Uphill and into the Wind

Alright now I’m not a shopper at all.  I can’t afford to be.  The last time I went to a mall, it cost me three hundred dollars but this Black Friday business is really appealing.  I was just on the Target.com site and they’re having some INSANE deals starting at 6AM!  I saw a portable GPS unit for $137 and a 22″ flat panel monitor for $120 bucks!  I paid $250 for my 15″ flat panel three years ago to give you an idea of the size of that price difference.  Good stuff, eh?

I never really knew or understood what all the hoopla about this day was, but everyone I talked to in school this past week has been talking about getting up at some obscene hour of the morning to go shopping and now my family’s including me, so I figure it’s time to give it a go.

My sister’s in town for the next couple of weeks with my four year old nephew and four month old niece.  Now, my parents and I lead pretty standard and boring adult lives so when we’re home it’s always quiet and neat.  At the end of the week, we have a bunch of spoons and coffee cups in the sink to give you an idea of how we live (on the go).   Needless to say, this isn’t a kid-friendly house.

I haven’t seen my sister and the kids in a couple of years, so the last time they were here it was just my nephew who was about two.  Let me just tell you, four year old boys are violent.  I’ve never seen so many broken toys in my life!  In the three days they’ve been here he’s:

-broken the kitchen Venitian blinds

-poked holes in my leather piano bench

-made an enemy out of our little Lhasa Apso

-accidentally smacked the baby in the face while sleeping

-tried to remove my right arm during a play fight

All of this is only after about three days!  I’m starting to get used to the lifestyle now, but having him here makes me feel really old.  Isn’t it amazing how in a matter of ten or fifteen years a person goes from playing with blocks, terrorizing small pets and destroying model cars to paying bills, drinking coffee and enjoying Seinfeld?  Mmmmm Seinfeld.

Today was my uncle’s funeral.  It was a very said occasion, but it was wonderful seeing how many people came to pay their respects to him.  There were hundreds of people and some really great things were said.  The remarks that were made put tears in everyones eyes because even though we all knew he touched a lot of lives, we had no idea how profoundly he changed people.

It was a sad day, but there’s always a silver lining.

I got a call from my Mom at the end of my conducting class tonight telling me my uncle had passed away.  He was diagnosed with stage four cancer in August and now he’s gone.

I went to visit him last night, but no one answered the door at the house and I was going to leave but something told me I needed to go see him, so I made a few phone calls and I was finally able to get in to see him.  It certainly wasn’t the powerful person I remembered.

It’s amazing how quickly things change.  I’m going to miss him.

I can’t believe we’re more than half way through the semester, and I think it’s because of the weather.  One of my professors pointed out that we only have about a month before our concert performances start!  One day it’s hot and humid, and the next it’s like 55 degrees.

Anybody else thrown off by this crazy weather?