Music Teachers | Klassical Karen

I was in my third year of teaching when I decided that I needed more training.  My student load was increasing and my employer at the time, Gordie Brandt’s Music was getting more confident in my abilities.  Remember, my background was mostly music played on the organ and mostly pop/rock music.  But, things were changing.  Technology was changing.  The plinkety-plink piano’s of the past were now high tech with digital sounds and disk drives.  They were considerably cheaper than an organ with the same capabilities.  As the market changed more parents were enrolling their children for for piano lessons.

The course that I was taught was Technics, TMA, and later TriTone.  They published a course for organ and a pop keyboard version.  The music wasn’t all that different, yet I knew I needed more knowledge…..more than I could teach myself.  So I checked into some other teachers at the music school.  There was a new teacher, Karen Berard, who had just moved to the city.  She was very experienced and was a top notch teacher.  She taught in the next classroom and we soon hit it off.  

My first lesson with her was an eye opener.  There was so much technical stuff that I had missed out on with my previous teachers.  She drilled me relentlessly.  Sometimes, I think she must have wondered how I got to be a teacher without knowing these things.  I wondered too why anybody had faith in me. 

I don’t remember what my lesson day or time was.  I know that I had one hour lessons before we had to teach.  It was fun.  Karen had a way about her.  She was my age and was strict…..without being strict.  If I goofed up, she would laugh about it.  She was patient.  She was silly.  Karen turned out to be one of my best friends.  

I took my Grade 5 Royal Conservatory certificate with her, but because of her changing circumstances she was not able to teach me for Grade 6.  I was able to do part of my Grade 8 certificate with her.  What I really learned from her was so much more than the notes on the page or what a minor sixth interval sounds like.  It wasn’t perfection, but an attitude…...or a way to be Me and the teacher and the student all rolled into one.  What ever it was, she made me willing to practice like I’d never practiced before.  

We had the same battles.  Karen was not overweight by any means, but always worked hard to keep thin.  We would go walking together early in the morning at the Communiplex and then sometimes we wouldn’t!  Sometimes she would show up at my door and say “I don’t feel like walking today…..how about we go to Robin’s Donuts?”  She once confided in me that she had moved around so much over the past few years that she had never really had any good friends.  She said I was probably her closest friend.  

One night, I showed up for my lesson at her apartment.  Karen greeted me at the door and informed me that they had to move again.  This time to High River Alberta.  Her husband had either gotten a job there or was going to go to school there, I can’t exactly remember now.  Her mother was there helping her pack.  It was sad.  

I talked to her once after that on the phone.  Then a number of years later, I heard she bought a new piano from my employer and was living in Red Deer.  Then one time, when I worked retail, I actually saw her mom.  It was a weird circumstance.  She came into the store and we'd always input into the computer where the customer was from and she mentioned the same town Karen had been from and I said as I often do "oh I used to know someone from there named Karen Berard" and she informed me that not only was that her daughter but that she'd just dropped her off at the airport.  

I finished my Grade 8 certificate with another teacher.  But I didn’t take any formal lessons after that.  What I learned from Karen was far more valuable to me than a certificate.  Lot's of the things she did in her teaching I also do in my teaching to this day.  As for lessons, while I think about continued education from time to time I also think I am pretty successful just the way I am.  I've had a lot of good friends in my life but I haven’t had a friend like her since.  If I ever have the chance to talk to her again, I would definitely say “thank-you.” 

Diet is NOT a Christmas Word

Every day on my way to work I pass by a Tim Horton's.  I've noticed a sign advertising a new seasonal promotion but can't quite make out the phrasing.  So today I looked up the slogan online.  "There's Snowplace like Tims"  Cute.  Then I saw some of their holiday items...

Gingerbread Oat Latte 280 calories.

Candy Cane Hot Chocolate 390 calories

Gingerbread Chocolate Dream Donut 480 calories.

Holy smokes Batman.

Don't get me wrong - they look amazing, and you know what?  If you want one, then go for it.

It's coming on December, and this is the season where we are once again gathering and celebrating together.  There may be some pressure to look better than you have in a while.  I mean, during the whole pandemic some of us got a little loosy goosy with our dress codes.  Is Christmas really the time to decide to go on a diet?

No.  Absolutely not.  I am giving you permission to let yourself off the hook this holiday. 

This is the time of year where we bake all the cookies and family favourites and yes, I'm the weirdo scoping out all the shops for the best mince pies and while we are on that subject, why doesn't fruitcake have marzipan on it anymore?  Anyhow, when we're doing and making these things, why on earth would we tell ourselves we shouldn't have one or two?  We love them so much we only have them once a year?

Just because I'm giving myself permission and you as well, doesn't mean we can go hog wild and eat the box of chocolates stashed on the top shelf of the pantry which your husband probably doesn't know about.  What I am saying is that when we associate so many happy memories with food and especially Christmas food why would we not only restrict ourselves but make ourselves feel guilt over it.  The diet industry makes a load of money by telling us we should feel guilty over food, punish ourselves and that we should make resolutions and join whatever fad is happening.  Don't give them that power.

Me, taken December 2019

In case you don't know, and I'm assuming many do not, during the pandemic and summer of 2020 I decided to better myself.  I started with the app MyFitnessPal and recorded all my food choices in an effort to be healthier.  Within a month I'd lost 15 pounds.  When I realized what I was doing was working I wanted to make life long manageable changes, but I also knew that if I told myself I could never eat another cookie or brownie or whatever again then there was no point.  So, I gave myself permission to have those things but only if I stuck to the recommended servings.  So almost every evening since then I've had tea and 2 cookies.  Guess what?  I'm satisfied with those 2 cookies.  To date I've lost just under 90 pounds.

Me, taken November 28 2022

I'm not saying that works for everyone because it doesn't.  Boundaries are also important during this holiday season.  You stuffing yourself with your families cooking doesn't mean you love that family member more or less.  It's okay to say no, thank you.  We joke around about wearing our stretchy pants to Christmas dinner but it's so uncomfortable and many like me end up with bloated stomach aches afterwards too.  I once said something to the effect of, "yes I can let my pants out, but I can't let my stomach out" Everything in moderation but knowing when enough is enough is important too.

So don't start the diet now.  Remove that word from your life.  Who needs that negativity?  Spend the holidays making happy memories and by golly eat the donut and don't give it a second thought. 

Adventures in Dining

At the beginning of August I googled Saskatoon looking for some different restaurants to take Hubby for his birthday.  I found an excellent blog called Wonderlust and Words.  I found the name of two places to visit.  The Mardi Gras Grill and The Hollows.  Well that weekend of my Hubby's birthday was a long weekend and our timing was poor and it turned out that neither establishment was open.

Phooey.

We've driven by Mardi Gras Grill several times since then.  We've been checking to see if the parking lot is full.  But we somehow never found the time to stop.

Hubby took the day off work today.  He went out and about and attended to yard work while I did some chores inside.  Then around 3:30 pm I went outside and posed the question:  What do you want for supper OR would you like to go out for supper?  Out it was and off to Mardi Gras Grill we went.

It's located downtown on a busy street but the paid parking is ample.  It is housed in a building that was formerly a sports bar.  The outside has been painted and I'm sure the inside was renovated as well.  There are three photo paintings adorning the walls.  I over heard the waitress telling another patron that her aunt took the photo's in New Orleans but didn't like how they turned out so she painted pictures over them.  Genius!  They are the prefect decor.

There are both booths and tables with chairs as well as an outside patio.  There weren't many people there even though it was soon the supper rush.  We were brought a complimentary plate of corn bread.  I've had corn bread many times before and even made it myself but it never turned out like this!  It appeared and tasted like it was baked, then squared, then toasted or grilled.  It was tasty!


For an appetizer we ordered Fried Green Tomatoes.  Ever since the movie, it's something I've wanted to try.  "For Towanda!!!!!"  They were served with 4 giant shrimp, 6 slices of tomato and salad greens with a sauce.  Hubby ate the shrimp as they aren't my favourite.  I did love the tomatoes.  I would order that appetizer for a lunch as well.  It was great.

Hubby's meal was called Taste of New Orleans and consisted of Gumbo, Jambalaya and Etouffee.  He was given instructions on how to eat the craw fish.  This meal was enough to feed two people!  Hubby tried hard but couldn't quite finish everything.  Not totally being a seafood fan, I ordered the Pulled Pork Po' Boy with fries.  It was the most extraordinary sandwich I've ever had!  I ate the sandwich but couldn't finish the fries which were undoubtedly home made since they didn't resemble anything out of my freezer.

We were stuffed.  The waitress, who I found out is the wife of the chef asked if we wanted beignets.  I asked if we could get them to go.  She said yes.  So they were given to us hot but we were advised to keep the package open or they'd shrivel up.  The donut type dessert had powdered sugar and a dollop of blueberry preserve.  It's our midnight snack tonight.

It was delicious cajun creole cuisine just as promised and just what Saskatoon has been missing.

To All the Donuts I've Loved Before

To all the donuts I loved before
I ate so many, I barely fit through the door.
Yet I dream of you out on display;
chocolate, vanilla and sour cream glazed.

You and I need to have a chat.
You see.....you've made me fat!
These crazy circles of doughy rounds
Keep adding to me, pound by pound.

In the mirror I see
Just what you've done to me!

The end of our love affair is near.
Forgive me, but you seem to be stuck to my rear.

All of these unwanted pounds
Have left me with lines and frowns!
BEGONE!  I say.
This is not what I want to weigh!

I never met a donut I didn't like. 
But giving in requires more miles on the bike.

In shape is what I want to be.
Now just you wait and see.

It feels like spring, that is no lie
Watch me emerge, a lovely butterfly.

Tastes Like Chicken

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck.....is it a duck? What if its something else? What if it's Maxwell Smart's shoe phone? Or something else in disguise? Remember not everything is as it seems.

One night a few weeks ago.....or was it months.....I was watching an episode of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. It's patterned after the books and is a very cute show to watch if you ever have the chance. Anyhow, the office was broken into and the thief had taken the Banana Stapler. I thought, “Gee, I'd like a banana stapler.” But then I thought some more.....why would I want something that looks like something else? I mean, what if I got hungry and gnawed on my stapler? Seriously, why would I have the need for an item that looks like another thing?

~ A donut by any other name would taste just as sweet. ~

In the mail today, I received an advert from McDonald's. It was showing the new Rolo flavored iced coffee. I said, “Wow, I wanna try that!” But I gave it a second thought – Why not just eat a Rolo? - I mean, the small coffee advertised said it was 120 calories. How many Rolo's could one eat for 120 calories? According to Google.....yes, I Googled.....there are 27 calories in one single Rolo. So you could eat 4.5 Rolo's. Huh. I admit that if I.....ahem, not me [as my health coach would be out to get me], but rather a hypothetical human bean were craving both a cup of Joe and a Rolo at the same time that person might be willing to fork over a Toonie for the said luscious drink.

~ Your chocolate landed in my peanut butter! ~

Or was it the other way around? Missed it by THAT much! Anyway, someone somewhere obviously thought the world needed that combo. And, I thank them. But what about pizza flavored Cheeto's, chicken flavored potato chips or chocolaty cocoa puffs? If we really wanted pizza, chicken or chocolate.....why don't we just eat it? Why does other food come disguised as the things we really want?

Because we've fooled ourselves into thinking its healthier. They are wolves in sheep's clothing.

Worse yet, what's happened is our taste buds have gotten so accustomed to eating these mock foods that we've forgotten what the real thing tastes like. We have Taste Bud KAOS. In some cases, that's a good thing. I used to crave chocolate badly. I yearned to forget what it tasted like. I've worked hard to remove it from my voCADBURY.

Okay, so I did think that nanner stapler was pretty cute. AND, I did find a totally awesome donut USB drive on the interweb. Once upon a time I did have a notepad that looked like a sandwich. Is it a desk or a buffet table? We're not sure. 

Quack.....quack.

Life is Like a Jelly Donut

"The way I see it, life is like a jelly doughnut. You don't really know what it's about until you bite into it. And then, just when you decide it's good, you drop a big glob of jelly on your best T-shirt."

~Stephanie Plum~

 

Doesn't that just about sum it all up? It has for me this week anyhow. There you are going happily along and WHOOMF it's all messed up. Stephanie Plum has lots of these days. Stephanie Plum is a character in a series of Janet Evanovich novels. I am a big fan of mystery books and who-dun-it crime shows on TV, but this one takes the cake...er..um, doughnut.

I am addicted. It happened innocently enough. It was recommended to me that I read Visions of Sugar Plums. I did. I was hooked. Captivated.

Stephanie is a bounty hunter, although, as she admits, not a very good one. In her previous life she was a lingerie buyer for a department store. She's newly divorced and has a pet hamster, Rex, for a roommate. The new men in her life are Joe Morelli [a cop] and fellow bounty hunter Ranger. So there's this fascinating love triangle thing that goes on.

Stephanie has a problem with cars. In every single book her car is destroyed somehow. Blown up. Set on fire. Spray painted. Smashed and shot at. It is so much fun to see how it's going to happen in the next book. 

Stephanie Plum always manages to find herself in trouble. Or trouble finds her. Her apartment is always being broken into. She's always forgotten her gun at home in her cookie jar when she needs it. And just to top things off, her family is about the craziest one out there. 

I have been reading this series since January. Stephanie has become a friend. Confidant. There are thirteen books and I am on the tenth, Ten Big Ones. I've read the eleventh one, but just because it was only $6 at Costco! Don't hate me for reading them out of order! The realisation has set in that soon I will be at the end. What will I do without my nightly reading of Stephanie's capers? I will have Stephanie Plum withdrawl. I will have to join Stephanie Plum Anonymous. 

Don't worry, friends, I will persevere. No doubt, while I wait for the next novel to be crafted, I will find yet another author who I will become hopelessly obsessed with. In the meantime, send all your jelly donuts this way and keep writing all those fascinating Blogs.