I'M AN AUNT!!!

My beautiful niece, Kalia, was born at 8:02 p.m. today via C-section. She already has my little brother (her father) wrapped around her pinky. She is 7 lbs. 11 oz. and is 21 1/4 inches long. She's beautiful and has very pretty eyes. Long toes too! Completely adorable. Mom, Dad, and Baby are all doing well. We left them to rest up and I look forward to seeing them all soon and getting to hold baby (hopefully tomorrow). Oh, she has a set of lungs! We could hear her through the sound proof glass. She also tried to suck the nurses pinky off. Now I need to finish up her star blanket! Oh, my youngest sister still doesn't want to be an Aunt (she thinks it means that she will turn into a bug and throws fits anytime someone tells her she will be an Aunt).

It was game night (SW Saga RPG) - I returned to my house to find out that the guys had somehow managed to get boarded and the ship sabotaged all in the same mission. They had also disposed of our hostage. I arrived in time to roll a natural 20 to repair the ship and then managed to get the ship off Tatooine and out of the Imperials weapon range before they could blow us out of the sky (without being trained in the Pilot skill). I was very happy they didn't kill off my character while I was gone.

I'm working on the timing still, but I almost have "Augie's Great Municipal Band" down on my violin. The fast notes are still throwing me for a loop - so I can't play it up to speed with the accompaniment CD yet, but I'm getting there. I'm very pleased with the progress I've made in only 5 days of playing. I just need to get an actual violin player to critic my form now (I'd rather not teach myself bad form).

Tuning a Violin and the Insides of my Sewing Machine

So my goal today was to learn how to tune my violin. I used this site: http://www.violinstudent.com/tuning.html and succeeded (both according to my ear and my electronic tuner). Then I played through 29 exercises in my beginner's book. Sadly, I discovered that the accompaniment CD does not go past exercise 71 - so the last few I did, I do not have the satisfaction of knowing sounded good with other instruments. I feel like I am getting this and am quite happy with the progress I am making. With the help of my tuner (to know when the note should sound correct), I am retraining my ear. I had pulled out a row of tape, to tape out the fingerings, but after reading a few online opinions about tape, I've decided against it. It may be harder to where the notes are initially (and harder on any one listening to me practice in the process), but overall, I think it will be better for me to train my fingers and ear at the same time instead of relying on tape. Besides, I don't really want to get in the habit of staring at my left hand's fingers while I play. I want to have my eyes free for reading music. I played for about an hour before deciding that I should probably pick up my neglected guitar and play it for a while. My sore fingers lasted for about another 20 minutes, but I made it through several worship songs I know and even had fun singing along. It's been a while since I've done that and it was nice.

This evening looks to be a night of sewing, so hopefully I will have some Organization XIII cloak progress to comment on later.

Update:

I was very happy to note that I had made more progress on the cloak than I had remembered when I last tucked it away in October. We pulled everything out, and I was getting the sewing machine ready when I realized I needed to wind a black thread bobbin. The bobbin winder on my machine had snapped (the machine had taken a dive from a high surface a while back when we thought we had placed it their securely - a quick once over didn't show anything wrong at that point, but then I probably just over looked the bobbin winder portion). So hubby to the rescue found out that Walmart [because they have a 24 hour store by us and Michael's and Jo-Ann's were both closed by then] sells a bobbin winder and we set off to shop (after I put the case back onto my sewing machine - twice). It turned out that this Walmart didn't carry the winder, but the one up by hubby's work does. So we will have to pick one up tomorrow. Thus, the sewing has been postponed (again - my husband has more patience than I deserve) and I now know what the inside of my sewing machine looks like.

Oh! My violin music books arrived! I've uploaded all the songs to play along with onto my iPod and have started ingraining the tunes into my brain. I realized that I know how to play all of the notes for "Augie's Great Municipal Band" [from Star Wars] so I plan on learning that tomorrow [I thought about trying it today, but an hour of violin and 20 minutes of guitar have left my fingertips complaining]. I also went on a violin music kick this afternoon and found several youtube violin rendition of video game songs that kept me amused for a good chunk of time. Still waiting for the mute to arrive as that shipped separately, but I am happy to say that my playing is sounding better.

And on a completely mushy romantic note: Today marks eight years since my husband first kissed me! [And 8 years of arguing about who kissed who first. It's our best argument because it always works to end any argument when it gets heated - disarming us from upset all the way down to playful.]

Dinner and Music

I came home to find that my wonderful hubby had cleaned up the apartment and marinated steaks for dinner. He was off at work when I arrived home, but I was able to get the steaks in and start the pasta for dinner. It was so wonderful to see Melissa and Ben and their adorable daughter, Tabitha, who is rather well behaved. We were able to chat and catch up a bit and Melissa and I scheduled our next get together for a morning workout on Monday morning (hooray! I like having things to look forward to on Mondays). We also need to have another double date where we can play Catan and I need to let Dave know I have someone in town who wants to play Killer Bunnies, too. We had a fun time socializing and I am very much looking forward to the fact that we get to hang out this summer. I've missed her so much. Oh, she liked the blanket. :)

They took off shortly before ten so that they could put their little one to bed. She had adorably fallen asleep in her mother's arms. Since ten o'clock is the start of quiet time, I decided it probably wouldn't be a good idea to play the violin tonight since the mute has yet to arrive (it hasn't shipped yet, but my books are currently in Arizona and will hopefully be sent out tomorrow). So it is sitting in it's case. However, I did watch the DVD that came with my beginner book and learned a few more tips and pointers that I did not already know. I also practiced my bow holding on a pencil - I will have to remember the hold, as it is something I can easily practice at work with my pencil to condition my hand for the proper hold. My co-workers story about a family of 4 at the dinner table helps me remember the positioning too. Pointer finger is the old grandfather who has fallen asleep leaning on the table,. The middle finger and ring finger are the twins, who lacking manners, have their elbows on the table. The pinky finger is the baby of the family and sits on the table. The thumb is the dog and is sitting, not laying down flat to play dead - because no one wants a dead dog. This is a paraphrase of what she told me and something she learned when she was eleven or so, but as silly as it is, the visual helps me.

As I type, I am listening to several violin samples I found on the listening library of the DVD. They are very pretty pieces and only serve to motivate me to practice daily so that I can one day play some of them.

Sore Fingers and Good News

Day two of the violin and my fingers hurt. I really hope these callouses build up quickly. I found out today that my co-worker has been playing violin since she was 11. She gave me some pointers on how to properly hold the bow. She also informed me that the violin is supposed to be entirely supported by the head. I didn't know this. She is also willing to play with me sometime. I think I'll wait to take her up on it until I can play more than "Jingle Bells", "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "Old MacDonald Had A Farm", and "Dreidel". Although, I thought it was pretty cool that one of the beginner songs is "Natalie's Rose" - hooray for songs with my name in them. I made it to page 18 today and it finally told me to use the bow! I stopped at 9:30 p.m. because I was concerned that if I played much longer I would bother the neighbors - I really hope the practice mute arrives soon.

I'm excited for tomorrow night. I get to see my best friend whom I haven't seen in ages plus her hubby and new little one. I'll get to give her the baby blanket I made (as she thought it was better to have it hand delivered than mailed. They are coming over for dinner tomorrow night. And the best news I got today was that this isn't a short trip. She will be in town until September. This means I'll get to see her more than once this visit. I'm super excited! I've missed my Melissa time.

On that note, I should probably get to cleaning.

Violin - My Husband Is The Greatest!

So hubby wanted to get me something big for our 4 year wedding anniversary (this July 14th). He had asked me what I want him and I told him that for quite sometime I have wanted a violin. Not only is the violin a gorgeous sounding instrument. It is also an instrument that is very dear to my heart because it reminds me of all the times my little brother, Mikey, would sit and sound out songs on his violin. One of my cousins now happily plays my little brother's violin in his schools orchestra. And now, almost 10 years after my little brother's passing (July 3rd, 2001) - I am learning the instrument that he loved so much. I plan on sounding out the Flinstone's theme just like he did so many years ago - once I get the basics down. Playing the violin is a small way for me to still feel connected to my little brother.

So my husband and I set off to a little music store that is only a few blocks away. The owner was finishing up a lesson when we arrived and then he happily showed me some violins. The first one he brought out was a beautiful violin - near mint condition - hardly played by it's previous owner. It had a pretty tone that I enjoyed, but I wanted to hear the another violin before making a purchase. The second violin he brought out had character - it had either seen it's fair share of playing or just been dinged a few to many times. Compared to the first, this one was battle scarred, but oh, the wonderfully, deep resonating tone I got out of it. Now I'm a beginner, I can't even begin to coax out the marvelous notes that I know this violin is capable of, but just with the open notes I had fallen in love with the tone of this violin - then he tuned it.

I lucked out, in that an experienced violin player walked into the shop at about this time, and agreed to play both violins for me to hear the sound difference. First he played the newly tuned, battle scarred violin. It sounded magnificent. Then he played the pristine violin. It was beautiful, but did not create as deep a sound. Uncertain, he picked up the scarred violin again and played. Of the two, he decided that the scarred violin had the better sound, and wanted it for his own. "I can feel the resonance against my chin." he had told me. He said, that even his own violin did not do that for him. I was pretty much decided on the scarred violin from the first note and his appraisal of the instrument just sealed the deal for me. With Bevan's approval, we purchased my violin.

When we arrived home, I played it a little and then reluctantly set it aside so that I could order the practice mute (I'm sure the apartment neighbors will appreciate that when it arrives) and some beginning books (The ABCs of Violin books 1 & 2) from online (plus a Star Wars violin solo book because I want those to be some of the first pieces I learn). It should all arrive some time next week. Then it was off to work for me. After work, hubby and I went out to get his anniversary gift (a 3-DS) and to pick up a beginner's book for me to use while I wait for the others to arrive. I found the "Essential Elements 2000 for Strings - Violin Book 1" at the book store and worked my way to page 13 before my fingers became to sore. I need to work on building up my callouses again.

Anyway, I am very excited about learning the violin and can't wait until I am making beautiful music. I definitely like the accompaniment CD feature of all the books I ordered. I wish that had been the case back in grade school when I was learning the clarinet. I'm pretty sure it would have made learning to keep time a bit easier. Well, I could ramble on forever, but I really should get to bed.