On Wednesday my Grandma passed away. My grandparents lived near Atlanta for my whole life, so here I am in Georgia at her house. Today was the funeral and tonight we began to go through some of hers and my grandfathers things (he passed away in 2002). It is so neat to see all of their stuff. Although I make fun of (e:mike) for being a packrat, that's what my grandparents were, and everything is so neat to find and look at. We've found old jewely, letters, worksheets and knick-knacks in their old cedar chest. My mom and I also found an envelope with the words "This is personal, do not read, destroy promptly in case of accident, Mom". How mysterious! So I went and asked my dad and he smiled and said that he and his two sisters had talked about it with their mother and she said that only her three children were allowed to read what was inside...which is love letters between her and my grandfather! (Or at least I hope from my grandfather?!) So I am a little jealous but I also think that is really sweet.
Being so far away, we only got to see my grandparents once or twice a year, so we weren't very, very close. But when we did get to see each other a couple times a year, of course it was absolutely great. I know many people would probably this same claim, but I am fairly certain that I had the best, most classic Grandma ever. AT LEAST the best cook. I mean if you didn't come back from a trip to Georgia weighing at least 5 lbs more than when you got there, you were surely ill. One thing I will miss soooo much is her amazing pound cake. She was so well known for it that I printed up recipe cards and we gave them out at the wake as people came in, and everyone loved it. Her pound cake was honestly the best and it makes us all sad to think she won't bake us another, something she loved to do.
And my grandfather was the most caring and selfless person. Many of the things we found of theirs tonight had little slips or paper that he had written, always marking down who gave it to them, when, and what/how much it had meant to them. They just loved their family. They even got to see their first great grandchild born in 2002, and my grandma lived to see a second great grandchild. Even though we weren't close it is really hard to be here and not have my grandmother here fussing and cooking and cracking a few jokes here and there. The last time she came to Buffalo was for my recital. She was sooooo happy to be there and I was so glad she got to come. I sent her a recording of it before I left for Europe and my dad said she loved it and they listened to it on the Monday before she passed away. It was really hard to sing at the funeral because it was as if I knew she was listening to me, so I wanted to sing well but at the same time no one can sing well with a lump in their throat.
We were here for her birthday last year too, and she got to meet Chris ("just the nicest boy" she told me EVERY TIME i talked to her) and because his birthday is so close to hers they had a birthday cake together...her last birthday, and we got to be there, which I think is really lucky.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I will really, really miss her, and am grateful that I got to talk to her when she was in the hospital last week. I know that when I sing I will always remember how happy my recital made her and that she was proud what I did no matter what...I love you and miss you, Grandma and Granddad...

I'm here in Guilderland for the weekend. I turned down (e:mike) and (e:maureen) about going out last night, thinking that i needed to be up for a bus at 9:50 am the next day. Well sometime after that I decided it would be a better idea to take the bus before it in case the bus was delayed crossing the border like the train always is. OMG I hate the stupid train from buffalo to albany. It is seriously AT LEAST an hour and a half late every time, no joke...stupid customs. So anyway I ended up taking a bus at 5:40 am. Who does that? I totally should have gone out with (e:mike) and (e:maureen) and then just gone straight to the bus station after the bars and a jim's steakout trip. So anyway I didn't do that after all, but I made it and the bus was on time and not too sketchy.
Tonight I went with Chris's family to a restaurant that is very well known in the area for their beef and steak and stuff. It was super tasty and expensive.
ps Ever since I met Chris's family they call me MK like most people. But they all emphasize the M instead of the K. This is unlike everybody else who says my name...they say it like MK. So Chris of course told them that they say my name funny and now they are trying to not say it that way. Which is fine and nice, but now everytime someone starts to say something to me, they get interrupted by everyone else saying variations of "NO you said it wrong! It's EmmKAY! Not EMMkay! Or should we call you Mary Kate? What do you think EMMKay? Oops I mean EmmKAY!" So basically no one ever gets to say anything to me because they don't know how to say my name. Who would have thought a name with only two letters would cause so much catastrophe?
I am super sad to not be able to go to the party tomorrow. : ( I hope everyone has fun and has some drinkies.......YAY 10000....YAY ELMWOOD STRIP..................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sitting at work here with nothing to do. This usually happens when my dad takes the day off because he generally gives me stuff to do. But I hate not coming in because I need the money (wow the thought actually crossed my mind to put the words "like whoa" right there. But I hate that. And I HATE the word "woot". So so much.). Anyway so it feels like time to finish posting my pictures. I should update this more, because I applaud (e:Jessbob) for his daily posting and perhaps I should do the same. So here are the rest of my pics.



The Louvre, holy crap it's so huge and full of neat stuff...



...including this lovely lady(?) in the frame



a bookstore once home to many American writers when the U.S. was crap after World War I, such as Ernest Hemingway. Neato. The front normally doesn't look like that by the way but of course we were then when it was being worked on.



the Eiffel all lit up at night


So we drank a LITTLE wine...taken in our lovely flat that we rented for the week from a man who reminded me of (e:Paul) if he was French...



The Eiffel Tower at night was super amazing and I loved it. If we had been there a few days before, we may have seen Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes...!


Well still nothing to do at work. Maybe if you're lucky I'll fill out one of those super long surveys and post it here. Maybe...

I hope everyone responds to (e:Mike) and signs up for the soap opera. We were so proud of it back in the day and it really has always been (e:Mike) 's dream and mine to get a few episodes taped. So come be part of the action and fun and drama!

Finally gonna finish posting my Europe trip pictures...my mom found a random scrapbook that she never used and apparently never planned to use and gave it to me, so I can' t wait to fill it up with pictures and show it off.




Helsinki, Finland



a cathedral in Helsinki that is made entirely out of rock



The beeyootiful concert hall that we sang in at the festival



me, Emily and David walking down a street in the Latin Quarter in Paris (a section a little similar to the strip...but French)



This is the Pompidou, which, like many things in Paris, was a big controversy when it was built. It's built like it's inside out with pipes and stuff on the outside, and the elevators are like tubes that run along the side of the building.


Ok I guess I lied, I have more pics but don't have time to put them up...so stay tuned... ;)

Thanks to (e:Jill) and (e:Beast) for the pictures from Scotland, I loved it, keep 'em coming... :)

I'm just really in the mood for European pictures, so here are a few from my trip...



on the Tower Bridge in London





eating lunch on the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral in London





enjoying the view of Big Ben and Parliament from the London Eye





a view of beautiful Bergen, Norway



another view...we hiked up that big hill later around 9 pm to watch the sunset...which didn't set until 11 pm...ahhh!



from a day trip called "Norway in a Nutshell"...one of many waterfalls that we saw along with mountains and villages that haven't been changed since the 19th century and my favorite, "fjords" (pronounced like fyord), which are bodies of water that we took a cruise through.

more pics from Finland and Paris to come...

Has anyone ever beat the expert level of Minesweeper? I think I've made that one of my goals of summer. Sad but true. I have mastered the two beginning levels but have never once beat the highest level. I would really like to this summer.


p.s. Buttery popcorn has probably the best and most tempting smell of any food in the world.

For (e:Jill)...a popular clothing store in Finland that I saw many times. Thought you would enjoy... :)





Hey, you Scots...WE MISS YOU!!!!!

And I am officially back in the USA. Have been for about 4 days now. My trip with the Chamber Singers was ridiculously eventful due to the fact that both our tour manager and director had no idea what they were doing. The itinerary we were given was basically BS because the group totally ran out of money and nothing was planned or thought out in advance AT ALL. People ended up having to buy basically all of their meals, when we were originally told we would be able to eat cheaply at our hostels or with host families. There was even a night when we didn't have a hotel booked until 12:30 in the morning and all 33 of us were stranded in a train station in Stockholm. So needless to say, I wasn't sad when me, Chris and my friends David and Emily departed from the group to go to Paris for the week.

We did get to sing in a big festival in Tampere, Finland, and actually did pretty well. We were the only American choir and were chosen to sing in the final concert (13 out of 50 choirs were chosen.) We didn't win a prize or money but it was still really cool, and a nice way for me to end my time with the group (that I really do love and will miss but am not sorry to leave after this tour fiasco!)

Paris was so great. We ate so much bread and cheese and drank just as much wine. The arts are thriving there, and have been for a long time. I can understand why so many famous writers, artists and musicians made their homes in Paris. I only wish I spoke French. Most people were nice about speaking English but I felt so guilty anyway. Everywhere we go, people learn English as well as their native language, because Americans seem to be too caught up with themselves to spend a great deal of time educating in language arts.

Paris still had its own troubles, such as Chris losing his passport on the very last day! He somehow made it to London without his passport but then had to make a trip to the US Embassy in order to fly home. Silly Americans. Luckily that turned out ok, and now the only other battle we have is to tackle a $400 phone bill from our hotel in London...thanks a lot AT&T phone cards...

I'm glad to be back home. It's nice to make some money after having spent so much, and I'm hoping to relieve Mike from some of his crappiness. I know I can't always provide the same entertainment as Jill or Teres, but I guess he knows that too. I think we are going to have a great time anyway. A trip to NYC is in the works (and definitely WILL HAPPEN!) and the rest of the usual summer fun. And somewhere in there I hope to go to Albany a couple times.

So that's my life lately. Glad to be back. Jill and Beast sounds like you are getting by in freakin expensive Great Britain! I'm sorry we didn't get together. I didn't even end up going to the city on the night of the 19th because we were so worn out and had an amazing hotel right by the airport (yay priceline!) Miss you lots.

TTFN tata for now.

P.S. Who thinks Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will be popular and successful and who thinks it might end up as another weird Johnny Depp movie that no one really remembers down the road?

So I am in Finland staying with a host mommy. This is the first time all tour I've stayed with a host parent and not a hostel. It is just me and her and her two little terriers that I sort of love and hate at the same time but really I love them because they remind me of my dogs.

Some highlights and opinions of my trip so far...

First of all my choir director is incompetent and irresponsible. We've had a lot of problems with money and scheduling and general organization. It's very frustrating, and I don't think I am one to get frustrated easily. We do have a tour manager who also did a half-assed job of planning and scheduling. It is a lack of money and communication that has resulted in some adventures, some of which I would not wish to repeat any time soon.

London...I love London still, but I think I loved it more last time because my mom was so in love with everything, and seeing London with Chris jsut wasn't the same. He doesn't care for big cities I guess. But we both enjoyed the sites and stuff. It is so expensive...the £ is pretty much double the $. HA I CAN TYPE BOTH OF THOSE SYMBOLS WITH THESE KEYBOARDS! Anyway London was super and I was really happy to go back. Heard some great music too.

Norway: Some beautiful scenery, such as the mountains and waterfalls. But Norway is also REALLY expensive, and not all that exciting. You can really do most everything you want in a couple days. I liked it a lot though.

Sweden: I did not like Sweden. I mean we started off on the wrong foot...getting in to Stockholm too late and not having a hostel that we had planned for and ended up sitting around the train station until 1:30 AM. But in general I thought the people were rude, the city was pretty ugly and I was just not impressed at all.

Finland: I love Helsinki! I wish we could have been there longer. I like Finland. They really have their shit together with education and taxes and health care and stuff. There are not very many people at all...like 5 million in the whole country. I'm looking foward to singing (sort of) and to hearing a bunch of choirs in this festival we are participating in.

I am pretty much ready to go home, or at least go somewhere where I don't have to be with Chamber Singers. In a way I am glad this is my last thing with the group. I am looking forward to Paris, even though I know it is kind of dirty with mean people. I am brushing on my french but I stink. Mon francais e mal. After Paris I will be really ready to be home and read English and understand what newspapers and menus say and pay in dollars and eat American food and see everyone that I really really miss. Well, almost everyone.

My computer will probably freak out and shut down in the middle of this. So it will be fast and short. While I am excited to go to Europe, I am sad to go too. I wish so much that I could be with Mike and the Viscos for the next few days. Timing doesn't seem to be the best thing lately. I know that my family will be there for you. (e:mike) I will only be gone until mid-June. You will barely notice I have left. I know this is a really hard time for you right now but even if the three of us won't be here, you do have other people here to entertain you and keep you going!! I love you and I'm going to miss you while I am overseas and therefore I will write to you a lot. I will sure to fill you in on lots of good stories for when I'm there, well, if I feel like getting through the whole thing...


Vivere lungo il Centro Commerciale di Colline Orientale! La vedrò quando ritorno!


(I hope free translation.com is correct and I didn't just write something ridiculous.) :)

Good luck and I will be thinking about you a lot!