Life and loss…

One of my goals this year has been to continue working on my health and weight. At the beginning of 2012 I had lost 40 pounds. Now, a month and a half later, I have lost another 7 pounds.

Back in January of 2010 I decided that I needed to change my life. Why? Well, it had to do with men… Ok, not the way you are thinking… I was jamming with some friends and one of them decided to weigh himself. It turns out that he weighed less than me, and he is not a small man. Then, at a rehearsal with some other guys, one decided to sit on the hearth at his house. I watched him sit down and thought, “I’d like to be able to sit on something that low that easily!” Here I was feeling envious of two guys…

So, January of 2010 I decided that I was too young to feel as old as I did. The floor was getting further away, as were my feet! I do not claim to be any sort of expert, but here is what has worked for me.

I decided not to join a gym or any sort of program that would tell me what to eat. I pretty much knew what I was doing that was bad for me… I’ve got to say, I enjoyed it too! I enjoyed the late night eating, the snacking, the sweet, the salt! It was all really tasty!

My goals are to eat much better. I always eat better when I am busy, which I know seems counter-intuitive. When I am teaching I make sure to cook food ahead that I pack away in meal sized servings. There is no option of going back for seconds. Also, when I am teaching, I am not wandering around the house eating whatever I can find. Once I eat the food I bring along, I am done. Other things I am trying to do is only eat fruit and vegetables between meals. That is, of course, never what I desire! My other big rule is not eating after 8:30pm. I know that some people say that time should be earlier, but with my life, 8:30pm seems to be working. Last thing is that I have been trying to drink more water.

The other thing that I have been doing to try to improve my health is exercise. I have been walking 30 minutes a day and have also been doing some weight exercises off and on over the last couple of years. There seems to be disagreement about exercise and weight loss, but no matter what, it is good for my health to be active.

One thing I find interesting about this is that by now it is not all that hard. This is one of those times in my life when I am thinking “Why didn’t I do this sooner?” I have not given up any foods… I still eat pizza, ice cream, chips… I just don’t eat them as much or as often as before. I am not winning any sort of race for the speed at which I am losing weight, but my aim was to do it on my own terms, at my own speed, in a way that I thought I could maintain! I am not depriving myself, but am also trying not to binge too often!

I do feel much better now that I have lost a total of 47 pounds. I am certainly not at a point where I am going to stop trying to improve me health, but am delighted with the results so far! This is one of those things that I think is a life-long project.

Meet my idol

All of us have idols in our lives. People that we look up to in some way or another. My idol, as far as fiddling goes, is Alasdair Fraser.

Alasdair is a Scottish fiddler who now resides in California. He tours quite a lot, most recently with Natalie Haas, a cellist. I don’t remember when I first heard Alasdair, but have been able to see him perform many times, and have enjoyed it each time! One of my earliest memories of watching him perform was at the New Hampshire Highland Games at Loon Mountain.

So, why is this man my idol? It has all got to do with his tone. Various people like different things in fiddle music. For me, one of the big things that I listen for, and also aspire to, is a beautiful, singing tone. Alasdair has that tone!

There is no extraneous sound and no scratching! His sound is very clean. His playing also seems to be completely effortless.

One of the things that I have always loved about the Scottish and Irish styles of fiddling is the lilt to the music. The fast tunes are energetic and driving, but there is a swing to the music. A lilt that always brings a smile to my face!
Perhaps one of the reasons I have been drawn to Alasdair Fraser is that he is classically trained, as am I. This means that he has been trained to listen to his tone and has also trained to work on bow control. Sometimes you will hear people comment on a fiddler being classically trained as if it is a negative thing, but to me it seems to work well for Alasdair.

If you want to hear my idol in action, check out Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas in Boston on YouTube.

You can also visit his site at: www.AlasdairFraser.com

This is what I aspire to be and to sound like!

Never trust the quiet ones!

Just this past week I had a breakthrough with one of my private violin students.  Not only did she speak to me, but called me by name.  This is a child who had not spoken to me since she started lessons in September.

This is not the first time I have had a student who would not speak to me.  I had another who did not speak for about two years.  The thing I find interesting with quiet students is that often their parents try really hard to get them to talk to me.  I actually have no problem with non-speaking students.   I relate to these children!

When I was a child I was extremely shy.  I did not speak to my teachers unless it was absolutely necessary, certainly did not talk to my neighbours, and often managed to get my teachers to let me stay inside during recess.  This was my public face.  At home I was a talkative, bubbly child.  It was always a surprise to my friends to come over to my house and see me in my home environment.  My mom was telling me the other day that she thinks I was in junior high before I actually spoke to any of our neighbours.

With my students, I always try to give them the time and space to become comfortable with me and to start speaking on their own terms.  There has so far always come a time when the child has started speaking, in both cases calling me by name.  Even as a person who is shy by nature, it still surprised me, however I did my best not to react too much.  Nothing will make a shy child clam up more than someone making a big deal over him/her speaking!

I know that for some people who are more outgoing it is odd to run into someone who is not interested in speaking a whole lot.  With most children, it really is just a matter of time and comfort.  I went from being a very shy child to now being a musician and teacher.  I have been self-employed for at least 6 years now and have to be in communication with others all the time.  I love being on stage and in the spotlight.  You never know that a child will end up doing later in life!

A New Year!

I love this time of year.  Actually, I love many times of the year!  The thing I love about right now is that it is a chance to start over!  It is a chance to look at where you are and decide where you want to go.  I try not to get too much into the New Year’s resolution, but I certainly spend some time evaluating my life and looking at what I want to change.  So, what are my goals for this year?

Goal #1:  Continue working on improving my health.  I have lost 40 pounds since January of 2010.  The year 2011 was a hard year as I lost weight, gained it back when my father died, lost weight again, and then gained weight at Christmas…  I think in 2011 that in the end I stayed the same weight.  I know that weight is not the best way to evaluate your health, but for me a number is something to work with…  No set goals, but I want to continue on my path of improving…

Goal #2:  Perform the cello in public.  I have been taking cello lesson for two years now and have only played in public at student recitals and the Fredericton Music Festival.  I think it will soon be time to take it public!

Goal #3:  Give back to my community more.  I am really lucky to be able to be a professional musician.  It is a lot of work, but I feel like I am lucky to be able to work for myself doing something that I love!  I really can’t imagine working a day job now.  I quit my last day job in 2005…  I do feel though like I take a lot and don’t give back as much…  I feel like I am always asking people to buy my CD, pay money to come see me perform…  I have a project in mind for giving back, so more will come of this later!

Goal #4:  Become more proactive in all of my business so that I can deal with everything in a timely manner and not end up always being reactive and working in a panic.  I have been working on returning phone calls and e-mails more promptly yet feel there is still room for improvement.

Goal #5:  Record and release a CD of Christmas music.

Goal #6:  Start a series of intimate concerts in the style of house concerts.  Keep posted for the first concert in February!

There are many more goals I am sure, but this is what has come to mind for now.  Hopefully I will accomplish some of these goals.  They are all achievable, so now to work!

The Year That Was…

Skip Holmes and Katherine Moller at the ECMAs in Charlottetown PEI

At this time of year everywhere that you look there are stories of “The Year that Was”, the year in photos, the stories that got covered by the media, the stories that should have been covered. So, in that spirit, I thought I would write up a blog on 2011 and what happened in my life.

Let’s start with the highlights! The year started off with a bang as I was chosen to showcase at the ECMAs. The actual event took place in April in Charlottetown, PEI and was excellent. Another big highlight was being nominated for two awards at the Music NB Awards: Female Recording Artist of the year and Educator of the year.

Sadly, also on my list of all things exciting has been getting an iPhone. It is embarrassing how much I like my phone. Those who know me and work with me love my iPhone as it has actually made it so that you can reach me. It has made my life much easier!

Always a highlight for me is going on the band trip. I run the string ensemble at Leo Hayes High School and each year we go on a trip. This past year the trip was to Montreal and was excellent! I went to university at McGill so it was like going home in a way. I get at least as excited as the kids about going on these trips. Other than the school trip, it was a quite year as far as travelling goes. I went to Maine to visit family and also went to Cape Breton to meet up with my bother and his clan.

Teaching has gone very well this past year. I guess one of the biggest highlights in that realm has been starting a string programme at Park St. Elementary School. This is actually the school where I started playing the violin all of those years ago! We had over 40 kids in the programme and put on a concert at the end of the school year with a full orchestra including all the kids in the band programme and string programme. It was quite a sight to see!

As far as disappointments go, my second CD was not nominated for an ECMA and I did not win either of the awards at the Music NB Awards. I had also applied to Contact East for a showcase and was not chosen. I must say though that these pale in comparison with the death of my father. My father passed away in August, and that put a damper on the rest of the summer. As with all things though, there is always a silver lining! It was amazing to see the turn out at his memorial and it was great to have been able to go on one final vacation together!

All in all, I would say that 2011 was a great year! You can’t have life being all positive… We all need a few disappointments in our lives to keep it all in balance! I however do chose to focus on the good that has occurred. I hope that you have all experienced a wonderful year as well!

One of the many reasons why I love this time of year…

I happen to love this time of year.  I know, it is full of ridiculous commercialism andpeople are running around like crazy.  The parking lots are full and there are always lots of accidents at the time of year as everyone rushes without really paying attention to what they are doing, but I still love it!  One of the many reasons is how nice it is to teach my students right now.  You might think that I would get tired of hearing Silent Night every year, but really, I don’t.

So why do I love teaching Christmas music?  Well, my students always get excited when we start.  I have a rule in my studio that we don’t start working on Christmas music until after Halloween.  This is to help maintain my sanity, but also to build excitement.  Kids love Christmas music and are always excited to play music that they have heard all of their lives.  They love playing music that their family immediately recognizes as well.  Often they are looking forward to playing for their extended family when they visit over the holidays.  That is one of the many joys of this time of year!

I also love teaching Christmas music because my students learn it really quickly.  It is amazing the progress that they are able to make during this time of year.  I try to balance music that they like with music that will help to develop their skill.  I am a great believer in being able to read music, so I do get my students to play music that they don’t hear all the time.  This means that when Christmas comes, they have the added bonus of having heard the music their whole lives, so they are able to learn it much quicker.  That is satisfying for them, their parents and for me!  I do love this time of year!

Cape Breton

Well, traveling with me is never dull…  Sadly for my husband.  I think that he would enjoy a nice quiet trip where everything went as planned!  That never quite seems to happen.  Although, I have to admit that I do cause some of the trouble that occurs!

We headed down to Cape Breton for a really quick trip to deliver my mother and meet up with my brother and his family.  Mom then continued her journey with my brother and family.  I kept meaning to book a hotel room for me and Kim, but would only think of it as I was running late, or when I was not near a phone or computer…  Finally, the day before we were to leave, my mother offered to  make arrangements.  She booked a hotel room for us in Port Hastings.  She and my brother were staying in Port Hawkesbury, just down the road.  

The drive to Cape Breton was lovely and uneventful, but once we arrived, we headed confidently to our hotel.  There was no reservation.  The very unhelpful lady at the front desk wanted to know if we were sure that we had reserved there and not at another hotel, which apparently is connected to them.  Mom had accidentally ended up booking through Hotels.com.  She had phoned what she thought was the phone number for the actual hotel, and ended up talking to someone at a call centre.  Our reservation confirmation did have the name and the address of the hotel where we were at that moment standing, but no room had been reserved.  The lady at the desk called their sister hotel to see if we were booked there, but no luck either.  We had wanted a room with a queen size bed, but all of those rooms were already booked, so off we went to look for somewhere to stay.

Our first stop was at the sister hotel, but we did not even make it into the office…  The place was dark except for the office, and really just had a closed down look to it.  It was probably fine, but I don’t get the creeps often about hotels (we have stayed in some jems!) so when I do, we tend to move on.  We decided to stop in to the hotel where Mom and my brother were staying to see if they had space.  The same call centre that supposedly booked us a room had said that this hotel was full, so we figured they might be wrong about that too…  Turns out they weren’t.  We drove a bit longer before returning to our first hotel and booking a double room.

Through all of this, my brother, his wife and kids were at a concert.  They got out of the concert at about 11pm and went to their hotel to check in.  They had two rooms with two double beds each booked…  or so they thought.  Turns out that they only had one room with two queen size beds, and 5 people to accommodate.  My brother came to our hotel to share the news with us.  Our room only had one double bed, so that was not much help.  My mom went to find out if we could move to another room with two double beds.  We were told that we would have to pay for the one we were in (which I understand) as well as a new room should we move.  My mom felt that if we straightened the bed that the room would be as good as new…  There was a thick film of dust on the TV screen (and probably everywhere else too, but it was obvious there) and the carpet looked as if it had not been cleaned in a while either.  According to our “reservation” we were staying in deluxe, one star accommodations…  In the end, we did managed to get a cot for my mother so she could sleep in our room and my brother and his clan could sleep at the other hotel.  

We still don’t know if Mom’s credit card has been charged for the room that did not exist…  We will find out soon enough I guess.  It was an adventure though.  Kim assures me that from now on he will be booking our accommodations as I tend to leave things to the last minute, and Mom somehow managed to make a reservation without an actual room!

Kim and I love going to Cape Breton, but we wonder if it is meant to be…  The first trip we took Kim ended up with pneumonia, on our honeymoon we missed a call from our hosts telling us that they would not be there and that we should just move in, so we almost called the police thinking that they might be injured somewhere in their house, and this time, despite our efforts, we almost ended up with nowhere to sleep…  Never a dull moment!