Monday, March 29, 2010

Listing to the 10th Degree

1. It's finally Spring. I thought for awhile that it might pass us by but the weekend forecast says 75 and sunny.

2. Busy season is clearing its throat and saying, "Hey! Notice me!!" Phone is starting to ring off the hook and people are lining up at the window at work again.

3. We have a new, dual flush toilet in our upstairs bathroom because the old one had an internal leak that we couldn't fix and an external leak that caused water to run down through the walls onto our kitchen counter on the 1st floor.

4. I thought not blogging for a couple weeks was bad until I found out PreppyGirl hadn't blogged for two years. She ended her drought today.

5. Near the end of January, I bought a six-pack of Southern Tier Brewing's Old Man Winter and hid it in our cellar. I finally clued Matt in on this on Saturday. He was mad, at first, that I had hid it from him but then very, very happy as we both cracked into the pack. It was delicious. It's gone now. We're sad. November, or whenever it's available again, seems so very far away.

6. Apparently, ahem, certain kinds of body hair are becoming acceptable in some circles. I laughed and laughed. Hand me a razor, thankyouverymuch.

7. I passed a civil service exam and placed in the top 3. I needed to do this to keep my job. Hooray. In this economy, I can't really complain.

8. Heidi and Ryan surprised a lot of us by eloping this month out in Lake Placid. Congrats to the happy couple!

9. Facebook has increasingly become my go-to spot to post updates and see what my friends are up to. A good percentage of blogger friends are now sucking in the update category but thanks to Facebook I can tell you if work sucked or wasn't so bad, how hungover they are, and what awesome lunch special they ate at Jones 212 Bakery & Cafe. And then my mom got a Facebook account and added me as a friend.

10. I have a couple projects going and only one has a true deadline. Well, I don't know what the deadline is exactly, so I'm going with April 10th until the guys over at The Word tell me differently. How's that for a teaser?

Sunday, March 07, 2010

All In A Sunday Trip to the Store

Even when I'm pressed for time and on a schedule, I still like to take time when I go to Wegmans to see what's new. It's the obsession with the place. Today brought a wealth of new things. Here is what I saw and heard:

- The first thing I noticed when I walked in the Lakewood store today was what I heard. Was a band playing? Where was that louder, rock-sounding music coming from? I asked store employee and friend, Jason Jordan, what was up and he said he had been at the flagship Pittsford store recently. They apparently had different music playing around the store, so he decided to replicate the idea to create more of a public market feel. Frank Sinatra was playing in the Deli/pizza area, Bon Jovi/Dire Straits/Meatloaf in the food demonstration area, and Kee Kee Dee/Elton John over in frozen foods. Jason said it all has to be ironed out some since some people are using iPods until they can either hook computers into the wifi or something.

- You can rent out part of the Market Cafe seating area for things like birthday parties. There were Wegmans balloons bouncing merrily above seats and a private coffee station.

- The beverage coolers have been removed from the cashier lines and replaced with bins of stuff you just might want, or not. My friend, Erik, noted that he probably wouldn't be buying Barbasol shaving cream on impulse anytime soon.

- The Lakewood Wegmans doesn't have, and probably won't have, the frog cupcakes that Jenny adores but apparently we'll have an Easter Chick version of them later this month.

- Increased/improved signage in the cosmetics section.

- Wegmans bread packaging has changed in graphic design.

As said, all in a Sunday's trip!

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

High School Musical - 2010 Edition

I put on a pair of dressier jeans that look just like another pair of dressier jeans I own this morning. At first, I thought it was the older pair because they were slightly loose on me. Then I realized it was the newer pair and that I must be experiencing the joy of "musical weight loss" already even though I had only been to one rehearsal.

I'm playing violin in the pit for Falconer High School's production of "Once Upon A Mattress." I rehearsed with just the pit last night as the cast wasn't quite ready to do a joint rehearsal. That will come in bits and pieces this Sunday for Tech Day. The pit members watched the cast run through parts of songs last night before we escaped to the band room to do our part.

I was glad to recognize a few faces from last year's production of "L'il Abner." One of the cool things about high school plays is that you get a chance to see how students change over their 4 years and hopefully grow into new parts. The kids who are playing in the pit band are great. They have a casual approach to rehearsals but clearly know their stuff. We lost a trumpet player to the part of the Minstrel in the play, so he is missed but the group still seems tight. I just need to make sure I nail my part since I'm all by myself.

Doing a musical this time of year involves a little bit of insanity, but I think I've found there's never a good time to play for a musical when you have a day job. This is a compensated gig, not that the money is important. I'd probably do it for free, but given how precious my free time is, I also have to know when to say no. Fortunately, I don't have to in this case.

Performances are in the Falconer High School auditorium on March 12, 13, and 14th. Not sure about times or ticket prices just yet. Should be a nice time!

Cutting to the Scene with the Pixie

Ten years ago, I decided to do one of the most drastic things I had ever done to my hair. I went from a long style (below collarbone) to a p...