Music, Music and Merry Christmas!

I must say, it's been a full month.  Jam packed with visiting, shopping, ballet, musical arts, sickness, wrapping and cooking.  I keep wondering what I've missed amongst all the activity.  Just today I thought "hmmm, I never picked up that prescription at the pharmacy" - that I called in on December 13th!  Fortunately they didn't pull it off the shelf and I can pick it up tomorrow. 

 

We've had and hosted dinners with friends - those who are CA natives and the group of us that were together as Expats in Switzerland and now find ourselves all in the Bay Area. 

 

We also made a trip to Fresno to see lovely Bella the Ballerina in the Nutcracker.  Last year she was recovering from a dislocated knee and previous years we were, of course, out of the country.  This was my first opportunity to see her perform in it live and she did a beautiful job - what a joy to watch the development of children you've known since birth grow into intelligent, talented and kind individuals.  She's just one of several young people we will enjoy during the holidays ( her brothers, Bart's niece, S & B and of course the family cousins).

 

In between all this, Bart came down with the current bug and then I caught a strain of it.  Unfortunately it hasn't been one of those "fast moving" viruses and it still is hanging on to me at 2 weeks - just slow to depart.  Sometimes I think the 24 hour flu would be preferable.  In fact, yes, it would be. :)  Not exactly what one wishes for at Christmas.  In spite of it all, I was still able to sing for Christmas services - God answers prayer!

 

We've enjoyed a lot of good music this month - not mine!  Rachel had an Orchestra performance at school mid-December - full Orchestra as well as Strings.  They did a fantastic job and we were also impressed with the Jazz and Symphonic bands.  The following week she had two nights of Choral concerts.  Her High School boasts (yes, it can boast) a wonderful vocal music program.  The director travels overseas with a choir every other year and they consistently rank top in the State in choral competition.

 

Rachel is in the Mixed/Womens Chorus which is made up exclusively of Freshman.  Sophomores thru Seniors participate in three other additional choirs, all of which require audition for performance.  In all, there are approximately 130- 150 students in the program.  As we are Boosters, we are in the drawing for the special reserved seats and VIOLA!, we got the coveted seats for the Christmas concert as presented by Kendra below:

 

I've tried and tried to download my short video of "Carol of the Bells" or "Silent Night" when all 4 choirs plus approximately 50 alumni were surrounding the theatre but it just doesn't work - not sure what to do with Blogger half the time nowdays.  It was beautiful.  My regret is I didn't get an extra ticket in time to include my dad - both nights were sell-outs.  Here is Rachel in the Mixed Chorus - she's a 1st Alto - front row, second from the right:

 

So after school was out and dinner parties were had and church was done - there was wrapping to do.  Because while sick Mrs. Claus was able to finish shopping, sick Mrs. Claus never quite got to the wrapping.  Sick Mrs. Claus had wonderful Santa who helped - Santa wrapped and Mrs. Claus decorated and labeled.  Teamwork at it's finest. 

 

Christmas Eve was lovely - Dad arrived, we went to Christmas services, drove around to look at lights and then sat down to watch Bourne Legacy - cause that says Christmas??!!! 

 This was Eiger's first Christmas and we had to buy a stocking.  He immediately pulled it out of the Petco bag and took it into his crate.  How did he know?  He enjoyed the bully stick and new toy that came in it the morning of Christmas.

 As we did with our previous hound, Max, we let Eiger play a bit with the wrapping paper.  Once he found he was allowed to pull at the paper, he helped Rachel "unwrap" a present - not exactly what we intended by at least nothing was damaged.......

So we had a lovely quiet day and most of all enjoyed the thought of Emmanuel - God with us.  Because that's what it really is all about.

At this point, we have been enjoying a quick visit from Bart's sister and niece out from Germany and on their way to Southern CA.  Then we take off for the family cabin and some more Christmas there and then after New Years, some fun with friends - more on that later.

I hope you've all had a beautiful Christmas celebrating the occasion of our Saviour's birth.  Wishing you all a Happy New Year in case I don't make it back here before then.........

Thanksgiving Month

What can I say?  I will use the term "yes, I have a blog" loosely.  Perhaps in the New Year, a new era of blogging in CA?  We shall see, we shall see....

 

I have a month of Thankful pictures to share.  November has been full of visitors and I am so thankful to have our friends and family.  I have to say, we very much miss other friends and family as well.  It's still a transition - felt far away from many while in Switzerland and now feel far away from many in California.  There is no perfect solution is there?  Thankful for the internet and blogs and yes, even Facebook.  Thank you Mr. Zuckerman.  I think.  We'll see.

 

Thankful for friends who came from Fresno to share Veterans Day weekend: good food, laughter and a Forty-Niners game (tied!).  While the crew below was at the game, the moms and Mr. N (5 yrs) headed out for a beautiful afternoon at the Oakland Zoo.

These guys?  Thankful that Jack tolerates Eiger.  Eiger seems to have sense enough not to bother him too much.  Above you see Eiger trying to engage Jack in play but will get a smack down for his efforts.  Good for the big dog to get told off by the little ones to keep them in check occasionally.  Below?  A snack in the offering: 

Thankful for dear friends who travel from Sacramento area and squish together on our comfy couch.  Long story but Eiger's crate sits where another 'seat' should be and then of course, Bart has 'his' chair.  Love these faces.

 

Thankful for Dad/Grandpa Olson who likes and keeps old cars and lets me drive them.  Love driving down the road in a Riviera (he has 2 or 3?) - feel the horsepower.  Girls enjoy it and love tinkering around their place in Minnesota.  Of course this was taken in August - not a fan of Northern MN come winter......

Thankful for cows that occasionally graze by the house.  It's not Switzerland and they don't wear bells but I like all the animals that wander by our place.

Thankful for family that came for Thanksgiving (sister Kris's family, mom & J and dad) and once again, squished onto a couch for sharing.  Note - Eiger likes to be where the people are.

 

 Thankful for cousins big and small who enjoy each other, take care of each other and say "cheese" for the camera.  True towheads, those little ones.

 Thankful for my girlies who are getting so grown up and who we love so much.  Proud of them for their diligence at school, their willingness to try new things and their love for each other.

 Thankful for my husband.  This picture may not appear perfect to you but it is to me.  There aren't many "natural" pictures of Bart and I and here, we're laughing trying to get 'ready' for a picture.  That's one of the reasons I love him - he makes me laugh.  Yes girls, sometimes I'm laughing very hard on the inside but you will never see it because I'm trying to be a good mom and your dad is, well, funny whether appropriate or not!  He's a good man and I'm thankful for him:

Happy Thanksgiving November to all!

We're not into Halloween but.....

We're not into Halloween but we do like to dress up! Since we returned to CA, we've had the good fortune to attend the family Halloween party hosted at my cousins (maternal) house in West Sacramento. We had attended the first party oh, so long ago, left the State and returned last year for the 10th Anniversary of this entertaining, family gathering complete with great food - thanks J & M.
 
It's a lot of fun to see the creative costumes that arrive and as J so nicely states on the invite: "appropriate costume attire." This would hail back to the day when many of them didn't have kids yet and it could be a little crazy. :)

We weren't able to pull off our original idea last year as we were still 'fresh off the overseas flight' and I didn't have a sewing machine yet. So this year we proved that the Swiss Family Olson does indeed exist:

For the record:  I did not make Bart or Rachel's costumes.  I ordered them from an website as: 1) I was not about to make his Lederhosen 2) Bart's is a costume version since real Lederhosen, whether in Europe or the States, costs approximately $250 - $300 for the pants/shorts/hosen alone 3) Of course, I did not start working on any of this until October for to do so beforehand takes considerable foresight of which I'm lacking in this current season of life 4) Lack of foresight means no sleep if one is making three Dirndls vs two and 5) I only had trim for two dresses which I originally bought it in Germany with the girls in mind.   Oh - and these are pretty much standard German/Austrian folkwear which translates to the Swiss German just fine.

This was my dining room for the last part of October.  I have to admit, we spend good money on a table and chairs so that we can do school and sewing projects in this room.  I guess putting up a long folding table with padded, folding chairs and a tablecloth would have served just as well.  Don't tell Bart!  We need more people to come over for dinner........

Many thoughts flew through my head as this was the first time I was sewing a garment(s) in several years - last project was also a costume.  Sewing for the house or repairs/hems tend to be my regular projects.  I sewed my first garment (sewing lingo :)  ) in 3rd grade I believe.  A pair of ugly shorts with an elastic waistband.  But I wore them proudly.  During the eighties I sewed a lot.  Going to a school that required dresses everyday and a small clothing budget pushed me along.  Then college came and big shirts were the rage so my roommate and I would get clearance material and go to work - many times with buttons fastened underneath by safety pins because we were in too much a rush to do buttonholes.  Don't tell my mom!

I was lucky - my mom and I had the type of relationship that works well for teacher/student.  She was able to teach me to sew, ski, waterski and climb.  These are things I've not personally passed down to the girls because 'they don't listen to me.'  I've learned not to be frustrated or take it personally.  My mom at various points had teachers for my sisters on the above because they didn't want to learn from her either.

Recently, my sister Deb got a machine and while Mom was in HI for her grandchilren fix, she was teaching her to use it.  I'm told that I missed out on a lot of laughter and giggles.  As Mom relayed all the things Deb was finding out about using a machine, I thought of my 2 years in Home Economics and all the things that will not be taught to High Schoolers because in CA, these classes don't exist anymore.  Although I already knew how to sew, my teacher made a point to teach us the name of the machine parts and why certain stitches or techniques were used.  She also assured me that when I ironed the first seam of my Junior Banquet dress that I had not ruined it - it was red taffeta and taffeta "changes color" with heat and returns when cooled.  Oh - and the importance of proper iron temperatures with various fabrics.  Not that I melted a blouse in high school.  Not me.

Home Ec also taught me a lot about cooking.  Not that it taught me to be a good cook but the science of it.  For instance, why did those pumpkin blueberry muffins turn out flat and gooey?  Ah yes, seems the baking soda was forgotten.  And egg whites bind ingredients and ..... oh so many things.

Learning to read patterns was also great training for life in other areas:  reading directions for toy or furniture assembly.  Life necessities!

Here's a weird techy sewing thing that you won't care about if you don't sew:  the patterns I got for the Dirndls came with seam allowances that were between 1/4" and 1/2."  I had to really watch for which were which on different parts of the garment.  I was taught with a standard 5/8" seam allowance for everything unless specifically stated differently on the pattern.   Is it like this on all patterns now or just specialty?  Maybe I'll be inspired to sew something else and find out!

I took a picture of this because I found it amusing in my quirky little way.  I did not look at the supply requirements for the patterns and  realized I needed binding tape for the sleeve elastic of the blouses.  I was sure I had some somewhere and lo, and behold, dug some out of my stash.  As I unwrapped it, I wondered in looking at the packaging how old it was at a cost of $1.30.  The manufacturer's date on the back is ------1986!  So this is seam tape I bought with a discount coupon at the local fabric store around the block from the college dorms.  Waiting to be used all these years....

I also needed bias tape for the neck edging of the blouses. Ummmm, the bias tape I had was also from 1986. Being cotton, it was no longer white white and I found myself in the irritating predicament of making my own bias tape edging out of the blouse fabric so it would match.  I have never had to do that - ever!!!  Ta Da - it came out perfect.  Because of what I still remember from Home Ec and my Mom - grains, biases, nap, etc...  The pin cushion and seam ripper above - remnants of my early sewing purchases I've not lost.  The pin cushion is 30+ years old - a souvenir from our 8th grade class trip to San Francisco.  It's still in great shape and if you need one, they're still selling them in Chinatown.

Seewwww, that's what I've been doing lately.  Sorry, couldn't resist.

My mom will be happy to know that I did complete the topstiching on both Dirndles even though the goofy pattern didn't require it.  But I elected to machine hem vs hand.  And Kendra's is a bit loose on her as she continues to grow and grow and want to be able to wear it in the future.

So you will see the buttons.

With snaps underneath vs safety pins.

And no buttonholes.  Sorry Mom.

Days of Miscellany

There have been some nice family times that I've not shared and as I read through about 40 pages of Blogging that are now deleted, I see that Blogging has become my timeline for when I eventually get some scrapbooks finished. The project that is always looming and I really want to give some attention to. Finding time is the key and maybe I just need to incorporate it into my regular activities and being OK with just 20 or 30 minutes here and there.

Regarding the Blog pages I've deleted: I deleted our E---t trip from January '11. I do check the source of our Blog traffic occasionally and it just seems that there has been too much interest in those particular posts from that region. Key word searches are the source so by eliminating the topic, traffic should die down. We'll see.

What have we been up to? Well, someone turned 14 and we celebrated up at the cabin in Twain Harte. It is a family cabin, built by my grandparents, and living out of state and country, we've not had the opportunity to enjoy it for many years. We had a good time and Eiger was very happy there. Outside of the previously posted near-drowning experience. We went to Pinecrest lake, hiking and blackberry picking. We topped it all off with a 5 hour drive home - should take 2 hrs with minimal traffic. Ah well, it was Labor day.... Happy Birthday Rachel!

Oo la la!  Look at my handsome husband!  We were asked to help fill up the Firm's table for the San Francisco Symphony Opening Night Gala.  Fancy - Black tie, Cocktail reception, Patron's Dinner, Symphony and After Party.  Before we said yes, I said we needed to see if we still fit into our "costumes" cause that could be a deal breaker.  Most women would take this as an opportunity to go shopping for a new dress but I sit looking at things in my closet that have gone unworn and think "no need for a new dress if I have something already."  Guess it should fit though.  And men's tuxedo's?  Do those ever go on sale?  He bought one and should always fit into it.  Always.  OK, I had a dress that fit and Bart just needed to buy a new shirt.  Which I ended up having to iron (have you ever ironed a tuxedo shirt? Ugh!!!) and was thinking "thank goodness he'll have a vest and jacket on all night.  I hope."

I love fancy dress occasions.  I love to see all the dresses.  I'm the crazy girl who come September, has the issues of Vogue, Harpers Bazaar and In Style so I can look at the full ad campaigns by the designers.  Those 3 magazines stacked as September issues could make their own end table...... I love to see the colors, construction and photography - I see it as artwork.  Many see it as superficial and a waste of paper.  We all have our indulgences.  Anyway.... the people watching was superb. Superb!  There was "oh, look at that dress"  "she is beautiful" "ooooh myyyy!" "I saw that dress in Vogue!" Fun, fun, silly fun.

The press photographers were there as San Francisco elite and politicians were out for this event.  We got our picture taken.  We said and spelled our names for the photographer.  I was asked if I was wearing a designer that evening.  I replied "No.  I'm not wearing anyone this evening, thank you."  I did not want any eye rolling or flopping on the floor should I state the truth: " I'm wearing a Macy's clearance gown I purchased for $50 ten years ago."  For all that I love looking at fashion, I also love a great bargain.  One I never feel guilty for.  I own one real designer item - a pair of sunglasses I bought in 2008.  Still have them and my 12 yr old Ray Bans - I think I've only lost one pair of sunglasses in my life so they're a pretty good deal for me.

Enough of the frivolous, we had a great time!  The Symphony, by the way, was Awesome.

We were getting ready to dash out the door for Kendra's ballet lesson a couple weeks ago when I spotted this handsome Buck outside the kitchen window.  So I made her wait.  Put the zoom lens on and was able to stand in the backyard and take pictures without the Buck or his harem taking off.  Eiger was very still - rarely barks or runs when the deer are in back.  Love having the wildlife around us although I could do with a few less turkeys - they don't clean up after themselves so the sidewalks are littered with turkey droppings around here.  I think CA should have an open season on Turkeys around Thanksgiving - save us all a few $$ for dinner and help control this booming population.  Or we should be allowed to let our dogs run loose ever so often..........

San Francisco's Fleet Week:  We didn't get down to the boats but we did go in and walk to Pier 39 to watch the Blue Angels.  As you can see, it was a gorgeous day and while there were a lot of people, it was a really good crowd and there was no problem being able to get good views of the air show.  Love the noise!!!

The precision is unbelievable:

Kendra's science project for 6th grade:  Volcano!!!  We wadded up newspaper in a somewhat desired shape, layered strips of plaster of paris on it, dried it overnight, she painted it and presented a prehistoric theme.  Inside there is a plastic water bottle that we hot glued to the top of the 'cone' after removing the newpaper and prior to securing to base.  This had about 1/4 cup baking soda in it and then all you add is vinegar and Viola! you have an erupting volcano.  The first eruptions were done at school and then she had to show us at home.  Red dye in the baking soda wasn't allowed - it stains too many things!

This is a girl ready to go to her first Homecoming Dance.  How time flies!  She went to a friends house where 10 of the girls were getting ready and all went to the dance together.  A younger sister came downstairs after checking on them - we were ready to take pictures - and declared " it smells like something's burning and there is a bad chemical smell up there."  Ah - curling irons and hair spray.  Maybe a bit much perfume too but they'll learn.  She had a good time and from all our conversations, the part I like the best is that she still has a good head on her shoulders - it's a pretty one I think.

Best Root Canal I Ever Had?

Best root canal I ever had!

Really?  Can you believe I would write such a thing.

This from a women conditioned to tear up in the Dentist chair?

I didn't always tear up but after 5 crowns, all of which required numerous injections of novocaine due to my "special" nerves, the first time I had a root canal I immediately started tearing at the thought of the pain.  The Endodontist assured me I wouldn't feel a thing.  I did.  Sigh....  They basically performed what I refer to as, for lack of the proper medical term, an epidural for the tooth.

Once that root canal was done, they permanently affixed the crown and for the last 7 years I've lived life with a bite that has never been right.  Oooo - a rhyme.  There were small corrections tried over time but I finally went to the Orthodontist this June as my bite has become quite open due to my teeth not fitting together properly - I need a fork and knife to eat pizza in front of company.  My teeth are still absolutely straight but the tongue has pushed at them since the teeth didn't sit together anymore.

We are doing a little bit to help with that but the first thing he wanted me to do was get that root canal re-done:  a re-treatment.  What he saw in these x-rays vs others taken was suspected bone loss and roots that didn't appear to be fully cleaned out. 

Dutifully, I went to the consultation for and the re-treatment of that tooth.  The Endodontist and Dental technician both commented that I might notice some improvement in bite and general well-being after re-treatment.  Why?  Because it appears that there has been a low-grade infection in the bone at the root site for several years.  The inflammation coming and going cause the bite issues and in their mind, stress on the immune system.  I might feel less tired, have more energy, better sinus drainage, etc....

I looked like I had a stroke that day - the aenesthesia took some time to wear off.  I did have a headache for several days.  Then I started to wake up.  I felt like the tired, little cloud I've been under for a long time had disappeared as had the pressure on my left side/neck.  Who knew?  It wasn't painful so I never imagined the other symptoms I had were a result of an incomplete root canal.

Bart will attest to my change in attitude.  I will not repeat what he said, haha, but there has definitely been improvement in how I feel and my energy level.  I thought it was all just middle age.......

Why does this matter?  As in all things, a rotten apple can spoil the whole bunch.  Taking care of your teeth/oral health is critical for the rest of your body.  Similar to the breathing being important to muscle health and so on and so forth.  So I'm working on getting all the "parts" fixed.  Next may be the rotator cuff......I'm just falling apart.

Add speech therapy for the tooth/tongue problem - darn those "t"s.....