Seasons Goatings!

One particular Christmas season a long time ago, Santa was getting ready for his annual trip but there were problems everywhere. Four of his elves got sick, and the trainee elves did not produce the toys as fast as the regular ones so Santa was beginning to feel the pressure of being behind schedule. Then Mrs. Claus told Santa that her Mom was coming to visit; this stressed Santa even more.

When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two had jumped the fence and were out at heaven knows where. More stress.

Then when he began to load the sleigh one of the boards cracked and the toy bag fell to the ground and scattered the toys. So, frustrated, Santa went into the house for a cup of coffee and a shot of whiskey. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered that the elves had hid the liquor and there was nothing to drink.

In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the coffeepot and it broke into hundreds of little pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found that mice had eaten the straw it was made of. Just then the doorbell rang and Santa cussed on his way to the door. He opened the door and there was a little angel with a great big Christmas tree.

The angel said, very cheerfully, "Merry Christmas Santa. Isn't it just a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Isn't it just a lovely tree? Where would you like me to stick it?

Thus began the tradition of the little angel on top of the tree.

Happy Holidays!

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Me and my Grinch

The entire show from last night at Waimea Country School!

The Melodica

My brother gave me the coolest early Christmas present! Last night I opened a Melodica. I immediately went to YouTube and practiced the entire Amelie' soundtrack. Here is a video of my awesome high school student playing Le Comptine from the Amelie soundtrack. I had to rest the Melodica on my knee because I couldn't support the instrument during the fast part! I told my brother "It would be so much easier if I didn't have to blow to make the instrument work", and he said "But then it would just be a keyboard"....oh yeah!

A little treasure

I have been converting home videos to DVD lately and have stumbled upon all kinds of treasures. This clip is for Kimi on her Birthday and I just could not wait 4 more days until her actual birthday to send this to her! I'm so bad with waiting for things like birthdays or Christmas. Kimi, you have always been the sweetest addition and completion to our family. I'm sending home the entire DVD of this Christmas 1992. Happy Birthday to my favorite sister (even though it's still 4 days away). XOXO

Fiddling with Pa and Grandpa

I think this is my favorite video of me fiddling with my dad and Beebop!

Back from a brief break

Please don't be offended. I didn't tell anyone I was coming to Seattle for just a week vacation. I was terribly homesick. All I wanted was to take long walks with my mom, play music with my dad, play Pinnocle cards, sit in the kitchen while my dad cooked, visit with my siblings, look at old family photos, and be in my pajamas the entire time. I think after our intense and traumatic summer and jumping immediately into 76 students and 3 schools, everything caught up to me. I have a BALD spot on my head. Stressed induced alopecia. I can sort of cover it by changing my part. But still! At what point does the body get so stressed it goes bald?

I want friends and family to come visit us in Hawaii as often as they can. You will get 100% undivided attention from Alex and I. I do miss everyone terribly as well. I have a hard time juggling everything.

Up next in Hawaii are Alex's Birthday (Today!) weekend; Two Grinch Stole Christmas productions in December; the Holidays, which are upon us; and activity on the lot (besides goat activity). I will post pictures and stories from Seattle soon!

Daddy Daughter Duo

We were the opening band for The Pretenders. We called ourselves The Non Pretenders!

Recital Week

Thursday's Master Class students
Wednesday's master class students
Tuesday's master class. Since it is Halloween week, my students dressed in costumes.
Little Ariel sang "Part of Your World" as well as four piano pieces. She stole everyone's heart!

With 76 students, I do not have much time for practicing myself! This piece needs a few more weeks until it is perfect. But here is a run through of Beethoven's Sonata Pathetique.

Performing in front of others should be part of my student's training. It is an important life lesson, and the more it is practiced, the easier it becomes. Walking out onto a stage and performing is as natural for me as walking into the store or to the bank. It's just like any other day, thanks to the thousands of master classes, recitals, and concerts I participated in as a young child. But how do I have 76 private students perform in a recital? Well, I decided this year to divide the week into 5 master classes. Tonight is group number 3. Every evening at 5pm, the students who normally had lessons that day gather at my house to perform up to 4 pieces. This ensemble has been so much more manageable. Last years recital with 60+ students went for over 3 hours! Each evening features a wonderful variety of ages, levels, and instruments. I am so proud of my students and they bring me such great joy. I will continue to post pictures from each master class.

Coming Soon.....

.....To Waimea Town this December!

This week I began Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas rehearsals at school. Can you just imagine a school full of adorable little Who's down in Whoville?? I cannot wait until our performance December 16th. The kindergartners were stinkin' adorable singing "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" so seriously. "You're a Rotter, Mr. Grinch. You have terrrrrmites innnn your smile!"

How cute is Grandpa?

Tooo cute!

I wish I lived closer so we could play duets more often.

Mrs. Woodbury

Hee Hee! Get it??

(double click the photo to make it bigger)

Kamuela Philharmonic

10/10/10 marked the start of Kamuela Philharmonic's 2010 Season. We performed the English composer Arnold's Flute Concerto and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 Pathetique (unfortunately it was Tchaikovsky's "suicide note" so it was a very heavy and sad piece) You will notice that the first violin section (I'm wearing a brown flower in my hair) had only 5 violinists! Normally it calls for at least 15-20! Violinist number 6 (who sits next to our concert master in front of me) FELL in the parking lot the day before the concert right after rehearsal and dislocated his shoulder. We are playing "Planets" by Holst in January (mom and dad, you will miss the concert by 2 days! Darn! I didn't think to plan your vacation around my symphony. BUT I would have had to spend all weekend practicing so that wouldn't be fun! I'll post videos of each planet for you!)

Life is so busy teaching 76 private students. I'm having a recital the last week of October and the students will perform wearing Halloween costumes. I will soon be preparing my school students for our upcoming winter production of Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Stay tuned!

Glee

Alex and I haven't had TV in our household for almost three years now. I don't know who Snookie or the Kardashians are, or why the Housewives are Desperate. I haven't watched Glee, but I'm hooked on the app "Glee" for my iphone/ipad! You sing karaoke or a capella and it adds harmony to your singing. Click HERE and HERE to here two of my songs I wrote about my dog Moki. The best part is that these small investments on apps are a tax write off! My students will love this program!

Happy Birthday Daddy-O's!

I hope you are monkeying around on your Birthday!

Ha ha hee hee ha ha hee hee ho ho!

Picture of the day

No comment necessary!

Cousin duets

I had the most wonderful day spending time with my favorite cousin Ryan. Here are two videos of duets we worked on today. We skyped with everyone in New York and gave them a concert. Baby cousin Elisa was dancing along as we played.

Rules according to Moki

Moki is hilarious and I've thought about writing a book based on his perception of the world. Here is an ongoing list of Rules According to Moki.

1. Cat Food:

The bowl itself is off limits to me. However any kibble on the ground is fair game.

2. The Couch:

If humans are present I will always ask permission to jump up on the couch. If no humans are present or you do not acknowledge me, I will assume it is ok and will make the executive decision.

3. Dinner plate:

If food is at eye level while you are watching a movie, I will wait until the food is offered before eating. Unless you ignore me or take too long to eat. At which time as commander in thief I will authorize the use of force.

4. Long sleeved shirts:

Any extremities dressed in long sleeves do not perceive pain. If your arm is covered by a sleeve consider it a squeeze toy (we love to wrestle with him. But if we wear long sleeves he will totally chomp into your arm thinking it can't really feel anything because it's covered in sleeves)

5. The Bed:

If the bed sheets aren't clean and smell than I can bring my bone up and eat it there too.

6. The Bed again:

If you get up to pee between the hours of 5:30-6:30am consider it a game of you don't snooze you loose. The bed is mine now punk. I'm spooning with mom!

7. Pillows:

I will not put my head on your pillow. But I will put my butt on your pillow.

8. The bicycles:

You touch the bike in the garage, I'm going too. Whether you touched the bike for a ride or just to tidy up the garage, I'm still going.

9. Dishwasher:

When dinner is done, it is to be assumed that I get to do the dishes. Just because company is present does not mean this practice is barbaric.

10. Dishwasher again:

If the dishwasher is left open, it is my job to give it a quick second pre rinse.

11. The kitty is only a part of the family when I want her to be.

12. Frisbee:

Just because you are not done working does not mean that it is not a perfect time for a game of frisbee. If you ignore me and my frisbee, you can be sure that the last lesson of the day initiates a one on one game of a night frisbee. I even brought you my glow in the dark frisbee.

13. Recycling (which we keep piled on the floor by our garbage just waiting to be brought out)

Just because your pile is destined for recycling doesn't mean it shouldn't get an extra tongue cleaning. Remember: Rinse, recycle, repeat.

That pretty much sums Moki and his thoughts and assumptions up in a nutshell. This list will probably be ongoing...

Under the Sea

Alex took this picture of a peaceful honu floating by
Moki unfortunately learned that you don't VANA step on a Vana Sea Urchin! The poor dog looked like he was attacked by a porcupine. We had to soak his paw in vinegar.
Alex deep sea skin diving. I thought he was spelling out the name Alex at the bottom of the ocean, but it says Aloha (and it was previously there)
Eels will forever remind me of The Little Mermaid

It only took 7 years of living in Hawaii, but investing in an underwater camera was a good idea! Alex still gets a few strange looks from realtors when he dunks his camera in his clients pool to take pictures underwater!

Comedic flight attendant

On our flight back from Seattle we had a comedian of a flight attendant. His welcome speech went something like this (in a very serious voice): "Welcome aboard flight 877. Nonstop service from Seattle to Kona. There are four main exists, 2 located in the front and 2 located in the back. In case of an emergency water landing, flotation devices can be found under your seat. Pull the red tab and the safety vest will automatically inflate. Smoking is prohibited for the rest of your life." I can't remember the rest of the safety and regulations speech because we were all laughing!

It made me wonder just now if some airlines use these kinds of jokes often. I found some funny online stories of humorous flights:

1. In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will fall from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child traveling with you, secure your mask before assisting others. If you are traveling with two small children, please decide now which one you love more.

2. As you exit the plane, please make sure to gather all your personal belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses.

3. Thank you for choosing Delta Airlines. We are pleased to have some of the best flight attendants in the industry. Unfortunately none of them are on this flight.

4. Current weather is 50 degrees with some broken clouds, but they will try to have them fixed before we arrive.

5. (after a really rough landing) Please take care when opening the overhead compartments because, after a landing like that, sure as hell everything has shifted.

After our funny attendant, I hope we experience more comedic flights in the future!

Mercer Island Reporter

Click HERE to read the article!

The Incredible Edible Garden

My summer project: An edible garden bed! Featuring cucumber, beets, radishes, squash, green onion, dill, a baby cherry tree, and.....
Purple Sweet Potato.....
Broccoli....
Tomatos.....
Artichokes (which are $5 each in Hawaii at the store!)
And a Washington Navel Orange Tree!

That's so Retro

Thanks to the iphone Hipstamatic and Shake it Photo, photography has never looked so retro! For those wanting the look and feel of plastic toy cameras from days long ago, this is the app for you! You can change the lens and select the type of film resulting in photos with blurred subjects, weird color effects, and interesting vignettes.

Should this be my next project?

Volcano Village

I found the source of our VOG (Volcanic Smog)!
The Thurston Lava Tube at dusk
Jessie and Alex the Lava Tube bats.
Jess and Jenna at the Halema'uma'u Crater
Steam Vents

This summer we took a trip down to Volcano Village. I have never seen the Crater so active. No wonder our VOG has been out of control the past few years. So voggy we can't see the sun set or the horizon line. We went to the Visitor Center at night to see the glowing lava. The dramatic crater on the caldera floor is named Halema'uma'u. According to tradition, the crater is the home of Pele, the Hawaiian godess of fire.

Halema'uma'u lies at the heart of Kilauea, an active volcano with a fiery reputation. From 1823 until 1924, Halema'uma'u contained a lava lake that fascinated visitors from around the world.

It was really fun experiencing the lava tube at night. We were the only ones in the Tube. I remember taking my sister years ago. I knew it was around 3pm when we were walking inside the tube and I said casually "Kimi, we just need to make sure we are out of here by 3pm because lava comes GUSHING through around that time". And she froze and said "Jessica! It's 2:57!" and I looked at her shocked and said "REALLY? RUN!!!" and as we were running I started cracking up. Not a very nice big sister, huh?

Twin Kims

Our Kimi
Our new Kimmy

In Kimi's picture at the top, she is with her original foster sister Annika at her sister's wedding a few summers ago. Annika's family brought Kimi over through Healing the Children. Kimi's foster mom, Val, was my violin teacher growing up. They were close family friends through our church and that is how we met and fell in love with Kimi. The rest is history!

I have another sister named Kimi

There is something powerful about the date July 16th. 7 years ago today I moved to Hawaii. 5 years ago today we had our Seattle wedding celebration. 1 year ago today my Korean sister Mi- Jeong had a baby girl named Mingi. And today, my mother received a phone call from the adoptive mother of Kimi's younger sister Mi-Hyang who was adopted 17 years ago in the United States. Just like our family, they kept her last name Kim and made it her first name. This other Kimi was 5 when she came to America and has many memories of her early life in Korea with our Kimi. One touching story was that she remembers after Kimi left, they received a phone call from her and listened to her playing the piano so well.

I was bawling when my mom gave me the news just an hour ago I feel that the circle is finally complete now. All four siblings are finally reunited. Eighteen years later, these siblings are all alive and well against all odds. 90 year old Harriet Hodges, who was the director of placing children in Korea with hospitals and programs in the United States, remembered the Kim family well. And in this past year, she not only located us in Seattle, Kimi's family in Korea, but she also located Kimi's other family in Georgia. I'm just buzzing right now. July 16th is a very significant day.

Our 5th Wedding Anniversary

July 3rd, 2010 marked our 5th wedding anniversary. I looked up the traditional gifts and year number 5 is Wood. So I'm counting being Mrs. WOODbury as the perfect gift!

This year we were visited by my best friend Jenna (who was also my maid of honor!) and Ran for the long Holiday weekend. We went to a fancy dinner down at the resort and watched a spectacular fireworks show. I'm so happy we were married during the 4th of July and have fireworks celebrating our day every year. It's been 5 years of marriage, 11 years overall, and I keep falling more and more in love with my soul mate.

Backlog Blogging Bananza!

Random fact: In the movie Back to the Future, the Doc sets his clock to the future date July 5, 2010! So much for flying skateboards!

OK folks. So this is how it's going to be. I am blog backlogged! Backlogged dating back to Memorial Day weekend.

So every few days I'm going to post pictures and a brief caption of Summer 2010.

So here it is. Hiking the Hollywood sign Memorial Day weekend.

I've never hiked up to the Hollywood sign before. If you had to guess, what do you think the sign is made of? Wood, Plastic, or Metal? I always thought of it as wood. But turns out it's made of Australian steel. The sign was born in 1923 originally spelling the word Hollywoodland and had 4,000 20 watt bulbs making it visible 25 miles away. The letter H was destroyed by an inebriated driver in the early 1940's! Just a few fun facts for the morning.

Skype...

Keeping families connected and happy half way across the world!

Couldn't this picture be an advertisement for skype? Today I got to meet my newest Italian third cousin Elisa. What a doll! My mom is in New York picking up my Aunt Lisa for the summer. (Mom is the short happy lady standing in between my incredibly tall cousins Michael and Matthew in this photo!) I told them "I can tell you are tall even on my computer screen!"

Kimi Graduated!!

Today the baby of the family has graduated from Western Washington University with a Bachelor in Science degree! The ceremony is tomorrow morning and I wish I could be there to cheer her on! My parents are officially empty nesters. No more children in college. Their children are all grown up and out in the world now. With degrees in Music Education, Construction Management, and Environmental Science we make an interesting trio of Salernos.

Congratulations my beautiful and wonderful sister. I'm so proud to have a scientist in the family! I can't wait to see where you go on your journey. Now that you've graduated maybe you can come visit me in Hawaii! Or score a sweet job out here! We are surrounded by water and environmental concerns! Our county still needs major help with the reservoirs after the 2006 earthquake! Check out these cheap tickets ($194 each way!) from Seattle to Kona in October HERE! (change the month from March to October)

Circus Circus

On June 1st, Mrs. Sui Lan Gomez's home school co-op performed the charming musical "Circus Circus". Streamers and balloons transformed the garage into our own personal Big Top. Hanging in the doorway was a muscle man and circus girl face cut out photo opp. And plenty of circus food to snack on afterwards. I have performed this musical a few years ago only with 120 students. These 7 students took on all the circus rolls, with masks and wigs as the costume changes. After the script and songs, we had a circus act which included a rubber chicken toss, the human bridge, hula hooping, tumblers, contortionists, and the grand finale human pyramid! What a fun and festive way to end Mrs. Gomez's school year!

Alex made front page of the paper today

The effort to restore our community playground is being assisted by Alex!

Click HERE to read the article.

Here is the letter he e-mailed out to the community a few weeks ago:

ANUENUE PLAYGROUND NEWS

Aloha All,

The County of Hawaii Parks and Recreation dept. is looking for manpower, supplies, and tools to refurbish the children's playground in Kamuela. Currently they are looking for immediate assistance in pressure washing and resealing the woodwork at the playground. They have just begun working with Pete Hoffman's office to attempt to arrange a group of volunteers to tackle a larger scale cleanup, and repair project.

While I have been recently asked to assist, and start reaching out to the community, the fact is that Ken Block and David Gomes have been attempting to gain traction on this for over a year now. The playground is in significant disrepair with many of its swings, and apparatuses removed due to damage, age, wear and tear. I have emailed you folks because you are all my friends, and neighbors, and are local community members, business owners, park users. Many of you are in the trades, and I thought I'd start with you to gauge your ability and willingness to donate some of your precious time and or your resources to such a task.

The overall plan is loose and in its infancy, but the idea would be to conduct a full assessment of the park's current condition with the assistance of the kit's manufacturer, and work with the County Depot of Parks and Rec to set a series of weekend workdays for an entire park refurbishment. We need laborers, carpenters, concrete specialists, painters, small equipment operators (& equipment ie bobcats, and mini excavators) as well as supervisors, planners and coordinators.

We will also need materials donated ranging from pea gravel, to paints and stains, brushes, sprayers, pressure washers, carpentry tools, wood, (chain, tires etc) for swings) trees, concrete etc. and funds to purchase repair parts for the playground from its manufacturer. I also think some sort of street lighting/safety lighting is warranted. Years ago the playground was donated using local labor and materials from builders and community members, and the playground kit was funded by the Waimea Outdoor Circle. Large signs were posted at the park for a duration recognizing those businesses who supported the park and those volunteers who donated their time.

I will be donating my labor and equipment. Please Join me. For now if you would, respond to me via email with your support and any services you may be able to offer, labor, skills, equipment, financial assistance etc. Please also forward this email on to friends and colleagues in the community. With the help of the community association, and the Waimea outdoor circle, we should be able to bring this concept to fruition in a more organized publicized manner for now this is a starting point, a request for community support.

Mahalo, Alex Woodbury

please contact me at alex@woodburyhawaii.com

Donations can be made to:

Waimea Preservation Association c/o Avenue Playground or Waimea Park reconstruction effort

PO Box 6570

Kamuela HI 96743

Moki's Crabby

Not much to report on the home front. Winding down the school year. Spending the entire weekend outside gardening now that Beauty and the Beast is over. My dahlias are starting to bloom. Planting trees. With less lessons over the summer I want to start a vegetable garden. Alex was on the radio today (I'll try to find a link and post it) interviewing the county about sustainable resources in their building and plannin. My mother in law won her state tennis match on Maui and will now compete in nationals! And here is a cute video of Moki's obsession with crabs.

Beauty and the Beast

Featuring violinist Jessica Salerno-Woodbury!
Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, and Lumier

Belle and the Beast dancing

Cast finale

Opening scene

The funny triplets who adore Gaston

Belle's father enters the castle

The Beast's come down to dinner scene

And my favorite, Be our Guest!

I feel like singing my life in song set to the tune "12 days of Christmas":

After 20 days of company I have the following:

One May Day show,

One circus musical,

One more month of school,

SIX BEAUTY AND THE BEAST SHOWS

Seventy five lessons,

every single week,

2 naughty goats,

and one show at my school in Hawi!