 12), Neil and I took Madeline, Sophia, and Bronwyn to dance at a fundraising dinner. They performed at 6:00 p.m., so it was a bit of a scramble after I arrived home at 5:15 p.m., but we made it. I didn't do their hair at all (no wigs), so that was a big time saver. We just ensured it was off their faces. Madeline danced a beginner reel and single jig, a couple of dances she knew well at one time but hasn't practiced recently. She had a few mistakes in both and was a little upset about it backstage. Sophia and Bronwyn performed St. Patrick's Day (hard shoe) for the first time in front of an audience, as well as the slip jig and their new reel (soft shoe). Sophia had a little mistake in St. Patrick's Day, but she recovered very well and continued in sync to the end. Bernie was impressed. :)

Also, Neil helped tie rosaries at school for both Sophia and Madeline's classes, on two separate days.

PI 2/52: Finding a little rhythm

Rhythm: Harmonious sequences or patterns... I spotted these ones on Georgia's mitten on Saturday.

Last weekend was pretty busy, but not overly crazy. I'll start with Thursday evening since Sophia had a ringette game. They played one of the top teams and lost 9-4. Sophia played goal.

I had Friday off work (the last of a good long stretch of Fridays off) and the kids had no school. Neil took Sophia to her piano lesson at 2:15 (moved from Saturday to accommodate ringette practice) and all three girls went to K4J in the evening. I managed to get a few things done that day, including my monthly photo tasks for February pictures. Very good to have that done so early in the month!

On Saturday, I took photos every waking hour, starting at 7:00 a.m. Why? Ella Publishing had issued a page call for a photo-an-hour layout to be submitted by March 17. I've never submitted a layout for anything before, so that wasn't the impetus for me; I just thought, yeah, it would be good to document a whole day again, so I'll do it! (I have "one day in my life" layouts from May 2006 and Nov 2009, and both are very detailed in words but not photos.) I chose Saturday since I knew we had a variety of things going on, and I set my calendar to email me every hour. Even with reminders, this was challenging! I managed to take over 280 photos on Saturday, but there was one hour in which I only took two photos. Happily, they turned out well. I am now working on my layout (digital), bit by bit, hoping to complete it by the 17th. It's good to have a deadline and I may as well send it in!

In the morning, we went to the Farmer's Market in the Cathedral Neighbourhood Centre to pick up eggs for my mom, and then to Sophia's ringette practice. I could have taken Sophia by myself, but the other girls really wanted to go, too, so we all went. Madeline and Georgia were bored the whole time. Why did they want to go? Why didn't we take something for them to do? Mysteries of the unexplained. The older sister of another player kindly let Georgia play games on her iPod Touch for a little while.

After lunch, we all went to my niece's ringette game. (This time, I grabbed two DSis on my way out the door and then learned they were both dead on the way to the game. Gah!) It was the Icebreaker's last regular season game (and B's last game since she'll be away during the play-offs) and it was a great one to watch. The Icebreakers came from behind and were up by one point with just a minute or two left, and then the other team tied the game with 5 seconds left on the clock!

After the game, we headed home and cleaned up the living room knowing our friend Steve and his dog, Chloe, were coming over at 4 p.m. for a doggie play date. Plus, all the girls showered or bathed to get ready for their evening dance performance. After supper, I spent some time getting the curly hair pieces attached to Sophia and Madeline's hair. With so much less hair on their heads now, it was quite a challenge! The hair pieces are designed to work with a bun, so I had to attach a fake bun (a doughnut-shaped form) to Madeline's head and then attach the curly hair piece to that. I used about 25 bobby pins in her hair alone, but it worked! The girls got dressed at home and we headed to Holy Trinity.

We arrived at 7:30 p.m. for the 8:00 p.m. dance performance. It was an Irish/St. Patrick's Day-themed fundraiser for the church. Sophia and Bronwyn performed three dances together (their new reel, single jig, and slip jig), and Madeline danced three times with various other students (light jig and beginner reel twice). The show was 30 minutes long which is very long for Irish dance because the dances are so short. Afterward, Sophia stayed overnight at L&B's.

Here's another photo representing rhythm (I distorted the girls' faces for public sharing). Madeline is on the far right.

Sunday afternoon, Madeline had her friend, Mattea, over for a play date. Madeline was thrilled about this as she hadn't had anyone over for a very long time. We all went to Sophia's ringette game mid-afternoon. It was their last regular season game. Mom and Dad came to watch the game on their way home from North Battleford. Laurel and Bronwyn were there, too. The Sticks of Fury won 7-5 and Sophia scored a hat trick (her second this year)! Great game to have extra fans in attendance! Madeline, Mattea, and Georgia didn't watch the game, but they had fun sipping hot chocolate, sharing a slushy drink, and playing with some other ringette siblings. After the game, Mom and Dad picked up their dog, Buffy, who had been at our house since Friday morning.

Many repeating patterns inside the Cooperators Centre.

 

On Monday, Laurel called me after lunch and reminded me that she was taking me to see Sarah McLachlan that evening! I had forgotten completely, so that was a nice surprise. (Note to self: Always email important info to myself!) We ate supper at our house, then Neil took all the girls to Sophia and Bronwyn's dance class, while Laurel and I went to the concert. It was a great evening and concert. Sarah shared the stage with two other singers, Melissa McClelland and Butterfly Boucher, for nearly three hours. Rather than having a separate opening act, the three women sang and played back-up for each other throughout the entire concert. That was cool and they worked very well together. I also enjoyed Sarah's Q&A segments, in which she answered questions written down by audience members before the show and during intermission. My favourite part of the concert was Sarah's encore performance of Angel. (Surfacing is the only album of hers that I'm familiar with, and I listened to it a lot back in the day.)

I don't know why, but I was in a bit of funk over the past week. Nothing major; just feeling a little weary and lackluster. Perhaps it was a touch of the winter blues. While I'm not a fan of the cold weather (hot summer days are my favourite!), it usually doesn't bother me -- I have good warm clothes and I don't have to spend a lot of time outside -- but on Monday morning when I heard the wind chill was -37, I was totally disgusted. I thought, 'are you kidding me?! this winter is never going to end!' And I grumbled as I left the house.

Well, I'm already feeling better. Spring is just around the corner, right? Sophia has her first play-off game tonight, and I'm looking forward to this weekend with only one activity on the calendar (Sophia's piano lesson). Amazing!

Back to schedule

Where has the past week gone?! I meant to post sooner, but the days seemed to vanish quickly. I sure appreciated having my desk cleared and my calendar updated, as I had an onslaught of forms to complete, dates to record, and cheques to write. 'Tis the season!

The girls started school on Wednesday, September 1. Neil attended assembly while I went to work. (I would have preferred to go to school, but it wasn't a good day for me to do that.) Sophia and Madeline insisted that Neil not call and tell me who their teachers were, so they could tell me themselves, in person. I was curious, but it was worth the wait. They were so excited to tell me the name of their teacher and which of their friends were assigned to the same classroom. All in all, the girls are very happy. Most of their closest friends are in their classes and they're both thrilled with their teacher. A great start to the school year!

Wednesday evening, Neil took the girls to an open house for new students at the dance studio. Sophia, Madeline, and Bronwyn danced for two hours off and on to give newcomers an idea of what to expect. Meanwhile, I attended the AGM for Georgia's preschool. I was (and am) very aware that this will be the last year I'll have a child attending preschool. (They each had two years of preschool, so this is the sixth year for us.) Eager to get some time in the classroom with Georgia, I snapped up a couple of my Fridays off on the parent-helper sign-up sheets.

After work on Thursday, Madeline and I attended her second piano lesson of the season (her 2nd year). We started August 26, which seemed awfully early! Well, I guess it's good to have a staggered start to all the activities. Madeline's music classes are an hour long and I have to be in the class with her. Sophia also started piano lessons this week (Saturday morning). She was considering bagpipe lessons, but decided on piano. The bagpipe lessons would have been a little more convenient for us, and easier on the ol' pocket book, but I think piano was a good decision anyway. She is taking private lessons with the same teacher that Madeline has. I sat in on her first class to find out what her lesson was like and what she needed to do at home, but will not do so in the future. I look forward to reading for 30 minutes!

Irish dance starts this week. I am taking dance again (my 4th year), but I think it'll be my last year since Georgia will start next year. All I want to do this year is get my four beginner soft-shoe dances down pat, maybe one or both of the more advanced soft-shoe dances I started learning last year, and the two hard-shoe dances I've worked on. I am not interested in learning any new solo dances, but I will participate in all the ceili (group) dances. Sophia and Madeline are starting their 6th and 4th years, respectively.

So, how about that third activity we agreed the girls could do? They are not doing Girl Guides again because they want to try other things. Honestly, I feel a tiny bit of regret over that decision because it is a good program, and very inexpensive, but they had to choose. I do support their choices, though, especially since they are both physical activities. Madeline is planning to take Taekwondo this year. She had mentioned it several times over the past six months, so I inquired about the program through the South Zone Club. The days and times work for us and the location is convenient. There are five time slots (four of which work with our schedule) and she should attend two per week. It starts October 1st.

Sophia and her cousin Bronwyn are planning to play ringette this year. This will be a very new experience for them as it's not like anything they've done before. Other than the time involved and the cost of equipment, I'm pretty excited that they're doing this! I played ringette for several years when I was a kid and I loved it. Like Sophia, I was nine when I started (but I had a lot more skating experience before that). They're registered for a Come Try Ringette event on the 18th, and the season (or evaluations) begins in October. I'm glad we have a few more weeks to round up the equipment she needs! All we have are elbow pads, and maybe pants. Anyone around here have used ringette/hockey equipment for sale that would fit a 9 or 10 year old (I think she needs 12" shin pads)? Size 4 hockey skates? If so, please let me know!

Sophia also started cross-country (long-distance running) on Friday. She has two practices and one meet every week in September. This is always right before and after school, so it does not affect our evenings and weekends. For the meet this week, she has to be able to run for four minutes straight. This is not a problem for Sophia!

In other, non-extracurricular-activity news...

Friday evening, Neil and the girls went to the first of four U of R Rams football games at Mosaic stadium. Neil won season tickets and he can take up to four children to each game for free. It sounds like the girls really enjoyed it -- especially watching the cheerleaders and the mascot, Rampage! They had their picture taken with Rampage and the cheerleaders hoisted each one of them up in the air. I'm so glad I sent the camera with Neil!

Saturday morning, we all attended the annual pancake breakfast for Science Centre members. The girls showed me some of the newer stuff inside the Science Centre before Sophia and I had to leave for her piano lesson. Neil takes them quite often, but I rarely get there. We definitely get our money's worth from our annual membership.

Neil attended the 'Labour Day Classic' Rider game on Sunday. I'm glad the Riders won, and even more happy that Avonlea won the title of Riderville! It's awesome that the smallest community garnered the most votes. They deserved it!

P.S. How could I forget? We had a lot of rain on Sunday evening (I heard 70mm on the radio) and water ran into our basement in three places. Basically, it came in around three of the four windows -- near the stairs, in the bathroom, and in the toy storage room. Fortunately, after having water in the toy room in late June, we kept that part of the room free of stuff, so it was easy to pull off the baseboard and pull up the carpet again. Neil sucked up a bunch of water with the Shop Vac and put down towels in all three places to keep the water from advancing overnight as it continued to rain all night. Prior to this, we had a large dehumidifier running for two months straight (nearly 24/7) and it was still collecting water. I guess we'll have it on for at least another two months.

Our May, so far - part 2

Family gathering in Weyburn

On Saturday May 1, we went to Weyburn to see my cousin Jennifer, her husband Marcus, and their young children Morgan and Cameron who were visiting from Australia. It was so nice to see Jenn (it had been 10 years!) and to meet her family for the first time. The party was held at my Aunt Bev's lovely house, which was decorated with fresh roses for the occasion. All nine of Grandma M's great grandchildren were there, ranging in age from one to nine. It was so nice to see them all together and get a photo of them with Grandma. Also there were my parents, Robyn (unfortunately, Rob was working, but luckily he had visited Jenn and family in Australia last fall!), all five of my aunts, uncle Cliff, and my cousins Richie and Melinda. The kids enjoyed playing dress up before supper. After supper, Dad took Buffy for a walk, and all the kids (except one-year-old Bailey) went out with him. I decided to grab my camera and join them. It was freezing out there and quite unpleasant with the wind (I really felt sorry for the two little ones who have never experienced such cold before!), but I'm glad I went as I was able to get some cute once-in-a-lifetime pics of the cousins. We also had a little birthday celebration for my Aunt Colleen. In the evening, my cousin Richie entertained the children with magic tricks and balloon animals. He's awesome! The kids loved it!

Madeline's music recital

On May 2, Madeline had her spring recital for Music for Young Children (MYC). She played her solo very nicely. I also participated by holding and pointing to the music for their group rhythm ensemble. I really enjoyed hearing all of the students of various levels play their solos. One of the older private students -- whom I'm sure had the most difficult piece of music (Sonatina in F Major), and perhaps the most talent as well -- stopped playing in the middle of her solo and couldn't continue for some reason. She left the piano in tears. At the end of the recital, after all the other students were finished, she got back up there and played her entire solo beautifully -- despite being very visibly nervous. It was moving and wonderful to have her set that example for the others.

Playing bells in MYC

During the last few MYC classes, the students started playing Ode to Joy with hand bells. There weren't enough students for the notes, so I got to play a bell as well. It was fun! Madeline and I both really enjoyed playing hand bells. Madeline's last class was May 20 and I have signed her up for next year. She did very well in Sunbeams 1, and we both learned a lot!

First Music Class

For this layout, I started with a scan of my daughter's first composition that she wrote for an MYC competition in February -- a nice little piece of music! With a bit of work in Photoshop Elements, I was able to print the composition out on cardstock along with some lines for journaling (which I created myself to be the same size as the composition). My favourite thing about this layout is the pairing of a practice photo with a recital photo. Those music note stickers are probably the oldest thing I have in my stash. They're more than 10 years old! (The theme of the February LOAD challenge was "use your stash" and I created 26 out of 28 layouts entirely from my stash; the other two included just one item that I purchased during February.)

AC/DC concert photos

Highlights interrupted by...

Feist. (With special guest Hayden.)

With just a few hours notice, I was given the opportunity to see Feist with my sister-in-law this evening. Great show! Her voice is awesome. I loved the background "shadow show" too. Very cool.

Truth be told, I didn't even know her music before tonight.* (Ali, Neil was confused! and thank you!) Yeah, I don't get out much. Or listen to the right radio stations. Anyway, I'm sold. Feist rocks!

*Okay, now I know I've heard 1234 on iPod Nano commercials, but I had no idea what song it was or who sang it.

Bits & pieces

My friend's book, Dry Streak, has been shortlisted for the Saskatchewan Book Awards. Congratulations, Leeann!

I had a wonderful time scrapbooking and cardmaking with friends Friday evening and all day Saturday. I'm very happy with my accomplishments this weekend. Photos are important to me and I need dedicated time like this to work on organizing and preserving them. I made this "Georgia" page at a Stampin' Up! event last weekend (i.e., it was designed by someone else) and then simply added the photo yesterday.

'Tis the season to receive stuff in the mail (such as greeting cards, calendars, labels...) that make me feel guilty and/or annoyed. I won't use things I didn't pay for, and yet I feel bad about tossing them into the recycling bin.

I've added a link to The Breast Cancer Site in the right column. If you have a few seconds to spare, you can help provide free mammograms for underprivileged women by clicking the "Fund Free Mammograms" button at The Breast Cancer Site. It's legit. According to Snopes.com, it takes 45,000 clicks to fund one mammogram. Click once a day if you can.

I regret buying a case of juice boxes last week at Madeline's request. I realize now that I absolutely hate juice boxes. For one thing, it would be so much easier if I could just throw them in the garbage, but no, I feel compelled to rinse them out and recycle them. No more juice boxes after this.

We managed not to buy Halloween treats until today, and I'm determined to keep the box unopened until Halloween. Last year, we bought some early and ate them. Then, Neil and I were both out shopping separately on the same day and we both bought a bunch more candy to hand out. We had WAY too much. And we didn't take any of it back to the store.

We sold a case of chocolate mint Girl Guide cookies last week, and we only bought three of the twelve boxes ourselves! (No wonder we don't need any Halloween treats right now.) Sophia really wanted to sell them door-to-door, but we ran out before we could do that. Perhaps we should get another case.

I enjoyed listening to Eddie and the Cruisers with Sophia this evening. She fell asleep right away, but I stayed and listened for awhile. Definitely one of my favourite soundtracks. It had been a long time since I last heard it.

Georgia has developed a cold. Major runny nose. Bleh.

The Cold Shots song

I've been trying to win an iPod Nano from Molson Canadian Cold Shots (enter once a day), and I like the song that plays on the site. So much so that I had to look for it on the internet. Apparently it's an unreleased remix of a song by Montreal rapper, B-U The Knowledgist. Lucky for me, a resourceful Calgarian made an mp3 of the song and put it on his blog.

To download: on a PC, right click on the link to the song (above) and select "Save target as..."; on a Mac, press option and click on the link. I just learned how to do that.

Is this hip-hop? I'm so clueless about that genre.

What can I say?!

Simply, these guys know how to put on a show.

And -- whether you're a fan or not -- there's no denying that these guys, the Rolling Stones, are living legends. I couldn't help but think, Wow, that's really Mick Jagger! Mick Jagger is actually right here in front of me. Part of the fun too, is marvelling at his energy. At 63 years of age, I think he may have more energy than anyone I know (including Sophia!).

The whole band seems to love what they're doing. I mean, how many times have they performed those songs?! To still put that much enthusiasm into each and every song is extraordinary. True showmanship. And who knew Keith Richards could sing? (Okay, probably lots of people, but not me.) I really enjoyed his song, You Got the Silver.

The concert was great, to say the least. I was particularily awestruck by the enormous stage -- especially the big screen -- and the fantastic light show. We sat pretty far from the stage, but it didn't really matter because that screen totally made up for it. I was very impressed by the technology and how the camera people worked their magic to display outstanding views of the action. Speaking of technology, I finally put my camera phone to good use. This was our view, but the photo makes it look much further away than it was.

The icing on the cake was the weather. It was so unbelievably mild and calm. T-shirt wheather at the beginning of Three Days Grace (whose performance I enjoyed too) and about 10 degrees Celsius at the end of the concert. And the full moon over the stage was just plain COOL! I'm hoping to see a professional photo of that.

Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field, Regina, Saskatchewan, Friday, October 6, 2006
Photograph by Roy Antal, Leader-Post

Music, lyrics, and life

I was listening to a music station on the radio yesterday (something I rarely do) and I heard a couple songs that brought back memories. I love how music can take you right back. Instant recall.

The first was Gel by Collective Soul. It reminded me of driving to Seattle by myself to visit my Grandma in June/July 1995. I played Collective Soul (the self-titled album) a lot on that trip.

The second was You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC. It reminded me of volleyball warm-ups and "hitting" (volleyballs) at recess when I was in high school. AC/DC's Who Made Who album is synonymous with volleyball in my mind (as is Yaz's Upstairs at Eric's).

***

One of my favourite albums of all time, Live's Throwing Copper, reminds me that every person we meet -- no matter how brief (or seemingly pointless) the encounter -- adds to your life in some way.

Years ago, a few months before Neil and I started dating, I went on two dates with a guy who was clearly incompatible with me. For example, he told me he didn't agree with post-secondary education. Seriously. And why two dates? I have no idea. I'd say those dates were a total waste of my time except for one important thing: he introduced me to Throwing Copper. If not for that guy and those two dates, I may have missed out on Live completely and I'm very glad I didn't.

***

As yesterday was the anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, I was reminded of the song, Keep on the Sunny Side.

On 9/11/2001, I was at home with Sophia (she was seven months old) and Neil was at the farm harvesting. Normally, Neil would've stayed at the farm overnight, but on that day, he came home to be with us. He told me that when he started driving, the CD player was on and he heard Keep on the Sunny Side (from the soundtrack of O Brother, Where Art Thou?). It seemed so appropriate.

Now, for me, Keep on the Sunny Side and September 11 are strangely inseparable. I don't think of one without thinking of the other, and that works for me. The song's optomism is comforting. Here are the lyrics I think of specifically:

"The storm and its fury broke today,
Crushing hopes that we cherish so dear;
Clouds and storms will, in time, pass away
The sun again will shine bright and clear."

(I didn't really want to write about September 11 because I don't like thinking about it. I'm sure I'm not alone. But, I think we have to think about it. We have to remember the depth of the tragedy. It's just not optional.)

I never ever thought...

...I'd be going to see the Rolling Stones in concert. I never thought I'd see them anywhere, let alone in my own city of Regina. And to be honest, that really didn't bother me because I'm simply not a big fan of theirs and I'm not a big concert- goer. Well, as of this morning, Neil and I have tickets for the Rolling Stones concert on October 6. I must admit I'm a little bit excited about it now.

There has been such a hullabaloo about the Stones coming to Regina since it was announced a couple of weeks ago. And I thought if I heard another word about the Roughriders' season ticket holders getting first dibs on tickets... well, never mind. (I was on the fence about the fairness of that, but had in the end agreed that it is season ticket holders who keep Taylor Field/Mosaic Stadium going and without a venue of that size, there'd be no concert here.)

We didn't even try to get tickets for the original October 8th concert. Neil said he'd like to go, but was resigned to the fact that we wouldn't go because it's a lot of money and he had already seen the Rolling Stones in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1995. So why did he decide to go for it and get tickets for the second date added yesterday? (And why did I let him?!)

Well, I think Neil felt (though perhaps not consciously) that he had passed up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the Stones here in Saskatchewan. So, when they announced that second date, it was as if he had been given a second chance. It was fate. He just had to try to get tickets this morning. And since he is a Roughriders' season ticket holder, he had a good chance of getting them today (before the general public has the opportunity to buy tickets).

The other factor in Neil's decision was that he really wanted me to see the Rolling Stones in concert even though I've said over and over that I didn't care to go. He assures me it'll be spectacular and worth every cent. (We certainly did not buy the most expensive tickets available.) I guess it is pretty special to have tickets to see the Stones. After all, the window of opportunity must be getting narrower; I mean, how long can they possibly keep doing concerts?! And it certainly IS a big deal for them to come to Regina. Wow!

I recently read an article called Dump the guilt and go for it in the Leader-Post (July 25). "The study weighed 'indulgence guilt' and 'wistful feelings of missing out' in common situations requiring a decision between practicality and pleasure." In my mind, this was definitely a choice between practicality and pleasure. At least we (especially Neil) won't have any more feelings of regret over this one.

I've been tagged

Jessica tagged me so here it goes…

01. Total volume of music files on my computer:
13.4 MB - that's only four songs. I didn't realize how big they were.

02. The last CD I bought was:
Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin.

03. Song playing right now:
No music playing.

04. Five songs I listen to a lot or that mean a lot to me (in no particular order):
I'm going to depart from this a little and just name CDs because I listen to whole CDs in the van. None of them mean a lot to me; I just like 'em, or the kids do.
1) Avril Lavigne - Let Go
2) Nickelback - Silver Side Up
3) Nickelback - The Long Road
4) Shrek Soundtrack
5) Shrek 2 Soundtrack

05. Five people I'm passing this baton to, and why:
I am passing this on to a few women whose blogs I enjoy reading:
1) Misty
2) Carolyn
3) Tammy
4) Kelly
5) ?

Silver Side Up

It's Saturday night, and I just got home (10:15) from shopping for a few groceries and diapers, etc. I do lead an exciting life, I know.

Actually, I really don't care that I was shopping on a Saturday night because I was alone, and these days, shopping alone is always a good thing. Also, being alone in my van means I can listen to whatever I want. I like that. And there's something about driving alone at night that just makes me want to crank up the music. (Oh, and listening to loud music while driving at night also makes me want to drive fast, but I really try not to speed!)

I had ample opportunity to turn up the volume last night as well. I drove about 225 km round trip to Weyburn and back last evening to attend a Jocus Toy party at a friend's place. I think that's somewhat out of character for me as I don't really like driving that much, but I wanted to get out and see some friends I don't see very often. I bought some neat toys for the girls' birthdays and enjoyed visiting with my friends, but I almost think the best part was just being alone for a couple of hours and cranking the music.

I listened to Nickelback's Silver Side Up the whole time. I have to be alone to listen to that CD because Neil absolutely hates it (he pretty much hates anything that's somewhat popular--just on principle, I think), and I won't play it when the girls are in the van; Sophia listens too closely and I don't want her to hear some of the lyrics.

For those unfamiliar with Nickelback, I think they'd be described as hard rock. (I don't really pay that much attention to music genres, so I'm not sure.) I love Silver Side Up, especially track seven (Look What Your Money Bought) which is probably the hardest/heaviest song on the album, and I like it loud. I've always liked stronger, faster, louder music more than soft and slow music. Of course there are many exceptions, but that's my preference in general. I wonder what that says about me. What makes people drawn to certain kinds of music? I may have to look into that sometime.

Canadian Essentials

This is interesting: Amazon.ca's Canadian Essentials

What are the most essential Canadian books, CDs, and DVDs of all time? The Amazon.ca editors have put together our choices for the 50 titles in each category--some familiar and some surprising--that represent the best that Canada has to offer.

So far, they've posted their picks for CDs. DVDs will be posted on August 17 and books on August 24. I'll definitely be checking back to see their choices.

Of the CDs listed, we have these:

• American Woman, The Guess Who
  
• Fully Completely, The Tragically Hip
  
• Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette
  
• Surfacing, Sarah Mclachlan
  
• Up, Great Big Sea
  

Okay, that's kinda sad that we only have five of the top 50, but we're not big CD buyers. We also own Temptation by the Holly Cole Trio which is on the list of 'Great Canadian Records That Missed The List'.

Bedtime music

While on the topic of Sophia and music...

For several months now, Sophia's bedtime music has been Disc 5 of Like, Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture Box. Neil has been trying to convince her to let him put something else in, but she refuses. We do offer her children's music!

I'm sure that when she's older, Sophia's going to be overcome with nostalgia upon hearing these songs (the first four tracks):

• Owner Of A Lonely Heart (Yes),
• Mr. Roboto (Styx),
• I'm So Excited (Pointer Sisters), and
• Back On The Chain Gang (The Pretenders).

She especially likes Mr. Roboto!

And one of her very favourite songs that I play in the van is the Theme From "Greatest American Hero" (Believe It Or Not) by Joey Scarbury. Oh ya, you know the one I'm talking about...

Believe it or not, I'm walking on air.
I never thought I could feel so free-eee-eee.
Flying away on a wing and a prayer.
Who could it be? Believe it or not, it's just meeeee.

She knows many of the words and sings along quite well. It's cute. I like that song too.

I love a baby lion

This morning on the way to Sharon's, the song "I Love a Rainy Night" by Eddie Rabbitt was playing. Sophia asked me if he was saying "I love a baby lion". I said, no, he's saying "I love a rainy night" but she insisted it was "I love a baby lion"! I'm not sure if she was serious or just being silly. She usually picks up on the words very well, which means I have to be careful what I put into the CD player. (I don't normally listen to anything really questionable, but there are some lyrics on my Nickelback CD that I'd rather she didn't hear.)

The Funkified Chef

That's the title of a regular monthly column in SaskTel's employee newsletter, Ink. I'm the "guest funkified chef" this month which means I had to provide a bunch of information for the column. This is what I've been doing in my spare time for the past two days. I was asked to provide:

• a brief bio, including my location, job, interesting things I've done while employed here, my family, things I've discovered about SaskTel, etc.;
  
• a list of 10 people (living or dead, and well-known people, not just people who I know) I would invite to a dinner party, and why; and
  
• the menu I would serve them, including recipes.
  

Here's what I submitted:

My name is Kim Byrns. I grew up in Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan, and then lived in Saskatoon for six years while attending the U of S. There, I received a Master of Science in Marketing (specializing in Telecommunications Marketing). I started my SaskTel career in the Marketing department of SaskTel Mobility in October 1994, just three days after submitting my final thesis. I’ve been a Technical Writer in the Communications department at Mobility since 1997.

I’ve been married to an anthropology and sports-loving farmer for five years, and we have two beautiful daughters who are 3.5 and 1.5 years old. I’m a 25% partner in our grain farm operation (but I don’t do any of the actual farm work), and we also own eight bison that live with my parents’ herd of over 300. I have many personal interests for which I rarely find time, including scrapbooking, cardmaking, genealogy, and web design. I enjoy playing volleyball in the fall and winter, and this will be my second year on a dragon boat team.

I think one of the coolest things I’ve experienced at Mobility was to contribute to and witness the birth of both the SaskTel Mobility web site and the intranet site, Unplugged!, and then to see them develop into the excellent resources they are today. I remember when we had no online documentation at all, and just a few pages of paper documentation for cellular! It seems hard to imagine now.

Mobility has grown tremendously over the past 10 years, and it has been interesting, fun, and sometimes stressful, but never boring, to be a part of that amazing growth. I’ve worked with so many great people over the years and I feel really lucky to be a member of such an awesome team!

The Guest List

1. Alton Brown – host/creator of my favourite food show, Good Eats; he just seems like a cool guy, and food is one of my greatest interests.
2. Jackie Chan – combines athleticism and comedy like no other; he’s hilarious in one of my all-time favourite movies, Shanghai Noon.
3. Burton Cummings (and The Guess Who) – the only concert I regret missing is The Guess Who when they were at Rock in the Valley; I’d be in heaven if they just played No Sugar Tonight at this little shindig.
4. Theodor Seuss Geisel (“Dr. Seuss”) – obviously a genius; I wouldn’t expect him to converse in rollicking anapestic tetrameter verse, but I would really like to meet the man who would have turned 100 this year.
5. Wayne Gretzky – the quintessential Canadian champion; he seems so humble and down-to-earth despite his fame and fortune.
6. Mike Myers – brilliant comedian; I love how he so often displays his Canadian pride.
7. Bill Murray – great comedic actor with an outstanding movie career (my favourite: Groundhog Day); who wouldn’t love to have dinner with Bill Murray?
8. Jamie Oliver – chef/creator of Jamie’s Kitchen (the only reality show I’ve ever watched); I like his enthusiasm for food and his determination to help unemployed youth.
9. Seamus O’Regan – charming and intelligent co-host of Canada AM; he’d be a great conversationalist at any dinner party.
10. Mike Weir – first Canadian to win the Masters; so nice and cute; ‘nuff said!

And, of course, I’ll invite my husband too because he volunteered to do the cooking and he’s an expert steak griller!

The Menu

Red wine – Mateus Signature Douro 2000, Trapiche Malbec 2003, or Peller Estates Oakridge Merlot
Appetizer – Fresh Tomato Purée with Rustic Bread
Main course – Mustard & Herb Bison Steak,
Grilled-in-the-Husk Corn with Lime & Chili Butter, and
My Favourite Broccoli Salad
Dessert – Sunken Raspberry Cakes with Raspberry Sauce

(If you'd like the recipes, click here to download a PDF.)