Tosca

Today I attended a streaming from the Metropolitan Opera which is held at  a local theater. It was like we were in the front row.  The opera was Puccini's Tosca.  It actually was great despite it having a suicide, murder, attempted rape, etc.  I believe these performances can be seen around the world.  Check out
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/liveinhd/LiveinHD.aspx to see it near you.  This absolutely would not be for my husband and I would not have gone if my friend had not invited me.   So as you can see I am going outside of my normal comfort zone.  Not having attended many operas I am amazed at the emotion that the performers show.  Not only are they extreemly talented musicians, but they show a lot of emotion in their acting.  If you were sitting in the back of the Metropolitan Opera, you would miss it.  But seeing in in the theater is great.  That was a treat for myself after days of painting the bedroom.

G's travels

G went to Nebraska to attend his uncle's 90th birthday party.  One brother and three sisters, along with some of their spouses, also attended. He was able to see cousins that he had not seen for years.  After the party, he headed to Minnesota where he is visiting my mother, and some of my family, and is seeing more of his relatives. He will be gone over two weeks.  It reminded me of a trip his mother took when she was a bit younger than him, where she took a  trip by bus around the US visiting relatives.  That was an extremely courageous thing for her to do.  I guess he learned the importance of keeping connections with family from her.

I have found plenty to keep my days filled.  The Fall outside work is pretty much completed. I have mowed lawn, mulched, pulled weeds and even planted some last minute shrubs and perennials.  They were on sale at 75 % off so it is worth the risk that they may not all survive the Winter.

The second big project is to paint a bedroom.  I have put two coats of primer on the walls, and painted the ceiling yesterday.  Today the goal is to do one coat of regular paint on the walls.  I would post pictures, but it is just dark blue walls changed to light beige.

Positive vs negative thoughts

At our last AAUW meeting, the speaker was a woman in her 40s who decided to write a book on her life for her family and friends.  She realized she did not know much about her parents, especially their thoughts and feelings about what they had experienced in life.  So she is writing this book for her sons who are in their 20s.  She expects they will not be too interested now, but hopefully will be when they are older.  She divided the chapters by decade, then by topic.  She was just talking about her motivation and the process.  She also gave a snapshot of herself:" I am getting my PhD, I am a Christian, and the book on my bedside table is The Secret."

I think I would find it difficult to write a book on my life, as there is so much I do not recall.  Guess I would have to talk to my friends and relatives and they could remind me of events.  I am also currently reading The Secret,  She said she would not talk much about the "bad" things that had happened to her.  I thought it would be helpful to learn how she coped with those events, but then I look at the ideas in the book, and it teaches to think positive, not negative thoughts.    Anyway, that is just my thinking for today.