I have a new favorite meal that i can cook. Granted, it involved airing out the house afterwards because the smoke was so bad, but the food turned out perfect. I broiled a alaskan sockeye salmon fillet with butter and lemon and lemon, pepper seasoning and served it to myself with white rice topped with secret japanese seasoning. Yum, yum! i'm enjoying the second half of it this morning for brunch. I suppose a grill would reduce the smoke inside the house, but i don't have one, so this had to do. Yum, grunt. Yeah! I can cook another tastey meal for myself.

On another note: Happy Wedding Day Cheri!! (I don't know if my cousin reads my page, but just in case i want the world to know that she is getting married today in Colorado and i'm lame for not being there and being busy with work instead.) She's the first of the grandchildren on my dad's side of the family to get married. You go girl!!

Today begins the airport pick-up brigade for the residency participants, so off i go!~w

Yesterday i caught up with myself at work, went to quigong class, the grocery store, and then home for dinner and bed. It was normal enough to nearly drive me mad. I knew i should enjoy the chance to curl up early with the cat and drift off to sleep. Even the brief respite of staring at the wall was something i'd been longing for, but somehow i couldn't settle down and enjoy it. Perhaps it comes from having 3 very exciting and fullfilling days of work with kids and knowing that the teachers are on their way for a fun-filled week and wishing somehow that my personal life was nearly as exciting as my professional life or something. I suppose if i was exciting all the time i'd start fraying at the edges. I guess the moment of calm between storms just caught me off guard.

Oh, i must run away to work. I just got distracted by a call about a flute lesson...tomorrow! Hee hee, i get to play flute tomorrow with another person!~w

Some silly human thought..."let's build a campfire" disregarding the legality of it. What are rules for anyway? Now over 86,000 acres of forest have burned in Colorado and the fire still is no more than 5% contained. Hubris the Greeks call it. Fortunately, most of us don't make such huge mistakes on a regular basis. So why should i care about a fire in Colorado? Well, first off, my cousin is getting married at a ranch north of Denver on Saturday, and while i'm not going to make it there i hope the day will be gorgeous and smoke free for them. Also, as a child i spent summers playing in the forests of Colorado while visiting family and it's sad to think of the kind of damage that humans are doing to a place that holds some of the same enchantment as the 100 Acre Wood must have held for Christopher Robin.

Back home in Asheville, i'm reveling in a week of fantastic workshops with students and trying not to set any real or imagined fires in my own surroundings with the energy it gave me. I was worried about the middle school kids, but they proved my worry to be unnecessary. Yesterday was the topper to a great three days. Now i need to get my head on straight for the first summer residency which starts Sunday. Saturday is the arrival of the other facilitator as well as the first two participants. Much work to be done!~w

Ditto yesterday, except we were at Norris Elementary today.

No, really, it was quite a fun day as well. The kids were wild and hysterically funny. The sun was shining and i swam more laps afterwards. Dinner was tasty and my brain is feeling refreshed and relaxed. My back hurts less than it did when i left and the stress seems to be working its way out of my system. I feel refreshed and ready to take on the residency when it starts this weekend.

I also finished Terry Pratchett's book "Pyramids" today. A very entertaining ride through something like ancient Egypt mixed with James Bond. I'm a junky for fun fantasy fiction. Hee hee.

Original thoughts of my own? Not many for me today.~w

As days go, i couldn't ask for a more pleasant one than today. We started off with a show for K-5th graders at Dearing Elementary. I was here last year with Ciro and they remembered that. The workshops were particularly fun here since many of them had seen the regular one before. That meant that we could mix it up and have them do something new. We actually used the same little limerick as last year, but rather than lecture, we just reminded them of the procedure from last year and divided them into groups to seem what they could come up with using the same process. It was a blast! I felt like i got to be a 4th grader myself today. We returned to the hotel where i got my exercise by doing 20 laps in the outdoor pool and then relaxed in the sunny afternoon reading my book by the pool. Having just finished a lovely dinner i feel like i've been spoiled rotten for work today. I'm more relaxed than usual after a days work, although i almost feel guilty. Like i should try working on the website so that i'm ready to upload some new changes when i get home again or something. But maybe i just need to enjoy the "vacation" while it's here before i start 24/7 duty for the summer residency next week.

I might even try watching tv for a change...perish the thought...~w

A quick hello this morning from Thomson, Georgia. It's warm here. I'm running late. There's no local access number for internet so it costs per minute to connect via the 800 line. The connection speed is about 16,800. So, i'll have to update you in pieces. Look for something more interesting to read here later this evening.~w

Well now i'm almost packed. Just the computer to go. Then i'll be heading south to Thompson, GA to do some shows and workshops with summer school kids. I'm glad i left my friends early last night and came home, or i don't know if i ever would have made it. We went dancing last night to some good ol' swing music, but i found myself tired and headache ridden before the rest of them were done. It had been a long day. I spent the good part of it hanging out with a friend who had moved to Greensboro and was back for a short visit. It was fun to catch up and chat and share music. I also squeezed in a workout...but mostly...

I fell prey to new phonitis. That's when your old phone is giving you trouble and you start drooling over the new phones and the tech folks tell you there is no fixin' your old phone and then a friend goes out and buys some crazy new phone that you know is more than you'll ever need...but maybe i can afford the one that i want with 6 months interest free on the store card. It's now programmed and working lovely and now i'll just have to work on paying off the credit card in 6 months.~w