Clearly delineated lines.. well, maybe not sooo much

Ok.. so I have been a bass player for how long? Let's see.. I started playing in 1981.. I won't tell you how old I was, but sadly, I wasn't playing from the cradle... lol.. I started playing because my good friend, Valerie, played guitar and we wanted to start a band...

Back then, in what today's kids would call the "dark ages" : P , there weren't that many women that played the bass. Now we are many : ) ... So someday, if you like, I can tell you THAT story.. it's interesting, to say the least, but least I digress, as nearly always, let me TRY and stick to point.. this would in fact, be most unusual... : P

Since the onset of travelling in musical circles, and that is not necessarily where circular thinking comes in btw, I have seen many strange and wonderful things- but mostly the strange.

There was the episode with Cygnus, my first band. We were playing somewhere in the Springfield, MA area at the Glass Crutch - that takes the cake for the weirdest club name, incidently... anyway, a man walked in in a trench coat as we were setting up. He had a brown paper bag and sat, of course, directly in front of me. Glued to the mic I was, and unable to get very far away. We finished our soundcheck and started the first set.

There were three of us.. three.. myself, Diane Pellegatto - guitar, and Sue Eustace- drums. We played hard rock, metal - for the 80's this was unusual to say the least.. so our "friend" heads into the rest room and comes out considerably later.. He stands directly in front of me, mid set, and starts pulling plastic musical instruments out of the bag, one by one, and starts to play them... two feet in front of ME.... LOUDLY.... I am grimacing.. I can hear him... OVER the metal... and the other two are peeing themselves, laughing.

I have seen weird things...

Cut to scene ten years later... bar: Eli Cannons in Middletown, late afternoon. I am with The Betties... probably my favorite project that I have played with... we had a blast together, I learned more than I could have ever bargained for about playing, people, and of course, weirdness...

The guys and I are setting up, and a fellow walks in with a cast on his arm. He approaches me... of COURSE.... he hits on me... he just got back from the hospital where he got casted after getting into a fight.. which is directly after getting out of prison!!! I sure can pick em, huh!!!! Needless to say, I was less than enthusiastic... yikes..

Ok.. cut to present .. now I have this awesome relationship with Jesus, and live to get closer to Him.. well.. I still play, but mostly at church, but there HAVE been sightings..........lol...

I had the privilege of playing with a great bunch of guys this weekend, we played at a conference, and I was the recipient of so many awesome things, besides enjoying the great music we made. A couple of the guys and I went out to lunch yesterday at the afternoon break.

After we ate, one of the guys, pipes up with "let's go get a pedicure!!!" I inwardly howled at the prospect, thinking of the great Brad Paisley song, "I'm Still a Guy"... you will have to check it out to understand that one.. he he he.... so after choking back my laughter, off we raced. The salon was closed, sadly, and we headed back to the gig. I had been wishing for a pedi, lately, too! Just never imagined the company could be two guys!

So maybe the lines aren't so delineated... but you know what? I can say for sure that I wouldn't have it any other way. After all, life isn't boring!!!

Have a great week, and try not to stay "in the box".. it can get pretty cramped in there! <3

Lessons learned

Oh, how I love to learn! Except when I have to...lol... case in point- I was having a discussion a few months back with a close friend. I was still living in South Carolina, and was having a hard time with having to move backup here due to lack of funds.

Now don't get me wrong, being a woman of faith, I take my decisions to the Lord, but sometimes, He shows me the route through practical means, you know lack of money... : ) ..when I had opportunity to earn here and not there, the choice was an easier one. I was explaining to him (the friend, that is) that after having gone down there with somewhat of a plan, it was somewhat frustrating to be moving for the billionth time in the span of a year and a half. Now that may be a slight exaggeration, but I am sure that you can get my drift. : )

What he said to me caught me off guard- I pondered this for quite a while. In fact, I am still pondering this one... what he said was that there was indeed a difference between expectations and expectancy. He hinted that maybe I went with one and should have gone with another.. Ok.. so maybe he didn't hint! lol

Wow, was that one a humdinger! At first, I sloughed it off, but realized that he was right. Going down there with a set of expectations was probably a mistake. When things didn't work out the way I had planned, I assumed that I made a mistake in going. Another great word lesson - ASS - U - ME.... taken apart - if you assume it makes an ASS out of U and ME.. lol... again, truth.

If things don't meet my level of expectation, I see failure. But really, if I keep a level of expectancy, I stay open, versus closed. It's not that I need to lower my expectations, but that I need to raise my level of expectancy!

Testing produces what again?

Two weeks ago, I had an adventure all it's own! I made a HUGE mistake... I was praying and asked the Lord to use me, and make me more like Him... He decided to take me up on that...

I spent the morning racing around like Lightening McQueen in pursuit of the coveted Piston Cup. Everything from Ben's father passing to the inevitable bank hopping was on my mind and/or floating around in my heart for much of the morning. With only an uncashed check and late for my hair appointment, the bank clerk informing me that they would not open for another half hour was another opportunity to be stretched.

Hurrying along, I looked forward to a visit with Kelly, what I got was a voicemail from my Aunt Irene. She is 86 and can bend either way when it comes to her age. It entirely depends on the circumstance and the stakes... her 86.5 years can make me laugh or fuss at times... : P

This morning was the latter. She had had bronchitis for a week, and has been so miserable, but her bowels had been acting up... or rather more accurately, NOT acting. With that, nausea and having trouble keeping her breakfast down. I had made a few trips out to the store for her in the past few days. Not a big deal. As I listened to her message, I realized that she was pretty fearful. Would I go and get her a few more items, and maybe there would need to be a trip back to the ER. When you are that age, things CAN get pretty complicated. As I listened, I started to get somewhat resentful... Why oh why does this stuff have to happen when it's sooo inconvenient??? Kelly lives 45 min away from where I am! It figures, now I won't be able to go. and so on....

My heart was feeling far less than charitable as I headed into her house to bring her the requested things. She answered the door looking pretty woeful, and feeling sorry for herself. Her usually sassy demeanor was replaced with a miserable frustration. I felt a gentle nudge. Remember what you asked Me this morning? Oh, nuts...
I sighed and let the Lord have at me once again. Fine, if You want to keep me here and rearrange my day, it's ok..

I made her some oatmeal, my sourness evaporating. She ate it, and took the medicine I brought. The more I let the Lord have at my thinking and attitude, the more it brightened. Funny, that. : )

She even let me pray for her, her heart is so dear! I felt truly compassionate as I cleaned up the mess I had made and she whisked me off to my lunch. Thanking the Lord for the opportunity to bless her, I realized something...

A little at a time He IS making me more like Him. It's the small steps that are making the difference, if I am willing to yield to the process.

From A to B via C, D, E, and F...

Ok... here's a good one. I got inspired last week to dig up a recipe for a recipe exchange that my home group was doing on Friday. The assignment, should we accept, was to procure the finished dish and have the recipe on hand in case anyone wanted it. It was slated to happen on Friday night in Meriden. Thursday night, sitting at Frances' house, we both realized that - Oh no- it's tomorrow and we are NOT prepared!!! Then began the inevitable scramble and race to find the specific recipe that I wanted to make. If I had found said recipe, that would have started me down one trail- pretty much end of story. Instead, I found myself careening down another. Having just moved, again, I have boxes everywhere. Rabbit trail number one... running around madly trying to find the three recipe boxes, and locate the one that houses the recipe I want (no, no one else has the recipe that I know of). At this point I am finding every other recipe that I possess. Rabbit trail number two... with every recipe is a memory- where I obtained it, times in the past that I have prepared it, for whom.... etc.... well... I found one recipe box, had to go back to the storage unit three times to find the right box. You would think that I'd have learned the prior two times to CHECK THOROUGHLY first before leaving. With each box that I brought home from storage, I poured over each recipe. Trail number three...throwing away a few (dang few, lol) and retyping others that were faded or unreadable. Now I have to get a book to put the written ones in - especially those from mom, or that she wrote. Number four- all the recipe books I dug up in the process? Well, they are awaiting a place to rest in my room. The recipe? Still haven't made it yet.. But I DID find my frosting spatula!