I'm baaaaaaack...

so the trip was actually fun. i missed mr. g and casher like CRAZY but had a delightful time with my family. Some highlights...
-grandma getting her dig in
-nerve pills
-driving 16+ hours in the car with my family
-talking with my grandma about gardens, guns, and cooking
-FINALLY meeting Abby who I like immensely
-catching up on Rome
-sleeping in the camper
-laughing until I cried several times because of my brothers and my dad.
-talking to my mama
I think that's about it. I have been cooking up a STORM already and I'm REALLY happy about it. I made, from scratch NOT a box, red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting...pretty freaking tasty for the first time:)
Also, we had a bat fly into our ceiling last night. yep, pretty freaking excited about that.

hi, my name is crazy...nice to meet you.

this past week has been...nuts. like...totally nuts. I will start with last wednesday. Mr. G and a few of his buddies got together to support a friend going thru a rough time. I made muffins AGAIN and had a few left over and dropped off a few to E at school since it was midterm week (BOO!) but the muffins seemed to make him happy (MAGIC MUFFINS!!). That basically sums that up. I am so glad Mr. G has a great group of guy buddies around him.

Thursday...HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY! Mr. G and I are both Irish so we tend to celebrate in big ways (well, in the past). This year we were both supposed to do cab company with the church, Mr. G got roped into orchestrating the biggest party in our town but got free food and drinks out of it (AND we ended up scoring a free nights stay and a free dinner!!) I ditched and went to hang out with a friend who's grandma had passed away at the beginning of the week. We had a REALLY great time BUT her and her kiddos were sick so...

Friday...I woke up feeling fine...tired...but fine. By Friday night I could feel the sickness coming on. SO, I took meds and Mr. G and I spent a quiet evening at home.

Saturday was CRAZY...it was GORGEOUS outside and even though I felt TOTALLY lame i HAD to get out. So I cleaned out the gutters, cleaned the whole house, cleaned out the flower beds, bought seeds, and then i went home...and crashed. I mean hardcore. I was SOO sick.

Sunday...layed around all.day. WAIT, i made a cookie pie...it did not turn out great.

Monday...still feeling sick but taught, went to blockbuster with my bro and dad and bought MANY sweet movies. hooray

Tuesday...I found out my great grandpa passed away. Wow. He was 101 and lived a good full life BUT he had been deteriorating for quite some time and it was time for him to go to heaven. I am glad he is there with Jesus and his bride. I am sad for my dad and for my grandma...but more happy than sad.

Wednesday... planned our trip for going to PA for the funeral. Sadly, I have to leave Mr. G behind. it is breaking my heart to leave him here. One of just has to stay behind and run things at the studio. But I'm going to miss him like whoa. Good thing I'll be back Saturday.

So...here's the this CRAZY whirlwind trip. We leave Indiana tomorrow at 3 drive 8 hours and get to my grandparent's house (WHICH doesn't have enough beds for all of us to sleep on...awesome). Go to my grandpa's funeral at 11am. Spend the day with the family. Wake up Saturday morning, go to brunch with my family and drive BACK to Indiana. SERIOUSLY...if I get a chance to catch my breath...i will be shocked. I'm armed with Rome, United States of Tara, and 3 more DVD's and my ipod chock FULL of new tunes. Sigh, hope I continue to feel better and not get any worse. I am SO tired of being sick. I'll keep you posted from the road i hope.

Muffin Tuesday > Monday

today was weird...
first of all...the AT&T towers do NOT work in our area. they are doing work on them and installing a new one even CLOSER to Mr. G and i. BUT...nonetheless...Mr. G and i literally COULD NOT talk on the tele today. which just bites. i like Mr. G...I want to talk with him frequently. Also, I couldn't talk to Mel on the phone except over text. COME ON...i mean seriously.
I also had 5 lessons today...and I did 1 of them (actually i did like 1 and 1/2 because one was late). Another...weird.
We also have LOTS of lesson payments still out. We're going to start a new thing this coming month...if you don't have the payment on the first of the month...we're not giving you a lesson until you make the payment. I mean it's already half way thru the month and payment was due on the 1st. If we were a cell phone company...we would have shut off your phone, if we were a gym you wouldn't have a membership anymore. UGH... what people don't understand is that if they don't pay on time...it means Mr. G and I have no money so PLEASE start paying on time. Thanks.

To lift my spirits I called in the big guns...Melinda. She has the BEST recipe for cinnamon sugar muffins EVER. So i went to my parents house to borrow their Lan line for a quick recipe review and went home and made the most delicious muffins in the world. It made for a happier tuesday night...well...muffins and of course the fact that i busted into the oyster crackers. true story.

Sunday to Monday...

This will be a double picture post...YIPPEE. So, it's Monday...anybody else feelin' like IT'S A MOOONNNNDAAAAAYYYYY....cause i sure do. For so many MANY reasons... BUT...alas... I will press on cause let's be excited cause it's 44 minutes into Tuesday! So...Sunday's picture.



This is where i sat...all day...i mean...i literally only got off the couch for these things...to evacuate all the things in my stomach, to pop some popcorn, and to take Cash out...once. Wow. So since I didn't do anything...that's my picture.



This is what Mr. G and the B's did tonight. Every year we have the tradition of filling out the brackets...because my mom LOVES college basketball and of course the boys in my family love love LOVE sports of any kind. Steve and I don't really watch basketball or follow it at all...so usually i pick by the sweeetest mascot OR the best color combo. THIS YEAR...i actually did a good job picking...i actually got on ESPN and reviewed. We'll see if I can manage NOT to be last...if I am last...I'm just going back to picking best mascot.

i am sicky...
Mr. G has been sick this week. I've done REALLY well not getting it...until last night. I woke up this morning with a headache, with a tummy ache and what not. Tried to eat and that was a BAD idea. bleh. BUT i didn't do my picture from last night...so here goes...



Steve and I played a show last night as we do every second and fourth Saturday of the month and it went REALLY well. We had a lot of people come out and support us. It motivates me to get new music, write new music, and record a cd. sigh...all in good time.

Japan Earthquake, California Tsunami...

I had many things to post about today but thought i would save those for another time. I had a GREAT day involving MANY friends and some great talks. As many of you know who have read my blog my best friend lives in California...like 14 states away. I am thankful for us BOTH being AT&T subscribers, for unlimited long distance calling, for facebook, email and blogs so we can stay in touch. We got to talk for awhile today which warmed my heart. Many times I think to myself that I have no one to talk with honestly (besides Mr. G) but now and again you need the girl perspective and she gives it to me freely. We spoke several times today (OH and I'm thankful for texting)...between her keeping up with me on her tsunami situation (a harbor about 30 miles north of her was destroyed today) and also comforting my biological clock which seems to be unmoving at this time. What a great friend. I love her dearly.

We invited the whole staff out to Buffalo Wild Wings tonight to send off Keith in style. Keith has worked at the studio before we even got there. He's moving to Nashville to play with his band. That's really hard and really scary and as an artist myself I am often worried about taking HUGE leaps like that so we wanted to support him and love on him before he left...love on him with chicken wings. We chowed down and had some AMAZING conversation with a DEAR friend over a very difficult situation that they are handling with such grace and such wisdom. It's always amazing when someone finally opens up and shares about the struggles in their own lives...it's great to look at them honestly and say...i know EXACTLY where you're coming from.

I also have a buddy who lives in Hawaii and I've been thinking about him a LOT today. He's been giving quick updates on his computer about what's happening and here's what i know... Kona is completely flooded. The shops are all flooded and it's just been crazy there. Right now it's noon there so I'm sure he'll keep posting when I go to sleep but my heart is heavy for him and all the people affected not only in Japan by the tsunami and earthquake but also in Hawaii.

Traveling over the years I've left my heart in MANY places. Fallen in love with the people, and the culture, and the stories, and the history, and the scenery. Seriously. I think little pieces of me are left in NYC, in Seattle, in Orange, in Philly, in San Fran, in Rohnert Park/Cotati, in London, in Montgomery Alabama, in New Orleans, in Hawaii, in Japan, in the Philippines and a BUNCH of other places along the way. Thinking about the things going on around the world today and all the places i've been makes the world a little smaller to me. They say the generation I'm in will ALWAYS view the world as a smaller place far smaller than any generation before me but today i realize how small it is for me. I have met people from the places where the earthquake happened. I have friends (Some of my best) who were under a tsunami warning all day. My world is small today. and i feel so small in it...super small.

Here's a great pic from Jeremiah's facebook. Jeremiah and I went to the Philippines together and he lives in Hawaii. He is safe but has a LONG road ahead of him. He is another person who's world is small. Praying for him, his family, his church, and his island this evening...and praying for the people in this picture who represent a little piece of my heart.

photo challenge...

so, I'm terrible at follow thru...i mean HORRIBLE i always have the best intentions I just get busy or i forget or i...make an excuse..YA KNOW. but i'm trying to challenge myself to be better at the follow thru. So...photo challenge 365. I don't own a camera (besides the one on my phone...which is not great) but I'll try and pull stuff off line and what not to keep everyone entertained...so here's today's photo and subsequent story.



this is a picture of a first gen ipad...and Mr. G got one yesterday. Listen to how cool this is. Mr. G's ibook kind of crapped out last week. I am sure we could get it to work but we were a bit worried to try. So, Mr. G uses my computer and we discuss getting a first gen ipad maybe on ebay once the new ones go on sale (TOMORROW!!). So Tuesday a mutual photog friend posts on his facebook that he's selling his old ipad. I tell Mr. G he asks for the specs and the friend says it's NEW IN BOX they just had an extra one lying around (ok, seriously?? an EXTRA ipad?? I wonder if your wallet's too small for your 50's and your diamond shoes are too tight as well??) so we jumped at the opportunity to buy it. Steve went and picked it up yesterday and has been on it basically non-stop. As musicians we've been talking about this for awhile because we'd LOVE to have all our music in a super compact form (plus ALL our originals are written in google docs.) Seriously, when we both have an ipad it will be a TOTALLY new experience playing out. Steve keeps saying he's just going to buy me one but I'm going to get the ipad 2...because of the 2 cameras! We'll sell his ibook, my ibook, and my e-reader. And then WOOT, ipad...also, it's tax deductible because...i need it for work;).