I finally did it! I tried a voice (singing) lesson last Monday afternoon and had a blast. Now, Laura is officially my voice teacher. Since I can match pitch and can actually carry a tune, I have decided to take regular lessons. This basically entails going to a lesson once per week and practicing the other days of the week. Interestingly, Laura says I’m an alto. This seems to mean that I can hit some high notes, as well as some low notes; however, not too high and not too low. I like the label, so I’m going to keep it.
Even though I love music and love to sing, I never took any real time to seriously learn to play a musical instrument or to sing. My grandmother tried teaching me to play the violin when I was younger, but stubbornly I preferred going outside to play instead of practicing. Regretfully, I abandoned the violin in 3rd grade after struggling with “The Star-Spangled Banner” and never looked back. Thankfully, I still have the little violin that my grandmother bought me so many years ago. It is one of my treasured possessions. As for my singing career as a youngster, I was in choir for a year in grammar school. I remember performing at the annual school nativity program at Christmas. I really enjoyed it, and I’m not quite sure why I did not continue singing in choir. It probably had something to do with going outside to play instead of practicing.
First, Laura and I warmed-up. She taught me four notes and their beats. I practiced inhaling and exhaling to a certain number of beats. Next, we hummed octaves. After working on other warm ups, we sang part of a song that I had really wanted to learn to sing properly, “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music. It was difficult; however, I did pretty well. I have a long way to go before I will be able to sing it all the way through perfectly. Laura had also selected “The Sound of Music” for me to try singing. Surprisingly, I sang this song much better. I must admit that I am over the moon proud of myself and can officially cross #10 off of my 18 for 2018 list.
In Other News:
This past week was pretty busy both at work and on the home front. I started keeping my food journal and meditating on Monday. Early Thursday morning brought extremely bad weather through our area which caused many people, including my family, to lose power and create chaos for the remainder of the day. At that point, my food journal and daily meditation was pushed to the side. Coupled with loads to do at school, working the LSU concession stand yesterday, and completing necessary tasks today, I haven’t been able to do either one. In spite of all that, I did continue eating properly, and I walked six days this week. I took today off because I am beat.
This upcoming week promises to be busy; however, it won’t all be about work. I have some play scheduled almost every day. I have another voice lesson on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday evening, my BFF Shelly and I are driving to New Orleans to attend the Simple Minds concert. I took Wednesday off to recuperate, but it really is to take care of some necessary tasks (like filling out FASFA forms). My hubby and I are walking a 5K on Saturday morning. And, on Sunday, I am hoping that Andrew and I can go to the movies to see Bohemian Rhapsody, which I have heard from quite a few people is fabulous.
What will your upcoming week look like, dear reader? I hope it will not be all work and no play; hopefully, you can sprinkle in a bit of fun throughout the week. Happiness!
“Talking is the voice of human, singing is the voice of soul.” ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Last night, my hubby and I attended the Cheap Trick concert in New Orleans at the Saenger Theatre. A few hours before the concert, we checked in at the Copeland Towers. We decided to spend the night in lieu of driving an hour back home after the concert. Dinner was at The Velvet Cactus located off of Harrison Avenue in New Orleans. Andrew and I had eaten there with friends, Jeff and Joanna and their son Jackson, before the Hall & Oates concert back in June. I really enjoyed it, so I suggested we eat an early dinner there before the concert. Barry ordered the Corona Shrimp Tacos (grilled shrimp, Creole slaw, pickled red onion, pico de gallo and topped with chipotle aioli) with a side order of refried beans. 
I ordered the Cabo Quesadilla (grilled gulf shrimp, applewood bacon, fire-roasted corn, mango, Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese) with a side order of chipotle cheese grits. YUM! (I had leftovers which we ate for lunch today.) Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel and watched a little television before getting ready for the concert.
Barry saw Cheap Trick live. I had seen them once before in August of 2009 with Son #1. They had come with Poison and Def Leppard at the New Orleans Arena. Cheap Trick was fantastic that evening, and fantastic last night. I’ve always thought Robin Zander (lead singer) was a cutie. Of course, Rick Nielsen (lead guitarist) wore his iconic cap and played on a slew of custom-made guitars, including a five-neck guitar. He even had a guitar that was a comic book version of himself. Nielsen also enjoyed showering the audience with guitar picks. The group played 18 songs with no encore. It was the first concert that I have ever attended that the band did not play an encore (observation not complaint). They performed all my favorite songs: “If You Want My Love”, “The Flame”, “
This morning, Barry and I picked up my momma and we breakfasted together at District Donuts in the Elmwood area. This was our first time eating breakfast there. I ordered a Miso Praline Bacon and Sunny Side Up Egg with a small mocha latte and a NOLA Cream donut to go. My momma ordered a Brown Butter Drop donut with coffee. My hubby ordered a Breakfast Burrito with a café au lait and a Salted Caramel donut to go. We did not intentionally leave my daddy out on our breakfast excursion. He is currently visiting my sister and her family in Atlanta. However, we did bring home a Chocolate Glazed donut for Andrew. He was sweet enough to take care of the dogs while we were in NOLA for the evening. Sweets for the sweet!
The Kat Files 