The song goes "tra-la, it's May", but I've appropriated the title for June.
I guess the biggest item in my life this week has been my participation in a neighborhood project. This year is the 100th anniversary of Watts-Hillandale, and among the many markers of the event has been a collaboration between the neighborhood and the Summer Workshop of Duke's Center for Documentary Studies. This summer's students were all assigned to work on a documentary about our neighborhood. I was interviewed & videotaped by a team of students. It was quite revelatory......God knows I can talk, but their questions really prompted me to offer some fairly profound thoughts. Looking at the finished product, I feel rather humble, and proud. It seems I've been doing some pretty important things with this life of mine, and while it would be disingenuous to say I was completely unaware of it, it would be equally so to say I wasn't surprised by how well "Ellen" came across in the video. I *do* think that my creative side and my scientific side pollenate each other in deep and often unexpected ways, and I *do* think it would be harder to be effective in each without the input of the other. But somehow it all came across more vividly on film. I know Mom will like it, and I know the kids will be happy to have it (maybe more so in later years). Arturo told me it made him proud of me. Kinda makes me proud of me, too.
I'm tired, but it's a good tired, after a weekend filled with good things: a date with Arturo (dinner, movie, love), work in the yard, time with the crossword, a visit with Carol, and exercise time too. Back to work tomorrow, saving lives and stamping out disease......and singing.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Catching up, sorta, after way too long
Bless me, Blogger, for I have sinned........it has been three months since my last posting.
Of course there's no way to actually catch up on three months of life, etc. (especially the "etc."), but here are a few high spots. And low spots.
Laura, my sweet older daughter, has graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill. Mom came to Durham for a long weekend to share the great day with everyone. We had a fab party for Laura and her love, Darwin, who also graduated that weekend (but from NC State in Raleigh). There was lots of good food and good company. I'm so glad I decided to use a caterer for the party--saved me a LOT of work and grief. I was actually able to enjoy my own gathering! Laura looked beautiful and I am so very proud of her. She's worked hard, has a great GPA and strong college career, is happy with the guy she loves, has an idea of what to do with her life, and she even has a job--this last a pretty amazing achievement in today's melt-down economy. Arturo and I bought a car for her for graduation and she was so very excited! (Why not?) And, lucky for me, she will be staying in Chapel Hill for the next year as she works & contemplates her next life decision: graduate school.
Mom looks more than fantastic. She is absolutely youthening rather than aging as the years go by. I need to make more time to spend with her--she's such good company and such an amazing role model. Our party guests were just enchanted by her!
I've had, I think, three singing engagements since I last posted. One at the Regulator Bookshop, one at the home of Bill Hampton, and one at The Scrap Exchange. There's also an upcoming gig (6/18) at the ever-popular "Capt. John's Dockside Restaurant" with a group called Chris Reynolds Swing 'n' Jazz. Chris is the pianist, and while he's a bit flaky, he's a really good musician, plus he likes to sing duets, which adds quite a lot to the mix. The bass player & drummer are great guys, too. And cute!
Inevitably, I guess, after almost 20 years of nursing, I hurt my back last month at work. It was "Ellen vs. the bookwalter retractor", and Ellen lost. I was lifting the bookwalter up onto an overhead shelf when I felt a "pop" in my back, followed by breathtaking pain. At the same moment, someone else in the room said, "What was that weird noise I just heard?", and I knew right then the result wasn't going to be pretty. After a trip (via wheelchair) to employee health, I was sent home for a couple of days. I found out that old standby treatment---ibuprofen, rest, and alternating hot and cold packs---is really the best. The muscle relaxant didn't work and strong pain meds just make me loopy. It's been about 3 weeks and I finally went back to the gym & had a good workout yesterday. There are still a few twinges, and some movements I make in a very gingerly manner, but other than that I'm OK. Which is good, because the last thing this family needs is another person with back problems.
Arturo and I spent Memorial Day weekend with our friends Dean & Kay Michaels. The four of us went to Williamsburg, VA. We toured the historic area, ate at good restaurants, drank great wine, enjoyed the ambience of a quirky & fun little Bed & Breakfast, played pool, and went to a concert by Patti LuPone. I'll save my LuPone review for another post. We had a wonderful, relaxing time and it was a much-needed break for me. Arturo will be taking a trip to California in mid-June, one of his usual "press junkets", and I think it will be good for him to get out into professional world again. I'm just jealous that nobody ever sends ME on a "nursing junket"!!
Finally, I found out that I had been accepted to a cabaret workshop in July in NYC! I'm excited. I've been thinking over the past few months that I really need to hear from someone else besides Arturo and Glenn about how I sound, what I'm doing right and wrong, etc. A "tune-up" (ha, ha) for lack of a better term. This is a short (5 days) workshop with about a dozen other folks so I think I should have a good amount of time for personal feedback. Of course it costs money but I can always tell my family that they can contribute to it for my birthday present! I will drive both ways, though, so that I don't have to spend extra money on an airline ticket. Anyone want to hitch a ride to NYC from Durham the last week of July? Warning: driver will be singing!
Hugs to all,
Ellen
Of course there's no way to actually catch up on three months of life, etc. (especially the "etc."), but here are a few high spots. And low spots.
Laura, my sweet older daughter, has graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill. Mom came to Durham for a long weekend to share the great day with everyone. We had a fab party for Laura and her love, Darwin, who also graduated that weekend (but from NC State in Raleigh). There was lots of good food and good company. I'm so glad I decided to use a caterer for the party--saved me a LOT of work and grief. I was actually able to enjoy my own gathering! Laura looked beautiful and I am so very proud of her. She's worked hard, has a great GPA and strong college career, is happy with the guy she loves, has an idea of what to do with her life, and she even has a job--this last a pretty amazing achievement in today's melt-down economy. Arturo and I bought a car for her for graduation and she was so very excited! (Why not?) And, lucky for me, she will be staying in Chapel Hill for the next year as she works & contemplates her next life decision: graduate school.
Mom looks more than fantastic. She is absolutely youthening rather than aging as the years go by. I need to make more time to spend with her--she's such good company and such an amazing role model. Our party guests were just enchanted by her!
I've had, I think, three singing engagements since I last posted. One at the Regulator Bookshop, one at the home of Bill Hampton, and one at The Scrap Exchange. There's also an upcoming gig (6/18) at the ever-popular "Capt. John's Dockside Restaurant" with a group called Chris Reynolds Swing 'n' Jazz. Chris is the pianist, and while he's a bit flaky, he's a really good musician, plus he likes to sing duets, which adds quite a lot to the mix. The bass player & drummer are great guys, too. And cute!
Inevitably, I guess, after almost 20 years of nursing, I hurt my back last month at work. It was "Ellen vs. the bookwalter retractor", and Ellen lost. I was lifting the bookwalter up onto an overhead shelf when I felt a "pop" in my back, followed by breathtaking pain. At the same moment, someone else in the room said, "What was that weird noise I just heard?", and I knew right then the result wasn't going to be pretty. After a trip (via wheelchair) to employee health, I was sent home for a couple of days. I found out that old standby treatment---ibuprofen, rest, and alternating hot and cold packs---is really the best. The muscle relaxant didn't work and strong pain meds just make me loopy. It's been about 3 weeks and I finally went back to the gym & had a good workout yesterday. There are still a few twinges, and some movements I make in a very gingerly manner, but other than that I'm OK. Which is good, because the last thing this family needs is another person with back problems.
Arturo and I spent Memorial Day weekend with our friends Dean & Kay Michaels. The four of us went to Williamsburg, VA. We toured the historic area, ate at good restaurants, drank great wine, enjoyed the ambience of a quirky & fun little Bed & Breakfast, played pool, and went to a concert by Patti LuPone. I'll save my LuPone review for another post. We had a wonderful, relaxing time and it was a much-needed break for me. Arturo will be taking a trip to California in mid-June, one of his usual "press junkets", and I think it will be good for him to get out into professional world again. I'm just jealous that nobody ever sends ME on a "nursing junket"!!
Finally, I found out that I had been accepted to a cabaret workshop in July in NYC! I'm excited. I've been thinking over the past few months that I really need to hear from someone else besides Arturo and Glenn about how I sound, what I'm doing right and wrong, etc. A "tune-up" (ha, ha) for lack of a better term. This is a short (5 days) workshop with about a dozen other folks so I think I should have a good amount of time for personal feedback. Of course it costs money but I can always tell my family that they can contribute to it for my birthday present! I will drive both ways, though, so that I don't have to spend extra money on an airline ticket. Anyone want to hitch a ride to NYC from Durham the last week of July? Warning: driver will be singing!
Hugs to all,
Ellen
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