A Bumpy Ride

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http://mattandpia.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Rehearsals continue full throttle.  I have been working on editing the instrumental backtracks.  The program is flowing really nice!

Even though I have been sick for some days now, I am sure it will clear up for the concert.  Through the years and with experience, I have come to understand that it is not only the bugs that are going around at the moment, but the stress that just cannot be avoided that makes me and many others get sick before a concert.  I must say, though, that I am getting better every year, this one being the best to date.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Well, I finished editing, transposing, and mixing the necessary tracks.  Everything is ready to be uploaded to the board, start setting levels and programming.

Friday, December 11, 2009

I spent all day uploading the tracks on the board, setting levels and programming the automix.  First bump in the road was that the board froze – first time ever! – and I lost all the changes I had made since the last save.  So I had to basically start again!!!

I got a pretty decent amount of work redone by the time the girls got here for rehearsal, though.  Matt had set the Yamaha monitors in the living room for the tech.  When we started, we began to hear this big distortion and couldn't figure out what was causing it.  We tried everything we could and then began to go track by track.

Finally we figured out it was the tracks that had been edited in the computer the ones that had the problem.  Go figure!  I am guessing it was the program that I used but until I dig a bit more into it I will not know and right now I don’t have the time.   I have to focus on a solution and figure out how I work out half of the programs.  These tracks hadn’t only been edited for compositional purposes, but they had been transposed.

So, issue at hand, the group agreed to sing three of the pieces in the original higher key.  We had to adjust for the voices but things should work out.  Next thing will be tonight and it will be a long one as I will have to re-upload half of the music, set the level sfrom scratch for those pieces as well as the transitions from one piece to the other, and reprogram the automix. 

Needless to say, we didn’t get through much of anything.  I told the girls to go and started working.  No sweet dreams for me tonight…

Music, Music, Music

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Sunday, December 6, 2009

Monday, December 7, 2009

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Well, needless to say, all our efforts at the moment are focused on getting the show ready. Musically, it is all coming together, as well as with the choreography. We need to focus on tech now!

First Wedding Purchase

Thursday, December 3, 2009

OK, today was one of those days. I spent endless hours working on trying to print the poster for the show. Absolutely, NO LUCK! I did the route through the three printers, I run out of ink, then tried poster printing the image. Heck! I could not get a decent result.

Finally, at 9 pm I called Kinko’s, sent them the file and asked them to print it in photo paper. When I got there at 10:30 pm the lady – who, quite frankly, was not very customer oriented and appeared not to want to be there – had printed it in poster paper rather than in photo paper. Unfortunately, the price in photo paper was three times higher so I had to live with what they had done.

Friday, December 4, 2009

This morning I mounted the poster so I could drop it later in day at Ten East Washington. Jeanne and I got together for lunch and then we went to drop the poster in Newnan.

On our way back, we stopped at Barnes and Noble. I found the perfect planner, “Bride’s Year Ahead” or I should say it found me as it usually happens when things are right. I also got a book called “Stylish Weddings for Less”. So we could say these are the first wedding expenses (except the “Bride” magazine that I bought a couple of weeks ago.) They both have lots of great ideas and suggestions. Next step is to sit down, go through them and mark the interesting stuff.

Later in the day the girls came for rehearsal, except Jill. We are now rehearsing 3 hours a day until the day of the show. We worked on the choreography for “My Favorite Things” and “Winter Wonderland.” There is a lot of work to do, but I think it is going to be a good show.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

It’s been another busy day. Matt and I had to go downtown in the morning and then the girls came for rehearsal in the afternoon. We had a couple of Christmas concerts by friends we wanted to make, but we couldn’t get the schedules to work.

I also need to get some workouts in. With so much stuff going on, I am starting to miss a day here and there. Not good…

"A Touch of Christmas" Starts

Hi everybody! 

Thanks for the beautiful emails and comments. It certainly makes this journey very special beeing able to share it with you like this.  The address of the blog were everythig is being archived  and can be reviewed is

http://mattandpia.blogspot.com/

Please go ahead and post your thoughts! 

They will certainly be momentos we will treasure!

Love always,

Matt and Pia

Monday, November 30, 2009

Today, we started rehearsals for “A Touch of Christmas” . We need to put this one-hour program together in two weeks for a gig at Ten East Washington on December 13. We have already been working on the music and some of the choreography, but there is still much to do and in a very short time. So, for the next two weeks, you know what we’ll be doing…

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

I started to look at wedding rings designs online. Once again, there is SO much out there but the price selection is pretty good. There is something for each budget. So the thing is going to be to nail down a design.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

There was not much today, but work for the concert and flipping through an edition of “Bride” that I got. I didn’t find much that I liked. Quite frankly, I think it is better just to surf the web, though you might get drowned in the process.

I think back to when the internet didn’t exist or was not readily available to everybody…(Yes kids, there was such a time!  And NO TEXTING EITHER!) Just looking for ideas would have been exhausting. Granted, I would have probably bought a pile of magazines.

And then the excruciating pain of having to shop from one store to the next when you hate shopping. There’s only two places I like to go to, Kirkland and Hobby Lobby. I can stay in Hobby Lobby for hours, looking, getting ideas, seeing what they have, especially when I am designing the details of a show and I am working on the wardrobe.

Matt and I also like to go to Barnes and Noble. Don’t you just love the smell of books and coffee! And of course, I can spend hours in the music department.

I have also been looking at wedding invitation sets when shopping. There are some basic good choices that, with the addition of a special touch, can really turn outstanding. I have something in mind, but I need to let the ideas simmer...

Leftovers

I believe that the slideshow in yesterday's blog did not go through so here is the link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/MariaPiaUgarte/091126Thanksgiving?feat=directlink

Also, the link to this blog is:

http://mattandpia.blogspot.com/

Friday, November 27, 2009

So today has been a traditional left over day. Yum! And not only for food but for the time shared with those we love.

We have also been putting the Holiday china away and all the other nicks and nacks. I did some additional internet search but I didn’t find anything that captured my attention.

Sweet dreams world…

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Matt and I have been talking about some details and I think we have agreed on one key point. But, it is still not time to give this one away…

Sunday, November 29, 2009

The online search continues, this time checking out invitations. I got some ideas but I didn’t see anything that spoke to me, certainly not that said Matt and Pia.

Thinking about it, what would I expect to find something that would be us? Much of who we are is about how we do and doing ourselves, about creating and that is, at least for me (like I told a friend many years ago when she asked me what was music for me) “how I tell the world I am here.” So why would I expect for somebody else to know my thoughts and my feelings? To be us it has to have that participative creativity in it, so I think I’ll start working on a design.

Thanksgiving

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

We got in touch with those we hadn’t been able to reach to give them the news.

We also went shopping for Thanksgiving. The usual suspects will be here, a total of 16 people including ourselves. Christopher and Brett are stopping by before they go to their mom’s. Matt is cooking two turkeys; I am preparing kale and fried sweet potatoes, and getting ice cream and apple pie; mom is here already and brought yellow squash soufflé; Grace, Steve, Gaby and Marco are bringing mashed potatoes, cheese cake, and homemade cranberry sauce; Eddie and Terri will bring the wine; and Tere and Lito are bringing Tere’s eggplant specialty and bread. Lisa, Dan and Paige might join us if they get back in time from Nashville.

As Grace suggested… ;-) Matt will be making the “official” ;-) announcement during dinner.

I also started to look at wedding dresses online. What’s a girl gonna do? ;-) Many months ago, I had seen an article of “El Comercio” with some dresses that had called my attention. As I always do, I kept them in my Wardrobe Design folder. (I have a Design folder for pretty much everything and I dig through them when I am preparing a show.) I pulled the pics out.

The designers name is Elie Saab. Have you seen his stuff? It is absolutely amazing. I love how he goes beyond what has been done till this day when working with texture. He’s a genius! I found his site online and also the line he designs for Pronovias in Barcelona. Of course – do I need to say it? – these dresses start at about $6K!!!, so that is out of the question. But, it is possible I might be able to adapt one of the locally available dresses with the similar sleeves to look like the design I like.

I also found sites from China on eBay that claim can sew any dress. Gotta look more into it. The prices are unbeatable but, as you can imagine, I don’t know about that…

Wedesday, November 25, 2009

Today we finalized details for tomorrow. As usual, I set the table during the night and left anything I had to done taken care off (except cooking) so tomorrow I can get ready without having to rush.

Matt got the grill and porch ready for his cooking session tomorrow.

When everything was ready, I continued looking at wedding dresses. Man! There is so much stuff out there!!!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I just love the Holidays! Getting together with everybody, eating, talking, laughing; well, you know.

During Grace, we went around the table and everybody mentioned something he or she was thankful for. I know this might sound a bit corny, but I think it is very healthy and important, specially in time of challenge like the ones we are all living, to remember even one thing – if not the many things – that we should be thankful for. And I know this has been said endlessly, but there are so many that don’t even come close to having the life the we have in this wonderful country, in the beautiful town we live in.

Having been raised in Peru and having taught catechism in really poor areas when I was in high school, I have seen first hand the extreme poverty that others can endure. My schoolmate and I used to take bread with butter and jam every time we went. And I can clearly remember to this day how the little kids sometimes fought for a piece. Dressed in ragged clothes, wearing no shoes, studying in a school that had no roof and no windows, with bricks as chairs and no desks, these children came to listen and t learn.

We also get so caught the demanding rhythms of our lives, sometimes stuck in the system, automatically doing what we have to do every day, that we forget, how truly blessed we are, if at all because we have the opportunity to pursue our dreams if we so choose to do. I have lived in this country most of my adult life. And, even though I have roots in Peru, it is here were I grew into the person that I am today.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

So here I sit writing these words, without a second thought, knowing I will be sharing them with the people I love. And I think, there are so many places in the world where I could not be doing this for so many different reasons…and I feel, once again, so truly blessed…

And, in being thankful, we “officially” shared our news with all those present during dinner, laughing, eating, taking pics, and enjoying our wonderfully blessed lives!

Five Years

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Today is five years that Matt and I have been together. For his gift, I put together a scrapbook of all the things that we have shared during this time. I started about a week ago. But as it turned out, he would spend a lot of time home these days so I could only get to work on in last night, in a frenzy, trying to finish it in time. Of course, the three printers that we have had to run out of ink, two of them just went kaput; and so I stayed up all night getting to finish, but I got it done.

We have shared so many things and, at the same time, it feels as if it were only yesterday when I found his business card on my windshield and Cindy told me to give him a call. Hadn’t it been for her, I probably wouldn’t have called him. But she said, “I have a good feeling about this” and so I rang.

On Sunday, November 21, 2004, we went for our first date, coffee at Starbuck’s in Peachtree City at 6:00 pm. That turned into dinner at Macaroni Grill and a conversation that lasted until 1:45 am and ended just because the restaurant’s staff was leaving.

And here we are, five years after. Who would have thought? As they say, love finds you whenever you least expect it.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Today, the celebration of our fifth anniversary continued. Matt asked me to marry him. He brought six roses, two chocolate glazed Krispy Kream donuts and coffee, my pink sapphire ring, and a Garmin so, as he said, “we can always find our way back home.” On one knee, Matt offered his heart to me, one more time, to keep, protect and embrace, with a promise to always keep The Gift safe.

I said yes.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Yesterday night and today, we told family and close friends, those we were able to reach. It is good to share our joy with those we love.