A whirlwind of emotions in a short time.

Last week/weekend was definitely a whirlwind of emotions for me to say the least. On Monday, I had my dental appointment and things are looking great. I did schedule to have all four of my wisdom teeth pulled on Wednesday. Needless to say, I won’t be working that day and maybe even the day after. I was told that they’ll knock me out cold and I’ll need to have someone drive me home which will be A OK in my books. Later that night, I got a call from John and I knew right off the bat it was not going to be good news because the first thing he told me to do was to make sure I was sitting down. He then proceeded to share with me the news that Sr. Carola had died. He got a call from her niece telling him that she found her in her apartment. I guess she died from a massive heart attack. I was shocked beyond belief. We had planned on going to the Live at the Opera on Saturday afternoon to watch, Hamlet. All of us were looking forward to it. I had a tough time sleeping that night.

On Wednesday, Anna and I had dinner with a couple who belong to the young adults, but have not been able to make it to the dinners because they have a baby who is now close to five months old. She’s adorable and it was good to catch up with them. Olivia had grown a lot since the last time I saw her with Joe and Melissa carrying her to church. Carola’s visitation started at 4PM on Thursday. I went to the church right after work and at that time, there were few people which was nice because I got to speak to the family. We all shared stories about her, and how we both thought the world of each other. Evidently, around her circle of friends, they all knew me as the computer or technology guy because when it came to either, they knew I was the one she would call. She looked real peaceful when I saw her body and I definitely felt sad, but did OK. I lost it when I went up to Marilyn, her sister who told me that she was with Carola when she got our wedding present. It does not surprise me one bit that Carola had already gotten our wedding present. Marilyn also shared how much Carola just loved me and loved spending time with me. She said that Carola was exhilarated when she found out that Anna and I were engaged and that she was definitely looking forward to our wedding this summer. Needless to say, she’ll be there with all of us in spirit. Anna and I left at the same time, I had a young adults dinner to attend while she had to go to rehearsals.

Friday was really tough on me. I went into the office first before leaving with more than ample time to spare for the funeral Mass. I saved a seat for both Anna and Kristi. John did a beautiful job with the Mass and there were around twenty vested priests in attendance and no less than five priest sitting with the congregation. Carola would have been touched. The music was beautiful and all in all everything was immaculate. She touched many, many lives over the years and by looking at the people who were in attendance we all knew what a special person she was. A good number of sisters from her community came to the service and they too were sad and shocked by Carola’s death. After the funeral Mass, Kristi and I went to the cemetery for the site service. Anna had to go back to school after moving a number of classes around so she could go to the Mass. At the cemetery, while John was saying the prayers, a number of us could hear some birds chirping in the background and we all knew deep down that it was Carola. Once that service was done, I went back to the office because none of the administrative assistants were there that day so I needed to pinch hit for them. That night, Anna and I went to a murder mystery dinner put on by the drama students of her high school. It was a fundraiser for the drama program. I did not know if I was feeling up to it, but in the end, was glad I went. I laughed a lot and that was really what I needed. The students did a fine job and their teacher was more than proud of them. It dawned on me later that the reason why I was really hit by Carola’s death is because since I came to the US, this is by far the most significant death I’ve ever experienced and it hurt tremendously. Carola was a wonderful and giving individual, you can’t help but love her. I’m just honored that I got to know her on a personal level. She will be missed a whole lot.

Saturday was a pretty lazy day to say the least. Anna was not too pumped about going to the Opera so we ended up not going. We did get a bunch more of wedding stuff done which was cool. We also visited a friend of Anna’s who gave birth to a baby girl a couple of weeks ago. That night, we did go to the DM Symphony performance and it was a stellar performance. The music was outstanding and the soloist did a marvelous job. What a great way to enjoy the evening? Oh, I should also say that Carola was to join us at the symphony because we had a certificate for two free concerts and this was one of the free ones she chose. Someone from church who knows Carola well happens to play with the DM Symphony said that she will be dedicating the entire night’s performance in her honor. We met up with some friends at a bar close to home for a little night cap.

Anna and I were off to Minneapolis by 7:45AM to make sure we would be able to meet Arani and her husband, Abe for dim sum at 11AM. The dim sum was good and I’m glad I got to take care of my cravings! Anna and I invited Arani and Abe to the wedding and it’ll be great if they make it. After Dim Sum, we met up with Heidi and Mark at Costco because they needed to get more baby wipes for Mikey. Boy, it’s been a long time since I saw him and boy, has he grown. He’s definitely a lot more active now and has his own personality. It was a blast just spending time with him. I got to hold him for a period of time and he’s just a cute baby. I can see why Anna wants to spend as much with him as possible. We pretty much hung around the house just letting Mikey entertain us before Anna and I headed to St. Paul for the concert. I wanted to make sure we were downtown with more than enough time to spare. We had a good two hours to spare and had dinner at an Italian restaurant within walking distance to the arena where the concert was going to take place. The opening act, Naturally 7 was amazing. They are what Anna called a contemporary Acappella group specializing in Vocal Play. That basically means they use their voices to make sounds like someone is playing an instrument. Trust me, they were out of this world. They had a concert in Ames not too long ago, but we could not make it. A couple of people we knew made it to the concert and just raved about them. I’m glad we got to see them live. What a way to get the crowd warmed up!

What can I saw about Michael Buble? Well, he’s definitely an amazing artist and has a voice that is unbelievable. He’s also an entertainer who knows how to please the crowd. Everyone who was there had a great time and he had a great rapport with the audience. All in all, I will say that this is definitely one of the best concerts I’ve ever attended. We both had a great time singing along and just enjoying the time at the concert. What a way to end the weekend in my books!

The coming weekend will be out of this world.

The week, and weekend was pretty darn quiet. Anna was gone for the entire week and I did not do a whole lot, but catch up on dvd watching! Anna got back on Saturday afternoon and we once again got to sing together at Mass. After that it was off to Brian’s for a post St. Patrick’s Day party. In many ways, it was a double party because a number of the people in attendance went to the University of Northern Iowa and their basketball team had just beaten the number one team in the country. Needless to say, everyone was jumping for joy. It was great to spend time with everyone, have some good food and conversation.

This week is one of those busy weeks for sure. We have something or another going on starting Wednesday night. We’ll be headed to a friend’s house for dinner and to see their baby girl. They are part of the young adults, but have not been able to make it to the dinners because of their baby. The husband, Joe was in the RCIA program too. It’ll be good to catch up with them. On Thursday, the young adults will have dinner at an Italian restaurant that has good and affordable food. We’re looking forward to it. I took Friday off from the restaurant because Anna and I will be going to a murder mystery dinner to benefit her high school’s drama program. I’ve heard a lot about these dinners before but have never made it to one. It should be a lot of fun. It’ll be a win-win situation for sure.

Saturday afternoon, Sr. Carola will be joining us at the movie theater where we’ll be watching the opera, “Hamlet” live in HD that’s streaming from THE Metropolitan Opera in NYC. The last time Carola and I went there, we were just blown away and Anna had made a comment that she wants to experience it. We’re all familiar with, “Hamlet” so it should be a pretty darn amazing experience to say the least. We’ll most likely head over to John’s church for Palm Sunday service. That night we have the symphony performance and they’ll be playing one of Anna’s favorite classical pieces, Rhapsody in Blue. The pianist is a world renown pianist named, Christopher O’Reilly. He has his own radio program and people in the US definitely know him.

We leave for the Twin Cities on Sunday morning for the Michael Buble concert that night. On the way to Heidi and Mark’s, we’ll have Dim Sum with my HELP friend, Arani and her husband. Arani has been craving Dim Sum and said we need to have it the next time I’m in the city. Heck yeah, I said! I’m not going to turn down Dim Sum for sure. The concert will be a lot of fun since we’re both huge fan of Michael. It was Anna’s Christmas present from me, and I know she’s pumped about it. I took Monday off from work, but I think she’s only going to be taking half a day off. We’ll be able to make it back on time.

Sounds like an interesting week and weekend ahead, eh?! Yes, it is.

Funking it with Faculty Lounge.

Overall, I have to say that it was a very quiet week and weekend. The week was really uneventful and there was really nothing of significance for me to write about.

On Saturday, Joel, Kevin and I met for our monthly guys’ brunch. Jim could not join us because he and Barb were off to St. Louis. Anna and I finalized more wedding stuff especially since she’ll be spending time in MSP with Heidi for a week. I believe the goal is for her to get all the invitations completed so the only thing that needs to be done is to drop if off in the mail. At Mass, we both cantored which was the first time we did it together. She’s cantored before, but I’ve never joined her. I figured since I was at Mass, I might as well join her. We definitely had fun.

After Mass, we grabbed a quick dinner and Brian met us at the restaurant. Anna had to leave to help set up for the band’s gig later that night while Brian and I caught up. It’s been quite some time since I’ve chatted with Brian so that was really nice. He dropped me off at the bar where the band was playing and joined up with me later on. I had sent an invitation out to a number of people, but no one except for Brian showed up. It was a fun and relaxing night for sure and all of us had a great time.

Sunday was not too busy. We lost an hour of sleep because of the Daylight’s Saving time. I worked at Paradise and we were surprisingly busy for dinner. There was a group of thirteen that came in just as I got done with a group from a condo association. In that thirteen, there were five six adults and seven kids. Cute kids for sure. I usually leave earlier than my scheduled hour because Sunday tends to be slow, but this time I actually stayed later to help the other server out. It was her first week of working at Paradise and she did fine. She’s worked at different restaurants before and was looking for a change in scenery after moving back to Iowa.

That’s pretty much how things went for me. I’m a “bachelor” this whole week again and really do not know what I’ll be doing. Nothing major planed, really. We’ll see how it goes.

Definitely a movie weekend.

Well, it was definitely a movie weekend for sure. I watched the movie, Brooklyn’s Finest, Blind Side and Alice in Wonderland. Blind Side was such a heart warming movie for sure and I can see why Sandra Bullock won the Oscar. Brooklyn’s Finest was gritty and I told a number of people that if they liked Training Day, they’ll most likely enjoy Brooklyn. Alice in Wonderland was very much a Tim Burton movie for sure. If you like his stuff, you’ll like it. I personally would not bring kids to it because it’s a little dark and can be a creepy. Oh, I should say that I had to ask two kids – they were not even ten years old to turn their cell phone off during the movie. Can you believe that? Where in the world is common courtesy? Parents are not teaching their kids manners and I think it’s downright sad.

I went to the jeweler on Thursday because one of the small diamonds on Anna’s ring fell off. This time she managed to find the ring. While there, Mikell, my jeweler and I talked about wedding band for Anna and me. I’ve pretty much shown chosen the design for my wedding band and he’ll get back to me with a price for a palladium and white gold. I’m leaning towards palladium. He has an idea of what Anna’s band is going to look like, but we’re waiting to get a photo of it so we can all see it.

I was supposed to work at 4PM on Saturday, but instead went in at 2:30PM because I got a call from the server telling me that he was not feeling well and asked if I could come in early to cover his shift. Why not? I later found out that he actually was late coming into work and one of the owners was already at the restaurant. Needless to say, that did not sit well with him. He also came in hung over and was throwing up in the bathroom. Dumb, right? The things people do never cease to amaze me. Oh well, I think he already put in his two weeks because he was looking to work at another restaurant where he’ll be making more money and tips.

Anna got back from the Twin Cities on Sunday and we went out for dinner last night. She’ll be headed up there again next Sunday to spend her spring break. She definitely loves spending time with Mikey and told me lots of stories about him while she was up there. I can’t wait to see him in two weeks time.

That’s all the news from me.

Vocal Jazz Concert

What a weekend I had!

On Wednesday, Anna and I went to the play, “August: Osage County”. It was a very powerful play and I can see why it won the Pulitzer price for Drama and play. Prior to the play, we had dinner at Alba Restaurant. We had every intention of going to the Japanese restaurant for dinner since we’ve not had sushi in such a long time. So, we ended up going around the corner to Alba Restaurant. This was the restaurant that we both fell in love the last time we had dinner. This time, I had a seven course meal and the chef/owner was more than happy to provide that for me. Anna came later because she had her high school musical practice that went longer. So, I started with three courses first. All in all, the meal was just wonderful and the best part, it cost $45 only. What a steal!

Joel and I went to a classical concert by the group called Poulenc Trio. What a wonderful classical concert. The members played a piano, oboe and bassoon. How cool! It was such a great way to spend the evening. Anna did not have tickets to this concert so she ended up staying home. The next day, she had to be at school at 8AM to help with a performance. She was the accompanist. I went to a program that Fr. Jim led talking about the book of Psalms. There were close to thirty people and all of them were from St. Kate’s. What a fun morning just learning more about the book of Psalms! Anna was not feeling well on Thursday and till today is still not feeling the best. So, when I got back, she was resting.

Later that evening, we had tickets to go to a vocal jazz concert at a community college. Anna was not up to it so I invited Sr. Carola to join me. The drive to the college was close to an hour and a half which was not too bad. It helped that I had someone going there with me. The two groups that performed were Rajaton and M-Pact. They were outstanding. Carola had never heard that type of genre of performance before and she was more than impressed. By the time I got home, it was close to 12:30AM which was not a problem.

Sunday was the benefit concert for Haiti, and I left the restaurant at 5:30PM in time to make it for the start of the benefit. Anna’s band was the first to get things started. Each band played for 45 minutes. By the time we left not too long after he band was done, I would say there were close to 250 people. Right there, it would have been $2,500 donated to Haiti. We would have stayed longer, but Anna was/is still under the weather. She’ll be leaving for Minneapolis to attend a conference starting on Wednesday till Friday. I’m sure she’ll make it there even if she’s not feeling the best. She wants to go so she can see Mikey.

That’s all from me.