Tolleson Tidal Wave (of work)

We, too, must apologize for a delayed post. James has been working 70 + hour weeks and then filling in the rest of the time with homework for his class on Baroque music. I am learning that starting a new job at a new school is almost like starting to teach for the first time again. Paul, the head orchestra director at Murchison, and I took 120 beginning orchestra students to Zilker Park for the 39th Annual String Festival on election day. There were over 1,000 beginning orchestra students from schools all around Austin there to perform. Whew! So many purple shirts! Each year the shirts are a different color. Apparently the year of lime green was a little harsh on the eyes :)

This week and weekend is the All-Region Orchestra. I will be leading a viola sectional and am coordinating the Middle School Symphony Orchestra. Unfortunately, the concert is on James' birthday, so I think we will be celebrating on the 18th instead of the 17th. And not long after that will be our one year anniversary! What a busy year it has been, but we are so thankful to have each other. This morning we made blueberry muffins and enjoyed them fresh out of the oven with a warm cup of coffee. Yum!

We recently came home to find a termination of lease notice on our door (the door of the apartment we thought we would be in for at least three or so years). They are renovating and raising the rent. So, it looks like we will be moving again before Christmas. It seems like all of our things were just in boxes :).

Yesterday we were at the UT football game against Iowa State (James was working so we sat with 100+ visiting high school seniors) and saw the best half time show I have ever seen! Being that we are all band geeks or orchestra dorks I figured you would all appreciate how cool this was :). In honor of Veterans' Day the UT marching band played a medley of the Armed Forces' Anthems. As the anthem played for the army the band formed a tank and the whole thing moved down the field, it then changed into a boat and moved back to the other end zone, then a plane, then a submarine and the line of people that had served as the ground before moved across field making the submarine sink into water with just the top poking through. Finally, they formed the word Royal in honor of Darrel K. Royal's recent death (a legendary coach and the man after which the UT stadium is named). They showed the whole show again on the jumbo tron fast forwarding so that the shapes looked even more like they were moving in real time. Best half time show ever! Hope you enjoyed picturing it.

We wish we could join you for Thanksgiving but will certainly be thinking of you and wishing everyone a joyous and relaxing time with family. We'll be visiting Kansas around Christmas time. Until then, enjoy your Christmas carols :)!

Love,
James and Hannah

Denver Greetings!

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the delay in posting.  I have had this nasty cough and on and off fever and Monday and Tuesday were not good days.

I'm enjoying my 4th month in Denver (the anniversary is officially on July 13th - but who is counting!)

I am continuing my intern position at Curious Theatre Company in downtown Denver.  It is about a 4 minute walk from the Denver Museum of Art and about a 7 minute walk to the capital building.  For those who are adept at Google Maps, the official address is 1080 Acoma, Denver, Colorado 80204.  The theatre is located in a refurbished church - Presbyterian oddly enough.  The theatre itself seats about 200.  We just opened our second show of the season, Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies. It is the story of Sarah and James, both of whom have returned from the war zones in Iraq after Sarah was terribly wounded and James had a nervous breakdown.  James is a journalist and Sarah is a photojournalist.  The play chronicles their falling in love again, searching through difficult questions and ultimately asks the question what happens when two people who love each other have to go their separate ways. Its a sad play but very good and is receiving good reviews again.  Curious is a rocking place to be.   If you haven't explored, be sure to check out www.curioustheatre.org for more information.

Clara and I have both been dealing with sickness.  Clara has gone through kennel cough a couple of times and most recently experienced seizures due to her food (long story short, don't use Purina's Beneful food).  I've been dealing with a cough and on and off fever for about 4 weeks now.  Clara's pretty much been cured.  Me however.  They aren't able to figure out how to get rid of my situation.  Work has been flexible with my illness which is appreciated.

I've had two visitors recently which are definitely helping my mood (in addition to the Chiropractic work that I'm experiencing).  Mom came two weekends ago and we had a really great time.  Shopping, watching movies and just generally enjoying ourselves.  Jennifer Lee, one of my friends from K-State, visited this past weekend and we also had a wonderful time (including a trip on the Georgetown Loop Railroad - eeck!).

Hope all is well with you.  I'll see all of you soon (November 23 for sure).

Love,

Charles

RUTHERFORD

Ready, set, GO! The Rutherfords are back with a quick update after a lovely weekend away. (Sorry for the slight delay, but figured on a few pictures for you.)
Understanding is something that we do a lot of in this house. As we each go separate ways for the Christmas season, we have to have a lot of understanding for each others time and schedules. Sometimes that can be a bit tricky, but we like to think that we have it down most of the time.
Travelling around the country and the world is what Kurtis is up to these days as he has been out touring since mid-September. Every now and then, I get to sneak in a little trip with him too. We just returned from a visit in Chicago where we stayed with Kurtis' brother Karl and saw lots of friends, including Andrew and Katie. That was so much fun! The best tour that we took was at a place called 'The Plant' which will be the site of Karl and Marilee's brewery. It is an entirely environmentally friendly space that will run off of power from the waste that is produced by it's tenants, including gardens that will range from the basement to the rooftop. This will be the first vertical space like this in the USA!!!
Hellos are always welcome, whether in the form of visits, email, calls or cards. We'll always do our best to make time for our family!
Extra activities at our house are limited by a busy schedule. However, Kurtis is back to brewing beer with the weather calming down. Mary is packing up the garden for the winter and working on a few sewing and artistic projects. And we both have a few TV shows that we record and make some time for together.
Rockettes will be in Mary's future just shortly as Christmas time approaches!!! I will beat the Givan household Christmas start-up by a day as we swing in to Radio City on October 30 to begin tech and run straight through the end of December this year.
Food is still on the tops of our NYC things to do as we discover new places all the time and revisit old favorites too.

Outdoors are important to us, so we can often be found on the back porch at home. When Janice, from Australia, was around, we took long walks through the park. By which I mean, we got a little lost and eventually found our way out.
Remembering all of you back in KS as the holidays get up and running.

Delight in the day! Wishing you all well. 

Kurtis and Karl, checking out some of The Plant's produce.

The Plant is in an old meat factory that would have been torn down and left an empty lot. Instead, it is becoming a super self-sufficient green space that will be able to use most waste in an environmentally friendly way. Impressive!

What's Happening at 408?

Hello Family:

Here’s our update.  It involves the sad, the bad, the fad, a lad, a pad and the glad.

First the sad- On Thursday Kate came home and found Noel aka. Pretty Girl in the back yard critically injured.  We took her to the vet but it was too late.  She will be missed.

The bad- Mandalay and Shona have developed adventuresome spirits.  3 times in the last week we have found ourselves out looking for them in the neighborhood in the dark after they escaped from our “secure” backyard.  I would like to say it is all Mandalay’s fault but feel Shona has a part in it also.  Tim has added a higher fence over the last place they were getting out and locked up the east gate tightly.  Mandalay was opening it with her nose.  As one family member suggested, maybe we needed a prison type fence around the place.

The fad-my duct tape fad was here and then it was gone and now I think it is back.  I found a very cool duct tape Christmas ornament.  If it works you might be on the receiving end of it.

A lad-Chris continues working on his grad apps.  He mentioned he might post a couple of things on the Kinast blog so we could see what has been occupying his time. Actually, he did post while I was posting, so be sure and look below this one.

A pad-Kate’s lease expired this month and since she is not attending WSU she has decided to move to Hutch.  We are currently looking for a nice one bedroom pad for her and Ben to share.  It will be nice to have her in town.  She is planning on going through the Vo-Tech Rehab program for volunteer opportunities and in the future a part time job.

The glad- The glad does outweigh the rest.  There’s jobs (although mine has been a bit boring lately and Tim’s too hectic), fall weather with carmel apples and pumpkins, our new family member Ben, pets that make us laugh and family to love.

Wishing everyone a wonderful fall.