¿Qué pasó a abril?

What happened to April?

I just looked at the calendar and had a small panic attack. There are four days left in the month. What?! How is it possible that May starts this Saturday?

My mom told me about a NOVA special on PBS recently. In it, scientists explained their discovery that the expansion of the universe is speeding up. This means that time is quite literally going faster but we don't notice because it's all relative. (Right, Mr. Einstein?) Something like that. Anyway, add to that the fact that practically everything in our daily lives is designed to move at the fastest speed possible, and in the time you took to consider it all, it'll be time to flip the calendar again. Next thing we know, it'll be December 31 and we'll be reflecting on the blur that was 2010.

But before that, I'm forcing myself to take a look at April. It was a good ol' month, despite the fact that I have to refer to my planner to actually remember what I did, in addition to the usual 9-5...  

A Grand Night for Singing opened at Swift Creek Mill Theatre on April 1st. The callouses on my fingers reminded me that it was not a joke -- that I was, in fact, playing the harp in an 8-week show with some amazingly talented actors and musicians.

Robb & I went to church on Easter Sunday, and thoroughly enjoyed the STOMP-like worship service. (This is an old pic; I couldn't find one from Easter.)

 I saw my coworker Jeanie in a great show at Richmond Triangle Players, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove.

 

I participated in Chalk Up the Town in Carytown.


I helped Robbie clean out a bunch of stuff from his apartment and move it into storage, which included parallel parking Theatre IV's production van (I'm still quite proud of this accomplishment).

And finally, my last stretch of my 10-week Spanish class came to a close with a tasty meal at Chicken Fiesta in the west end.

I guess that's what happened to April! Bring it on, May.

Random miscellany

Nothing much to write about but feeling the urge to write. Trying to keep as still as possible directly under the ceiling fan which is on high because I'm resisting the urge to turn on the A/C in the FIRST WEEK OF APRIL. Oh, Richmond.

Does anyone else think the pollen is out of control this spring?? My red car is now a kind of yellow color. And my nose and eyes are a kind of red color. Kind of like that red bar in the graph to the left -- if you can't read it, today Richmond's pollen count was at an 11.4 on a 12 point scale. AHHH-CHOOOO Looks like we might get a little relief tomorrow.

The period key on my laptop keyboard came off a few weeks ago. For awhile I was able to press the little raised plastic thingy and it would work. It doesn't anymore. So how am I typing all these "." you ask? I copy and paste them each time. I'm kind of getting used to it. Also, my laptop is having an issue with its power source. This same problem happened about a year and a half ago. It got to the point where the A/C (different A/C) connection that the cord plugs into in the back of the computer somehow got separated from the motherboard (or something) and subsequently wouldn't charge the battery. A year and a half ago my computer was still under warranty so the nice Dell repairman came to my home to fix it.  The computer is no longer under warranty, and I'm having the same problem. It's kind of a slow computer death. Wiggling the cord helps for awhile, but eventually the motherboard connection will break completely, then the screen will go dim, then completely dark (cue Chopin's Funeral March). The hard drive is also nearing capacity, not to mention laboring to work, and the poor thing takes about 10 minutes just to start up. All this is to say that, while she's given me a good run (got 'er in aught-6), it's time to start shopping for a new laptop.

I am also shopping for a new home. My landlords next door have put their house (at left) up for sale because they are moving to the West End (in my landlord's words, "the land of plastic menus and nightmares of Cheesecake Factory") so their son can go to a good middle school. They don't really want to move there but are doing so because of their son's education. What a shame that they have to leave the city for that to happen. So, since I've been saying for awhile now that I want a bigger place, I put in my notice that I will be vacating in a few months. I really have enjoyed living in my charming little 1BR Fan apartment. But it's time to move on up (probably not to the East side though... hoping for the Museum District).

I'm flying to Minnesota in a few weeks for my best friend's son's baptism. I've been asked to be his godmother. I'm a newbie in this role so I hope I don't screw up. I'm really looking forward to meeting him. He was born about 6 weeks early and is now a handsome little heartbreaker.

A Grand Night for Singing at Swift Creek Mill is going splendidly. I have contemplated renting a harp of my own so that I can keep my fingers nimble over the summer until rehearsals start for Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming... and maybe get a wedding gig or two while I'm at it. A decent lever harp rental (like the Lyon & Healy Ogden model at right) from Virginia Harp Center is under $100/mo.

Hm..... a new computer, a new place to live, a godson, a harp, and a pay cut at work. This will be an interesting next few weeks!