Yoga and Latin
Went with Karina to her yoga class last night. Barbara led the class, and I used a chair and the wall to follow along. I got a book, Ignorance, by Kundera, too.
Went to the Oratory for Eucharistic Adoration and Latin class with Kathryn, for Karina and I (respectively). Actually got to decline an adjective/noun pair on the board (surprise!)
~~~
I got a reply this morning from my friend Judy, whom I haven't been in touch with for fifteen years! We will talk to each other soon enough this week. It was good to hear her "voice" come across the email.
Labels: dog, email, excited, exercise, friends, international culture, languages, read, reunion
Sunday in the Park with Beata, Solomon, and Will
Had brunch with William, his family, and his in-laws at the sushi buffet on McKnight Road: William, Marissa, Beata, Solomon, Les and Chere, Grampy Bill, Susan, and Will. We enjoyed a leisurely brunch.
After, we headed to the North Side water spray park. We had a lot of fun; the children even swayed on the swings. All was well until Beata headed to the "water activator" and slipped. Marissa and Solomon are with her now whilst she gets checked out. I dropped William off at home, as he has an event at Schenley Park. We noted a large truck disregarding the clearance of an underpass on the way home.
Labels: excited, family-Marissa, moving, Pittsburgh, traction, travel, walking, water, water exercise
Up Late
I was up late last night/this morning helping mom with some administrative typing and other projects. Boy, we both are really tired!
Labels: computer, excited, family, sleep
No More Big Bruise
The big bruise I had faded away last week: It was gone yesterday. The Steri-strips, however, are hanging on for dear life. I also occasionally feel a dull ache/smarting in my gluteus maximus, especially when sitting for a while. O, life! (The process of healing.)
~~~~
Found the hypertext link for the encyclopedia which I was working on last year (was lead author on one of the articles).
Labels: BAD, excited, pain, surgery, writing. health
My Goal: Debut Today at Mass
I am excited about my afternoon today. My goal today is to make my "debut" (as my friend Alroy stated last year/last hip) at Mass. I will bring my own pillow to sit upon (not as highly decorated as my sit-upon from Brownies), and sit close to the front to minimize movement during Communion. I will either do steps or make my way all the way around to the other side of the building to the elevator.
After, I will take Mom and Dad out to treat them to lunch---as tradition goes---if they will allow me.
~~~
We DID go to Mass, where I walked up the eastern transept steps (with mom's help), and sat through the service... We also went to lunch at the Mexican restaurant in northeast Oakland: The location we went to right before Mom and Dad brought Ornella and I to the airport for our trip to Ireland in July 2007.
Labels: adventure, celebration, Church, dining, excited, exercise, family, hair, health, Mass, St. Paul Cathedral, surgery
Sock Aid
So...late last night I used the sock aid to don my TED hose. Initially, I was to show Mom how I was stretching the TED hose with my sock aid statically for an hour or so. I got the brilliant idea to actually use it to don the TED hose, while she held the toe to prevent the foot from escaping through the toe end of the hose.
Fun and excitement ensued!
Labels: BAD, excited, family, surgery, surprise, thankfulness
Shower Chair
Yeah! I just had a shower chair delivered...I expect that my home care nurse, the nurse at the orthopedic surgeon's office, and the fact that the last two.5 changes of dressing showed no drainage will lead to an "O.K." to shower.
Now I have the appliance to make it a reality.
I am so excited!
Labels: cleaning, excited, surgery, surprise, tea, thankfulness
A Week from Now...
A week from now I will most likely be wheeled out of the operating room (OR) to the recovery room. I will no longer be a hip chick, but a hipS chick. I'll be gaining another new hip, and will be (better than) new.
Just went for a walk to drop off my info for Vickie E. for my volunteer work at the Church. Spoke with Pat P., Carol, and Eileen. Petted Princess, Carol's dog. Pat noted that I could audition for Celtic dancing (!) at the end of the summer.
The progression was discussed: bed to chair to walker to crutches to crutch to cane to Nothing...to DANCING! (All within two months of surgery.)
~~~~~
~19:00
Mom and I left ~14:00 to get Mexican food and to go shopping: I for an 18-month calendar and music at Barnes & Noble, she for clothes and gifts at TJ Maxx and Marshalls. We also went shopping for knick knacks. I got a bias-cut shirt and a cute li'l skirt for dancing!
Labels: BAD, Church, dance, dog, excited, friends, international culture, Ireland, surgery, talent, volunteering, walking
The Road to Impressionism: Barbizon Landscapes from the Walters Art Museum
This morning I ran errands at the Waterfront and in Squirrel Hill.
After lunch/smoothies at Craig Street, Christina P. and I went to the Frick Museum to see The Road to Impressionism: Barbizon Landscapes from the Walters Art Museum exhibit. We were just in time for the 14:00 tour. We passed by the French tables, replete with French natives conversing whilst in costume, to enter the exhibit.
Many of the tableaux in the exhibit were from the Frick and Walters collections. Most were landscapes, or landscapes with figures in it. Having read Hans Jenny's paper on Soil in Landscape Art this past week, I was taken by the erosive soil elements on the hillcuts in certain pieces. Namely two pieces: "Le Puy du Dome" (circa 1866-1868, Jean-Francois Millet) and "Landscape with Wild Buffalo" (circa 1865, Jean-Achille Benouville), of a Roman campagna.
We applied gold leaf to a picture frame. We met Benedicte, her former Spanish teacher, who is now director of Alliance Francaise. Then she dropped me off, and I took a nap.
Helped out with dinner preparations at Mom & Dad's place. Tina, Leila, Dr. Pat, Tessie and Ernie, and Dr. Larry arrived to have dinner of ground beef torta, kare-kare, rice, baked calamari, lo mein noodles, watermelon, (corn on the cob), and homemade pineapple upside-down cake. Dad popped the cork on the champagne. They are now watching Manny Pacquiao via pay-per-view. Tina brought my birthday gift of eyebrow pencil, eyeliner, and Hippy Fizz fragrance. MMmmm.
Labels: art, dining, excited, friends, gift, glass, international culture, museum, Pacquiao, painting, surprise, water
Checkin' email
Picked up S from the airport this afternoon, amidst rain on the way home.
S. and I discussed issues of my journal from 1990 after a nap/grading (5/6) session. Now we are checking our email before dinner...in the 24 hour computer lab on campus.
I said that there is much useless, detailed information that I wrote in my journal twenty years ago...but it was fun to read. We talked about recording/documenting our teaching to students; how it is very difficult to find the time to document our pedagogy. I shared the Acid Rain Teacher's Guide, as well as the Schubert Lieder and we talked about Les Chansons de Faure, the first-ever CD I purchased.
We talked about the C-leg and how it works (its computerized mechanism) on the way to campus.
We compromised on the rate of walking, as S strides faster and I stride shorter, in order to accomodate our individual handicaps.
We talked about swimming, and other exercise, and voice lessons.
Labels: accessibility, biology, computer, email, excited, exercise, health, humor, school, sleep, swim, teaching, voice, walking, work, writing
Friday in the Octave of Easter 2009
Today I administered my last/final practical final examination for the semester. On my walk home Marissa called me and invited me to join her, Solomon, and Beatrice at midway at Carnival at Carnegie Mellon University. After having lunch, I headed to the midway.
I took pictures of Beatrice "driving" in the car (leaning left and right whilst holding the steering wheel), riding with Lauren in the lady bugs/granny bug, and Marissa took a picture of her before/after one pass in the roller coaster (a little too much for her now). Solomon slept peacefully throughout. Lauren and her daddy rode in the ferris wheel while Marissa, Beatrice, and I rode in another cab of the ferris wheel. Lauren returned for another ride (this time with her mom), and Beatrice and I rode on the carousel (she rode on the zebra).
Marissa told me how Beatrice had bumped her head earlier, and the people in the emergency trailer examined her, then told Marissa to watch her for changes. Well, Beatrice was extremely quiet...unusually so.
"Beatrice," Marissa asked her, "can you talk?"
"I can't talk," Beatrice replied.
"Why not?"
"Because everyone is talking So Loud, I can't talk."
["And so we knew she was okay," Marissa stated.]
I scoped out the location of the concert next week in the College of Fine Arts, shopped at the sidewalk sale by the University Center, and walked home to take a nap. Nancy and I spoke about our evening plans tonight, I checked my email, had a snack of pita and butter, Otap and capucchino, and decided to grade a little before heading out for the evening. I will meet up with Nancy, Karina, and Maureen at the Newman Center and then it's off to the symphony for Nancy and me...for some Rachmaninoff.
~~~
21:45 Friday
No Rachmaninoff: Girls Dine Out
Met up with Karina and Nancy at the Newman Center---we went for sushi for dinner on Oakland St. We chatted about job hunting and volunteer work. It was great fun, enlightenment for some of us. We decided feeding our souls is important. I am listening to a piano symphony on WQED currently, Piano Concerto #3 (Finale) by Rachmaninoff, with Denis Matsuev on piano and Leonard Slatkin conducting.
I need to grade, do laundry, clean house, and grocery shop before Monday. I can't believe how I have procrastinated before S.'s arrival!
22:00
Mr. Matsuev is playing an encore---from Hall of the Mountain King(, a Rachmaninov version of the Grieg piece, according to WQED).
Labels: Beatrice, biology, Carnegie, Church, cleaning, excited, Faith, international culture, laundry, music, organizing, Pittsburgh, PSO, Rachmaninoff, school, shopping, student, work
Countdown during the Octave of Easter
So, as I celebrate Eastertide and as I administer and grade final exams, I patiently await the arrival of my friend, S., who is currently giving master classes and rehearsing for a concert at the end of this week.
It has been nearly twenty years since I have seen S. (We were "just children" when we first met.) It was the fall of the Berlin Wall descending, the fall of 1990, an exciting time to be traveling in Europe. I remember distinctly my visit to Eastern Germany (GDR) a few weeks before the Wall was torn down. I also distinctly remember meeting people who have become my lifetime friends during that trip to Europe.
Something that perturbs me is that I cannot find my slide photos of my first visit to S.'s city---photos of the Cathedral, out windows, and one of S. in particular. My friend reminded me that it doesn't matter that I cannot find those photos---S. is coming here! (I suppose she is right.) But I think it would be nice to show S. the photos, too.
Labels: excited, friends, international culture, music, photography, photos, seasons
News
So, I'm "normal" (as normal as *I * can be!!) as determined by my latest medical procedures.
I have a friend from Berkeley (who now lives in New Mexico, USA) who will visit me at the end of May, and two days after that a "niece of some of my friends" will visit.
I have my surgery tentatively scheduled for mid-June this year for my left (unoperated) hip. So, this is going to be a very busy summer for me.
My operated hip is ready to dance, and says to the other hip, "When are we going to dance?" So the unoperated hip says, "Be quiet and be patient!"
~~~~~
Went to the Newman Center for Faith Fellowship (which was not "on" due to low/no attendance), and for Bible Study with Fr. Mike on Galatians 3. It was nice to see Christina there, and we decided to try to meet Friday night, too.
Labels: dance, dreams, excited, Faith, friends, health, surgery
Up Early
So, I'm up early today---listened to the morning interview of Lois Lowry on the early Sunday radio show, headed to Mom & Dad's to do a few errands and to review my work for next week, and to check my email (nothing new since late last night)...I think about the friends and family I spoke with yesterday: Auntie Chi and Uncle Sonny, Luce (and her upcoming visit), Nancy (and our plans for Wednesday, Saturday, and then for Friday), Grace Y. (and our plans for Jenny to visit), Maureen (and our plans for after Mass); and the message not left for Anjali (including the thoughts of her---by many alti and soprani in choir---upon singing the conclusion of Bob Farrell's "Crucifixus")...and I write of these thoughts here.
I think of Mom and I watching "Dancing with the Stars" last night, our pleasant dinner with Dad after they returned from shopping...I think of the stars as I travel between Mom & Dad's home and mine early in the pre-dawn: The Big Dipper/ Big Bear/ Ursa Major visible from our urban outposts...and I heard little birdies in the trees twittering to each other as I travelled between our two locales early this morning.
I think of our friends, Rita, Elaine, and Mary Lou, to whom I delivered slices of homemade chocolate cake last night---and how Kevin and Rich in the garage turned down cake(!)
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After choir practice and singing in the choir during Mass Maureen and I drove to the Chinese buffet in Monroeville to meet my parents there. We enjoyed lunch there, and then I drove Maureen and I to the Monroeville Mall for some shopping. We went to Panera Bread near her home for a snack. Then I headed home and brought her to the Oratory for Eucharistic Adoration late in the afternoon.
Labels: biology, blogs, Choir, dance, dining, excited, laundry, music, seasons, singing, Songs, St. Paul Cathedral, stars, TV, writing
Spring Break 2009
Yesterday afternoon was the beginning of Spring Break for Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. Yesterday, on my way to physical therapy I saw the mass exodus down Fifth Avenue out of Oakland.
I noted to my students this week, "Don't go looking for me next week, because I won't be here." and, "Next week is Spring Break---you have a break from me [and I have a break from you]."
Choir candy orders were handed in this week during rehearsal, and I handed back all papers from my students (which they gave me this week) by 12:30pm Friday.
I started my first full day of Spring Break with a retreat with Parish Pastoral Council after the second morning Mass (the televised one). Sr. Susan from the diocese of Greensburg led the retreat.
~~~~~
Maureen and I walked to the Carnegie Library and looked at some great magazines and books. We stopped at the bead shop on the way back.
~~~~~~~
Karina and I went for ice cream in Squirrel Hill, to kick off the summer. We also stopped in Avalon Exchange for belts and buckles.
Labels: Carnegie, chocolate, Choir, Church, excited, exercise, friends, ice cream, pastoral council, Pittsburgh, seasons, St. Paul Cathedral, teaching, thankfulness, walking, weather, work
Finished Grading Midterms
I finished grading midterms at 21:46 today. I just need to tally, calculate, and record grades. It seems as if most of the students did fine. Makes it all worthwhile for staying in last night, today, and tonight.
Labels: biology, excited, Pittsburgh, school, teaching, tests, work
Before the Steelers Parade
Before the Steelers Parade downtown at the Point, I walked out to Fifth Avenue about 11:25am. At the bus stops, every bus heading downtown was packed with humanity. A motorcycle police-escorted set of buses heading in the opposite direction had several "decoy" buses in the convoy, and one bus which most likely held the Steelers. My physical therapist and I discussed what I had observed about the buses later today.
Renee and I lunched together, and we enjoyed each other's company, especially since she will have a new job next week downtown.
Today I signed up for a health club (the same one Mom and Dad belong to). I'm really excited about using the heated pool and taking chair yoga!
I also ran some errands in Squirrel Hill.
Labels: diocese of Pittsburgh, excited, exercise, health, Pittsburgh, Point, pool, Superbowl, thankfulness, water exercise, Zubik
More friends visiting....Reunions
Two summers ago, Kirsten D. came by to visit me while she was presenting a conference at Chatham University. This fall, Linda I., Charles, William, and I had a mini-Marietta reunion (it was great fun, by the way). This spring Jenny (Grace and Jason's niece from the West Coast) will visit, followed by Stephan, whom I haven't seen from a month before the Berlin Wall was taken down. There has been a run of reunions. And I hope for many more, with many more friends.
Charles and I have noted that as our world gets bigger, it really gets smaller (because you meet new people who know others whom you already know). "My world is imploding on itself!" I caught myself exclaiming to a friend. "And Pittsburgh---it's the ultimate vortex: It sucks you in." I know of people who have tried to leave, but keep coming back!
Labels: California, celebration, Chatham College, dreams, excited, family, friends, international culture, Marietta, Pittsburgh, reunion
Describing Microbiology Lab to Beatrice (Two 1/4 Years Old)
I spoke with Beatrice a few minutes ago. She asked me what I did today. I described to my 2 1/4 year old niece Beatrice serial dilutions, spread plate technique, and colony identification by characteristics:
I played with water today.
I put the water on the plates...
There was stuff in the water.
Then I looked at the plates.
What did you do today, Beatrice?
"I ate a lot." (They stayed in during the yucchy weather that included alternating snow, rain, sleet, heavy snowflakes, light snow, and rain.)
Beatrice left me a message on my voicemail last night that was, "Are you having a good day?" What a thoughtful, kind sentiment.
Labels: Beatrice, biology, excited, niece and nephew, poetry, school, work
Happy Lists
So, what makes one happy? This blogger ran an on-line hour-long chat about happiness. Read and get some insight.
Some things that make me happy:
Thankfulness lists
Time for myself
Time to help/serve others
Humor
Labels: dreams, excited, humor, list
