Jacquelyn's Space

Here I am once again writing a catch-up blog. Spring break starts today so I finally get some time to myself – maybe.

The last few weeks have been pretty good but I haven’t had much time to write in my blog. School has been going well.  Although I am happy to report that I have been pretty much caught up on my schoolwork for a change. I have had several tests and a presentation which I received A’s on all of them. I am most proud of my A grade on my cognitive psychology test. That one was a bear and when I received my grade my head was in the clouds.

Because the last few weeks were pretty good and I have done some fun things, I don’t want to forget them and as usual I wanted to write them down to keep the memory.

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My husband and I have been quite busy. A couple weeks ago, the weekend before Valentine’s Day, we went up to Frankenmuth, Michigan and spent some time with my brother, his woman and my three stinker butt nephews at an indoor water park called Splash Village. Several trips up the stairs to the water slide (with floatie and a nephew in tow), down the water slide ‘wahooing all the way’ – that kicked my butt. It was a lot of fun but wore me out.

Also that week-end, my husband and I went out to dinner after a very stressful day of shopping. The dinner made  up for the bad day. It was a special Valentines dinner at the local Italian restaurant down the street from our house. We shared steak and lasagna and had some tasty desert too.

For Valentine’s Day, my husband got me a box of chocolates and … a treadmill. That’s quite a combination! Actually we have been wanting a treadmill and we finally decided to buy one. Now I can blog and study while I attempt to lose weight. Yay!

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Last weekend I found out about a free jazz concert, performed by faulty member Jeff Price, at the Flint Institute of Music. I had been to a jazz concert there a couple of years ago also performed by saxophonist Jeff Price. It was awesome and last weekend it was also Jeff Price (Jeff Price Trio) that performed again. He also teaches at UM-Flint and I have performed with him in Wind Symphony.

I almost didn’t go because I wanted to work on some homework but decided to blow it off. I am so glad I went. As I stated before Jeff Price is awesome but he also had with them a bassist, a drummer, and a pianist. I am not sure which musicians were part of the trio and which was the guest but they were all spectacular. I could in have listened to them all day and all night. I was so into  the music I found myself forgetting to breathe. I had a great time listening to the music as well as watching them perform and enjoy the pieces they played. The pianist seem to be especially into the music and was a treat to watch.

In addition to the musical performance, there was also a painter on stage who was painting a piece entitled “Inner Fire” while the concert was going on. Not only did we get to listen to music we also watched a man create art. I loved it! My husband and my stepson enjoyed it also, perhaps not as much as I did because they are not into the type of music played but they did say the performers were good. After the concert we went to Blackstone’s in downtown Flint and had dinner. It was a great night on the town. Yay Flint!

The next night we went to see a play at the University of Michigan – Flint. I had won two free tickets, and won two more. So my husband, stepson and I all went and I got to take my friend. We hooked up with some more friends at the play and had a good time.

The play itself was all right – it was “The Ruby Sunrise” and is the last play directed by faculty Carolyn Gillespie; she is retiring. The play was interesting and had its moments but is not something I would rave about (like the jazz concert the previous night). I wonder why Gillespie chose it? I had her for a teacher my first year at UM-Flint – she was a fun professor and is a lovely lady – I thought she would choose something with a little more fire for her last play at the university. My husband and stepson seemed to enjoy the play too, perhaps more than the jazz concert.

We sort of did up Flint that night too. We went to Starlite Diner after the play. It is a diner with the old time 50’s feel and is a classic in Genesee County. It is just outside of Flint though.

See, there are great things going on in Flint. You just have to take advantage of what Flint has to offer, which in my humble opinion is a lot more than other communities. It is a shame people can’t recognize that.

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Basically those are the highlights of my last few weeks. Other than that it has been the same old same old – school work, picked up some more hours at work, battling fatigue and sickness, reading some inspirational pieces about writing/being a writer, and trying to find the time to write for myself.