Playing Catch Up

My -- it has been a long while! My excuse is that our camera is broken so I can't access any pictures that are on there and I can't take any new pictures. Of course -- it had to break right in the middle of a fantastic weekend! Isn't that just the way the universe works?!

To catch everyone up, here is a "relatively" quick synopsis of the past couple months.

June (after Maine):

Dave went to his week long Chant conference in Chicago again this summer. He had a wonderful time reconnecting with friends from across the country and learning new things about Chant. The conference is held at Loyola University of Chicago which, as you can see by the picture, sits RIGHT on Lake Michigan. What a tough week!!

Next year's conference will be held in Pittsburgh, PA. Now - we have nothing against Pittsburgh but he will be sad to lose the lake front property and its view and the proximity to the Chicago Art Museum, which he visited the afternoon before the conference started. On a good note though - Pittsburgh is a LOT closer to us than Chicago!

July:

Summer in Virginia this year was GORGEOUS!! I do not remember one day where the Heat Index went above 105 degrees. The past two summers, there have been days we rivaled the Phoenix Valley in degrees of hotness -- and the humidity on top of our heat can make things just unbearable! It was really quite a pleasant summer.

At the end of the month, I made the annual trek out to the Crystal River Valley in Colorado to meet my family and my Aunt Weezie and Uncle Joe from Iowa. My sister and I have figured that if you add up all the days we have spent in this valley, it would equal more than 1 year of our life. Pretty amazing!! And who wouldn't want to spend a year (or more) in SUCH a beautiful place?

After some difficulty in getting out there (I was delayed an entire day due to airline maintenance stuff-- MOST frustrating), I had a wonderful weekend! I was able to land one fish and the river was low enough this year so I could actually get in it to fish. The rehearsal session at the Aspen Music Festival was fantastic! And the yearly visit from Judy and Emma and Cathy was hilarious. Every year, they come to the campsite (they live in the Carbondale area) for dinner and frivolity -- and they BRING both!!! Two years ago, they brought Christmas to campsite #9. Last year, it was a Chinese themed evening. And this year!! This year was a gospel choir theme complete with song books and drums!!! We even took the show on the road and performed for the campsite next to us (who were very good friends of ours!). Oh! And my family was delayed at one point by a mudslide...and a pretty major one at that!

August:

August was a quiet month -- for the most part. We did receive some very unfortunate news. Genworth Financial (where Dave works) unexpectedly layed off most of Dave's department and Dave got caught in the mess. :-( {sigh}. We are very fortunate in 2 ways though: 1) he was given, what he termed, the 45 day special and 2) he was given a severance package until the end of October. The 45 day special meant that his last day would be October 9th. Some people in his department were told that their last day was the day of the announcement. We are very thankful to have the extra month and a half of income and benefits but....sad to be losing this at the end of October. He has been with them for just 1 year and had done a very good job. I am extremely proud of him and all of his efforts at the company. Now the challenge is to find something to replace the loss.


September:

September saw a definite pick up in activity at the Pedersen household. Over Labor Day weekend, we were delighted to have Mary Shoemaker and Dave Franek come to visit us from Chicago. Mary is one of my mom's best friends (since Elementary school) and has always been like an Aunt to me and we were so excited to see both of them!

On Friday, we went to the Museum of the Confederacy (once we found it!!) and then to dinner at Bottom's Up Pizza. Both my Dave and Mary's Dave waxed rhapsodically about the Crab pizza. :-) On Saturday, we started at Berkeley Plantation (home of the Harrison presidents and the picture to the left), traveled on to Jamestown, and ended the day with dinner and a walk in the colonial section of Williamsburg. Quite the full day! On Sunday, we took them on a driving tour of Richmond and then toured 5 Civil War battlefields around the area. Good food, interesting history and FANTASTIC company were plentiful the entire weekend and Dave and I both agree that it is one of our favorite weekends here in the Commonwealth!
*On a side note: this is the weekend our camera broke. :-(
Dave Franek LOVED our little Hilde! I knew he would! She has such attitude and we are now trying to convince my Aunt Mary that they need a corgi to rule the roost in Chicago. :-)

Dave Pedersen :-) started his second year as the director of the Women's Choir at the University of Richmond. The choir is smaller this year but the quality of voices is better....as are the attitudes! He really LOVES this opportunity and feels so fortunate.

We celebrated Dave's birthday (9/11) by making an entire weekend out of it. We went for a wine tasting and jazz music at the Botanical Gardens, we spent time down in Williamsburg, and he had a surprise birthday dinner with 4 of our wonderful Richmond friends! We have also started singing again with the James River Singers (see picture to the right). We used to sing with two choirs here in the Richmond community but after last year's chaotic schedule, we decided to pare things down a bit and only sing with one this year.

October:

On October 1st, Dave and I celebrated 10 years of being together. 1/3 of my life has been spent with him!! We are both amazed by this and so happy that 10 years has been spent with our favorite person, respectively. The picture to the left was taken the fall of 1999. How time flies -- and how young we look!!! Whew!!!

This is my favorite time of year in Virginia -- though Spring follows VERY closely. It is absolutely beautiful here in the fall. I have told Dave that I am amenable to moving elsewhere in the future (no, there are no plans to do so right now) but I will NOT accept any place that does not have the 4 seasons. After living in places where they exist (unlike Phoenix, AZ or southern CA), we have both been spoiled. We demand autumn beauty!!!! :-) (watch us have to eat crow one day as we move back to Phoenix or some other non-season place!)

Speaking of AZ, I finally made a trip home to the Phoenix Valley. It had been almost 2 years since I had been home and it was time to visit the land of my birth and my friends and family. It was a fantastic trip and I realize how much I miss the West and miss Arizona in general! I was able to see friends that I haven't seen in YEARS like Marc Booker, Natalie Carroll, Mandy Buscas, Kelli Millett, and Allison Wright not to mention the slew of family friends I was able to reconnect with. I attended my parents' Sonoran Desert Chorale concert -- the first time I've heard them live in 7 years! I got to see my sister's new classroom and her lovely apartment! AND - I went on a breakfast picnic with the family out in the AZ desert and then in the evening....went Scorpion Hunting in my parents' backyard! Only in AZ!!! :-)


And now we look forward to my 30th birthday (10/16) -- which I am NOT looking forward to, an Oktoberfest celebration we're having with friends, and the rest of October and the beautiful season of Fall! So there you have it! That has been our life for the past 4 1/2 months! Hopefully we will get our camera fixed soon.

And on a personal note: here is to my 30th year being a whole heck of a lot better than my 29th!!! :-)