RINGING IN ... 2010!!!

I'M SAD TO see 2009 come to an end because it's been a good year, but I am also looking forward to the coming new year. Blessings to all of you, wonderful friends, thanks for your visits, encouraging comments and support.

HAPPY AND HEALTHY 2010 AND MANY SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL!!!

Note: It is a belief for many, in my country, the Philippines, that having round fruits in the house before the coming of the new year, will bring you good luck throughout the year. What's your belief, if any?

Winter Concert 2009

IT'S THAT TIME of year again where schools/students show off their hard work and give an excellent concert for all to enjoy. My kids' school is no exception. If you are a follower of my blog you all know that our son loves to play guitar. He is a member of the school's marching band, jazz band, drumline and high school concert band ... that's how much he really loves music. lol Plus he has his own band, Funk Uncle. Unlike bigger towns or cities, our small town's performers are not in formal attire ... just plain or nice-looking shirts for boys, and decent clothes for girls, but their performances are up to par just the same. Here are a few videos I took of their jazz band, sharing it with all of you and especially to our relatives here and abroad who enjoy watching him play. All seniors were featured since this will be their last winter performance, and that includes our son ... and it's kind of sad in a way, if you think about it ... "last performance?" :(
He is the one standing in the back wearing a tan hat playing the first and last solos.

They played, "Six String Shuffle" here.



... in this vid, he utilized his "Wah" pedal, playing "Funky Ol' Saint Nick"



... "Free Bird" and again his "Wah" pedal for sound effects.


After the concert, I heard a couple sitting behind me say, "That kid, Will really is amazing! He can really make his guitar sing!" And of course, hearing those kind of comments from others (besides myself, lol) just makes my heart swell! Listening to all those practices for years, over the sound of the TV at home paid off. ;) It was not always easy, especially when our daughter who plays guitar and trumpet was still living at home ... when they both practice? ohhhh, I thought I might develop an early hearing problem, but hubby and I learned to love and enjoy it! We are those kids' number one fans! ... may it be sports or arts and music ... numero uno! lol ... nothing beats that!

My friends, from my family to yours, I am sincerely wishing each and every one of you a heart-warming, blessed CHRISTmas, and and may the New Year bring us good health, peace and joy! Please stay safe and warm! Love all of 'ya!

Today's Flowers

... you can find my entry "Here".
Thanks for visiting.

My boy's 18th b'day ...

Have you ever given in to your kid's nagging/pleading?
Our son turned 18 last Wednesday, and a day before his birthday the present we ordered online for him was delivered. Hubby hid the box but for some reason our son found it. When I got home from work that afternoon, I found the box partially opened and plastered with post-it-notes saying, "let me open this today" and "please" all over the box. Apparently, he came home after school, tracked down the package online and found out that's it's been delivered, so he was in a hide-and-seek mode. After he found it, he probably realized that he's not supposed to open it yet, so he plastered it with those notes, and went back to school for extra curricular activities. (there were actually more notes...they fell off from the box)


He came back home while I was making dinner and followed me around with this face, saying, "can you refuse this face?" ... and words like, "I'm so excited to open it now, I won't be as excited tomorrow", "I have to suffer one more night and day?", etc. etc... giving me hugs, and more hugs.


I finally gave in for the main reason that he is a nice kid, getting very good grades in school, has a nice personality and seems to be doing everything right and besides I don't see any point in prolonging his agony! ... hey, what can I say, I'm a marshmallow-at-heart! lol This picture as they say, is worth a thousand words ... look at that smile! ;)


And boy, he got that baby set up in no time! He played for a few minutes but had to go back to school again. He is a member of the "Operation Santa" committee, where, along with classmates, they go house to house asking for Christmas donations ... go shopping ... box them and then they distribute the goodies to less fortunate families before Christmas.

Ahhhh ... kids, you gotta love 'em!

Today's Flowers

In case you're looking for my Today's Flowers entry, I moved it Here. Enjoy!

Golf putting mat

... thanks but no thanks! lol

Oreo

We have this stray kitten that's been hanging around our yard for a few weeks now. We think somebody dropped it off here. Oreo, our indoor cat is very territorial. Every time this very loving kitten is by our window or sliding door, Oreo will hiss and growl at him as shown in this video. It's kind of funny in a way, because the kitten was just being himself...ignoring Oreo having a fit! lol

Today's Flowers ...

... got moved Here.

College Tours

Our son who is a high school senior this year is planning to go for Sound Recording Technology (SRT) as a major of study. We started going to colleges this summer and our first stop was the Rochester Institute of Technology. We've been to this college before, for this is the same place where they go for Robotics competitions. Although RIT is a very prestigious technology college, if your major is in other areas like engineering, our son was not really impressed with their music curriculum, so forget this one! Our son's feeling for this college? ... cold! lol


On our way to RIT these lovely geese crossing the road stopped the traffic. ;)


A month after visiting RIT, we went to Fredonia College. Hubby miscalculated the time to get there, plus there was a detour so we were really late for the group tour. I didn't even have a chance to take pictures. What I like about this college was that the tour was more organized than RIT and their recording studio is more impressive. Their unique program? Animation, music business/theater, sound recording, video production and sports management. Our son's feeling for FC? ... warm!

Last month we visited Ithaca College. Now we are really impressed with this college! It has 3 state-of-the-art recording studios and 100% of SRT graduates find jobs after graduating! Now, that is really important and impressive! I hope it will stay that way! hah! We also learned that IC is rich in internships and fieldworks and that they even have affiliations with studios as far as Los Angeles, CA and abroad! Also, IC has over 90 practice rooms, close to 200 pianos and a lot of halls/auditoriums for students to practice and/or perform in. Now we're talkin' ... this college is really a school of music; students have the finest tools at their fingertips!...hard to beat that! lol They even have an IC television program! Student/faculty ratio: 10 to 1 so students have a lot of time to work one-on-one with their faculty. And oh, the view! Ithaca College is set high on a hill overlooking beautiful Cayuga Lake, and all of the student dorms have a gorgeous view of that ... see photo (...and this was taken on a dark, cloudy, rainy day!). Our tour guide said that in the summer there are so many students out on the sloping campus over the lake that it looks like a day at the beach! Our son's feeling for IC? HOT! lol

We'll probably tour 1-2 more colleges before our son makes up his mind. We're just glad and happy that he is considering going to a NY college instead of out-of-state ... he is our baby, 'ya know! ;)

Today's Flowers - Wild Flowers

Thistle

...close up


Queen Anne's Lace





... different shades of wild asters






Clover


Ash tree ... before (can't resists to show you this one) ;)

... after

For more of TF, please click "Here"

Soccer Game

Ok, guys, here I am again, bragging of my son stepping up to the plate and making great saves. lol (all photos can be enlarged by clicking)
October 15, 2009, our first snow of the year, (can you believe that, it's only mid-October!) when our son's soccer team played against the undefeated soccer team it was very cold and dreary, but the game nonetheless was very exciting. I heard one parent yell, "Where else can you find excitement paying just $1.00 admission?!". First half was a tie, second half was still a tie, so they played two ten-minute overtimes. Now, if you are a follower of my blog, you know that our son is a goalie. Both teams played hard, and what with snow and the grass being wet there was a lot of falling and sliding. Unfortunately, at the last seconds of the second overtime, our son's foot slipped before jumping to catch the ball and he was not able to block the ball, and the other team scored! (The ground was wet and muddy by that time). Oh well, somebody has to win, right? Below is a photo of the playing field; they played at night and it really was cold! Imagine yourself soaked with wet snow and mud in a very cold temp; that was how our son felt after the game... brrrr! Their team is called, Big Green machine! lol (green/white uniform or sometimes green/green , like the last photo)


The following weekend was a homecoming game. As with school tradition, some kids cut their hair mohawk style, or paint it green, the school color. In this photo, the senior players were honored; that's our son in orange/black uniform. Since our son's hair is short, he elected to shave it instead, but he was the one who gave his team mates a hair cut. Although the other team tried many times to take a shot, unfortunately they never found the back of the net. This time our team WON! 2-0 It was a shutout game! Yay! This game was also a qualifier for sectionals.


Last night was their first sectional game, and boy was it exciting! And of course here I am again, the proud mama telling everybody who listens how exciting the game was! There was a lot of jostling for the ball. Even though we parents of the players were cold and shivering watching and cheering, we will do it again, and again. I am not a good sports writer so here goes what happened ...
Our team scored the first half, the other team retaliated and scored the second half, so it's now a tie. Then our team scored again, so it's now 2-1. Two minutes before it was over both teams are now very aggressive. The other team did what I call a bullet kick (fast and quick kick in the upper corner of the net) and our son was able to block it by hitting the ball volley ball style so the ball went behind the net. Parents as well as fans were screaming with delight! Then the other team did another bullet kick and our son was able to block it again with the same style! Parents were on fire; there was a cacophony of cheers from our team's fans. Wow, what excitement, and this happened with like a minute left. With a few seconds left, and with my adrenaline going up, the other team tried again for another goal and this time the ball was shot lower so our son was down on the ground blocking the ball, he was able to block it, but the ball got away from him, so the other team did a follow up and tried another shot but luckily they missed the net. (There was a lot of tension but, oh, what a relief!) lol. With 12 seconds left, our son has to kick the ball and I kept yelling, "kill time, kill time", and as soon as he kicked the ball, the buzzer was heard and it was over! They won, they won! Ha, ha! All in all this was a well-played game, a battle of two good teams from start to finish. Both teams played an outstanding game!


When I went to sign him out, (he rode in the school bus to the game, and usually comes home with us) other parents were telling me, "This is Will's best game so far!" or "Will did an excellent job!" Others gave me a hug ... and being the humble parent that I am, hah! I said, "they all played hard, it was a team effort, and they made us all proud!" ;) The boys have been really working hard in practice and it shows.

Note: the last two photos were taken during the day, at other games. The sectional game that I described above was held at night and unfortunately I did not take photos but that's 'mah boy in action! lol

Today's Flowers # 63

It's Today's Flowers once again. Click here to visit participants all over the world.

In the spring, I prune my Butterfly bush to this.


... by summer, it looks like this.


... Fall. The cycle of life.

Today's Flowers # 62

To see exotic, rare and lovely flowers, please click Here.

Begonia ...


Orchid ...


African violet ... they are all my indoor plants.

Today's Flowers #61

For more of TF please click Here.
and see amazing blooms all over the world.
In the Fall almost all my plants look like these ...






... but we also have these! Rainbow of colors and ... soccer! yay!

Today's Flowers #60

Oops ... i almost forgot...it's Today's Flowers Sunday! To visit pictures of lovely and rare flowers from around the world please visit the TF team by clicking Here.

Snapdragon, I love them as cut flowers. They come in a variety of colors and size.


This was originally given by a friend but it re-seeds and come up every year ... sadly, I don't know the name. One of these days, I will look it up. It is nice to use as fillers in a bouquet.


Wild morning glory, so invasive but provides greenery on our deck railing.

Happy Sunday everyone!

My neck-of-the-wood

For my family, friends and in between, lol ... here's what's going on in my neck-of-the-woods.
Soccer games started a couple of months ago ... meaning rain or snow, win or lose we are there to support our son, who is the goalie, and his team, and it's all worth it!


Street dance .... another yet successful performance of the Funk Uncle band, where our son is the lead guitarist, raising funds for the local hospice house. For more Funk Uncle post click Here.


Our little town had a Grape Festival last weekend, and to promote our church, we had a bake sale. Our cookies were sold out by 2:30 p.m. We also offered free coffee and orange drink for everybody. A picture of our space, beside our church, setting up for the day.


Sometime in the afternoon, I walked around the festival a little bit, and can you spot the human scarecrow?


Here's another display at the festival ... have you seen the biggest rocking horse? You need a step ladder to get up on this one! ... a life size!


Here's another angle.

Have a grape weekend everybodeeeee!

Today's Flowers #59

Hubby and I visited a garden store last weekend to buy a gift certificate for a co-worker/friend who is retiring. While there, I looked around and found these ...my new treasures ...
Shrimp plant.




Bougainvillea trelis ...





Thanks to the TF team for hosting today's flowers.

Today's Flowers #58 - Digital Macro Shots

Time for Today's Flowers again. To see who are participating and if you are a gardener or not but loves to see spectacular, rare, versatile and exotic flowers anyway, please visit the TF team composed of Valkyrien, Pupo, Denise and Santilli.

Sweet and charming Petunia.


The rugged beauty of Streptocarpus, never fails to give me pleasure.


Glowing bracts Bougainvillea. I waited many moons to see it blooms. ;)


Stunning and the only survivor of my lilies that escapes the deer.


An old-timer fiery bee balm ... hummingbirds find them heavenly!