Category Archives: Daily life

Kombucha Goodness

Posted on by mariannedecher

Hey y’all,

Being the southern gal that I am, I will just plum chat it up with anyone. I saw a couple at Whole Foods this morning eyeing the Kombucha bottles. (It’s a fermented “tea”; one that I make at home when I’m not in lazy or super busy mode). Welllll – I seized the opportunity to tell them about this wonderful drink. It has probiotics and B vitamins. It’s energizing and calming at the same time. And you almost certainly won’t like it the first time you drink it. But then it GROWS on ya. Yum, yum, yum.

This morning, I had a PT appt at 7:45am. Something just not quite right about that early hour. Today is music class, then music practice for when I play in the hospital again on the 21st, and Kindermusik prep for my 3rd practicum class on Tuesday. Tonight, we’re going to a lecture on DNA stuff. You know – stuff about DNA. 🙂

Happy day y’all. Have some Kombucha!

Seaweed soup and a music joke

Posted on by mariannedecher

I just love eclectic, mish-mash topics. It’s how my brain works.

Homemade miso soup with wakame seaweed and carrots. And blueberries. Breakfast of champions!!

Homemade miso soup with wakame seaweed and carrots. And blueberries. Breakfast of champions!!

Yum, yum, yum! Don’t think I’m supposed to be eating soy but so far, it’s going over just fine.

And now for a music joke. It was passed along through several people so I don’t know whom to credit. It’s really clever. Enjoy.

 C, E-flat, and G go into a bar. The bartender says, “Sorry, but we don’t serve minors.” So E-flat leaves, and C and G have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished, and G is out flat. F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough. D comes in and heads for the bathroom, saying, “Excuse me; I’ll just be a second.” Then A comes in, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor. Then the bartender notices B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and says, “Get out! You’re the seventh minor I’ve found in this bar tonight.” E-flat comes back the next night in a three-piece suit with nicely shined shoes. The bartender says, “You’re looking sharp tonight. Come on in, this could be a major development.” Sure enough, E-flat soon takes off his suit and everything else, and is au natural. Eventually C sobers up and realizes in horror that he’s under a rest. C is brought to trial, found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of D.S. without Coda at an upscale correctional facility.

Ahhhhh…

Posted on by mariannedecher

  

Life goes better with Thomas the Tank Engine!

Life goes better with Thomas the Tank Engine!

  

Minnie Mouse saying, "Hurry back now, y'hear?"

Minnie Mouse saying, “Hurry back now, y’hear?”

  We’re in LA, where I attended a fabulous Kindermusik conference. The rest of the  time, we’ve been visiting with Teresa and enjoying the amazing weather!!! If it wasn’t so crowded here, I’m pretty certain I would not go back to the Portland gray.

Angels Amongst Us

Posted on by mariannedecher

Today was one of those rare, high pain, flare-up, run for the Vicodin type of days, which hasn’t happened much at all since last summer. But my ever fabulous, super PT, Dan, happened to have an opening and then spent the better part of 2 hours soothing all my Humpty Dumpty kaputness, which I think was equal sqooshed spirit and misaligned body parts.

He gave me the million dollar, “what’s wrong with me in a nutshell”, line – I have “autogenic inhibition of the transverse abdominus mediated by sacral torsion” – something like that. It means that my abs are very inhibited because they’ve gotten so out of shape over the years and my sacrum is torqued because it’s an automatic and not a stick shift – you know, transversely speaking.  🙂

I had planned on meeting two of my buddies, with whom I used to interpret, at 4pm. After finding out about the last minute PT opening, I moved our get together till 4:30. I didn’t get out of my appt until almost 5pm, way across town, and then called them. “I’m sooo sorry. If you’ve already eaten or want to leave, I totally understand”. “No way. We’re waiting for you”. After catching up on each others’ lives, I told them how I’m transitioning from having interpreted for Deaf adults to soon teaching music to young children. They both said how I had been good at interpreting and how they used to request from our boss the opp to work with me. When I came home, I burst out in tears recounting the story to Pete. I *mattered* and I used to be good at the field that I didn’t ask to give up. After much chatter on my part, Pete kindly measured out my super meds because I was too seized up to figure the correct dosage.

Another good thing that happened today is that while my niece thinks she had a miscarriage recently because of excessive bleeding, it MAY turn out that she didn’t lose the baby after all. She finds out on Wed. And to top it all off, my parents celebrated 57 years of marriage today. How many people can say that – as the celebrators or as an abdominally inhibited, sacral-mediated tortoise daughter of wedded bliss co-celebrants??? (I TOLD you I was a skilled interpreter – bwhahaha). From bereft to blessed via good, kind, caring peeps – and sometimes Vicodin is just part of the equation.

Doing the Insomnia Waltz

Posted on by mariannedecher

Woop woop. It’s 3am and I’m not asleep. Not that I don’t want to be. Creativity abounds as I gear up to promote my mom’s TWO books. Hello!! How many authors do you know who have written their memoir in their non-native, second language and then written the virtual equivalent and had it published in Germany? I bet you can’t name a single one other than – drum roll – MY MOM! 🙂 Stay tuned. More details to come.

I also have  10,351 ideas on how to get my small business up and running. Visions of the business growing so fast that I can’t manage it all collide with, “Oh wait – I don’t actually have any people yet! I’m still in training. I need families for my practicum”. I’m doing a 180 career change, at the tender age of 51 no less, from having interpreted for Deaf adults to teaching music to kids under the age of 7 (and their families)! I’m excited. Head, shoulders, knees and toes!! *Bursts forth in gleeful singing*

Then there are my many musical instruments, my writing, some of my exercise and my new camera that are feeling abandoned. “I’ll get back to you kiddos. Hang tight”

I’m talking to inanimate objects at 3am.

Head, shoulders, knees and toes – Go To Sleep! Head, shoulders, knees and …zzzzz

Wow, my hair is short. It's not really 3am. Oh wait - that's not really me :)

Wow, my hair is short. It’s not really 3am. Oh wait – that’s not really me 🙂

New Year’s Day, Yipee Yai Yay

Posted on by mariannedecher

It’s a rare day of sunshine in Oregon! Now if I could just crank up the outdoor temps by about 40 or 50 degrees, it would be…ahhhh. Throw in some palm trees and sand, and you wouldn’t see me indoors again. (You’d never know that a few years ago I was an avid skier and snowboarder. Like dude – cold urticaria happened).

Just a few shots below with my iPhone and once again, no glasses. I wonder how the pix would turn out if I took along the fancy-pants camera and some prescription eyeball wear?

A case of "Beriberi"

A case of “Beriberi”

Branching out in the sun

Branching out in the sun

Holiday Happenings

Posted on by mariannedecher

Hey y’all!

It was a splendid Christmas this year with Teresa and Kholi here, visiting for a week. They are the world’s easiest guests and so fun to be with. Teresa is now, after a 25+ hour trip from LA, in Western Australia in 99 degree weather. She SO should have taken her mama along 🙂

I’m up to my eyeballs in Kindermusik training. While I’m enjoying learning so much, I’m really ready to be singing, dancing and having fun with the kids and their caregivers. The holidays have put a bit of a detour into the works with getting the practicum set up and the contract signed with the church for the room rental. But after a few more weeks of study, getting licensed, getting my business name, advertising like a wild woman etc etc etc, the new journey will finally begin! At that point, I will start yet another blog for the business to keep the parents and general public informed of scheds and such (but will still maintain this one as well).

From Kindermusik International. A sweet look at what Kindermusik is all about.

 

As this year winds down, I’d like to wish everyone a healthy, happy, FUN, adventurous and musical New Year!

 

S.A.D.

Posted on by mariannedecher

Just a friendly shout out to all you who deal with Seasonal Affect Disorder. I’m looking for some compadres who feel like an overwatered, under-lighted mushroom in daily life.

I know and practice as many of the coping techniques as possible – the “happy lamp”, exercise, sauna, Vitamin D, etc. etc. and some more etc. I’m looking for people who finally threw in the towel and moved – or who somehow found a way to stay in their current location. (I know that moving is not always an option). Are you in a significant relationship where the other person is HAPPY (how do they DO that??) in the gray and rain but you can’t even function? 20 karma points for any personal stories. Thanks in advance. May the Light and the palm trees be with you!

Does this stalk make me look fat?

Does this stalk make me look fat?