Originally uploaded by ein feisty Berg
Happy Anniversary to us! 20 years ago this month we departed the wedding on a 1982 Harley Davidson and spent 21 days on the road cross country.
Category Archives: Family
Congratulations, Andrea!
Originally uploaded by ein feisty Berg
One of my skills, hobbies, and intentional pursuits for the past few decades has been “getting people where they need to go,” whether in mom’s taxi or in career / life.
Congratulations, Andrea! You have reached a milestone; graduation from high school! Another deep passion of mine is raising young musicians. Pictured here are seven high school students who participate in a variety of ways in marching band. Three of them are also members of Accidental Revenge, a fledging rock band which meets and rehearses in my basement. Two of the three belong to me. The guitarist is the young man in black behind Andrea.
The List Contains 10, (ten things I want to do before I die)
Before I turned 40 I began writing books. I began teaching Language 101 and Manners 101 to my toddlers even through I said I would never home school. I loved playing the piano. I loved precisely rolled and folded fresh laundry neatly tucked exactly where it should be. I loved being a stay at home mom, yard-sale-ing; and I baked tons of bread and stretched chicken and beef to nourish my family on a very limited budget. Aside from budgeting and laundry; what did I want to do with my life?
I wanted to return to Colorado before I died.
I wanted to be a published author.
I wanted to be the quintessential Proverbs 31 woman.
I wanted to mentor younger women and be mentored by older, wiser women.
I began to say that my “Fantasy Island” would be performing on the stage at Red Rocks.
I wanted to find the best public education possible for my kids.
I wanted to spend time around stages, microphones, studios and musicians.
I wanted to invest my life, make a difference in my world, and make a difference in the lives of others.
I wanted to travel and see places unknown, via plane, and train, and auto, to experience “the good life,” in all its changing forms.
I wanted to be a person of knowledge and influence.
Well, Gentle Reader; the list contains 10; some general, some specific; yet remaining consistent through the intervening years; plumb with much of what I desired even in childhood. When we meet again I will endeavor to assess how I am doing; which goals are met, which are yet to strive for.
Cousins are a girl’s best friends
Love of Fame or Love of the Game
Originally uploaded by ein feisty Berg.
Andrea, my high school senior, also struggles philosophically with balancing the fame of success with the independence of obscurity. In her quiet, independent, way she has racked up a bit of applause.
When school reopens in January she will play the part of Malcolm in MacBeth. Why not? In the 1600s all of Shakespeare’s female leads were male; turn about is fair play.
All of my offspring are stage (or at least performance) struck. Is it any wonder? Their maternal grandmother was a High School Thespian and has continued to direct church plays and solo acts right through her retirement years. The paternal grandmother of my oldest is a best selling author, speaker, and personality. The paternal grandmother of my younger two children once participated in Colorado Opera and had her sites on the stage.
Andrea’s other stellar performances include:
• State Championship Color Guard performance with marching band.
• 2006, CCU production of Carousel: Carnival gymnast and swordsman, daughter of Enoch snow, dancer, and chorus member.
• Lettered in gymnastics, 2004
• Chorus and Dancer, Once Upon a Mattress community production
• MVF (Most Valuable Freshman) award in gymnastics, 2003
She is a budding writer, loves to cook, designs and constructs her own costumes for theatrical play. Andrea is also an artist (primarily 3-D at the moment) and musician, playing piano when the mood hits and drums with the fledgling rock band that meets in our basement. At present, her plans for the future include a Spanish major and teaching – preferably in a foreign country.
Perhaps the delicate balancing act boils down to “love of the game, not, love of the fame!”
Christmas past Carolling as a family 2000
Christmas past Carolling as a family 2000
Originally uploaded by ein feisty Berg.
Christmas Past. I have not always been the shortest member of the family. Here we are, six or seven years ago, performing as a family. How youthful we appear! We performed as a family most recently in April of 2006 in the CCU production of Carousel. Although we age and grow taller; some things do not change. I am still going about the business of raising young musicians and getting people where they need to go.
China Trip 2005
DSCN0677_0138Originally uploaded by ein feisty Berg.Since my major love in life is raising young musicians; it follows that my children are very important to me. (Or is that; since my children are very important to me: I love raising young musicians?) My youngest, Philip, spent 4 years in the nationally acclaimed Colorado Children’s Chorale, before aging out at 14 years, 5 months – at the end of eighth grade. The crowning finale of his year’s in National Tour Choir was the China tour.
“This is my family, they are a part of me, they make me smile…” so go the lyrics to a moving song arranged for, and sung by, the chorale. Philip is family, he is a very real part of me. Opportunities (like chorale) for my family are why I work. They bring joy to me.