Out & About – Page 3 – Benford's Musings

Ticket to Ride

I was thinking about trying to do some traveling this summer but I’m thinking against it now. It seems like it’s going to cost way too much to fly anywhere, especially if there’s any car rental associated with where ever it might be I travel to.

Last summer, I did some reorganization of my finances and I’m doing much better on saving money but I can’t just go spend it as soon as I have a little bit saved up. Not the most responsible thing to do with money. I have to save up so I’m not going into grad school flat broke.

Anyways, back to the point – I’m not doing any long distance traveling this summer. I am thinking about going to Six Flags or the beach or something, though. I think I can manage that. I am, however, considering purchasing a second vehicle that could save me some money – a motorcycle or scooter. I’m actually leaning towards a scooter with some power. I still have to do some research on what’s a good deal but I’m looking at the Suzuki Burgman 400 or 650. To your right, you see the 2008 Burgman 650. Yes, I understand I just said I’m looking at saving money and yet I contradict myself by talking about a new major purchase. But I’m thinking that I can save quite a bit of money in gas by purchasing something that has good gas mileage and a small tank for my daily driving. I’ve also considered a Vespa or something electric like it to save on gas completely. I also don’t know what license (if any) I need for a scooter. Again, more research is necessary. Any input is always welcome.

So, that’s it for now. I’ll keep driving the Mario Kart cycles and scooters until I can get one of my own. For all I know, this is just a whim and I won’t follow through with it. I do love my Honda!

All I’ve Got To Do

I haven’t blogged much aside from the garden lately. There actually have been a few more things going on besides my lovely little garden, believe it or not. The time frame of it all escapes me a little bit so I’m just going to talk about stuff, not actually put it in any sort of time line today.

My friend Kelly came into town and we met for dinner at PF Changs. It was very yummy (as always) and he and I had some good conversation (as always). He was going to stay with Ana so we were all going to meet that weekend at Austin’s Crawfish Fest downtown. Since this fest became conversation with other friends as well, Monica & I decided to go together and meet the rest of the folks who were talking about going as well. The entertainment was a lot of fun but unfortunately, we only “met up” with Sarah and her boyfriend Raz as they were getting there and we were leaving. Interestingly enough, we bumped into some band director friends of mine from RRISD so we hung out with them. We could have gotten quite a few good pics but because we seemed to be eating or drinking something (all very yummy) at any given moment, we only got in a self picture of our crawfish faces.

My dad skated a half marathon in the 2008 Round Rock Road Rash. He’s skated it before but this was the first time my sister and I were able to go watch and it was GREAT fun! The announcer was stupid cheesy but we cheered on everybody that was out there to have a good time (the pros didn’t look like they were paying attention…yes, inline skating professionals). He skated in the 60+ age group but I’ll tell you, there is quite a bit of difference between a 61 year old and a 78 year old. I’m thinking they should probably create more age categories everytime they have that large of an age spread. Anywho, Inline Planet published an article about the race and my dad got a nice mention in it.

The oldest skater on the course was Peter Benford, 78, of Austin, TX. He skated the half marathon in 1:09:46. The youngest skater was Braeden Kenney, 5, of Aurora, TX, who skated about one lap on the 4.7 mile course.

The half marathon was about 3 laps around the neighborhood of the Dell Diamond. Here’s my dad on the approach of the end of lap #2.

I mowed the front yard so I wouldn’t get a silly notice from the silly homeowners association. I left the backyard alone because the cats love the little jungle that’s going on back there. I’m going to have to mow it pretty soon but it’s not completely out of control yet. Here’s Pfema, king of his backyard jungle:

Speaking of the backyard, the garden is doing well. I’ve got some new tomatoes and LOTS of peppers coming in. The cilantro shot up like a kid with a growth spurt this past week. We’re in week 5 now and if you want to see pictures, you’re more than welcome to go on over to my Flickr album on the garden to check them out. I love the picture of the brand new baby jalapeno coming in (okay, I can’t resist and must post that pic for ya).

So this is UIL week and my band performs tomorrow (Tuesday) at 3:00 in Georgetown. I’m really nervous because my kids have been working REALLY hard. This group is further along fundamentally and maturely than the past 3 years and I’d love for their scores to reflect their hard work in preparing this spring. Unfortunately, they are all almost freshmen or sophomores with still a need for a bit of hand holding so it’s all a matter of “which group” shows up tomorrow as to how we do. Regardless, Brian, Matt & I are really proud of them. I hate that I don’t always get to realize the fruits of my labor. Because I teach the third band, the ones that work the hardest always end up in higher bands after all the work I put in and I end up starting over with a whole new set of kids the next year. Yes, I know, I can see how they’ve matured musically in that higher group and if they participate in the Jazz Ensemble, I get to continue to work with them but my spring ensemble rarely sees those kids over again and it can be frustrating at times. Oh well, we’ll have a good time tomorrow making music and that’s what will count. I’ve really enjoyed my groups this year and I almost hate to see this year come to a close. Oh, while I’m mentioning end of year activities, put our Spring Concert on Monday, May 12 at 7pm at the RRISD PAC on your calendar. There will be some really fun music and an amazing guest artist that the Jazz Ensemble will be able work with there.

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thebigbenfors-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=1401323251&nou=1&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifrWith all that being said, I’m going to go continue to read my new book “The Last Lecture”. I think it was my colleague Paul that sent me the link to the Oprah episode about him but since I saw it, I’ve been hooked on knowing more about how he made his dreams a reality. He’s just such a real person that I think regardless of his cancer, I’d be fascinated with the adventures he’s had through his life and would want to know more. I got the book from Amazon.com the day it became available and read the first 65 pages in about an hour, and I’m not necessarily the fastest reader, either. I just couldn’t put it down. He’s an wonderful storyteller.

Have a wonderful rest of the week and if you’re in the Georgetown HS area on Tuesday, April 15 at 3:00 pm, come on by the PAC and listen. A real audience always helps the performance. 😉

Love you, mean it.
~C

What You’re Doing

I’ve just gotten through the halfway point through Spring Break 2008 and I have to report that it’s been very productive and fun!

I started out by going to an SPHS Girl’s Soccer game on Saturday morning. They played against Westwood at The Palace and after a slow start, did alright. Final score, tie 1-1.

On Sunday, I built my garden:

I can’t wait to eat my own veggies. I have 8 varieties of peppers, 2 types of tomatoes, some Japanese eggplant, arugula, fennel, sage, Greek oregano, cilantro, rosemary, green onion and garlic. Next to the garden box, you’ll see my compost pile. I’m feeling more and more organic every day!!

Thanks to Monica for her help in putting my garden together. That soil was HEAVY and I couldn’t have hauled and mixed it all up without her. After we were done gardening, we went to her friend Jeff’s for a BBQ. Yummy!!

Monday, I spent some time with my mom. We went to my favorite Chinese restaurant Hunan in South Austin for some noodles. I rarely get down there for them but when I do, OMG, they are magnificent!!

I’ve cleared out more of the garage and put more stuff in the “to be sold” stack. (no picture of the garage, sorry) I’ve laid out and have a nice little bit of lobster coloring that will quickly turn to tan. (no picture of tan lines, either)

On Tuesday night, we went out to go see Boombox, ATX. As always, it was a good concert.

Before we headed to Lucky Lounge for Boombox, we went to Whiskey Bar so I could try their creme brulee martini. She set the glass on fire. Very cool trick, I tell ya!