Today is January 7th.  This day means a lot to me because it is my first born's birthday.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTHEW!

 I dug up a couple pictures to share with everyone out there in internet land.  I want to share just how sweet and adorable he was as a wee little guy.  He still is sweet and adorable, of course, but there is something about being itty bitty and having all that baby fat that adds to the adorableness.

 

 The Lion Rider was not a toy Matthew sat on-- he was much too busy to sit.  He had a world to learn about and he needed to roam and explore sort of like he's doing to this day.  Matthew loves to hikeand climb and learn.  He does these things well and we are very proud of him.

Matthew pauses from rock climbing to pose for a picture.

Christmas 2011

 When there is a puppy involved, the wrapping paper becomes the best part of opening presents.  Come to think of it, my kids enjoyed playing with the Christmas paper when they were young too.  They'd pile it up, throw it in the air and run around with it.  They've been a little too old for that silliness for years now, but the puppy came and gave them an excuse to do it all over again.  The guy in blue is my son, Matthew.  He's working on his doctorate in physics.  Look how fast the dog appears to be going.  Someone in the physics world should study that---the Christmas Paper Frenzy...

We had a wonderful Christmas 2011.  The kids are all grown up now and in their chosen fields of study.  My son is working on his doctorate in Physics, my oldest daughter is teaching Algebra I and Geometry, and our youngest is working toward her goal of Landscape Architecture.  Even though we are all in different places in life we can get together play family games, eat and reminisce.  There is one thing that I found that has to change for me personally, however.  The entire family is in excellent shape except for me.  We were thinking about family vacations and everyone wants to do climbing and hiking, etc.  That can't include me at this point being I'm completely out of shape.  Sooooo---I'm officially training for a family vacation.  Wish me luck!

This scene out my back door was shortly after Christmas.  I woke up and saw snow coming down.  It's exciting to see snow!  I know everyone complains because of the slippery roads, but I think it's beautiful.  It brings up so many memories too.  Both my husband and I grew up in Minnesota where snow was not a rare sight.

I don't think the birds on our feeder are cardinals, but we did get cardinals shortly after this.  There were about eleven or twelve feeding on the ground and on this feeder.  Naturally when I crept up to take a picture they all flew away.  Talk about camera shy--they're worse than me!

Carolers singing outside of Preservation Hall

Newburgh began their Historic Newburgh Celebrates Christmas Celebration December 2, 2011 with a Festival of Trees party benefitting Warrick County’s Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program. Preservation Hall  downtown Newburgh was adorned with a dozen fully decorated Christmas trees and other Christmas items donated by individuals and area businesses. These items were available for viewing and silent auction throughout the weekend. The party was the kick-off to a fun-filled holiday weekend.




Kate Fischer, who is both Chairman of Christmas in Newburgh and President of Warrick County CASA, reflected on the origin of the Festival of Trees party: “We needed something that would create a draw. Carol Schafer and I sat down and brainstormed and came up with this.”

Carol Jones at Preservation Hall in Newburgh

Christmas Trees for auction in Preservation Hall

The Festival of Trees party had beautifully lit trees giving the room a dreamy holiday atmosphere. The trees were all shapes, sizes, and colors. Some trees were traditional with beautiful ribbon bows while others were pink or white with an eye for a child’s room. There were trees that came with extra features, such as a free tooth whitening visit and take-home kit offered by a local dentist! All trees were accompanied by a description of the tree and wishes for the holiday season.

The party featured food from: Café Arazu, Edgewater Grille, Tin Fish, Turoni’s, Knob Hill and Mulberry Jean’s. It was A Taste of Newburgh as all of the restaurants were from Newburgh. Steve Small and Jon Lutz filled the room with holiday music as people ate their goodies and admired the Christmas trees.

Aimee Gina McCalaster from Mulberry Jeans

Carol Schaefer, Executive Director of Historic Newburgh, Inc.
and Phyllis Bussing pose by the Cat In The Hat Christmas Tree in Preservation Hall

Christmas trees in general fill us with hope; when we look at a Christmas tree, we remember that sometimes dreams come true and there really is love in the world.

Most of the trees were claimed by 5:00 pm Monday evening, but the room was filled with the memories of the weekend. Tom Burkhardt was there to pick up the tree his wife bid on and took a few minutes to share his thoughts on the event: “My kids, my wife we all enjoyed it—it was neat. There’s not too many throw back towns like Newburgh. It’s really neat to see this kind of experience it kind of brings you back to when you were a kid.”

 Newspaper boys/men were in costume handing out

 the news about all the Events in Newburgh outside

 Preservation Hall where the Festival of Trees took place 

on this Historic Newburgh Celebrates Christmas weekend. 



Janet Stout, retired costume designer, helped Newburgh travel back to the 1800’s on Saturday December 3rd.  Walking the sidewalks to the quaint restaurants or shops is always a treat, but on that day there were musicians on the corners, ladies with big hats warming their hands with muffs and men with top hats using canes.  It was exciting and the town was abuzz with shopping.  Stout has much experience in costuming having worked in Hollywood with television and movies for twenty years.  She is now with Castle High School in the Drama department

Susan Stein, Kate fischer, and Pam Lene' standing by the Warrick County CASA Christmas Tree.  Money collected from the Festival of Trees celebration went to Warrick County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) and Historic Newburgh, Inc.  Kate Fischer (the woman in red) is the executive Director of CASA and the other two women are Advocates (retired school teachers).

EPO Concert

This charming couple accidentally dressed in similar colors and attended the Evansville Philharmonic         Orchestra concert at the Victory Theater downtown Evansville.  The concert was titled Raise the Roof .  And raise the roof they did!                                                                                 

                                                                         

This is what Dr.Michael Daugherty, composer, has to say about his unusual music.  (The quote was taken from the Evansville Philharmonic program book.)  "Raise the Roof brings the timpani into the orchestral foreground and is the foundation of a grand acoustic construction.  I have composed music that gives the timpanist expressive melodies, and a tour de force cadenza.  The timpanist uses a wide variety of performance techniques; extensive use of foot pedals for melodic turning of the drums, placement of a cymbal upside down on the head of the lowest drum to play glissandi rolla, and striking the drums with regular mallets, wire brushes, maraca sticks, and even bare hands."

Before the concert began, they demonstrated these different techniques-- I liked the maraca drum sticks and the wire brushes the best.  It was nice to get that preview and then to experience the techniques in action when they played the piece.




Dr. Michael Daugherty, Composer

 

Twenty two years ago I spent the day cleaning our house and I remember finally collapsing into a chair at around 9:00 pm when the phone rang.  It was the doctor and the question he asked was, "How would you like to have your baby tonight?"  I didn't answer right away because I was plenty tired already but I was also very ready to have my baby.  I was just about ready to say, "Well, I'd rather not.  I'd rather have a long bubble bath and then hit the sac.  Maybe another time," when he said, "I have a couple women in labor right now and have plans for the weekend so it would be good if you came in..." 

  I delivered Janine in 45 minutes.  She's always been full of life and had that urge to go, go, go...  Happy Birthday Janine!

My friend, Barbara Barrett, is standing in the nice, little cafe off Green River Road in Evansville called Cafe 111.  We enjoy having lunch there and right now they have pumpkin spice coffee too.  Anyway, note how Barbara and the man in red are dressed for the fall weather.  I ask, 'What was the guy between them thinking?'   Maybe he's been asleep for a month--just woke up and decided to visit the cafe-- shocked to find the season autumn--ya know all damp and cold?




Cold Legs



People at the Writers Retreat

Some of the writers at the Inn in McCormick State Park.  My roommate was Aimee Blume who is pictured in the light blue shirt.  As writers we are constantly thinking about our manuscripts and the writing process.  This picture shows four people sitting in the presence of one another, but I bet deep in thought about things that are very far away.  One of the words I used to describe my weekend in Spencer, IN was excitement.  I find it exciting to be with other people who love to use their imagination and care about writing fiction as much as I do.