12.15.2009

WI!

I am officially back home for the next few weeks. Yippee! I'm getting pretty excited for Christmas. Although this is my vacation I still have lots of things to do while I'm home. I have big plans for the house, my Schenker analysis, and violin stuff. Oh yes, and some things involving the viola parts for Don G.

Today is the 1 year anniversary of my dad's death. It's really weird. Tomorrow my mom and I are going out to the cemetery to put a wreath on his grave. I'm not quite sure how I feel about everything, but I do know that I'm glad to be home.

Sangria; however, is not all that happy. It rained most of the drive back and she really disliked my windshield wipers. She wanted to get away from the wipers but also wanted to sit on my lap so she hid in my elbow for several hours. Pretty cute.


She has been in my room all day and doesn't like to come out for very long. BUT. She does have a new favorite place to sit and looks quite festive with her Santa water cup. :)


Safe travels to everyone!

12.13.2009

also.

I got to see this guy again. He's great...I can't express that enough.




has anyone seen michi lately? anyone...?

For a variety of reasons, I've been feeling a bit lost lately. At most times over the past few weeks I don't feel like myself. I think that I've figured out why I feel this way, but now I have to start the torturous process of "rebuilding." I've had to do this on occasion before and I recall it not being the easiest of tasks. If I remember correctly, lots of soul-searching, thinking, and practicing usually does the trick.

Through these unhappy Michi moments, I feel lucky to have a good support system.

Since my last post, I have done many things such as:

- deliver a pomegranate to my sister for St. Nick day (aka the day that Jenna and I were adopted day),


- trespass... I mean, take fun pictures in someone's fun lawn,


- watch Chri conduct a cool Honegger piece at the Wind Ensemble Concert,


- and (thanks to my friend, David) have a very thought-provoking violin lesson with Soovin Kim, a fantastic violinist and professor at Stony Brook.

AND! I won some photo prints from Asha Beyer, an amazing photographer, in her recent blog contest!!! I'm so excited to hang them up. There is a wall in my bedroom that is screaming for some beauty and attention. ...Now that I write about all of these good things, I am starting to think that I really don't have things to complain about.

Hope you all are well!

11.11.2009

every day should be thanksgiving

today i woke up feeling grateful for many things:

1. my health. the last few days i've been having a hard time physically and mentally because my nerves are starting to freak out more than a little bit. last night i was a sad, crying mess because of my arms. matt helped me calm down. as i fell asleep, i remembered that there are many people who, health-wise, are much worse off than i am.

2. my boyfriend.
he helps me in so many ways and makes every aspect of my life better.

3. my mom. she's the greatest lady. if you met her, you'd know what i'm talking about. she is a very strong person and has shown this time and time again. i love her lots and am eternally grateful for everything she does for me.

4. my sister. what can i say... twins! we love each other and i can count on her for anything that i need. she's taken a lot of risks in the last few years and i'm very proud of her. :)

5. my friends.

they're just great people. i couldn't ask for better people to be surrounded by every day.

6. my cat. doesn't she look happy to be outside in the snow!? ;)

...what are you thankful for?

10.23.2009

commence countdowns.

so, it's been awhile since my last post... i really don't know why either...

since then, i went to new york city to visit matt. he just moved there and is getting used to hectic city life. it's definitely a different environment and atmosphere than i'm used to, but i was quite happy to see him. we did lots of fun things like go to the met to see barber of seville,


and went to brooklyn to visit jenna and see her place. :)


violin stuff has been going pretty well lately. i have definitely had moments of breakdown crying in the past couple of weeks where i think (and complain to matt), "what am i doing with my life!?" however, despite all of that, i've settled into a good place. i feel very motivated and want to get things done... and done well.

right now there are two countdowns going on:

1. matt visits in 14 days! i'm so excited. you have no idea.

2. grad audition pre-screened recordings due in 39 days.

9.26.2009

all things considered,

things are going quite well this year. my schedule is great. i only have a few commitments each week so i've had plenty of time to practice. i've also been hiding out up on the 3rd floor where it's quieter and i'm much less distracted.

i feel like i'm in a really good practicing groove where i'm getting lots of things done and stretching my brain to do more problem-solving than i have been doing in the past. also, i've been doing much more focused playing than i used to.

i'm extra motivated right now because i have decided on some firm goals which will be coming up soon. i'm going to do art dip. auditions at schools mainly in new york. i want to move by matt. i've never been to new york but my sister said that i'll love it. and, i do love vancouver, toronto, chicago... so, i'll probably love new york, too, right? i'm going to visit matt in 13 days so i'll find out soon enough! EEE!!! :)

in other, not so jolly, news- i randomly stumbled upon a photo of me and my boyfriend on someone's blog with not very nice comments attached to it. rage. some people are just bitter and jealous. and... just not very nice. as much as i'd like to hate people like this, i kind of feel sad for them.

9.19.2009

reality bites.

i've been away from reality for the last bit of time because matt came up to ontario to visit me! we got to see eachother for 8 days!!!!! this was the first time that we've gotten to spend extensive, intense, quality time together... ever. i was honestly a bit nervous about it, but having him around was so amazing. i was extremely sad that he had to leave. he brought me a photo compilation poster of target pictures he'd taken for me during his road trip! :)


we did lots of fun things like make food,


practice lots,


take sangria for a walk to the park,


have my belated birthday party,


organize my new room and put things away,


go to wonder sushi for lunch,


hang out with friends,


and, most importantly, spend some much needed time together.


*sigh* back to reality... i.e. skype calls that cut out all the time, sleeping in my big bed by myself, and having to stand on a chair to retrieve things on the top of the kitchen cabinets...

9.04.2009

full moon.

the last few days have been so so so so so strange...

1. went to toronto to get some furniture and things for my apartment. we are all ready to leave and as i'm backing up the suv to load it, i notice that the driver's side back tire is almost flat. so, chri and i drove to the closest gas station to fill it. we try my tire gauge... and, broken. the tire gauge on the air pump... and, also broken. the nicest guy in the greater toronto area lets us use his tire gauge and then preceeds to check and fill the remaining tires.

2. we load up the car and tie the mattress on top of the suv. the moment we get on the 401, the mattress is flying pretty high so we get off the interstate, go into a gas station, and ask the attendant if they sell bungee cords. "...what's a bungee?"


next gas station. bungees? yes. we secured the mattress and drove home very very very slowly.


3. we unload everything and start assembling things. i decide to order pizza. "delivery in 45 minutes." great!

45 minutes later...1 hour later...1 hour and 15 minutes later...AND...calling.

"we came to your house and noone was there." "oh... can you come back?"

i later realize when the pizza delivery van drives PAST my house and parks at the end of the block that he never even came to my house in the first place. i pay and go inside and complain that he went to the wrong house.

AND--- knock knock knock!!

girl who was in her car outside, "just so you know, after that delivery guy left, he stood in front of your house and just stared in your front window. he stopped because he remembered that me and my boyfriend were sitting in our car."

...great...

4. jenny and carmen are putting up our front curtains to ward off any pizza delivery peepers and all of the sudden:

jenny: "did that guy just hit our car? is he driving away?"

so we all run outside. yes. he did hit the car. yes. he does want to flee the scene. "i'm in hurry but don't call the cops. i'll do the work myself. just don't call the cops. i have to go."

chris: "you can't leave. we need to get your information."

...and he leaves.

cops were called. he's going to get in trouble.


5. jenny violin day the next day means another trip to toronto. almost halfway there...

jenny: "the battery light just turned on."

we get off the interstate and go to canadian tire. alternator issue. 1 hour later, fixed and we're on our way. only an hour and a bit off schedule. the upside is that the ca tire we went to was by a mall so jenny and i got to shop for a bit.


6. we decide to get a coffee and sandwich from tim hortons. the lady takes my order...

me: "i'd like an medium iced latte."

stupid lady: "oh... i don't know how to make that. ok..."

she preceeds to try making the iced latte and asks several people how to do it. i'm watching her and turn my head away for just a moment. i look back and see her DRINKING OUT OF MY CUP TO TASTE IT!

she comes back.

me: "i just saw you drink out of my cup. i'd like a new one."

stupid lady: "i didn't do that. you're wrong."

other lady comes over: "what's going on?"

me: "this lady drank out of my cup to taste it."

other lady: "no. i know her and she wouldn't do that. you don't know what you're talking about."

WT@*%#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i complained to the manager and will be calling corporate tomorrow...

DO NOT GO TO TIM HORTONS ON BLOOR AND BEDFORD.

7. drive back to london after the 2nd furniture trip. construction on the 401. we sat in gridlock traffic for an amazingly long time. in an hour and half we moved about 1 kilometer. no. good.


8. i've been battling with the insurance people at school for the last month or so. they want me to pay for summer insurance now, but they wouldn't give me insurance over summer. ridiculous. after talking to wendi perez (insurance lady), and matt, i decided to pay the $252 and deal with it. i was pissed because i paid the fee and assumed that the hold on my record would be taken away. NO! there's a $44 fee to remove the hold. i don't know why i was so surprised...

9. i accidentally overdrew my US checking account because i haven't used it in over a year and didn't remember how much was in it. so i got an overdraft fee. i had enough money put into it to cover the negative balance AND THEN i got charged a fee for having a negative balance which made it, once again, negative...

the. end.

9.01.2009

best. birthday. ever. ever.

this was the first year that my twin sister and i weren't together for our birthday. when i realized this, i got really really sad. so... i made a jenna on a stick.


my mom and i (and jenna) went to breakfast at a cute cafe, the gingerbread house. the food was really good--- heavy and very filling.


matt got to my house in the afternoon so we spent some much needed time sitting around together.


and then... off to lake park bistro, a really nice, beautiful restaurant in milwaukee that my sister used to work at. we walked in and the hostess looked at me and said, "you must be jenna's sister." funny. :)

since everyone loves jenna at the bistro, matt and i got v.i.p. treatment, sat at the table with the best view of the lake, and took home lots of desserts. and of course, jenna on a stick came along to dinner, too! and the surprise ending was that jenna took care of our meal. :)


and then... home for more dessert (birthday funfetti cake) with my mom... lots of food... too much food...


matt stayed over and we had breakfast with my mom before i drove back to canada. :)


this birthday was really great, jam-packed with everything that i wanted to do.

i'm 25. ...this year is going to be wonderful.

8.28.2009

beauty salon magic.


thanks to my wonderful boyfriend, i just went and got a haircut and pedicure. as i was sitting in the pedicure chair, relaxing and looking around, i decided that beauty salons are the most magical places. no one is mad or crabby at a salon. it's just not why women (and men) go there. one goes to a salon to un-crabby themselves. i am rarely willing to spend money on things like pedicures because rational thoughts such as, "$30 would also pay for my hydro and part of the internet for the month," start entering my brain. but, as i sat in the chair getting a back massage and observing all of the women giggling and gossiping with eachother, i remembered one of my life mantras that i seemed to have forgotten recently:

do what makes you happy.

...and besides... everyone deserves a treat once in awhile.

8.20.2009

look what fun!


i went to the library with my mom this morning and was delighted to see that the children's section is decorated with rows of colorful oragami cranes. it makes the library very cheery. :)