yarn tootin'

Piano

     Last Thursday I came home from work and there was a piano in our front hallway.  Due to our connections with the piano technician at UT Austin, we were able to buy a well loved (i.e. super used) piano from UT for a very reasonable price.  I didn't really care one way or the other if we got a piano, but Bob seems to think that a person isn't really an adult if they don't have a piano in their house.  Fortunately, I was able talk him into getting an upright. The folks at UT were trying to unload a couple of baby grands, but given the fact that neither of us can really play the piano, an upright seemed like the logical choice.  It's in pretty good condition considering that it's been in a practice room for the last fifty years or so.  My plan is to try to learn the piano accompaniments to Suzuki Book 1 so I can play along with students in lessons.  I tried Twinkle today and despite the fact that I could play it on the violin when I was 4, it's kind of tricky on the piano.

Our piano in its old home at UT.

In our now complete music room.  Yes, that is a jar of sock yarn odds and ends atop the piano.  I think it looks nice there.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

     My almost four-year-old nephew was running around saying "home again, home again, jiggity jig" yesterday and now it's stuck in my head.  I have no idea where it comes from, but I'm guessing it was either in a book or on a show.  We made it back to Big Texas last night and guess what?  It's cold here!  When we boarded our plane in Minneapolis, they told us that it was only two degrees warmer in San Antonio than it was in MSP.  It's probably going to be back in the 70s by the end of the week, but last night it was 39.  I love it when it's 39 in San Antonio.  I think I'm going to wear a sweater today for the sixth day in a row.  Sadly, it won't be my Noro Sweater because it's still in pieces.

     I brought the pieces to the Motherland hoping to have them put together in time to wear my first sweater without getting it all sweaty.  I am a slow knitter and an even slower seamer.  Seaming is hard!  So far, I have the front and the back put together and now I have to get to work on the sleeves.  The chilly temps have renewed my faith in Big Texas and the new goal is to have the sweater finished by the end of November.  I'm pretty sure that December and January will give me at least a couple of days to work with weather wise.

   

Longhorn Orange

     I went up to Austin today to play for the viola professor at UT.  I'm thinking about doing a Doctorate, so I thought I'd go up there and meet the viola guy to see if he has valuable knowledge to impart.  It's been years since I've had a real lesson at a school with a teacher and it felt so weird.  While I was waiting outside the teacher's studio, I felt like I was about a million years old, but then this kid started talking to me like I was a student so I just went with it and chatted with him until my lesson time.   My lesson was really good and I liked the viola guy a lot. 
     I've spent the better part of the last ten years either playing in an orchestra or preparing for an audition for a job in a better orchestra (or an orchestra closer to Bob).  Orchestra auditions have very little to do with music and a lot to do with being perfect.  They tend suck the life and the music right out of a person and after taking close to 30 auditions, my playing has become tight and expressionless.  I play all of the notes and I'm capable of being very precise, but the notes don't really mean anything.  When the viola guy asked me what I don't like about my playing, this is basically what I told him.  He agreed and we spent an hour breathing (literally) the life back into my Bartok Concerto.  Viola guy gave me a lot to think about and I'm sure I'll go back for more lessons even if I decided not to pursue a DMA.

     One of the UT bookstores is quite close to the music building, so I stopped in there before heading home.  I've always loved college bookstores.  I love the pens and notebooks and backpacks and most of all, the gear.  I bought a tiny t-shirt for a friend's baby and this shirt for myself.  I think that the UT-Austin logo is one of the very best college logos.  I love longhorn orange and logo itself is simple and cute, and if you put holiday lights on it, it's even cuter.  I managed to avoid both Hill Country Weavers and The Knitting Nest on this trip, but I had to buy this shirt.

First Day of Fall, a Rant

     First day of fall, my ass.  It's 87 degrees at 7:00 in the evening, which doesn't exactly say fall to me.  I find this time of year in Big Texas to be rather depressing.  I long for cool breezes, chilly nights, and crunching leaves.  I'm tired of shorts, flip-flops, A/C and sweating.  I really want to wear jeans and Danskos with hand knit socks.  I'd be in heaven if it were cool enough (outside) for a fleece or a sweater.  I used to love fall back when I lived in a place that had such a thing.  In Big Texas, fall is just sad because it doesn't exist.  School started, but that just means it's September.  It has nothing to do with fall.  What's worse is that according to Accuweather, temperatures will continue to reach the high 80's and low 90's for at least another couple of weeks.  Get back to me in February when it's 65 and sunny and I'm outside grilling.  At least we have February.

All That and a Bag of Chips

     The other day, I was reading an email from one of the members of my knitting group, and I remarked to Bob that someone in the group had written that she couldn't attend a meeting because she and her husband were huge fans of the Silver Stars.  I gathered that the Silver Stars, whoever they were, seemed to be in some sort of playoffs.  Bob informed me that the Stars are a WNBA team.  I responded to this news with mild enthusiasm and said that I thought a Silver Stars game might be kind of fun.  I rarely show any interest in attending any type of sporting event, and Bob loves basketball, so he got right on it.  The Silver Stars were indeed in the playoffs.  We couldn't go to Saturday's game because I had a concert, but as luck would have it, the Stars won on Saturday and the final game of the playoffs was tonight.

     Fortunately, Bob is not the sort of man who scoffs at professional women's sports (yay Bob!) so this evening, I picked him up from work and we headed over to the AT&T center.  Bob had found a coupon in the paper for $15 tickets that each came with a free hotdog, a bag of chips, and a drink.  For $30, we not only got free hot dogs, but we got seats that were much better than the seats we paid at least $60  for the last time we went to an NBA game, AND the Stars won.  They are now in the western conference finals.  I seriously have never, ever, even remotely cared about the outcome of a sporting event in my entire life.  Until today, the most I've ever cared was when my softball team was in the city championship in 6th grade (we won and I got a trophy which was all I really cared about).  Let me tell you, for a group of people that is rather modest in size, those WNBA fans know how to have fun and they make a lot of noise.  There is nothing like a posse of older ladies in Stars t-shirts living it up and having fun, and there were several groups of women just like this sitting nearby.  By the end of the game, I was standing up, hollering, and I really, really wanted the Stars to win.  If they continue to do well, I'm sure that we will go to another game.  Even Bob, the super Laker fan, admitted that it was more fun than most games. It really was all that and a bag of chips.    

Arctic Blast, Part II

     The Arctic Blast continues here in Big Texas.  Today around noon, the networks went back to regular programming, so things must be improving.  Despite the regularly scheduled programs, I did not have to go in to rehearsal today.  The San Antonio Symphony phone tree was activated early this morning, and I was informed that the first rehearsal was canceled before I even got out of bed.  I found out a couple of hours ago that our afternoon rehearsal is also a no go.  I'm supposed to teach one kid this evening, but I bet she'll cancel.  Her mom sounded doubtful when I talked to her on the phone, but since I have nowhere to go and nothing to do, I told them to just give me a holler if they felt like having a viola lesson. 

     I'm bored.  I can't believe that I'm saying this, but I'm tired of knitting.  In the last few days, I've finished one sock (Schaefer Lola) and started another (Colinette Jitterbug).  I'll go back and knit the second Lola sock after I finish the Jitterbug sock.  This should stave off some of the second sock boredom.  Unfortunately, my wrist is starting to  hurt, so I should probably take a break from knitting anyway.  I'm considering practicing my viola, but I think I'll vacuum and maybe wash the kitchen floor first.  I'm also considering braving the elements and going to the HEB, Blockbuster, and maybe even Target.  Blockbuster and HEB are very close and Target isn't too far.  We're supposed to go on a bus to play a concert in Beeville, TX tomorrow morning and something tells me that's not going to happen.  If I have to stay home for another day, I'm going to need some entertainment in DVD form.  For now, I think I'll fire up the Hoover Floormate.

Arctic Blast

     Here in Big Texas we are dealing with an Arctic Blast.  The schools are closed (though curiously, neither of my students have canceled their lessons for this evening), and on T.V.,  there is nothing but coverage of the Arctic Blast.  Before getting out of bed this morning, I told Bob to look outside to see if there was anything noteworthy happening.  He looked through the blinds and reported that it looked like any other overcast day.  When we turned on the T.V., we learned that everything was closed and that people were advised to stay home at all costs.  Bob went to work and called to tell me that although the overpasses on the highway were a little bit icy, the roads near our house were fine.  When I went to the gym and the post office, I discovered the same thing.  I suppose that when it's 30 degrees in San Antonio, it constitutes an Arctic Blast, but as of a few minutes ago, this is what the ground looked like outside my back door.  Since I don't absolutely have to go anywhere today, I think I'll play it safe and stay home.  Even under the best of circumstances, I tend to be a cautions driver and I know how to drive in this weather (I also have four wheel drive).  However, the local news has me convinced that this isn't the case for everyone, and that's not something I need to see to believe.

      In other news, I've joined Lime & Violet's Sock Marathon.  Pictured here is most of my sock yarn.  I have approximately 6 miles of sock yarn.  The point of the sock marathon is to knit as many miles of sock yarn as you can between now and some future date.  I think it's April 1st, but I'm not sure.  The rules for this one are pretty loose which is good.  For 2007, I plan to knit whatever I want whenever I want without worrying too much about whether I actually finish anything.  I'd like to eventually finish my Noro Klaralund sweater and maybe make a dent in this sock yarn stash, but other than that, I have no big plans.  Well,  it looks like my students are going to show up despite the Arctic Blast, so I better go get ready for them.  Stay warm!

Holidazzle

      This time of year, our street looks a little bit like a runway.  This weekend, Bob and I realized that we were literally the only house on our street without little white lights lining the perimiter of our property   It seems as though this is the thing to do around here.  I think that because there is no snow in Big Texas, and therefore no natural signs of the holiday season, people knock themsevles out with the lights.  Bob felt very strongly that we should participate, so off we went to Walmart, 2 Targets, Home Depot, AND Lowes in search of the necessary supplies.  Every store was sold out of the little stakes that hold the lights up, so Bob ended up making is own out of survey flags.  Our lights are also a little bit different from those of our neighbors because clear lights were not to be found.  We had to settle for frosty white lights, but if you ask me, they all looks more or less the same.

     Like my friend Kitty, I've never had a Christmas tree of my very own in my apartment or house (go check out her Christmas branch, it's very crafty and cool).  I usually go to Minnesota for Christmas, and there are plenty of Christmas trees there so I never saw the point of having my own tree.  Maybe it was the lights, or the fact that I now own my home, but for some reason, I decided that a tree was in order this year.  Bob wanted to get a real tree, but that just sounded like a big huge mess to me, so I convinced him to let me be in charge of the tree.  Because Bob is sort of Jewish, and because we are equal opportunity agnostics, I let him be in charge of the menorah.  We got both the tree and the menorah at the Super Target and now the inside of our house looks somewhat festive too.  The best thing about this tree might be that we can put it back in the box and store it in the garage until next year.  For now, it's looking a little naked with no ornaments.  If I get control of my holiday knitting, I may try to knit some of those little sweater ornaments for it.   I think that would be pretty good.

Oh Dear...

     Just the other morning, Bob was saying that I am such a Texan because I wanted to turn the heat on.  It was about 63 degrees in the house and I was chilly.  I think this is normal, but apparently, Bob is right.  Apparently, I'm becoming a Texan. 

You are 60% REAL Texan!!

You're mostly texan. You know your Mexican food, state heritage and are probably slightly politically aware. You can probably pronounce Kukendall, Manchaca and Boerne correctly. Go you.

How Texan Are You?

     I saw this quiz on Janna's blog and I thought I take it just to see if I really am becoming a Texan.  Does this mean that I'm only 40% Minnesotan?  I hope not.  I've only been here since August, so the future doesn't look good.  I do like it here in Big Texas, so maybe it's not such a bad thing.  I've noticed that even though some people around here are the stereotypical yahoos you often see Texans portrayed as in films, most of the natives are just nice and friendly and damn proud to be Texans.  They're sort of like Minnesotans only louder and with a different funny accent.  Well y'all, I could go on and on about this, but I'm fixin' to have lunch with some of the knitters so I better get a move on.   

Big Bad Woolf

      I got home from work on Wednesday to find that a rather large section of our backyard fence had fallen over.  It was really windy on Wednesday, so I think it was probably a combination of the wind and an old fence with some termite damage.  Either that, or it was the Big Bad Woolf.  He huffed and he puffed and he blew our fence down!  Now, on top of everything else we need to do this weekend to get ready for our Thanksgiving guests, Bob has to fix the fence.  I think that we should just call a fence fixer, but that's not how Bob rolls.  Bob the Builder is real and he lives in my house.

     For those of you who are San Antonioians, there is a restaurant that you must check out.  Bob and I went to our favorite local Thai restaurant last night, and as usual, it was empty.  We have no idea how the place stays open, and we're beginning to fear that it will close which will be a sad story, because it's some of the best Thai food I've ever eaten.  I've eaten a lot of Thai food.  I've had Thai food in Miami, New York, San Francisco, and L.A., all of which are allegedly fancy food cities, and none of it is as delicious as the food at Thai Kitchen.  Every time we leave, they tell us to tell our friends, so I'm telling you to go to Thai Kitchen.  You won't be sorry.

     Thing are big and bad and woolly around here.  I'm  working hard on my NaKniSweMo sweater.  It's going to be a Klaralund in Noro Kureyon for Norovember.  This is the back, or maybe the front.  I haven't decided yet.  The back and the front are knit exactly the same, and I'm about halfway through the other side.  I'm not trying very hard to make sure the stripes line up, so I guess I'll decide which I like better and use that for the front.  I don't think that this sweater will be done this November, but that's okay. 

     I'm attempting to keep things interesting by working on some holiday projects.  I'm not going to give a ton of handknit gifts this year.  I tried to do that last year and it was a little bit of a disaster.  I was seaming things and weaving in ends moments before gift time.  I gave my sister-in-law a damp sweater in the process of blocking for my niece.  Nothing says Happy Holidays like wet wool.  Pictured on the left are corners of gifts I'm working on.  Just a little peek won't ruin any surprises.  I've never been very good at surprises anyway.