Monday, February 18, 2008

My Funny Valentine

D. was in New Orleans for a conference last month and chose a special Valentines gift. I bought him a Starbucks card. Set against my flute music (Scherzando by Telleman) is a teeny tiny gold flute.
I love it. It sits on my desk and keeps me company while I read and study for so many hours a day. A few years ago he bought me a silver flute and it has really made my playing a pleasure (for me). I take lessons with an amazing lady who drive out from Delta (2 hours?) to teach in our little Music Academy. I also pitch in with the Chilliwack Community Band which has varied success. It's really a place to socialize and play together. Some of the muscians have played for all of their very long lives. I'm always happy to accompany the choir at church or do some meditative music. Recently I've just focused on my lessons to find a small path of improvement in the midst of returning to school. It's been about a month. Last week and the week before were stress-riddled disasters: printer crap and download strife. Somehow I still got through that huge slog of reading and wrote the test on Saturday. I still got an A but a low one. This week's readings are much less, but I'd like to get back on schedule and write two more tests before our spring break cruise. Does it matter? Am I adding extra stress? I learned this self-imposed disciplne and goal setting from knitting.

Which reminds me: the pi baby blanket is off the needles. Thanks to a borrowed season of Grey's Anatomy which my family sits together to watch, I have a 40" circle with a bit of seed stitch border. I didn't cast on the second light ball because Butterfly cotton is pretty heavy. This is for a cousin's baby due in June. I have a tiny shrug for another June baby. I think I've lost the music sweater to my daughter, it's her music teacher who is pregnant.
I really don't know what to work on. I'll prepare the pedicure socks for the cruise, but not too far. I'll drag out the sadly neglected thistle shawl for the trip, too. I could get up to speed on that because there's not a lot of worry about me finishing it. I have some blue sock yarn ready for jaywalkers.
Most of my knitting brain has been taken up dreaming what I'll choose for the Mystic Light Shawl. Lots of surfing on the web. I have not received an answer from my favourite Vancouver wool shop. Perhaps I'll look farther afield. Stepped into my own LYS on Friday with my mom. She wanted to lasoo them to help in our fair. I think it was a successful meeting. The other shop owner blasted them in full bully public fashion last year and they were reluctant to come back. But Mom assured them she is not involved. She's a scary young thing who's out for profits and makes the wool store experience edged with fear of altercation. Noodle Pie spent her birthday money on some wild chunky yarn to make more critters.
I also finished Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Love In the Time of Cholera". It was worth reading because our cruise stops in Cartagena, but there were lots of parts I just didn't like. I'm sorry I inflicted it on my book club. I'm retreating to an Inspector Morse Omnibus.
Looking forward to another walk in the bright sunny sunshine.
I should be studying.

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