I should...

be doing a lot of things. Practicing for an upcoming recital in 8 days, hanging up clothes strewn all over my bed, taking out the trash, unloading the dishwasher...the list goes on and on.

But, I'm not. I'm, in fact, sitting on my bed, ok, in my bed, watching TV. Have you seen the Hallmark movie, See Jane Date? It's just the thing for a lazy Sunday morning...

This week included four days off. During those four days I went to two water parks, got little to no sleep, and had a blast with my friends (and actually did some practicing and some serious laundry), especially those who are moving away.

Sunday and Monday were our water park days. Susie and Minna were fantastic sports in coddling my neurotic fears of getting out of control on the water slides. We had a great time, and I couldn't ask for better water park buddies.

Tuesday and Wednesday flew by in a blur. I can't remember what exactly I did but I know I had lunch with Darcy (yay!), got stuck in a rain storm, went to breakfast with Kathy and Jackie, and had fun at Chuck E Cheese with Allen, Andrea, their kids, and Susie. I did a lot of laundry those days too. I really miss my days with a full size washer and dryer...sigh.

Thursday and Friday were spent rehearsing for our Flint Hills concert. AND my birthday. On Friday afternoon, I gathered with some sweet friends for happy hour at La Bodega and then we went to see Up at the new downtown movie theater. $13 is a little expensive for a movie, in my opinion, but maybe I'm just spoiled by the $4 before 6pm movie theater in Merriam. The downtown theater is fun; has a great bar, and you're allowed to bring the drinks into the theater. It is also all leather seating, and they rumble and shake when things "happen" in the movie! $10 for a normal movie, and $13 for 3-D. Can't go there everyday...

(people at concert site)

(sunset on the prairie)

Yesterday, 7 of us piled into a cargo van en route to the Flint Hills. This area is basically the entire middle of Kansas (since there is nothing in Kansas anyways), and is quite a beautiful prairie. The symphony goes out once a year to do a concert out there in conjunction with their festival. Lots of nature trails, food, tents and "events" (?) accompany the $60 ticket...but the 6,000 people who come every year (it sells out in about 4 hours!!) love it. We had a great (3 hour!!) ride down in the van, along with the other 12 vans that took our symphony members, but not uneventful. As you would imagine, my van was filled with lively friends, and we had the best food! The 2 1/2 hours up until the "back roads" part was fine, but after we hit the gravel roads that took us out to a ranch, the bumpy-ness was out of control. In all seriousness, it was great fun, but at one point I did think the van was going to tip over as we were driving over one particular bump at about a 70 degree angle.

Going back to the still in bed part....it's now almost noon, the movie was great, and I think I'm going to get up and start my day. Love you you all and I hope to see you soon!

Today was...

great! and interesting! and ghetto! Haha. Yesterday, Minna, Susie and I wanted to go to Oceans of Fun (a water park here), but the weather people said that it was supposed to only be sunny for a few hours, and have SEVERE thunderstorms for the rest of the day. Not only are they retarded, they also lied. Not even close. It was beautiful all day. So, we went to this mini-water park by the airport at noon, because it was only $8 to get in. We figured that if it was going to rain, then we wouldn't have wasted $30 on Oceans of Fun. We had a great time, playing in the lazy river, going down both water slides, and laying out eating the lunch we had made. We made sure to put a lot of sunscreen on so that we don't get burned. Minna's sunscreen made her white. So funny!

Today was supposed to be really nice, all day, in the high 70's, and partly sunny (not super hot!), so we decided we could venture out to Oceans of Fun today. (We have four days off from work) All of us love water, and love water parks, so we figured it would be tons of fun!

We get there about 11:30, and go into the parking lot. The first words out of my mouth when I'm talking to the attendant is "This is for Worlds of Fun, right? Oops, I mean Oceans." She says yes. Then she hands me my receipt, and says, "Wait, you want Oceans of Fun?" I say yes, and that's the only place we are going today. She then proceeds to tell me that this isn't the parking lot, and that I will have to drive around the "block" and enter on the other side of the park. So, I say, okie, and ask for a refund so I can do that. She tells us that we can't get a refund because she's already taken (THE CASH) and given me a receipt. We were so angry because she was so stupid! We tried to reason with her, but she wouldn't budge. It was so bizzare! The best she could come up with was to tell us to go to Guest Relations and try to get it back, and THEN drive back around to the other side. We did that, and they told us that the parking pass was good for EITHER parking lot, and that this girl was wrong. Grrr.

We had a blast at Oceans of Fun for about 90 minutes. It never was sunny, but it got really cold due to the wind at that point. We took some time out and ate lunch, and essentially wrapped ourselves in our towels for a little over an hour. At this point, Minna's lips are purple, and we decide that we are going to splurge and get the combo ticket to go to World's of Fun for the rest of the (cold) day. Susie talked to Guest Relations at Oceans of Fun about this while Minna changed and I gathered our things. She came back with a resounding no, although the woman would have "liked to help us". Grrr #1 So, we decide to go to the Guest Relations ppl at Worlds of Fun to talk to them. NO CIGAR! I couldn't believe it! First, we get jacked by the stupid parking lady, THEN we get jacked because of the crappy weather, and NOW we get jacked by the Guest Relations ppl. They told us that because our tickets had already been scanned, they couldn't upgrade it to the combo ticket, but they COULD upgrade it to a season pass. They also said that we could either wait until 4pm (it was 2:30pm) until the Twilight Rate started (the same price as the upgrade to the combo ticket) OR we could pay full price. All three of us complained and protested to them, about the parking hassle, about the cold, etc...and we got free sandwiches and a drink. They are going to get three long letters of complaint. LONG. Longer than this post (which I'm not sure is possible!) Haha.

So, we decided to go back to Oceans of Fun and tough it out (it was a bit warmer at this point) for 90 minutes and then come back. The moment we get back there it was sunny and warm. YAY! We went to the wave pool for a long time, and rode all the rides again. We left about 6:30/7pm and had a blast for the remainder of the time. This would probably be the time to mention that I am a complete pansy on water rides, mainly due to the fact that I think I'm going to drown (despite the fact I am a VERY strong swimmer). I love the rides that go down not in a tunnel, and not straight down. I like to see where I am going, and the ones that go straight down make it extremely hard to keep water from STREAMING back into my face, thus me thinking I'm going to drown. I did come up with some tips. Lying down with your back slightly arched and shoulder blades touching the slide makes you go much faster. Sitting slightly up, with the upper half of your back not on the slide (thus engaging your stomach muscles!) makes you slow down. Sitting up with your arms directly on either side of you, balancing you, at the very end of the slide makes you not get your face that wet, or get dunked at the ending pool. Yay.

I have slight burns, in odd splotches, on my legs. VERY weird spots. Not big, not hurting, but almost as if I forgot the sunscreen there, which I didn't. But, I'm very proud of myself for not getting burned at all on my face. I really don't want skin cancer.

How was your weekend? How's the weather where you live? Did you do anything interesting?

I'm back!

Sorry for the length of time in between posts. I finally got into this blogging thing after reading all my friend's postings and wishing I could do something like them.

Today was a good day, but sad too. We had our last full "rehearsal/recording" today, and are losing our wonderful principal oboist to the Chicago Symphony. We are all so happy for her, but it's very sad to see our dear friend go. After the finish of the recording session, a group of us went to Em Chamas (a brazillian bbq) for one last hurrah. It was great fun, and AMAZING food....but I have to admit, I was crying at the end saying goodbye. Lora is a great person and a caring friend. I feel blessed to have gotten to know her in the past two years.

In other news, we are almost done with the season folks! :0) Woo hoo! I love my job, but I do love my summers "off". This summer, I'll be seeing family outside of Las Vegas for a family reunion, and going to Minneapolis to visit other relatives after that. I'll be back in Kansas City on July 7th. After hanging out for awhile, and going to Jane's WEDDING!!!, I'll be in Dallas from July 19th to August 4 (at least). Back to Kansas City after that, I'll be remaining there until the start of the season. No music planned just yet, and I think I'll enjoy the time away from my friend, the viola. :)

I hope to keep up with this blog, so keep checking back if it's at all interesting. And know that I'll be reading yours! Love to you all!