Days Until School is Out...

Days Until School is Out...

The Countdown is ON!

Dear Gentle Readers:

It is official. It has begun.

We are in The Final Days.

No, I'm not talking about Armageddon, but it may be just as bloody. I'm talking about The Final Days of School. Where I work, there are exactly 19 days including today because I WANT CREDIT FOR GETTING UP THIS MORNING!!!

OK. In order for you to celebrate with me, I'm in the Countdown Mode. Here are the number of days that remain in the school year. That's work days for me.

Stay tuned!

Significant & Formative Events in My Life

I like what my sister-in-law, Sarah, has done with one of her blog entries; that is, creating a chronological listing of what she calls "formative experiences" in her life. I wrote one of these for my life and posted it in 2008, but it's not current and needs some updating. So here goes:

1957 Being born. Without this step, there would be no significant -- or otherwise -- events in my life.

1977 Meeting Tim, my husband-to-be, at Southwestern University

1979 Graduation from Southwestern University (Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance)

1980 My marriage to Tim

1981 Moving to Rochester, NY for Tim to attend graduate school. Some very difficult and unhappy years for me.

1985 Moving back to Texas for me to attend graduate school (TCU)

1987 Graduation from Texas Christian University (Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy)

1988 My Dad dies at the age of 61

1989 Buying our first home and still living there

1992 Graduation from UNT (Master of Science in Library & Information Sciences)

1993 My Mom dies at the age of 55

1997 Starting first school library job

1999 Tim is diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

2004 Last vacation with Tim to San Francisco (what fun!)

2005 Tim dies of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma after a struggle of 5 years

2007 Taking an Alaskan cruise with friend, Sandy, a trip of a lifetime!

2007 My sister being diagnosed with breast cancer

2007 Taking an interim job as a church pianist

2007 Becoming a pet Mommy to Domino

2007 Taking the interim job as pianist as a permanent position

2008 Joining this church as a member

2009 In late December, reconnecting with my high school sweetheart, Teddy, with a visit from him during the New Year's holiday

2010 Falling in love again with Teddy and marrying him on March 15

2010 Living very happily with Teddy in Fort Worth

Everything's Comin' Up Roses

Dear Gentle Readers:

As a wedding gift, and knowing how much I love and enjoy flowers, my newly wedded husband, Teddy, decided he would plant a special garden for me in our backyard. After a trip to Home Depot last Sunday after worship, and several hundred$ of dollar$ later, we came home with petunias, marigolds, 9 rose bushes, other assorted "spring color spot" plants, border, veggie seeds for our veggie garden (a work in progress) that include spinach, squash, orka, and two tomato plants. And finally, 5 bags of mulch. (Mulch is the "secret" to a thriving garden, so don't neglect this step of the planting process. Trust me on this one.)

And he got right to work. Over the course of three and one-half days, he has dug up the ugly Hawthornes that lined the back portion of the house (the sunny, west side), and replaced them with roses in a variety of colors and heights: red (2), pink (2), yellow (4) and iceberg white (1). "Stunning" is the word I'd use to describe the result. The picture at the top of this post is of yellow Lady Banks, the name of the rose he bought for me. It is a minature, climbing rose.



The Wedding Garden has an attractive white Adirondack border around the perimeter of the garden in which he placed our birdbath in the center (after cleaning it out -- YUCK!!!), then planted fragrant yellow and orange marigolds. They are spectacular and can easily be seen as I sit in the recliner in our bedroom.

Lastly, he planted pink petunias in the front yard (in two separate areas of the beds) and used some of the left over marigolds for three pots he placed in the Angel Garden, also located in the front beds. On the patio in the back yard, he planted 5 containers of -- I forget the exact name, but they are tiny pink flowers with "lacy" green foliage. Using some more left over marigolds, he made three hanging baskets that now adorn our large Red Oak tree in the back yard. Every single flower he bought was used in a beautiful manner.

Our plans are to sit on the patio -- weather permitting -- and enjoy the fruits of his labor. We also have five assorted wind chimes that provide a melodic accompaniment to our evenings on our patio. We call it our PT, or Patio Time.

Domino has loved "working" with Teddy in the gardens as well as sitting on the patio in the evenings with us. Domino sits with one of us while alertly surveying his area of responsibility! There we are, the happy little family, with Teddy drinking his iced tea, and me sipping my crisp glass of Chardonnay.

Life is good. Life is very good...and it's comin' up roses...or mostly roses...

Wedding Bells

Dear Gentle Readers:

As you read this blog posting, I will be a married woman! Yes, Teddy and I decided to move up our wedding from June 26, 2010 to March 15, 2010. We were married March 15 at 12:30 p.m. in a double ring ceremony at Christ United Methodist Church in Fort Worth where we are both members, and where I serve at the Traditional Service as the pianist. My sister, Terry, her husband, and one of her children joined us in the quiet, but worshipful, ceremony that Pastor Vaughn performed. His lovely wife, Jacque, was also present for the occasion.

After the ceremony, we took our limo (!) to Reata where Teddy and I hosted members of "the wedding party" for a wedding luncheon.

There were several notable reasons we chose an earlier date, among them wanting to avoid the stress related to planning even a small wedding -- and I was beginning to really feel that stress. We decided Spring Break would be a great time to get married, giving me the week off from work for our honeymoon. We kept it "under the radar" except for a few close family members.

We know many of you had planned on attending The Great Event of 2010, i.e., our June wedding, and hope you will forgive us for forging ahead with our plans. Now you are free to do something else! Thank you for your love, support, and well wishes as we now are husband and wife.

By the way, I am retaining my last name of Scholl.

Blessings,
Teddy Ashcraft & Belinda Scholl & Domino Scholl

A Ring of Truth

Dear Gentle Readers:



I recently did some piano judging for a local music association. I judge for different events about 3-4 times a year, and as such, many of my piano friends do not know about my upcoming wedding plans.

With me so far? OK.

One of these judges is a woman -- let's call her Mary which is a good generic name, and it also happens to BE her name (let us not protect the guilty!) -- that I've known for years and years as a professional colleague in the Piano World. She had known Tim in the Piano World. At the time Tim knew her, she had been married, but was since divorced, and now remarried to an older, and obviously wealthy man (as you will learn from the story).

As some of the women judges were admiring my ring and asking about my upcoming wedding plans, Mary remarked to me, "Your ring is beautiful. I wish I'd gotten a smaller diamond like yours. Mine is such a burden to wear. I'm always worrying it will get stolen, or I'll lose it, or damage it. I should have gotten something more sensible like yours. My husband paid $27,000 for this set and it just worries me something awful. You know, the larger the center stone, the more valuable the set."

Oh, really?!? Well. What. could. I. say. to. that? ? ? ? ?

All I said was, "Well, mine is insured so if something happens, it would be sad, but at least we could replace it." Readers, my ring is not really all that "sensible". It's certainly not ostentatious, but it is a full two carats, with the center stone weighing in at 1.10. The diamonds are all F in color (nearly colorless), etc. It's a fine ring.

What I SHOULD have said was, "All that money wasted on a ring that you wear on those liver-spotted hands of yours! Ouch!!! Bet your husband's sorry to have paid all that money to adorn those claws of yours."

What do you think of THAT?!?

People.