One tune I learned is called “Forty Miles From Georgetown Without Any Whiskey” 😂 Must have been a long long trip.

Good Evening! I’ve been busy using up all my available brain cells at the Old Time music festival. There are lots of nice folks here so it hasn’t been bad being here by myself. We’ve had interesting lectures and learning sessions and jam sessions. I played in my first ever Picnic Shelter Jam Session, so I feel like a real musician now, lol. As much time as I spent learning tunes before coming to this, they’ve played exactly One tune that I know. ONE! In TWO DAYs of music! I’m such a dolt! I guess you have to start somewhere. It’s almost dinner time. Coffee!

Traffic. I don't understand it. Last season (22/23) I rarely encountered any slow traffic on my way to rehearsal. I could leave at 6:10 and get there in plenty of time. This season (23/24), I am late every. single. stinking. week. I check the directions on my phone and give myself an extra 15-20 minutes. And I am still late. Today at 5:45 it said 50 minutes. So I left at 5:55. By the time I got to the highway it added 10 minutes. Then 15. Then 20. I am just not willing to leave the house at 5:30 for a rehearsal that is only 30 miles away. Stupid traffic. In other news, I am all packed for the weekend, which requires very little in the way of packing. I'm going to an "Old Time Music Festival". Has anyone seen when the Barkley Marathons are scheduled? I couldn't find anything online. Probably the best way to find out is to see what weekend the campsites at Frozen Head State Park are completely booked.

Good morning! Happy Leap Day! I have a niece who was born on this date. I think she's had 10 or 11 birthdays. The girls have gone to tutorial and ds19 leaves for work in a few minutes. I have put laundry away and made hard-cooked eggs in the IP. Not much else going on. Orchestra rehearsal tonight. Coffee!

Happy Leap Day!! 😂

I am not planning for next year. Most of it is planned out already. I'll probably have to get some things for tutorial classes. String quartet was a good mental exercise. Somehow I didn't expect Britten to be so difficult. Nevertheless. It was good. Then we changed gears and did some Bach. Not easy but at least more comprehensible, lol. I stopped by Kroger on the way home for a few things since I will not be able to do my usual Friday morning at Aldi. They had fresh raspberries on sale. 😊

I knew Slachey would come through!

Good morning! I woke up to thunder and then decided it was just someone taking in their trash bins and then realized it really was thunder. Little Pup pee'd and pooped twice just in time for the deluge. My glass rain gauge tipped over in the windy night and broke. That's the third one I've lost in the last 4 months. 🙄 It was 65 degrees when I woke up and it will continue to get colder until we are at 28 degrees tomorrow morning. ❄️ Yesterday was a mentally and emotionally difficult day and I am hoping today things start looking up. Fortunately, there is Coffee!

I got my printer working. The guy at the oil change place seemed genuinely happy to see me and eager to get my van checked out. I wonder if that's his personality or if they have a superior customer service training program. There are people checking out the vacant house across the street. I wonder if I should wrap my head in a towel, let the pups out and chase them around in my pj's.

Good morning! The harbor bell was ding-a-linging like crazy due to Spring Weather. I was too tired-lazy to go outside in the dark and shush it so I tried unsuccessfully to ignore it. There's now a plastic bag stuffed in it - I like hearing it during the day but don't trust my memory to remember to do it before bed. When I was bringing the trash bins out to the curb I saw some trash skittering down the street from a bin that had blown over. There was a paper plate that rolled all the way down the hill and finally got stuck (still upright) under the bumper of a car. It was beautiful. 🤣 After ds19 gets back from his cello lesson, dd17 and I will go to the rapid oil change place and then a local park so she can scout out ideas for her eagle project. In the mean time I need to see if I can figure out why my printer has stopped working. Coffee!

Good morning! It's The Queen's favorite day! I didn't sleep much last night and even when I was sleeping I was having Dreams. Ugh. Dd15 has an ortho appointment in an hour and this afternoon we have the usual Monday things. Dd17 is hoping to get her family project done today (cleaning and resetting the driveway pavers) which could happen if everyone makes themselves available to help. She is needing to get an Eagle project set up and does not seem to have a handle on the idea that she can't just go do a conservation project on a river without first getting approval and instruction from the state and county environmental departments. Fortunately she is meeting with a scout leader tonight whose advice I am thinking she will accept, because she has no intention of listening to MY advice, lol. We have another situation tonight where we could use another vehicle for a rehearsal ds19 needs to get to but I think we can manage with drop off and pick up as long as he's willing to sit around for a while afterwards waiting to be picked up. Coffee!

The cello recital went very well. I don't know how ds can learn and memorize music when he rarely practices, but nevertheless. Book club was good. It is good to get together with other widows who understand all the ways that you are struggling and will remind you that you are NOT being stupid or pathetic. Anyways. Next month I am hosting and chose the book "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" because it seems we all could use a light, fun read. I'll need suggestions for St. Patrick's Day snacks 😁

I will make quick breads and scones and that's about it. Yeast breads are a mystery.

Good morning! I will be missing service this morning because I have to pick up the girls from their campout. Ds19 has a recital this afternoon and then I have the Ladies of Grief Book Club. Yesterday the high temp was about 45* and today it's supposed to get up to 65*. I need to prune the rosebush but that will probably have to wait until Tuesday. Coffee!

She's bein so sneaky! 😄

Amazon gift cards need no wrapping. Just in case you get in a bind. I have done Things. Sewed little fabric loops onto my travel towel-shawl, hemmed my pants up an inch so I won't step on them any more, and repaired the tent. The tent is in a little worse shape than I thought and I'm still not sure that I've gotten all the holes. It looks to me like "someone" was too rough with it and dragged it across rocks or tree branches or something. I do not quite believe the "small critter damage" story. I may ask dd17 to buy it from me so I can purchase myself a new backpacking tent.

Good morning! It's so quiet here with the girls gone. There was a little commotion from Puppies due to a cat sitting across the street, but all is quiet now. I'm planning to repair the tent today. Coffee!

Dd15 hasn't had a fever since yesterday morning, so if she feels up to it, I told her she is OK to go on the scout campout this weekend. It's car camping only 10 minutes from home, so nothing terribly involved. Ds29 is still running a fever but ds19 and I are OK so far. Not sure why I haven't gotten sick yet but I'll keep my fingers crossed. There is a lot going on in a week and it would kinda stink to get sick and have to miss things. We're having hashbrown breakfast casserole for dinner

Good morning! My face is starting to twitch due to Things being brought to my attention this morning which I should have been told about weeks ago. Deep breath. The kids have been instructed to unload the bags of rocks and sand from the van so I can go to the grocery store. I passed a presidential candidate's motorcade/police escort on the way to rehearsal last night. They shut down the highway for a bit. This was a much more common occurrence when Al Gore was vice president, I think. I don't know why they don't just take a helicopter. Coffee!

Me: Boys! Stop wrestling and come eat your breakfast! Dogs: <ignore mom and continue hijinks>

In other news, I had cereal for lunch. Crunchy raisin bran with almond milk.

Rain is here - just a gentle drizzle. My phone got service again and I called the government and the lady got us all signed up. It was so much easier than talking to medicaid or tenncare. She knew exactly what to do and it only took a few minutes.

When I took Little Pup out to potty this morning, it felt (and smelled) like I was at the beach. Strangely warm and very humid. Storms may be blowing through this afternoon.

I got all the info and documents all ready to call healthcare.gov and then I realized that I have no phone service. 🙄

Good morning! Our phone service is out, so ds29, who is down for the count, is communicating through WhatsAp and dd17, who is driving to tutorial alone for the first time, is communicating through Slack. Dd15 is still in bed with a fever. Ds19 so far has not gotten sick. Fingers crossed. He's the only person in the house without any medical insurance, so I am praying he stays healthy until we can get that figured out. I decided to finish the hem with the herringbone stitch because the whip (it, whip it good) stitch was worse. The herringbone is not too bad. Coffee!