It All Starts After Labor Day...

The subject line is a bit misleading since I'm going to backtrack a little to say, "Hey! This is what we've been up to!" Fortunately, I don't have to go into many details because I've had my cell at ready to transmit pictures from wherever we've been this summer.

My parents came down for a visit/house work last week. My mom wanted to finish sewing seat cushions for a window bench in our dining room along with the dining room curtains. To give you an idea for how long the latter project has been in the works, we had bought the fabric for those curtains around the same time that my grandmother died in August 2005. Since my dad is unemployed, he tagged along figuring he could work on other house related projects for us. The impressive list of what happened over a four day period includes:

• seat cushions sewed


• curtain rod hung


• curtains sewed and hung


• new-to-us screen door installed on our back door (previous one busted)
• railing installed on back steps


• moisture barrier laid down in basement crawl space

In turn, we took my parents out for dinner to Forte last Friday and also provided them with musical entertainment (King Rail in Allen Park) and tasty beverages (Beer at Forte and Beer at the Empty Pint at Southern Tier Brewing). I'm really fortunate to have parents who are as crafty and handy as my mom and dad.

On the downside, while working on the crawl space project, my dad came across some troubling issues with several of our foundation blocks. We have a call into the guy who worked on our garage to come look at our situation. I'm not feeling too optimistic about how much this will cost us right now.

On the positive side, once I get past the city's big Labor Day Festival on September 6th, the craziness takes a turn toward crazy of my own making. I've signed up for Tuesday/Thursday sessions of Zumba that start September 9th and go until December 22nd. I decided that keeping good health is important and I've enjoyed the weight I've lost over the past couple years (over 17 pounds!!).

The Wednesday after Labor Day will be the first rehearsal of the pit orchestra for "The Producers" at Jamestown Community College. I have the music and Broadway soundtrack to guide me. I just need my violin back from the repair shop where I sent it to get a new bridge put on. Other music endeavors for the Fall will be the usual Jamestown Community Orchestra and The Living Christmas Tree. Non-performance items we're looking forward to include the Elvis Costello concert at Chautauqua Institution this Saturday and the Chautauqua Region Word Local Music Showcase on September 12th.

Throw two more weddings in there, including one where I'm supposed to play violin, and it's a full Fall. Possibly a little less crazy at work, but I don't think anything ever really slows down. It should be fun!