We are still on the hunt for a good deal with a car rental. Two weeks is a long time to rent a car, but there isn't anything that can be done. Once the car rental is done, though, we are set. All we have to worry about after that is money for gas and food. And directions to all of the places we'll be driving! I did, however, find out that my auto insurance covers rental cars, so I don't need to worry about something happening to the car - our insurance will cover it. PHEW!
Enough about vacation stuff!
It's been an eventful few days. Let's start with Thursday!
On Thursday, my friends Marie & Sarah & I went out to lunch and then headed over to a favorite spot of mine, The Game Parlor - don't judge the web design, the store has an awesome selection of games! Sarah bought me a game I had long been wanting but won't disclose the title of here, as people might think I am a bit morbid. She also purchased a very fun game called Gloom, which is actually not as morbid as it sounds nor as morbid as the game she purchased for me. Haha! I can't count how many times we played it, but it's definitely one I'd like to pick up. Marie bought a game called Quao (pronounced Cow), but we haven't had a chance to crack that one open yet. Hopefully soon! It sounds silly and fun, which I am all about. And morbid. I like morbid games! We realized by the end of the weekend that the games we enjoyed most involved people dying, as we also played Guillotine, Kill Dr. Lucky (very much like a reverse version of Clue), and Once Upon A Time (where there is, invariably, someone dead). Awesome!
After an afternoon catnap, the three of us headed off to the Squirrel Nut Zippers concert I mentioned in my previous post. Sadly, no cameras were allowed in the venue itself, but I did snap this one at the entrance:
The venue was awesome. It was a really intimate dinner theatre type setting and I loved it! The only real problems were as follows:
1 - The first opening act failed. Oh he was horrible. Not only did his music not fit in with the genre at all, but his voice was .... very much ... "hi-i'm-a-12-pack-a-day-smoker-who-somehow-managed-to-get-a-record-deal." It was painful to listen to. He also had a potty mouth. I'd like to erase all memories of him, but I'm afraid he may have damaged me for life!
2 - Brass instruments do not need a ton of amplification, especially in small spaces. Unfortunately, whoever was running sound for this show did not know this.
Aside from that, though, it was awesome!!!!! AND the second opening act is now on my list of groovy cool music that I love. The band is called The Firecracker Jazz Band. Holy COW are they amazing, not just as musicians, but as performers. The piano player was BRILLIANT and I wanted to scoop him up and put him in my pocket and take him home with me so I could have his mad skillz with me wherever I went. Wow! In fact, on a performance level, they were probably better than Squirrel Nut Zippers.
The only bad thing about the night was that I had a headache nearly the entire afternoon/evening. Headaches are not fun when you are at a concert! Oh well.
Friday was just a sort of - chill out day. We played games, watched movies, and just generally hung out. I did have to make a quick trip to work which turned into nearly an hour. What can you do? Otherwise, though, very low-key.
Saturday was a crazy day. Alan & Soren made a delicious breakfast of French Toast and bacon which we didn't actually eat until almost 11am. Then the boys headed to the pool for most of the afternoon and Sarah and Marie joined me at my final play performance for the performing arts school. I felt kind of bad that they were roped into helping so much, but they insisted afterwards that it was fine. So I suppose I will just have to believe them. It feels great to have the show over with and it went really well. Sadly, I spaced my camera (it was in my bag the whole time), so I have no pictures right now. I was exhausted by the end and a little sad, but I know that leaving is obviously the best thing to do!
Sarah's last day in town was Sunday. I spent a large portion of the day at church, then we played a few more rounds of silly games before Marie and I helped her pack up. I wasn't able to take her to the airport, as Soren had his very first piano recital. But, I know she got off ok and I can't wait to see her again. She is a great friend and I love her to bits!
So, onto photos from Soren's piano recital!
And here is a first - a video! This is Soren's second piece he played for the recital - Brave Warrior.
We have been so impressed with how quickly he has picked up things with the piano. We love listening to him practice and improve. My favorite thing, though, is how easily he is picking up theory. I struggled with it so much at his age but now I love it, so it's fun to see him enjoying it and understanding it at the same time.
After the crazy busy few days that we've had, I am grateful that today is going to be slower. I will probably take Soren to the pool after school and then Alan and I have a date tonight because it's the only night this week that works to go out! And I want to take him out for Father's Day. He has to work a lot this week - including Saturday - so that's a bummer. However, after this week he will be done with his big project at work and be able to focus on the next big project - trying to find a job in the Portland/Vancouver metro area. If he is successful, we'll be moving at the end of the summer to the great Northwest. If he's not, we'll still be moving, just not as far.
So yes, you heard it here first - we are moving from our lovely townhouse in August at some point. But as of right now, we just don't know where.
3 comments:
Wow! He sounds great! He must have a fantastic piano teacher! :)
The Birchmere is great, isn't it? Richard and I saw...someone groovy...who was it... I don't know... there and really enjoyed the atmosphere. I recall also thinking it was too loud for such a small space.
Soren is very good! Congrats!
Soren is getting so tall! He also plays very well!
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