More added to the list!!!!!

First off, I have to say that my German phrase for the week was mis-spelled, and also almost identical to a phrase I had earlier. I am not doing a very good job of memorizing these, if I can't even remember which one is which! How in the world have I made it in the German polka band all these years? So, the phrase should read, at least I think it should read, wie geht es inhen heute and it's supposed to mean, "How are you today?" Gee. I wish they had an edit button on this blog - or maybe they do, and I just don't know where or how!

John and I did have a movie night last week, too, which I forgot to mention. We saw "The Men Who Stare at Goats", which was a wonderful vehicle for George Clooney and a bit of an unusual movie, kind of reminded me of a Coen brothers movie, it was funny-quirky like that. It was an unusual story, so no wonder the movie was such. Anyway, a good movie if anyone wants to know.

This weekend is the Ohio Valley Birding Festival, as I may have mentioned, and John and I are scheduled to participate in a 'migration' walk at Audubon Park Saturday morning, and the binoculars from my dad have indeed arrived. However, it seems Mother Nature has a different plan, and we are under a flood watch beginning Friday evening, with torrents of rain, and I mean lots, expected. It looks like the migration walk will be rained out. Therefore, I am taking a different path - literally - and will go to Wesselman Woods tomorrow morning at 7 AM for their bird hike, as part of the Festival. I can hardly believe I am going to get up early AGAIN, third day in a row, and second day in a row that I really don't have to!

You see, I awoke early this morning (a long-awaited day off from the Stein) so that I could load my truck with mulch and get some more yard work done. And I managed to get another major part of the Magic Birthday garden planted as a result. All this was so I could meet some friends at the bowling alley to begin my quest toward 55 games of bowling for this magic year, hopefully to improve my game a bit. It needs it, that's for sure.

There was some success - I got there before the others arrived, and I had the entire bowling center to myself. I took advantage of the situation and bowled a game on my own, all by myself, with only the guy behind the counter as a witness. I am sure he was laughing. I bowled 81 on that game. Then, I bowled two more games when my friends arrived and managed a 94 on the second game and 130 on the third game! Wouldn't it be something that on the next 52 games, each was a higher score than the last?

Finally, on this long blog today, I want to post a picture - this would be Item # 9 on the list - it is a view of myself standing on a spot of Highway 41 exactly 55 miles from my house!!! My friend Cindy shot the picture as we were headed to Indianapolis for ISSMA State Solo/Ensemble Festival. Now, it was taken a couple of weeks before I officially began the magic birthday year, but, hey, you do what you do when you can do it, so I took some liberty here. Now, to get the other three directional 55 mile photos!

Bis spater (think umlaut)


P.S. I just saw the Edit Post thingy. Gee whiz. It was right there all along.

Day 40 of the Magic Birthday year

Well, here we are to the fortieth day of my blog-venture. I had to post another picture - this one is of my Nina, quasi-napping in the sunlight streaming through the door. There are times I wish I could just curl up with her instead of head out the door to one of these stupid (oops, did I say stupid) jobs or such. But, whatever.

We are up to 50 in new FB friends and I know I will hit the 55 mark soon - of course, it will probably expand from there. That is one of the easier of the list to achieve, I think.

The bird sightings are slight - I think I can add a pair of cowbirds and some Canadian geese to the list, making my total to date, 13. However, I am hoping the weather will cooperate this weekend, as the Ohio Valley Birding Festival is to be in full swing, and I am going to try the Migration Hike at Audubon Park on Saturday morning. Since I have to be at work at 10 am, John and I are going to venture across the bridge for the 7:30 - 9:00 am hike. My dad has assured me that I may well add 40 or more birds to my list - to which I reply, he would add 40 or more, I will be lucky to add 10! (I am not the birder my father is). However, to aid me in my quest, he is lending me a pair of binoculars, since mine are terribly old, and they should be arriving in the mail any minute now. The only factor that may hinder me in this weekend adventure would be the weather - an e-mail I received today from one of the directors of the Birding Fest said she would call me if they cancel due to the weather. Shucks. Everybody, keep your fingers crossed that it DOES NOT RAIN ON SATURDAY MORNING!

Now, to another German phrase for me to try to unsuccessfully memorize: Wie geht es zhnen heute? And, till next time, bis spater! ( I remember that one!)

Happy Earth Day - and Day 35 of the Birthday Year

It has been an absolutely beautiful spring so far, and I have been working hard on the yard and garden, despite the time demands of work and the incidental incidents that somehow try to disrupt my otherwise precise schedule. Yeah.

So today is #35 in the Magic Birthday Year saga, and it is also Earth Day (and my father's birthday, as well!) To honor Earth and my dad's Birth Day, I accomplished Item #45 on the Magic Birthday List and planted a tree, or at least a sort-of tree. I planted a Cardinal Red Twig Dogwood and hopefully it will do well in the sunny spot I found for it.

As we progress along the list, we can add another movie to the Movie Night With John part of the list, as we saw "Everybody's Fine" over the weekend. A good movie, really, but quite a tear-jerker for me, at least.

And there are now 40 new friends on FB - only fifteen to go to achieve the goal!

We can also add another bird to the list - Canadian Goose. I hope to get a few more on the list by participating in the Ohio Valley Birding Festival with a birding hike in Audubon Park on May 1.

Check out the picture of the Cardinal Red Twig Dogwood and etc.


til next time

OMG, it's the 27th day already!

and I have been quite remiss in my blogging. Well, just got busy. We had a yard sale last week as part of our large spring purge and that sort of thing takes a lot of work. Then, after the yard sale, I bought a new lawn mower. I love my new lawn mower, and have used it twice in just five days!!!!

But enough of the mundane and on to the status of the LIST.

We need our third German phrase: Haben Sie eine Bratpfanne? hahaha I like this one.

Now, some other bits:

We have done well with our weekly movie nights, and this week we saw "The Christmas Card". It was a very saccharine movie from Hallmark, that, despite it's predictability, was enjoyable enough. I don't know yet what's on tap for this week's movie.

I now have 34 new FB friends, getting closer faster to that 55 goal. It is fun connecting with even more studio alumni! Everybody's all grown up - when did that happen?

I was almost ready to add two more birds to the list - a Great Blue Heron and a sharp-shinned hawk, except I am not 100% sure that's what they were, I am only assuming. So we will wait on that, because whoever they are, they live around here. To the birds, though, we can for sure add Goldfinch and Common Grackle, making a total of 11 now.

I have had THREE bouquets of fresh flowers, it looks like I may be able to have at least one bouquet a week. I have started working on the Magic Birthday Garden, too, having planted
three plants, of two varieties. Now, here is another conundrum - do I plant 55 different plants, or just 55 plants total? Geez, I think I made this too hard! :)

The exercising is going well, I am doing pretty close to 5.5 hours, but this week the practicing has slacked. I will get back on board with that, though, I promise! The weather has just been way too nice . . . I find myself wanting to pull weeds instead. I must be crazy. And, incidentally, if any of my students happen to be reading this, that doesn't mean I haven't practiced at all, just not 55 minutes every day, 5 days a week. Maybe half that, this week. Which is still more than you all do!


Tomorrow I will be posting a couple of more photos, if I can figure out how to retrieve them. Be looking!


Bis spater.

Guten Morgen Wie geht es Ihnen?

Happy Easter! and what a beautiful day it is here in southern Indiana. And the new German phrase for the week - "good morning how are you?"

Well, it is day 17 of the Magic Birthday Year challenge, and I don't know how much practicing or exercising I will do today, but that's OK. I have a couple of new birds to add to the list, having seen a goldfinch and the common grackle. These are still neighborhood birds so sooner or later I will have to go out and about and try to see something different. That makes the bird count 11 now (List # 23).

Now to something new - # 14 on the list - wines. Now, and some of you may not believe this, I am not much of a wine drinker or beer drinker or much of a drinker at all, not these days at least. Even playing with the polka band, I rarely drink a beer (I'm driving, so no drinking). But this year is all about expanding horizons, making things a little more interesting, so last night at my late left-over-accidentally-baked-deviled-egg-and-radish supper, eaten in haste and without much concentration since it was the last five minutes of the Butler/Michigan State game, final four (hooray, Butler!), I had a delightful first glass of wine for my list. Here is my commentary:

Wine #1 was a delightful Chardonnay from the California Barefoot Winery. It was clean with 'tempting flavors of green apples and peaches, with hints of honey and vanilla,' culminating in 'a buttery finish' (I read that on the bottle, and I do concur). So Wine #1 has been tasted, and I recommend it highly, giving it my Magic Birthday Balloon rank of Four Balloons (out of five).


Bis spater!

14 days in - April 1

Mein Name Is Janet

Such a beautiful first day of April, and that is absolutely no joke! This is the kind of weather I love, and could stand to have all year round. I wonder, though, if I would get tired of it, should it be all the time. NOT.

25 FB friends now, and counting (those are NEW friends, by the way. Already have a bunch). The bird sightings have remained at 9, perhaps I can go trekking a little this weekend and try to discover something different. We shall see.

I have done two Zumba classes this week, so that's two hours of hard exercise, particularly last night, when the instructor required us to hold weights while we Zumba'd. I have practiced quite a bit, and will have to check those numbers. Now, I did some pretty heavy lifting and throwing at work yesterday, so I think that counts for an upper body work-out (my arms are indeed sore) so maybe I will count that as, let's say, 30 minutes of working out. Works for me! After all, I made the rules and it is my list.


Happy April Fools Day, look here for another update!

Bis spater.