Category Archives: Diary

And Then Band! Plus More Sunday Schtuff

Jan’s new guitar is awesome.

So pretty. So versatile. So rich and mellow and prettyful. It really fills in some of the songs in our repertoire.

She has a new mandolin, too.

Of course, now I want in on the second (or third) instrument bandwagon, so I’m looking at things like this and this. Of course, one never buys an instrument through an online auction because one cannot test it, and one is stuck with it, and it always ends up costing more than one thinks it will. But these aren’t the ubiquitous Yamaha or Zeta silent/electric models, and I’d be interested in trying one out in order to get an idea of what they sound like. Not that I’ve tried the Yamahas or Zetas. There’s not much point in creating the opportunity for falling in love if I can’t buy one. It’s more sensible to avoid the potential altogether.

Last week’s rehearsal was phenomenal and everyone walked away happy; we did a lot of music-only work because our vocalist was out of town, and we ended up impressing ourselves with how on the music is most of the time. When the vocals are laid over it we listen to them instead, so we tend to miss how rich the musical lines underlying the voice are. Without the vocals to distract us we heard each instrument and learned exactly what everyone’s playing at any given time. Today we didn’t leave on such a high, but we got work done. We played some songs that we haven’t played for about a month, many which require vocals for timing, and they too were better than we expected them to be after so long away from them. And we worked our first original some more too, firming up the vocal/bass/guitar lines, which in turn will form the foundation for the sax, and soon we can add the percussion beat as well.

I came home tired but looking forward to our outing this afternoon, when we took Liam out to buy more fish! We talked to a staff member about water conditioner and additives too, so hopefully these three new fishy slaves will entertain the prince for a good long time.

While we were out we stopped off to feed some cats whose people are off holidaying, and while we were there Liam grabbed the handle of a little doll stroller and toddled off with it. He took a good six or so steps with my hands positioned an inch or two behind his back to catch him should he fall, but he did quite well on his own. It was very satisfying to watch him, particularly since he’s shown almost no interest in walking up to this point. He crawls like he’s in the Grand Prix; walking holding onto someone’s hands is just too slow for him when he can drop to all fours and race off on his own.

The day began early when a nurse stopped by to do our medical interview and sample-taking for our insurance application, and it’s now very definitely bedtime.

Yay!

HRH just called; they’ve finished the job in the Eastern Townships they were working on today, and he’s being dropped off at the local metro station in about forty-five minutes. Woo-hoo! That solves a whole bunch of issues.

Did a load of laundry and had a minor ick-out when I found a small swarm of flying ants checking out the dryer to see if it would make a good home. No, thank you very much. Can I show you these ant traps instead, which I have just run out to buy? And this ant spray? Thank you, goodbye.

Speaking of laundry, I knew I’d forget something this morning; I wanted to buy a second set of cloth diapers. Oh well.

I’ve finished all my Real Work for the day, plus have gone out for a small grocery order, which means I now get to open Swan Sister and play about there until HRH calls.

Friday

Liam and I got up at the crack of dawn to drive HRH to work so that we could have the car today. We came home, ate breakfast, Liam had his early morning nap while I did mom and housework-type stuff, then I dropped him over at his grandparents’ place on the south shore and went to do all the shopping I wanted/needed to do.

I have a new pair of sandals for walking etc, because the pair of slip-ons I wore on our hour-long walk yesterday rubbed the top of my feet raw (yes, ouch). My sandals were not only on sale, but they are black, which means I can wear them for the concert tomorrow. I love my other black sandals with the clunky almost-platform soles with flowers carved into them that I usually wear for summer concerts, but they rub in exactly the same place my woven mule sandals do, so they’re a no-go as well.

I also have new music, and I have new books and more on the way. I discovered that the Indigo/Chapters/Coles chain uses the Indigo web site to special-order their books for you; they just get delivered to the store instead of your house. And you prepay it. So unless I don’t want to use my credit card for some reason, it makes no sense to not do it on my own from my own computer. Because really, when do I not place an order that doesn’t pass the minimum for free shipping anyhow?

The little $8 clip-on watch I’ve had for five years is dead, the girls in the watch store told me. I thought the battery was dead; it turns out that the innards have all gone rusty. Fortunately there’s a sidewalk sale next week, and they will have tons of them so I can replace it. I’d be using my Eeyore watch instead, but I can’t find it (which saddens me enormously, much more so that it ought to).

It never ceases to amaze me how cheerful everyone working in a shop is between eleven and noon on a Friday morning. From what I remember of retail, it’s because business is slow from opening till early afternoon, and the idiots haven’t hit yet to ruin anyone’s mood.

HRH got home at 9:20 last night. Gah. I have no idea what time he’ll be finishing today. Ideally I’ll be picking him up then getting Liam, but if he’s not ready before five-thirty then I’ll have to go pick up the boy and carry on with his evening routine as usual. In which case I’ll have to hope someone’s home upstairs who can come down and sit in the living room once Liam is in bed, so I can zip off and get HRH. Otherwise, hmm. Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Now! I will listen to the Pride & Prejudice score while I review other people’s proposals. And there is leftover pizza calling my name. And I must do a once-over on all the orchestra music before tomorrow, too.

Melancholy

I’ve been pretty down for the past couple of weeks. I’m tired, too. I think the last year has finally caught up with me. And I know it doesn’t get any easier.

Everything I own smells damp and musty because of the weather, even the furniture. I hate clothes that smell damp and musty. They come out of the drawers smelling like they need to be washed.

Yesterday started out well enough, took a severe turn for the worse mid-afternoon, crashed and burned late afternoon, was salvaged by an unexpected phone call offering me some help that made me cry because I have such thoughtful friends who are willing to go out of their way, went south again until Liam finally fell asleep ten minutes before people arrived for a meeting, and then ended on a welcome calm note thanks to a tranquil and restful Solstice ritual led by one of our coveners.

Today began badly, improved somewhat, and looked to be okay until Liam fell and chipped a tooth. There was blood along the gum from the blow, which wasn’t my concern so much as the tooth being displaced. It’s a minor chip, but enough that I notice it when he nurses. The thing doesn’t seem to be wiggling, but it does seem to be slightly further back that it was before — and when I say slightly, I mean only a couple of millimeters. And the kid did it by trying to climb up on the baseboard heater to give him a bit of extra reach to play with the windowsill in his room. I gave him cold water to drink from a grown-up glass and a cool teething ring from the fridge. He was fine five minutes later.

The yay of the situation: he can climb up on things now. Including the foot-high lap desk Ceri gave me a few summers ago, which makes such a lovely low altar. I found him standing on it the morning after Sunday night’s ritual, touching books a whole shelf higher. He gave me such a pleased look that if I’d had any notion of being upset (I hadn’t) I wouldn’t have been able to bring myself to get there. If he gets into the bathroom before the child gate goes up, he leans on the edge of the bathtub and tries to hoist a leg up on it to get in. (Yes, he loves his baths.)

The boo of the situation is that being higher means more of a fall.

Let’s see, more random Liam stuff that I keep forgetting to mention: he can applaud, and does so frequently. Sometimes he says “Yay!” while he does it. He can sit quietly and concentrate on a movie for about fifteen minutes or the opening story sequence on Sesame Street. When music plays he smiles and bangs his open hand on his thigh or a table to keep time. I’ve heard him singing to himself, too, when there’s no music on and he’s alone. He’s further exploring the idea of putting small things inside larger things. Everything that fits into the sorting bin now goes into it, including toast. Wheels are still awesome. I got him a whole video of things that drive, fly, roll, and so forth, and he adores it.

As I am now officially carless thanks to HRH’s new job (for which he absolutely needs transportation throughout the day to get from job site to job site), Jeff just came to pick Liam up and take him back to his godparents’ place for their Tuesday afternoon playdate in order to allow me to get work done. I was going to try the bus to see if the two hour round trip was worth the loss of the nap for Liam and the two hours I’d have alone before HRH brought the boy home on the way back from work, but they offered to pick him up instead to give him his after-lunch nap and to give me as much time as possible. (See why I cried when I got off the phone?) I still don’t know what we’re going to do about the weekly Friday date Liam has with his grandma on the south shore; I don’t even have the option of public transport for that. Jeff has offered to help out there too, but that’s an hour out of his day, and I would like to preserve that as a last resort. If HRH is at one location for the whole day on a Friday, he’s going to look into the option of me dropping him off and picking him up when the day is done so that I can have the car. I really hope that’s doable, because to lose my Fridays at this point when I desperately need them to work on my own is inconceivable.

Morning

Just leaving a note so no one thinks I’m dead: I do want to post about life in general, but I have the opportunity to work on Swan Sister, so I’m headed over there while I can instead.

Swan Sister Update

Total word count, Swan Sister: 16,409
New words today: 3,361

A very successful day writing with Mousme, and then a lovely dinner of barbecued brochettes and rice salad with the inlaws and HRH’s aunt and uncle from Ottawa. And now, because I noticed the horrible dark circles under my eyes when I looked in the mirror today, I am going to bed.

Concert News And More

This has been one of those days where you feel like it was a bad day but can’t really put your finger on why. There were things that kept it from being good, but nothing that made it bad, really. Liam was out of sorts too.

Breaking concert news: Yes, there are only eight days until the Lakeshore Chamber Orchestra Canada Day concert! Go put another star on your calendar so you don’t forget! No, actually I’m just here to tell you that the time has been confirmed, and everything will begin at 20h00.

We have an encore prepared should everything go supremely well. I don’t know if we’ll be able to play it after two hours of intense music. I think, honestly, that after we pull off the kick-ass final piece on the program, our bows will fall from limp hands. Wednesday night’s rehearsal saw me aceing the stuff I’d been messing up till then, and messing up other stuff I could play before. After a night like that I never know if I should be impressed or find something blunt with which to bludgeon myself.

I got an email from a fellow Daughter of the Flame today telling me how much she’d enjoyed my books. I didn’t realise how much I needed to hear something like that. Every now and again I get an unsolicited email from a stranger sharing this with me, and it surprises me every single time.

Writing tomorrow. A date with an old friend who still hasn’t met Liam on Saturday. Band on Sunday this weekend. Two Solstice rituals, one on Sunday, the other on Monday. I wish I had more energy to look forward to it all, let alone work up the energy to do it.