Catching up on the past 7 months...
It's time to bring everyone up to speed on the past SEVEN months. My last post was dedicated to my sweet turtle, Ernest, and I didn't really feel like getting into too much else at that time. Well, it's a month later (how did that happen?), so I feel like I'm due to catch you up (all three of you who actually read this) on what's been going on in Sarah's world.
I guess I'll start from where I left off in March...
Ernest's obvious health descent started shortly after my crochet injury blog post. I took him to the vet with what I thought was shell rot - something pretty common in turtles and
generally not a big deal (and definitely treatable). What we found out was that his earliest days prior to coming to us when he was living in a bucket of dirt and pretty much ignored, likely laid a pretty rickety foundation for his future health. The vet said that turtles don't do anything fast, including getting sick and once figuring out they're sick, getting well. Anyway, when we took him in back in March, she removed a portion of his shell that was infected so he had the best chance of survival and recovery. The photo here is of when he came back that day. Eric says it looks like he's not wearing any pants - which, I think is accurate, and once you see it, is very difficult to unsee...
My goal is to give him the best life possible for as long as he is with us. Here are a few photos of him over the past seven months:
While I'm not a huge fan of online/virtual meetings and events (or much of anything that could be done in person), there were a couple cool things that happened this past spring.
First, last fall and winter I wrote and video recorded a course for the Switzerland-based hospitality school, "hotel.school." It was a true honor to be asked to do this and while it took a ridiculous number of hours for me to plan, write, edit, and record, it was finally produced and released this spring! The first two photos below are of me taking my own course (I only got a couple of my test questions wrong...).
A second fun, online activity in which I was honored to participate was judging Virginia All State Choir auditions (third photo above). I would have also usually been judging sight-singing around this time of year for District 13, but it was put on hold... Anyway, judging choral auditions from my desk was weird, but it worked. Hoping for in-person in 2022!
I've been singing a bit more with Eric and his crew... They're always so nice to let me try to hang with them. They're all so ridiculously talented, which can be pretty intimidating, but I'm honored they let me join periodically. Here's a photo of us this spring at Early Mountain Vineyards in Madison.
I celebrated my 46th birthday on March 29th. It was a wonderful weekend of music (Eric played with the Chickenhead Blues Band on the 28th) and friends. I'm so grateful for all the love I have in my life. And my baby girl gave me the most thoughtful, beautiful gift... Check out that gorgeous Coach bag!
I know how fortunate I am to have my beautiful daughter still living in the same town as me! While I don't see her as often as I'd like (every day), we do manage to get together regularly. These meetings are good for my heart and soul. I will never take the geographic nearness for granted...
As alluded to in my last post, we now have TWO canoes. One for each of us! Well, not really, but we do have two canoes. Earlier this spring, we bought an inexpensive canoe as canoeing is something Eric and I both love and have missed since being in Virginia. We also had plans to go camping/fishing with friends and so it seemed like the perfect time to just get a canoe and start doing what we love!
Then when we went home to Minnesota this summer, we picked up Eric's old canoe that he'd always planned on bringing to Virginia at some point, so now we have both. We have entertained selling one, but we haven't brought ourselves to do that yet. Here are some photos of our canoe excursions since May...
My crochet obsession is still going strong. I've kept up with my 6 large projects that I've been working on since the beginning of the year (I have to work a little of them each day through the year to complete them) and have managed a few other "fun" things: