Hand over the Pumpkin Bread and No on has to get hurt!

I seriously love Pumpkin Everything!

I have Pumpkin chili simmering in the crockpot right now. I know it sounds weird, but the way I make it, it’s a concoction of sweet, spicy, rich yumminess. AND I’ve also just pulled out a batch of Pumpkin Cranberry muffins. Needless to say, my apartment smells AFREAKINMAZING right now!

I love fall. I love everything about fall. I love the sounds, I love the colors, I love the smells. I don’t really know why, but I do. If you think about it, it’s a depressing season. Things are dying, it gets rainy and gloomy, and in this neck of the woods, it gets cold. But damn if it doesn’t make me giddy as all hell!

I like corn mazes, pumpkin patches, hot apple cider with donut holes after said corn maze and/or pumpkin patch, full harvest moons, football (Go Pack!), Fireplaces or bonfires, pumpkin ale, coming in from a good run or walk just a tad chilly and snuggling up in warm soft clothes to get warm.
Everything that comes with fall, I adore.

But of course, this is also the worst time of year for potential binges, too. Because I love fall foods so much, it’s hard not to want to eat them. I already iterated the many things pumpkin, but comfort foods play a big part, too. This is also the best time of year for nice thick ales. And OH! One of my new favorite treats: Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Ice Cream (!!!!) with marshmallow fluff and graham cracker pieces.

I’m really a bit worried about myself. I haven’t done any weighing since, um…June? or somewhere around there. And I don’t want to. I’m not going down that path again. I’m going by how my clothes fit and how I feel. And lately I’ve been overindulging. I can feel it!

So I started logging my food again. I want to take a look at what I’m eating, when, and why to see if I can prevent some binges and depression.

I also started a new strenthtraining program: http://www.bodybuilding.com/guides/female-20to39-fat-loss/training#plan

This thing is kicking my butt! Literally! I did Day 4 yesterday and I am so sore I can barely walk today. But I’m going to do this for 8 weeks and track the weight that I use for the Strength Training exercises and that’s how I’m going to gauge my success. I want to really get into a routine before the snow starts to fall. That way I can rely on some of that routine to get my butt out of bed in the morning and over to the gym!
Oh! Another incentive for making sure I go workout. I got selected to help pilot a new program at work! If I go to the gym 10 times each month for October, November, and December each, my employer will reimburse my monthly gym membership fee. Is that awesome?

Am I really that memorable?

It's a well documented fact that I have a superb memory. Maybe it's all those logic puzzles and crosswords I do. Who knows? But I do have an exceptional memory, which comes in very handy for school and memorizing music. Oh, and for trivia games, although apparently not enough for Star Wars Trivial Pursuit.

Through the years though I've learned that not everyone has the same level of memory. I'm not meaning that as an insult to anyone, not at all. What I mean is that when something internal seems natural to you, you tend to think everyone is the same. So when I would bring up a memory in great detail, I would assume everyone had the same memory with the same recall for details. And then people would look at me like I'm a creepy stalker and say 'how did you know that?' To which I reply, 'I don't know, I'm observant? I just do?'

So I now often assume that people don't have as good a memory as myself. I also assume that I don't cross the minds of people whom I haven't seen, talked to, or interacted with in any way for a few year, even though I remember them.

Ok, so now the events that brought all this up. While attending the alum event at Clarke University this weekend, I was extremely surprised by the number of people who recognized me. Especially considering that, well, I've lost 100lbs since college days and most people I haven't seen in a long time have no clue who I am.

The front desk receptionist knew who I was the minute I walked in. Yes, it's the same woman, and I was very shocked that she knew who I was! The head of food services and his assistant were also standing there and Mary Ellen pulled out the Stalker Book (I'm sure Clarkies fondly remember the stalker book, which, by the way, no longer exists) and showed them my pic. They BOTH said 'oh yeah! Of course I remember you! How are you!?!'  Then there were the alums who went to school at the same time I did, but I didn't really know or spend time with. They also greeted me by name and asked about me. (This was before I put my name tag on).

And so I find myself asking 'What did I do that so many people remember me?' I don't remember doing anything truly spectacular in my college years. Unless you count the night of consuming 9 long islands (of which I have very little memory). I certainly never won any awards, or achieved any distinguishing positions within any student organizations. I just remember being myself, almost the same person I am now. Except I'm more outspoken now and really care even less what people thing of anything I say.

I still find myself not quite believing they all remembered me. I think it's a conspiracy. I think they all got together and drew my name out of a hat and said 'let's make her super paranoid!'

Or maybe not.

let the games begin!!!

I've been blogging for a while now, but decided it's time to move it around to a less juvenile venue. Hopefully, I mean. If you are interested in anything I've written previously, look here.

Tumblr is awesome and what not, but it functions more as a social network and not a true blog spot. So here I am now. And I'm blaming Angel for putting me here. Actually, I'm giving her credit, because she started it and, well, she's awesome.

And now, about last night:

A surreal night

Last night I was at my Alma Mater for an Alumni concert. The man who first told me I would be a singer retired after 45 years at Clarke. The concert was comprised of the current Collegiate singers who performed 2 pieces on their own, and then the over 130 alums going as far back as graduates from the class of 1968 sang 6 pieces.
The turnout was huge! And it was such a very touching concert. It was very informal, too. It was quite a contrast from all the concerts I had sung during my 4 years with that choir. Those were always serious, professional events. This concert was full of laughter, mischief, and tears. The Maestro’s children sang in the choir, and his son did the solo for ‘In dat great gettin’ up mornin’. His 2 granddaughters did the opening solo for ‘May the Lord Bless You’. Maestro for many years had a choral/professional relationship with The Little Singers of Tokyo in Japan. They skyped in and performed a song as a tribute to him.
I am not a publicly emotional person. I’m a stoic who saves my tears for private. But I couldn’t help but have my eyes well up at the sheer outpouring of gratitude, grace, and love that happened last night.
Moments like these are too few and far between. For one day, nothing else mattered. It became a communion of appreciation and respect. This man impacted so many lives throughout almost half a century. He touched so many people with his teachings. He didn’t just teach about music, he taught about life.
My own story with Maestro starts in the Spring of 1999. As I was, like most High School Seniors, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the next 4 years of my life. From the time I was in 3rd Grade I’d always been involved in music. I loved it, I excelled at it. I decided I wanted to be a music teacher. I expressed interest in Clarke because my aunt had gone there. I put that little school code on my ACT test as a place to have the results sent. Since I scored pretty darn well, they sent me a letter offering me a scholarship that basically amounted to 1 years worth of tuition. So I took a tour.
In order to be accepted into the Music Ed program, you have to audition both instrumentally and vocally. At this time, I was much more instrumental than vocal. While I knew I could sing, I had a large awkward voice that was hard to blend in with others.
My audition for the instrumental went just fine. Earlier that Spring I’d achieved a 1st in Solo/Ensemble with my Telemann Suite for Flute so I knew that would be ok. When I got to the voice audition, I gave it a good try. I knew it would be good enough to get into the program, and that’s all I worried about. After I finished my song, Maestro just sat back in his chair with his arms folded and looked at me and said ‘You’re going to be a singer’.
‘Yeah right’ I thought as I left that day. I had accomplished my mission to be accepted into the program and that’s all I was worried about.
Over the course of the next four years, Maestro showed me that I truly do have a talent in singing. What I thought was an awkward large voice turned out to be an ugly duckling. This turns out to be something that is typical of my voice type. The voice is awkward and hard to work with in the teen years, but really matures during the singer’s late 30’s and early 40’s. Halfway into my Sophomore year, I dropped the Education part and became a straight Music Major.
This choice led me down many paths, and I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for that choice. I sometimes wonder what would have happened had I stuck with my Music Education degree. Would I have gone to live in NYC? Would I have gone crazy dealing with kids and wondering why I was unhappy all the time? Would I have gained the introspection that has driven me for the past 5 years to become a healthier, happier person? Would I have eventually found the right career for me that makes me excessively happy as I have recently? Who knows.
But I know one thing for certain. Maestro believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. He challenged me, and sometimes I really hated him for that. But looking back, I can see that it was all designed to truly guide me down the path I now walk. The immeasurable lessons I learned from this man, both within academia and outside of it, have helped me to hold true to myself for the past decade.
Which brings me back to why I had originally wanted to be a teacher. Good teachers truly impact lives. And I don’t think that was anywhere more obvious than it was to me last night. Those 130 alumni, plus the many more who wanted to be there and couldn’t were all there for the same reason I was. To honor a man who had taught us all so much about who we are and what we can do.
I only hope that when my day comes, that I can honestly say I’ve touched as many lives and helped to shape as many futures.

Congrats on a wonderful career Maestro. And enjoy your retirement!