Leaves keep falling in my hair....

Today was a B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L day in Bean Town. Lately the weather has not been all that fantastic, so the sun shining on the leaves of all different colors was such a blessing. Everyone was soooo happy. My friend, Leah, who lives upstairs, invited me to go to the Mt. Auburn cemetary with her this afternoon and it was so great. Who knew leaves could make a person so happy? Mt. Auburn cemetary has some famous people buried there-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Dorthea Dix, BF Skinner, and a bunch of other people that I forgot. It was cool to see their graves, but mostly it was cool to be out walking along all of the beautiful paths admiring the leaves and thinking about the reminder that autumn brings of change.

Change has been a part of my life this year more than it ever has, which is a good thing because change always brings an opportunity for growth. In ways I have seen the opportunity to grow and run with it, but I have also sat around lately thinking about changes I need to make and want to make but will do next month, next year, or when it's convenient. Today as I looked at the leaves I decided that now is the time to be better and be the person that I really can be. Someday I will be a beautiful leaf. :) (I hope I'm a red one. Those are my favorites.)

I set a goal here today. Decided to change.

And on a less serious note....

These were my lovely leaf peeping buddies. Leah on the left, Jan Marie, my roomie, on the right.

And for you whiners who want to see what I look like these days, if I have boils on my skin, chopped my hair off and dyed it purple, or still wear clothes, here is a huge Annie fix. Too much. And mostly creepy.

This one is extra creepy.


Too close for comfort, I know.

Is there a bathroom here?

My next sewing project....
The dancing ritual to the leaf gods.



I don't know much about any of the people that are buried here. I am sure that someone will say the same thing about me someday. The difference is that I still have the opportunity to choose who I will be today and what I will do to leave this world a little better than I found it.

Why my flute teacher is awesome.

Dear world,

My flute teacher is a great human being. Tonight we had a class down at NEC to prep for the flute competition that happens every November in Boston. The weather looked like this:

Awwwww rain. Yeah. Right. Not cute or quaint or any of that.

This DID happen. Except I was wearing more clothing.

After the class finished, I began my 15 minute walk to the nearest T stop, my umbrella went inside out, I was trying to talk to my sister (couldn't hear a thing), and my phone beeped because there was another call coming in. Don't worry it was my flute teacher and she said something like this, "Annie, where are you? Let me give you a ride home." I said, "No really I'm fine, I'm just walking to the T stop and then I'll be dry and I can get home." She said, "Meet me by the stage entrance to Symphony Hall."

And then she took me home.

I am lucky. She deserves blessings.

P.S. It was snowing/raining/snaining today. I looked like a full fledged marshmallow.Bring it.

Welcome to Comedy Central

Last Sunday when I blogged, I finished and thought, "Okay, I swear I had interesting things to say and none of them happened. Where did they go?" And then that night I remembered them and want to share them N-O-W (while I remember them).

Funny #1
Last week. Long day. Leaving work around 8 PM. It's a blustery evening. I see a guy and a girl walking toward me like I'm a target.

Girl: We would like to testify of God the Mother through the Bible. Have you ever heard of God the Mother?
Me: Uhhhhh..... no.
Girl: Would you like to know more about God the Mother?
Me: Not really. Thanks, though.

And then I walked away. Wasn't that a great story? I know right!

Funny #2
On the T. Reading my book (which, by the way, I have not been pleased with the ending and I only have 50 pages left). Minding my own business.

Big black lady who looks like she could have "issues": [head turned sideways staring at me] Do you know me?
Me: No.
BBLWLLSCHI: Do you WANNA know me?
Me: No.

Then she kinda pursed her lips together and did that weird thing that some people do like they're pointing at you with your lips, and she walked away. She was asking me if I knew her in a "let's fight" kinda way, like I had been staring at her and shouldn't have been. I KNOW I sometimes people watch, but I also KNOW I was reading this time. Freaked me out. I almost fought Big Mama.

Funny/Frustration #3:

Tonight at Institute. Enjoying a great lesson. Sitting by my good friend Matt. Guy who we will just call "D" walks in thirty minutes late and sits in the back. Leaves the room a little while later to "go to the bathroom" and then comes back in and sits down next to me. Tries to have a conversation in the middle of the lesson. Shut down. After class is over....

D: So is your name like Annie Violet or something?
Me: Whaaaaat?
D: Is your NAME Annie Violet?
Me: No.
D: Cuz you sure do look good in all that purple! Hahahaha.
Me: Heh. Wow.....

This is the same guy who got my phone number a few weeks ago this way...

D: Hey there's an Annie in my phone.
Me: That's cool.
D: Buuuuut she doesn't have a number! Hahahaha! What's your number?
Me: I don't think so.

And then it happened again and I gave it to him. Why am I so weak?

Welcome October

Who knew it was October already? I feel like it just kind of snuck up on me. Here are some good goings-on lately:

-I have two jobs and am keeping nice and busy.
-I went on a date on Friday to an Ethiopian restaurant downtown that was so freaking cool. If you come visit me I will take you and it will be awesome. You eat with your hands and everything. And yes, there is such a thing as Ethiopian food.
-I got put in the top orchestra for the next rotation, which means I get to play in the Kennedy Center in D.C. on November 2nd! Exciting!
-We found another deceased rodent in our kitchen yesterday.
-I am starting to feel more prepared for the nasty weather.
-I will likely finish my book this week and move on to another one.
-Never ever ever having to wait for a practice room is fantastic.
-There are lots of stairs in my school and disfunctional elevators, so I get to spend a lot of time climbing stairs, which is a good workout.
-My teacher recommended me to be the graduate flute teacher for non-majors, which is exciting. I have one whole student (She may not be whole though, I haven't met her yet... I'll follow up on that one).
-I just became a part of the BYU Alumni Association out here and am now on a mentoring committee that is going to be a huge project. Wahoo.
-Halloween is coming and I am going to be something cool. Heh.
-Conference rocked. I even invited someone to watch it.
-The leaves are starting to change. Stay tuned for pictures.
-I really like seeing all of the Jewish families in my neighborhood. Such nice people.

Here are some not so good goings-on:

-Doing my hair is absolutely pointless. It gets blown to smithereens every day by my friend the wind and it's humid enough that is just gets wavey in lots of places and I look like a freakshow. My hair is in a ponytail right now. Not attractive.
-I got put in the top orchestra for the next rotation, which means I get to play in the Kennedy Center in D.C. on November 2nd. There are a lot of other reeeeeeally good players who deserve to be in my seat. And they know it. I started to explain this to my sister today and she was like, "And you don't think you're good enough, and you think they're better than you, and you're worried, and you're going to be fine so let's just pretend we already had this conversation, okay? Okay." She knows me too well. Okay.
-I am not happy with my current exercise situation. This needs to change.
-Practicing in completely dead practice rooms unless I get the room with the sound manipulater thing really stinks. It makes me depressed about how crappy I sound and makes me want to never practice.
-I don't deal well with drama. I always say that, but in the back of my mind I'm just thinking, "Maybe I'm drama and I don't even know it."
-Transportation will be the bane of my existence for a long time. I'm working on an attitude adjustment. P.S. I ran to Target last week. Ran there. I am an idiot. Don't run to Target and then plan on actually going in, because the whole time you are inside you feel like everyone is avoiding walking around you because you smell bad and you can't even try on clothes because you're sweaty. Sometimes I am not very smart.

This post was supposed to be a lot cooler than it was.