I LOVE ELI!!

Eli is my sweet nephew, who just turned 13 months old.  This past weekend in New Orleans (we were all in town to celebrate Trey Medbery's wedding), I got to spend more time with him over two and a half days than I have in the past year.  Here are some photo highlights of our visit... dressed up at the Rehearsal Dinner, eating beignets at Cafe du Monde, dressed up for the wedding, and just snuggling and loving on one another.  He is the sweetest baby in the world... a wonderfully happy guy, even when he's worn out and sleepy.  Just a Love!

What a handsome boy...

Eli is so happy and fun!

Checking out the sugar... not quite sure about these beignets...

 

Mmm... Yummy!

Aunt Rachel Loves Eli!

Shows

So, this post is a little (ok a lot) self-indulgent.  For my birthday, my mom came to San Diego and we went up to LA... she treated me to "The Phantom of the Opera" at the Pantages Theatre.  Somehow, I'd never seen that show, so it was a wonderful gift to finally get to see it, especially with her!  Now that's gotten me thinking about all of the amazing shows I've gotten to see or be a part of.  And the rest of this post is going to be a list of shows that I've seen/been a part of from most recent to past.  See... totally self-indulgent.

The Phantom of the Opera
Legally Blonde: The Musical
Spamalot
Children of Eden (Yonah/Producer, 2009, Eve/Mama Noah, 1999, saw it in 1998)
Ragtime (Music Director, 2008, saw it in 2001 or '02)
Joseph And the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Narrator, 2008, saw it in 1996)
Jersey Boys
Wicked
Rent
Oklahoma (Laurie)
Mamma Mia (2x)
Showboat
The Sound of Music
Sunset Boulevard (2x)
Les Miserables (2x)
Footloose
Grease
Guys and Dolls
Cabaret
Urinetown
Fosse
A Chorus Line
Fiddler on the Roof (chorus)
Camelot (chorus)
The Music Man (Marian)
Carousel
Oliver
Honk!
Floyd Collins

That's all that I can think of... seems like there should be more.  If I think of any, I'll let you know!

Me, outside the Pantages after "Phantom"

Mom and Me... Happy Birthday!!!

Great Quote

I watched "Runaway Bride" on the plane ride home from Okinawa, and picked up a great quote from the movie.  "It takes three people to make our marriage work; him, me, and our therapist."  Ain't it the truth?  Marriage is tough.  I have so benefitted from my work with an excellent therapist over the last ten months.  It feels good to be authentic and healthy.  Hooray for doing the hard work in therapy!

Forget Me Nots

This Spring I've had the opportunity and pleasure to sing with a group called "The Forget Me Nots."  Last Friday night, we had our debut show, and each of us sang a solo in addition to our group numbers.  Here's me!

Feels So Good!

This post is more for my benefit than anyone else's... But I just needed to write it as a little reminder to myself of how GOOD it feels to have completed a run before work!

Some mornings (like today) it's a drag to get up early, and would be really easy to talk myself out of a run, but with Gabe's encouragement I make it out the door and hit the road.  And it only takes about three minutes to be glad that I'm out there and to start enjoying feeling my body exert itself.  Then, when the run is over it just feels GREAT to come back inside, drink some water and hit the shower and get on with the rest of my day.

So, self, get out there and run.  (And remember, Lake Tahoe already has your money, so you'd better keep running so that you're in shape to take on the 1/2 Marathon on your birthday!)

Back at it!

Whole Note Music Therapy has been revamped, refreshed, and re-launched on the Web.  Check out the site! www.wholenotemusictherapy.com

I am so excited to be building a new voice studio and exploring new ways to share music therapy with my community.  I appreciate your continued interest, support, and feedback!

It's been a while...

And I don't have much to say tonight.  All is well, though, just incredibly busy!  It was a real treat to have Burr so close (relatively!) March - May.  He went back to Okinawa at the beginning of June, and since then I have been playing catch-up at work, and have done a whirl-wind trip to Orlando (for NICU-MT certification; amazing!), and Birmingham (much playing with Baby Eli, and wonderful visiting with Mom!).  Now, back in San Diego, settling in for a productive weekend home alone, to be followed by about two weeks of company!  (Kristy first, then Mom and Rose - can't wait!)

Other reasons I haven't posted here lately are largely tied to Whole Note Music Therapy and how much "brain-time" the "rebirth" is demanding of me!  Working on website revisions, a Whole Note blog, possibly a podcast, and oh yeah, drumming up some students and clients!  Also beginning to explore the possibility of a NICU Music Therapy contract in San Diego, and still pondering what I should be when I grow up... Full time music therapist?  (Employee or Private Practitioner?)  Go back to school for a Masters degree in Speech Language Pathology?  Shelve everything and be a full-time mom?  (Of course, that would require children, and I'm not in a rush to acquire any at the moment, so probably not the best option!)  Sadly acknowledging that the window has likely shut on other career aspirations... probably will not be an astronaut, Julie Andrews, Shamu Trainer, or Esther Williams.  Sad.  Oh well, it feels good to remind myself that Julia Child didn't become "Julia Child" until her fifties... so there's still plenty of time to leave my mark!  But that brings us back to the question, where shall I leave said mark?

Enough of my rambling.  I've also cooked some great meals over the last couple of months, and I'll be happy to share those with you soon...ish.

Cheers!
rmf

Third Thursday Dinner pt 2

Ok, Blogger went back to "normal" and let me upload the pictures from Dinner!  Behold the Lobster Paella, the dinner guests, and me serving the cheesecake!

Third Thursday Dinner

Third Thursday Dinner came early this month!  Seems like I blinked and it was April 15... oh well, the food was good, and the company was even better!  Best part, Burr got to drop in and meet some of my SD friends, and they got to meet him!

The menu:
Lobster Paella (This was good, but the ingredients were quite expensive and I'm not quite sure that the end result justified the cost.)
Bay Scallop Gratin (Really, really, really good!)
Sauteed Green Beans (So easy, and so yummy!)

Pea Pesto Crostini for the Appetizer (leftover Pea Pesto was great over orrechiette pasta for dinner last week!)
Chocolate Cheesecake for Dessert (um, yeah.  Enough said.)

oook... looks like Blogger has changed the rules on uploading photos, so I'll have to get back to you with the pics from the event!  Sorry!

The Bird Bath

Today, I've felt a bit down.  Doing things that are self-destructive, that you KNOW will be self-destructive before you do them, is a bad idea... I don't recommend it... But having been self-destructive this morning, I've had to reap the consequences all day, in the form of a nasty case of the blues and too many thoughts full of self-doubt to count.

I did "nice" things for myself today... got a manicure (first one in I can't remember how long, and just went with clear!), and a pedicure as well (pink for springtime), took care of Burr's laundry, even got to watch a bit of "Casino Royale" while I munched on my lunch.  Then I went to the pool.  Glorious afternoon in Yuma.  Hot.  Sunny.  Perfect.  Started a new book ("The School of Essential Ingredients" - highly recommend!), and tried to breathe deeply and enjoy the sunshine.  But I still felt down.

Until I saw the bird.  It was a pigeon, and it was perched on the edge of the fountain by the pool.  There was nothing especially remarkable about the bird.  Brown, no distinctive markings, regular size, you know, just a bird.  But that bird was Joyful!  It was luxuriating in the cool splashes of water being blown onto it from the fountain.  One wing would lift as the bird tilted to the side to get the water in those "hard to reach spots!" then the maneuver would be repeated on the other side.  The bird Luxuriated in the water... and I became lighter, and more joyful just watching.

Watching the bird playing in the fountain reminded me of how much I've always loved the water and experienced great joy just from being in it and pretending to be Esther Williams...  But I held off on my impulse to dive into the pool.  I mean, then I would have to wash my hair, my eye make-up would get runny, etc, etc.  My eyes, however, continued to be drawn back to the bird, as he bathed and played in the fountain.  It looked like FUN.  And that bird seemed Happy!  And at the end of the day, I wanted to feel happy, not blue, and I knew that all it would take to feel happier would be to dive into the water, and frolic for a bit.  So, I did.  And it was wonderful.  And I felt happy.

Now I'm left to ponder...  Why do we (or maybe it's just me), so easily do things to ourselves that we know will bring us down and not lift our spirits.  And why is it so much more difficult to choose to do something simple that we know will bring joy to our souls?  It's so easy to choose to squander in negativity, and can sometimes be much more of a challenge to embrace the healthy and positive... even though, from my experience, it's actually more Difficult to do something self-destructive (too many steps, too  much yuck to wade through) than it is to choose the Positive.  Craziness I tell you.

I will continue to look for the beauty and joy in the simplicity around me... and make the decision as often as possible to do the things that I know will bring joy to my own life.

Here's to the bird bath.

rmf