On a whim, this morning, I clicked the button to see more than my trip mileage, which I watch neurotically since I don't want to ever run out of gas. I knew I was approaching 100,000 miles, but it had been a month or two since I checked. Today, I wanted to see how many actual miles were on my car altogether, and would you believe it, my car was at 99,999. I laughed out loud. How cool is that! I got to watch my car turn over to 100,000 and beyond. It was a special moment between car and human...
I told Maddy [aka Madison--and yes my car is a SHE!] Happy Birthday of course and giggled to myself. She actually had her 7th birthday in January, but I think we should celebrate this milestone as well. It's a pretty big deal.
So now, it's time to get her 100,000 Honda check-up. WOOHOO!!!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Bring on Spring!
I usually don’t mind winter…I really don’t, but this year it has been irritating. This year there have been 1-2 days every week where driving is treacherous, and I don’t recall that in years past. I think it’s normal to have 1 or 2 days a month where you have to be extra careful on your drive to and from work, but not 1-2 days every week. That’s annoying!
And it’s not as if we are getting buckets of snow dumped on us all at once. I wouldn’t mind that if it all came at once and kept me home for a couple of days, but these little storms are mixed with sleet, ice and rain and that is where the problems come in. We’ll get 1-2 inches of snow on top of the ice one day, and then the next day, the temps will rise and the slush begins only to refreeze overnight before we get another inch or two of snow and the whole thing starts over again... And so the commute to and from the office has become more of an adventure. HA!
Then there are the potholes creeping up all over the city. It’s horrible. I feel like some roads are war zones. I know that spring is just going to mean more potholes, but I am still more than ready for some milder weather on a regular basis. Plus, I'm ready for spring blooms...
Monday, March 3, 2008
Verdi's Requiem
On Saturday evening as planned, Becky and I met up for dinner at Macaroni Grill, browsed through the digital cameras at Office Depot (since both of us are digital camera shopping before our England trip) and then headed to the Second Presbyterian Church for the performance of Guiseppe Verdi’s Requiem.
We had no idea just how many people would be there. It was truly a packed house, and we were a few minutes early--not early by our standards since both Becky and I like to be really early for things, but still early by the average person’s standards, and yet it was pretty much standing room only. We finally found 2 seats in the last row, and this row was one of two pews right outside the sanctuary, and so as you sit there, you are literally facing a glass window and seeing everybody else inside. I joked about it feeling like we were right at St. Peter’s Gate in Heaven, and the gates just shut in front of us. We were almost in but not quite.
This was my 2nd visit to this incredible church building, and I still found it as beautiful as before. It has the air of a European Cathedral with its massive timber beans and stone columns, and of course, it is also known as the church where Ryan White’s funeral was held. I was sad that Becky wasn’t going to get to sit inside the sanctuary, but all that was about to change.
An usher came by and said that there was room in the front row of the sanctuary. Becky and I decided to chance it; although I did threaten her that if we walked down this massive aisle and still didn’t find a seat that I would die of embarrassment if we had to walk back up the aisle in front of all those faces. But that didn’t happen.
We got seats smack dab in the middle of the front row, and I mean these seats were the closest you could get. I’ve never sat so close to anything in my life. The IU Philharmonic Orchestra was right there in front of us. I could have reached out and touched the cellist’s bow. It felt like the 4 soloists were practically singing to us in our own private performance. We could see everything. The bass soloist was wearing black cowboy boots with his tuxedo, and I found that amusing and indicative of his personality. I could see the sweat glistening on the conductor’s head as he waved his arms above us. We were pretty darn close.
I leaned over to Becky and told her that this scenario gave new meaning to that verse in the Bible about how the first shall be the last, and the last shall be first...
The concert itself was spectacular. The message and music of Verdi’s Requiem was meaningful and inspiring. It was very moving as the oratorio choir and the soloists sang about asking for GOD’s mercy to spare them and those that have gone before. It was a stirring testament to the holiness of GOD.
And yet as we sat there mesmerized by the lilting refrain, I couldn’t help but wonder if the meaning of the words was caught by those singing it. Did they know about WHOM they were singing? Did they catch the deeper significance in the Latin? Or was it just a beautiful piece of classical music to them? It meant something to me, but I wondered if it meant anything to the melodic voices singing HIS praises. These voices that HE made, this talent that HE blessed them with, singing the music that HE inspired…
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.
Hosanna in excelsis!
We had no idea just how many people would be there. It was truly a packed house, and we were a few minutes early--not early by our standards since both Becky and I like to be really early for things, but still early by the average person’s standards, and yet it was pretty much standing room only. We finally found 2 seats in the last row, and this row was one of two pews right outside the sanctuary, and so as you sit there, you are literally facing a glass window and seeing everybody else inside. I joked about it feeling like we were right at St. Peter’s Gate in Heaven, and the gates just shut in front of us. We were almost in but not quite.
This was my 2nd visit to this incredible church building, and I still found it as beautiful as before. It has the air of a European Cathedral with its massive timber beans and stone columns, and of course, it is also known as the church where Ryan White’s funeral was held. I was sad that Becky wasn’t going to get to sit inside the sanctuary, but all that was about to change.
An usher came by and said that there was room in the front row of the sanctuary. Becky and I decided to chance it; although I did threaten her that if we walked down this massive aisle and still didn’t find a seat that I would die of embarrassment if we had to walk back up the aisle in front of all those faces. But that didn’t happen.
We got seats smack dab in the middle of the front row, and I mean these seats were the closest you could get. I’ve never sat so close to anything in my life. The IU Philharmonic Orchestra was right there in front of us. I could have reached out and touched the cellist’s bow. It felt like the 4 soloists were practically singing to us in our own private performance. We could see everything. The bass soloist was wearing black cowboy boots with his tuxedo, and I found that amusing and indicative of his personality. I could see the sweat glistening on the conductor’s head as he waved his arms above us. We were pretty darn close.
I leaned over to Becky and told her that this scenario gave new meaning to that verse in the Bible about how the first shall be the last, and the last shall be first...
The concert itself was spectacular. The message and music of Verdi’s Requiem was meaningful and inspiring. It was very moving as the oratorio choir and the soloists sang about asking for GOD’s mercy to spare them and those that have gone before. It was a stirring testament to the holiness of GOD.
And yet as we sat there mesmerized by the lilting refrain, I couldn’t help but wonder if the meaning of the words was caught by those singing it. Did they know about WHOM they were singing? Did they catch the deeper significance in the Latin? Or was it just a beautiful piece of classical music to them? It meant something to me, but I wondered if it meant anything to the melodic voices singing HIS praises. These voices that HE made, this talent that HE blessed them with, singing the music that HE inspired…
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.
Hosanna in excelsis!
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