Oboe Joe

I would like to introduce you to my nephew Joe. He attends the University of Minnesota where he studies the oboe. He will graduate this year. Joe is a talented young musician. Has performed as a soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies.



Joe is currently the Principal Oboe of the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. He also plays with the University of Minnesota Symphony Orchestra. He is a member of the West Bank Winds Woodwind Quintet. Joe has a private teaching studio and is co founder and oboe instructor of the 4th Street Music Collective. This is just to name a few of his amazing dedication to music. He has pursed this since he was young and remained dedicated to playing the oboe. He also has a great singing voice and plays the piano well. His love though is the oboe.



Joe has been auditioning at schools for undergraduate school. He auditioned at Julliard and Yale. There was one other but I forgot what school that was. We are all so very proud of Joe and his accomplishments. The good news is in, Joe was accepted to Yale! What a great accomplishment for him.



I taking a road trip with my youngest sister this weekend. I haven't left the state for at least ten years. We are heading up to Minneapolis to hear Joe perform as a soloist with the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra on Sunday. I will get to see my oldest sister, Joe's mom. My younger sister's daughter and her only grandchild live in St. Paul so we will see them too. They are forecasting snow Friday night and Sat. around here, I will be so disappointed if the weather wrecks our plans. Check this out about Joe's upcoming guest solo.

A Man of Few Words, But a Man With Many Names

My husband Pete was a man of few words. He was quiet and a little bashful. I' m chatty and a bit crazy! They say opposites attract and I think that's true. Well, as you know I have posted some things about my hubby Pete, but that's not his real name. I was introduced to him through a friend of mine that I worked with back in 1985. Pete was a friend of her husbands, she thought Pete was cute, but warned me that he was really quiet especially around people that he didn't know. He was pretty darn cute and a really nice guy but he was quiet and shy. It was like pulling teeth to get him to say much. That got better overtime, but he still wasn't a big talker in big crowds of people he didn't know, he wasn't one to start a conversation with a stranger. Let me explain the man of many names. Pete, not his real name, but that is what I called him. His name is James. Since I was introduced to him and all his friends called him Pete, that is what I called him. So my family and most folks I knew called him Pete. His family and everyone at his workplace knew him as Jim. I dated him for four years before we got married and it was to hard to start calling him Jim. I did however call him Jim on occasion and James if I really wanted his attention. I have confused lots of people when I would refer to him as Pete and then once in a while I would say Jim. People would give me a strange look, like perhaps I had more than one man in my life. The doctor called him Jim, his nurse called him Pete. My poor husband had to answer to lots of names. When he was in the hospital before he passed, I had called my Pastor and told him that they had to put Jim on a ventilator, he was coming to pray with us. My Pastor knew him as Jim. The next time I called my Pastor and told him that we were going to take Pete off the ventilator as soon as all of us had gathered, as the Pastor was coming to be with us when that happened. I was an emotional mess at that time. The Pastor said well ok, but who is Pete? I bet he thought I was either totally gone or I had two men in my life. I think it is funny now, I think back and remember he sounded so puzzled, like he didn't know what to say. Of course I had to give a brief explanation on who Pete was. I think he breathed a sigh of relief!

Previous Post!

I just posted and I have this long empty space before you can get down to the comments. I don't know how to fix it. So if your going to comment you'll have to scroll down through the empty space to comment. How did that happen? I wish I was smart enough to figure it out!



I forgot this important news. The insurance company came through, finally!!

What were you doing 27 years ago on this day?

What were you doing on March 11, 1982? This is me in March of 1982. I am fat and pregnant with my third child. I was 27 years old. Tom and I were poor. We had 2 other children, Seth almost 6 and Emily 3. We lived in a two bedroom apartment in Omaha. Note the awful hairdo! What was I thinking. I had always had long hair and this was the first experiment with short hair. A shag haircut!

This is the early morning of March 11, 1982. I am having my coffee and making a list for my mother-in-law. I am in labor. I am reassuring my oldest son Seth, that mommy is going to the hospital to have our new baby. Those days we didn't know if it was a girl or a boy. He was a little worried about his mommy. Emily was sleeping and Tom went to get his mother to stay with the kids.

This is a lovely photo of me. I spent the morning and a good part of the day in very hard labor. With not much progress they decided to do a Cesarean Section. I was put out and never felt a thing after that! Thank God! Andy was born at 2:46pm. at St. Joseph's Hospital in Omaha, Ne. I spent 5 days at the hospital. I had hemorrhaged into my abdomen overnight, I had to have 3 units of blood the next day, I was on stand by surgery so I never got to eat. Two days later at supper, they brought food to me. Then the doctor came and said Andy had congenital cranial steno sis. He was born without a soft spot on his head and his skull was fused already. This meant that when his brain grew his head would grow long and social pressure would be hard for him. So at age 6 weeks he had surgery on his skull to open the suture line in the skull that would allow his brain to grow and his head to be a normal shape. That is a story to be told another time. I could not eat after that upsetting news.

Andrew is born. He doesn't look to happy. He weighed 10lbs 5 0z. He was one big baby! I did have my one tube tied after this. My babies got bigger every time and I was not going to ever give birth to a 12 pounder!

This is my baby Andrew John, 5 days old getting ready to leave the hospital. He is going home to meet his brother and sister. Andy was a very good baby. I just can't believe that my baby is 27 years old today. Happy Birthday Andy!

Tom and I divorced when Andy was 3 years old. Pete is the only Dad that Andy really knew. Tom has not seen Andy since age 10. He wouldn't know him if they ever ran into each other.

Note: Yesterday, March 10th would have been me and Pete's 20 year anniversary.

I haven't been reading blogs lately, I haven't been feeling well, have been having some cardiac tests this week. I am falling apart all of the sudden. I will try to get caught up with my reading soon. I thought I would do better at posting this month. This is the first one!