m a y
celebrated Mothers Day with Nana, Janet and Joyce at a coastal winery (where Joyce is a wine club member). it was a very lovely day; the weather cooperated (it was warmer than the weather prediction thankfully). they served a catered brunch that was extremely yummy!had numerous opportunities to sing and read at Temple. read my entire portion in Hebrew! all 13 verses.
attended a Neil Diamond concert - so exciting! that man is ageless! his performance was flawless, and he sang for 90 minutes, then had a 20 minute encore. just amazing.
Janet and I performed in our band concert, but before that, I went to see her in the strings concert earlier in the afternoon (I took a 1/2 day off from work). then I picked up Nana in between concerts so she could see us perform. afterward, we went to the local pizza parlor and had wine and cheesy breadsticks, and delightful conversation.
also made time to sing karaoke a few times as well. one night I hadn't brought my music with me (I hadn't originally planned to go out) so my KJ offered to pick my set list for me - that was thrilling and terrifying. stepping up to the mic not knowing what I was singing until mere seconds before the music started. but he picked Jolene, Heartlight and (of all things) Mississippi Squirrel Revival, which always makes the crowd happy. another night, he offered to let me try out "new" technology (for this set-up anyway) - I connected my iPod and played the version of God Only Knows that Steve made for me. the crowd loved it, and we found out that that tech works! only sang two more songs that night since it was crowded and the first rotation took 90 minutes to go thru all the singers. at a different karaoke place, I again sang Heartlight, Come Away With Me, and closed with It Had Better Be Tonight which everyone loved. even the manager complimented me on my performance and said how he liked my singing. and Friday of Memorial Day weekend I had dinner at my fave Cajun place and spent the rest of the night enjoying the cool jazz sounds of the performer that evening. he was so terrific, playing to the crowd, drawing them into his show, it was great fun! I stayed until the end of his act, and he chatted me up before he had to pack up his equipment. the restaurant owner walked me to my car (it was pretty late at night, and downtown). I just love that it's a "small town hometown" feel at this wonderful little bistro.
one day at work we got the opportunity to see a young country artist singing out in our cafe courtyard during lunch hour. I wore my blue suede cowboy boots, and he liked them so much he said if he had a pedestal he'd put me on it! so adorable. he sang his newest song, which he's also going to sing tonight when he opens for Toby Keith at Shoreline. he also signed autographs and took pictures. our favorite radio jocks were there too, and I took my picture with them as well. it was a great lunch hour!
Chris Janson
Gary and Julie ... and me!
j u n e
sad times follow good ... the man who was my brother-in-law for 10 years passed away this month, after a very long illness. I was so blessed to be able to see him again at a big family gathering three Thanksgivings ago.sang and read at Temple a number of times - such a Blessing! sang karaoke; one time I went to a place where the KJ has a regular crowd - his posse - who had absolutely no 'karaoke etiquette' - you clap for all the singers, good or bad, whether you know them or not. these people only clapped for their posse (some of whom were truly awful), and it was dead silent after I sang my first song, and one person clapped after my second song. after which I left. who needs that kind of negativity! or rudeness!!
Nana and I watched the amazing Belmont race in which we finally got to see history made, when American Pharaoh WON the Triple Crown! it was so thrilling to watch. everyone was saying "of course he will win" but as last year proved, you can never be too sure, since you don't know what kind of fluke accident might occur that will upset the expected. anyway, in my lifetime I have now been witness to four Triple Crowns!
I had a singular opportunity to see a number of personal memorabilia belonging to the late Shirley Temple. the collection will be sold at auction in July, and this was the only Northern California appearance of these items! as I strolled through the crowded foyer of the Stanford Theatre, I remembered seeing so many of these outfits in her movies, which I watched faithfully on Saturday mornings as a young girl.
busy final weekend of June.
at work, I volunteered to help out at our Kids to Work Day Talent Show, where I got to help behind scenes with organizing, keeping kids in order and generally being a calming influence when things would start to get out of control. I had a blast! that theatre bug still has a bite on me! the MC even seemed appreciative of my backstage presence and know-how.my brother in law passed away - his passion for life, love for his fellow man, and great sense of humor will be sorely missed - but Joyce and I escaped work and gathered with family, many of whom we haven't seen for years, to celebrate his 86 precious years.
then, along the theme of reunions, my high school class gathered with previous and future classes for a tailgate and a baseball game. this was my first change to be in this ballpark, and it was great - a gorgeous day, and our team won!
and finally, because the weekend wasn't full before, I had an interview to be a volunteer on the committee that is organizing a huge sporting event in the area at the beginning of next year. not going to say anything more until I know for sure that I'm on the team, but I did get my manicure in red-and-gold to make a good impression!
one of my coworkers was in the elevator talking about the bowling league he is on. one of his teammates had to drop out so I sort of invited myself onto the team! first game in 15 years, with new shoes and a new ball, and I wasn't too bad. first set I scored 67, but the second I scored 159! <woot> the third set I dropped back down to 116 but my middle score was the one that held the team's spot in first place! Frank was so proud of me. 7 more games to finish out the season. so much fun!!
shows I saw with friends in them (since I'm on a "performing hiatus"): You Can't Get There from Here - hysterically funny, with friends Amy, Ian and Steve playing very funny roles; Hairspray with a LOT of my friends in it, and I even got a big hug from the guy playing Seaweed whom I'd never met before!; Tomfoolery, and I know most of the cast and staff; and Addams Family, which was my favorite of the "monster" series' that I watched growing up.
