Saturday, November 12
Well I didn't switch over to LiveJournal like I planned....I'll worry about it later...oh well...but yeah, lots of stuff has happened and alot of stuff coming up so hopefully this will actually be a good update :)So first off....big news of the week....the demise of my 1994 Ford Taurus station wagon....that car has seen some good times....some bad ones as well....but overly amusing times for the most part :) Ha ha all the car drives with the FUF (and most especially Chela who I've finally reconnected with....yay for Thanksgiving break and seeing the Waanck! girl) :) Ha ha, the "fucked-up-four" or FUF...ha ha Chela's right....most appropriate name for two of the group ;) but I won't go any further with that....it's best left to IM conversations with Chela :)
Anyways, Monday I'm driving to a NVSR home visit I have to do in Winchester and I'm driving up this hill on route 37 and at the end of a song (I listen to music WAY too loud) I realize that my gas pedal is making a really strange noise when I push down on it...and come to think of it, I'm slowly losing speed...and wow, my engine thermostat is all the way over on the hot/danger/warning side.....and so I get over the hill and my engine shuts off....therefore the steering wheel locks...and I kinda freaked out....but I managed to jerk the steering wheel over enough to stop on the side of the road near the exit for WMC....I call my parents, AAA, and Steve....and Steve brings us lunch and waits with me for the AAA tow truck to arrive....and it does, so they tow my poor car to Pep Boys....and by Monday night I know that my engine overheated, my head gasket is blown, my head is cracked and most likely there's internal damage to the engine....so my dad decided it'd be better to get rid of the car and buy a new one a little earlier than expected....(we had originally planned to get a minivan over the summer before I went off to graduate school)
So this week has been filled with vehicle hunting in Winchester and Virginia Beach....Kim and I went out on Wednesday and I got to test drive a Toyota Sienna and a Dodge Caravan....we also visited the Kia, Ford, and Honda dealerships....Thursday Steve and I tried loading the harp into a couple different vans to see how they fit....meanwhile my dad was also searching new and used vans throughout Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Norfolk....
....and today my dad went and bought me a 2002 Ford Windstar SE Minivan from Freedom Ford....I'm so excited! It's silver (color was a big scare for me....no more sea foam green cars!)....it fits the harp perfectly (and safely)....has a 6 cd changer, sun roof, keyless entry, 10 speakers, and adjustable pedals! I can actually sit where normal people sit when they drive and be able to reach the pedals :) Very very nice :) So I'll get to see it next weekend when we go down to VA Beach for Steve's birthday and the VBSO concert with Mrs. Bennett :)
So what's coming up?
-November 18-20 Steve's birthday weekend (celebrating with a trip to the Melting Pot, seeing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on opening night, and like three actual birthday celebrations ;)), the VBSO concert featuring Mrs. Bennett, and a wedding gig :)
-November 22-27 Thanksgiving break....my grandparents are spending the holiday with us so I'll be picking them up on my way home for the week :)
-Harp gigs throughout the next month...too numerous to add unless they're interesting
-December 8-10 Home in VA Beach for gig with Mr. Kunkel's church and the Continental Army Band (that's the exciting one!)
December 17 Home for winter break!
December 21 Lion King at Chrysler Hall
January (sometime) Les Miserables at National Theater
February (TBD) Auditions...Toronto, Peabody, and Illinois (top choice, back-up, and option) :)
March 9-13 Wind Ensemble Tour to NYC
March 26 Steve's first Graduate recital
April 9 My Senior recital
May 13 Graduation
May (two weeks TBD) Steve and I go to Japan!
And then who knows what I'll do this summer :) Haven't thought about it....no idea :)
But anyways, what else is new....well for fun, Kim and I spent Friday afternoon in Manassas shopping at Borders, Panera, and ULTA ;) We should get out and spend those afternoons exploring areas more often...ha ha....
My applications are ALMOST all complete....gotta finish them in the next few days or so though....my iPod is on its way to being fixed....damn me for spilling Mello Yello all over it...*sigh*.....my eBay auction ended yesterday and I was pretty pleased with the end bid :)
Let's see....what else....well the bunnies are doing great....Nestle and Cookie are troublemakers though....they love to chew on wires....so we've bunny proofed the living room but it's still hard to keep them away from them....but they're definitely adorable together :) I'm really glad I found him a friend :) She compliments him very well....and he's lost ALOT of weight and gained alot of energy in return which is good, too....
I've started doing more and more work with NVSR....I went to the annual meeting last weekend and volunteered to write a monthly email newsletter plus research several fundraising options....and I've also volunteered to be a foster if necessary.... it'd be awesome if we got to take care of a sheltie for a little while :)
Steve and I are doing great...on our way to two years, and 8 months :) Moving into an apartment was definitely a good idea....we only fight about stupid things like me leaving bunny vegetables in the sink for him to find a day later when he washes the dishes....but yep, things are wonderful....and our apartment is so cute :) I wish we could move Dr. Johnston to whatever graduate school I go to ;)
Oh and McLean orchestra....well I played my first concert with them two weekends ago....five pieces and they ALL had harp parts!
Saint-Saens "Danse Macabre"
Ravel "La Valse"
Saint-Saens "Danse Bacchanale"
Tchaikovsky "Francesca da Rimini"
Ravel "Bolero"
It was amazing...I had a great time meeting the other harpist, Michelle, and playing with the ensemble....they were SO good! (It made playing the Danse Macabre with Sinfonia that much more painful....especially with our "soloist"...ugh....I won't even get started on that) But yeah, my parents came up for the concert and we spent the afternoon shopping at Trader Joe's and Balducci's and then Steve joined us for dinner at a sushi place in McLean (I can't remember the name of it)....I also got to spend the previous night with Emily and Ben at their new house in Fairfax....it was great to catch up with both of them....I REALLY hope Emily comes back next semester so it's more than just me and Tula :)
Hmmm....I think this is an adequate update :) It's time to finish LoTR Risk with Steve ;) Our two night game continues....
**Love you!!**
jess
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