Wistful Nostalgea

~~~~*Reader's Warning:  Content may include mushy, gooshy statements and proclimations on how marvelous my husband is. *~~~~

: Rated G :

*************************************************************

Tonight is a huge cornerstone for our little family (by little I mean the two grown-ups, the cat, and the dog...).

My husband is playing his last concert as a student.  And I can't believe that he's almost done.  He has been enrolled in collegiate institutions for the past 9 years of his life, and once his paper on ___________ (insert really intelligent sounding Bass talk there) is completed, it will have been a whopping 10 years.  He will then be my Dr. John Michael Priester (a name worthy of so many wonderful things), and his real life begins.

I have to very guiltily admit that I will miss the "student" part of him.  He is so smart and despite his constant grumblings on the professors, student orchestras, "normal students", etc. at school I think that he truly enjoys it.  Every day (that he's home...) I am regaled with tales of Sonata form, theory analysis, mindful musings, historical developments and scandals, and tidbits of information about current musical life that I no longer get or am a part of.  I will miss his giddy excitement over a new piece for analysis, and getting to hear him play in an ensemble where he is still my student.  I can tell he's had a particularly exciting day when he pats me on the thigh (like my great great Aunt Frances did...seriously!) and say, "You'll NEVER guess what happened today!!"  I giggle, try not roll my eyes in anticipation of the super smart Michael-speak that even his friends on the Enterprise would struggle with, and say, "NO! What?!?"

I also must admit that I am envious of his ability to stay peaceful about his journey.  I am amazed that in the face of a huge life change (one that I would account to be larger than our getting married -not that that wasn't important, but we were destined to be together.  It was the most peaceful transition I've ever experienced.) he is capable of looking me in the eye and telling ME not to freak out.  *grin*  He's a super hero, and if you doubt me, I'd happily offer you a small peak into our life!  :o) 

In a bleak comparison, my journey is full of so many peaks and valleys, and his remains constant.  I can't help but wonder if this is because he is who he will be forever and I am still the ever changing, drama Queen Briana.  That's okay -it works for us.  I still have lots to do, and my dreams and journey are walking in his footsteps right now until it's my time to make my own, and his time to follow. 

My honest, lovely, intelligent husband is making HIS way now, and I can't wait to see where we'll go from here!  Sure, I'm impatient and ready to get moving with mine too, but his Peace is contagious and I'm finally settling in to enjoy him while our little family is still little.

Have a great Wednesday, everyone!

Skirt-tastic!

I had an awesome weekend!  Did you?  I hope so!  Let me tell you about mine!  Here it is!  It is a Husqvarna Viking, model 6440.  Isn't it b-eeeeautiful???  I love this little guy!  I've been "sewing" on him since I was a kid at my grandmother's house.  I didn't think sewing was fun, but it really isn't when your perfectionist grandmother makes you cut your straps three times because you cut the corner crooked....

Anywayyyyy....  I have recently inherited my mother's childhood sewing machine!!!  It's amazing and I love it!  I was inspired to break it out to make a gift for my SAI big when her real gift didn't come in.  I successfully made two place-mats that were adorable (unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture!  :o(  I'll remember sooner or later, though!  I'm still new to the craft and then blog about it situation!)!!  She liked them, and I was inspired to start a new project.  So I was looking through the blogging world when I came across this idea at Keeping it Simple.  She made a really cut skirt that took her maybe an hour or so to put the peaces together.  I thought, "shoot -I can do that for sure!"  So I call up a friend of mine (A friend -YAYYYY!) who inherited a machine from her man's mother (nice gift!!) and was wanting to know how to make nifty things too.  We started with threading the bobbin.  On my machine, I just did it, but on her machine we had to break out the manual.  Lets just say that her bobbin ended up getting threaded on my machine!  She was such a trooper because here I am trying to do it, read the manual, and not look like an idiot (harder than it sounds...).

So -we get the machines set up, the pizza dough out to rise (our sustinance: Wine, home made pizzas, and chocolate peanut butter brownies.  Oh yes -we were living it up!), the wine in the fridge, and we were off to Jo-Ann's!  I had been thinking about ALLLLL of the things I would like to make, but hadn't really planned on too much.  It would be just our luck that we completely changed our plans!  We saw that Butterick had patterns on sale for $1.99 and just couldn't resist!  We picked from their "6 sew easy" patterns, bought our fabric (plus lining for J's dress and for me to make a slip), and after MANY questions at Jo-Ann's headed back to get started!  I didn't know this, but Jo-Ann's has special fabrics that were created specifically for them!  Mine is a really pretty square teal and white damask print and hers was a mod black and white circular print. 

It is now 8:30.  We've got our patterns cut out and we're ready to start pinning and cutting the pieces.  Mine had 9 and a zipper and hooks and eyes, and J's had 8 (plus she lined it, so 16 in total!!!) and two pieces of elastic.  We started cutting and visiting, and cutting and pinning and re-cutting and re-pinning and before we knew it, it was 3:00 am!!  We were so slap happy and excited about our project but called it quits.  3:00 is the latest I've stayed up in almost a year!  So we decide that it MUST be finished for a fashion show on Monday, and that we'd reconvene on Sunday afternoon for more pizza and sewing.  Sunday comes and we're ready to finish!  We started around 6:00 and were really successful!  It took us until about 2:00 am (I KNOW!  It was awesome...) to put all of the pieces together and I must say that both pieces looked amazing!  I was really impressed with J's patience and perseverance, especially when I would say, "you know, we really should re-pin that." 

It was a TON of work, but we're both excited to use the patterns again, and to become true Craftinistas!  We decided that Butterick is a big fat liar because the patterns were NOT easy, but we also decided that it's nice to have girl time!  We're thinking that maybe next time we should include more time for toenail painting and wine drinking, but we'll have to see how that goes!

I hope everyone had an awesome weekend!!!

Drama...Drama...Baby Mama!

HAPPY FRIDAY!  You have no idea how excited I am that this day has come once again!  Well -you all probably do, but my denying that you understand should prove to you how EXCITED I am that Friday has arrived.  Does the title of my post frighten or excite you?  Well -before you get tooooo wrapped up I want you to know that I picked it because it rhymed (and the fact that I'm obsessed with babies and how cool they are)!  hehe  Fooooled you!  Too bad it's too late for April Fool's Day!  Drats....

I should get to the point of this post.  It is: Drama (I was going to insert a really cool picture of the ancient Greek comedy masks, but they were all creepy.  Sad...).  My whole life I've heard people say that I'm dramatic and honestly...I'm not going to lie...I am.  I'm dramatic.  To the point where people should probably pay me for how exciting and entertaining my dramatics are.  Not that I'd like to be an actor...being a musician is hard enough.  So...big deal, right?  I'm a walking, natural ball of jiggly drama.  Joy! 

Well, not too long ago I posted on how while growing up there was so much pressure to be X, Y, or Z.  Remember that?  Well if you don't, you can find it HERE!  :o)  Anyway, in stead of trying to NOT be something, I've been trying to be me!  I've decided (and I'm sure that you'll agree) that one of my best attributes is drama.  I know -you're thinking, "WHY would anyone want drama in their lives?"  To answer that question, I don't do other people's drama.  I just don't.  I refuse bottom line.  If you come into my life and you stir the pot and things start brewing, that's it.  No second chances on things like drama.  Instead, I like the drama of a good book, the kind where my imagination can explore and absorb the story.  I like the drama of a funny, uplifting, and enthralling story to a fault.  Also, I inherited the trait where I will go to the outer reaches of extravagance (champagne taste on a beer budget...) to throw a party that will make everyone's eyes pop and mouths dangle with excitement and anticipation (thanks, Mum!!)!  So YES! -I love drama.  It gives me character (I can hear my husband's response to this.  It goes something like this: Yeah -You ARE a character.  Hah hah hahhhh. Ooof! *as I punch him...*).

I had a really neat conversation with my mother, and now that I'm older I'm really starting to appreciate her as my friend, and not just my mum.  She gives me advice, she helps me work through ups and down, how to fix this household thing, or create that new idea.  I told her that I had had a great sense of Peace since I just decided that I am who I am, dramatic or not -happy or not -fat or not (shh husband, I'm making a point here!), etc. and that the more I enjoy it, the more fearful I become that I'll lose it.  In the brief time between sun down and sunrise today, I've realized that I AM the only person who can take that Peace away.

Lets just say that I'm enjoying having it around almost as much as I'm enjoying having my husband home from Pittsburgh Opera!  I'll have my Peace and enjoy it too!  I hope you do as well!