Currently 08/03/2020: Concerts and Guitars

It was a good week. Lots of things happened, and when I turned the page over to August I was happy to see a lot of planned activities, something that has not been the case since March. The pace at which businesses and social groups have been adjusting to the pandemic is apparent, and I'm beginning to feel like I have a social life once again.

What I'm Currently . . .

Obsessing Over  Lighting fixtures. We had recessed lighting installed in the living room this past week, the last room needing this done, so now we are 'lit' from above throughout the house. As a result, we have very few lamps, but two of those that we do still have are in the living room. Now that we have overhead lighting in the room, I decided to replace our current hard working lamps with two that are a bit more petite, and settled on these, which should look terrific with the other elements in the room.

And I purchased this hanging light for our dining room. I love it, and think it marries well with the hanging orb light fixture in the entry way.

From the company's website.

My current orb lighting fixture.

All of the new lighting fixtures should arrive sometime this week.

Doing Lots Of  Practicing on my new guitar! I'm not sure where this idea came from exactly, but after my outdoor yoga class concluded a week ago, I was feeling extremely relaxed and decided I wanted to buy a guitar. I enjoy the piano, but 1) I'm so much the novice I feel uncomfortable playing around my poor husband (he is soooo much better than me, due to years and years of lessons), and 2) It's very difficult! So, my thinking was that guitar was 1) quieter, and 2) easier. Thus, on the way home I stopped by a small music store to price them, was pleasantly surprised at the relatively modest cost, and so I bought and brought this one home with me.

Every day since I have been practicing in five to ten minute chunks a couple of times a day - it takes a bit of time to build up the needed calluses on your playing hand - and watching tons of You Tube videos.

Well, right about day six I suddenly found myself able to play chords that actually sounded pleasant, and my strumming technique dramatically began to improve. As a result, I'm thinking/hoping that I may actually be able to do this!

Cooking  Hit the EZ button this week because, we were busy! We had taco salad three times, plus veggie burgers and sweet potato fries, and then pasta marinara two times. I'll do better next week, with several more elaborate meals already planned and shopped for.

Reading  A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles. Immediately loving the way in which this book is written - it's lush in a uniquely Russian way.

Once I finish it, I'm going to next read the entire seven volume Chronicle of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. I read the most popular book of the series, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, when I was young, and can't wait to not only read it again as an adult, but also the other six books in the series.

Watching  Not much TV this past week because we had several nights when we were out picnicking, plus I did a lot of evening reading and guitar practicing, but we did go watch a live concert in our car this week, which was more fun than I'd anticipated. The show was a tribute to the Beatles, put on by The Fab Four, and it was sort of a cross between a live outdoor concert and a movie drive in. We were in the second row, so we had a clear view of the stage, and we sat in our car and sang along while enjoying the picnic dinner we'd brought from home. We felt completely safe while watching the concert as a result, and we really enjoyed the evening.

However, it was also a bit pricey at $125 per auto, and it's not like we could bring anybody with us (#covidlife), so while I'm super glad we did it once, I'm not sure we'll do it again anytime soon. Additionally, once we got there I realized anyone parked in about the fourth row and back would be unable to see the stage over the other cars in front of them, and thus had to watch the concert via one of the large video screens that had been set up for just that reason, sort of defeating the purpose of being there in my mind.

Thinking About  Visiting my youngest daughter and family back east this fall. With my younger daughter's home likely either on the market or in escrow, we won't be staying with them this time around. Instead we are planning to rent a VRBO in either Old Town Alexandria or Old Town Arlington, plus spend some time in Pennsylvania in the Gettysburg area if feasible. We'll stay from Halloween through Thanksgiving, so that we only have to fly one time, plus enjoy the area during apple harvest season. 

I'm thinking we'll fly there via Delta as a result of this article detailing how Delta removed two passengers who refused to wear masks from a recent flight prior to take off. Yeah, Delta!

Thankful For  Our beautiful harbor. We are there numerous times a week walking, paddleboarding, taking yoga classes, visiting our wine club, kayaking, watching the abundant marine life, including lots of barking seals, or enjoying picnic dinners. Plus, free parking. Getting through this pandemic would be a whole lot harder without it, that is for sure.