Happy New Year!

By the title of my blog and the frequency of my posts lately, you'd be tempted to think that Ev has no life, no times and no thoughts.  It's not true.  I have so much life, so little time, and tons of thoughts that I don't make time to record them for you. 

Actually I do have time, but I'm not using it by blogging.  We're happily playing with a borrowed Wii today and because of our basic lack of pop culture technology, I'm letting the girls play all day if they want to.  I don't feel like nagging (much) during these last days of school holiday.

December was very busy, but because of many of our concerts, recitals, plays, and craft sales were fairly early in the month, we all had the week before Christmas to think about Christmas.  Winterfest was a great time with a large attendance (unlike last year) and it was nice to sit and craft, play games and visit with friends without feeling like I was supposed to be somewhere else, doing something else, to get ready for Christmas.  All day I was thinking about my parents' celebrating their 50th Anniversary, but happily it was without guilt that I wasn't there.  It's the only thing I really had to make any tough decisions about while prioritizing my pre-Christmas activities.

Some of the lead-up to Christmas included:

Singing with my girls at our church choir concert

Watching my girls in their Sunday School musical (the little cutey in the front isn't one of mine)
Attending the city's sing-along carolling in the Winspear Centre
Listening to Handel's Messiah, as performed by one of the city's church choirs




Going to the elementary school and junior high band concerts
Listening to Alice's first ever piano recital

Sold crafts (art?) at two sales
Spent the day at Winterfest with the community league

The rest of life was filled with getting ready for all of those events, baking loads of cookies, sewing and making gifts, continuing to exercise with a friend a few times each week, cook, feed and clean my family.  I don't think I really felt stressed this Christmas at all and I also don't think I entered a mall once.  Maybe that's why I wasn't stressed?

We managed a trip to Kimberly to see my brothers and parents, and also to the farm twice to see Yvon's family.  The last trip was terrible.  Not the visit, but the trip itself.  6 miles of sheer ice rink roads leading to their farm, and speeds never above 30 km/hr.  Had we known, we wouldn't have gone out there.  THAT was stressful. 

And before the kids go back to school, we're working on increasing our prettiness.  This is our progress so far:

Pretty enough.  I've always thought so.

But way prettier now.  Tomorrow it's my turn.  I haven't had a cut since August, so it should be easy to up my prettiness factor.  Tune in for an update.

Christmas update

I really don't realize how much I rely on the internet until we don't have it anymore.  We went for about a week with really intermittent internet availabilty, and then finally none at all.  I do any new product research, blog reading, recipes, looking up phone numbers, etc. on the internet.  It's weird to search out my paper telephone book or hope I wrote down my favourite recipe, or try to remember the time of that meeting. 

Anyway, we're back online and faster than ever.  It's amazing how our service gets a free upgrade every time I call Telus.  Even if you don't need anything from them, call once in a while to see what you really should be getting for your money.  I'll bet our speed was supposed to be increased years ago, but they didn't do it until I had a problem. 

We continue to be busy over here preparing for Christmas.  I think most of my presents are made, but there are always a few that get held over until the last minute.  I'd like to finish those this week.

I made the cutest lunch bag ever for my neice this week (see it over here at homemade by ev).  I can't show you some of the other things, but it's been fun.  Now I've got to head over to the post office and send a few things away or no one is getting my work for Christmas.  I'm thankful for a few January birthdays in our house because all of the unfinished presents get given then.  Keep that in mind when planning your family!

This weekend is our community league's 2nd Annual Winterfest celebration.  I'm hoping for a bit of fresh snow for the outdoor activities that I've helped arrange, but it will be fun even without. 

I'll be spending the whole day at the hall on Saturday crafting with people, eating, carolling and having fun.  Consider dropping by if you've got time and get in the Christmas spirit!

Also, if you're in Edmonton, the First Baptist Church Choir Concert is at 7:30 pm tonight (109 Street, just south of Jasper Ave).  It's always a beautiful evening of music, with strings, pipe organ, piano and about 40 voices.  Besides being in the regular choir, I'm singing a song with the girls and three friends.  It was a nice gesture for the choir director to include kids in the concert this year (she likes to keep everything pretty professional), but she invited the "choir babies" to sing.  Four of the five young girls were with the choir through our pregancies and breastfeeding days and now they are old enough to sing beautifully.   Come out and here us!

I'm Gonna Be Famous!

 Maybe not, but I do get to sing with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in this place.

That's going to be me up there in (hopefully) a new black dress. 

Many moons ago I used to sing with a pretty decent local choral group, Da Camera Singers.  It's the only group I ever had to audition for and I still think I got in only because I knew the conductor at the time and he knew how I can sing when I'm not nervous. 

However I actually got in, I sang with them for two years and loved it.  They sang challenging music and probably what I learned most from that time was that I love singing in small groups, and preferably accappella.  Every week we were assigned a segment of our repertoire and would be randomly selected at the start of practice to sing it with a quartet in front of everyone.  I thought that would freak me out, but I really loved it.

Obviously I had to quit when we moved away and when we came back my life had changed somewhat.  We had Beth and Laura was on her way. More importantly, there was a new conductor that I didn't know.  Even if I'd had time to join them again, I've been too scared to audition for a stranger. 

But... I do have connections with the symphony and I was asked to join Da Camera just for one month, ending in two nights of performances, performing Maurice Durufle's Requiem.  If you've got time and inclination, we're singing on March 25th and 26th and it should be really good. 

It makes for a busier than usual month for me, with 9 rehearsals ahead of me, but I got in without a nerve-wracking audition.  You just gotta know the right people.

Music at the office

We sang an old familiar tune today.


While having a picnic.



With (and for) this old guy at the office.

We forgot the candles, but baby carrots work okay in a pinch. I wouldn't suggest you light them!

And the cheesecake was fabulous! Made and decorated primarily by Laura, who was inspired by one of those cake shows on the Food Network.

This morning she also helped bake this cake. And decorated it alone.

This is for tonight's book club meeting. It's currently sitting in the fridge at the library, ready and waiting for the guests, and for it's thick caramely topping.

And it's a surprise for Yvon. After the cheesecake at lunch I'm sure he thinks the festivities are over. Shhhh!

Happy birthday!

Trust

I love that it was handcarved, and not by a stranger in a far-off land. I love how it came to be in my care, with words of advice and reverence, knowledge of its creator and its own history.

It has left a grin on my face that has been there since last Thursday and every time I look at it I am reminded again of the immense trust that has been placed in me.

And I am so very grateful.