This & That

Fesitval Prep Time

Music is a big deal at our house.  I am a classically trained pianist and have been heavily involved in music my whole life.  It brings me such joy when I see my kids enjoy it as well.  About four years ago, I felt that my piano skills were just melting away minute by minute.  I really had no reason or motivation to practice except when I was asked occasionally to accompany someone singing in church.  The boys were interested in taking some voice lessons, so when I explored the possibility, one of the local voice teachers offered to trade accompanying for voice lessons.  It was a perfect fit.  Part of my committment includes preparing for festival.  I usually play 2-4 songs apiece for 6-9 students.  It's a lot of music to learn and requires hefty practice time and a return to the self-discipline that marked my days as a serious student.  Nothing will take me back to my high school level of proficiency, but it keeps me from losing any more technique. 

Festival is a week from Saturday.  So it's crunch time.  Lots of practicing, refining, adjusting, cussing when I just can't seem to get a section right, faking when I know there's no way it's ever going to happen.  I always ask myself repeatedly at this time of year......What in the world did I get myself into?  It's one of those good-for-me things.  It's good for me to do this, but when I have to practice instead of do what I want, I feel like a grumbly teenager again.

This is the road in front of my house.  I was thinking about roads the other day.  Robert Frost's poem the road less traveled  is one of my favorites. I spend a lot of time on this particular road.  It's the road I walk with Robin five days a week.   It's also the road I drive every day....usually several times a day on my way to various errands and kids' activities.  It's a quiet road...no sidewalks, no street lights, not much traffic.  That's the way we like it.  It brings my college kids and missionaries home to me, brings my kids home n the bus, brings DH home after work.

It's the road home.

Great quote in my inbox today.....makes me wonder what kind of road I'm choosing personally.....

"It has been said that the gate of history turns on small hinges, and so do people's lives. The choices we make determine our destiny."--Thomas S. Monson

The Quiet

What I really notice after a long weekend with kids home is The Quiet.  And yes, it has to be in capital letters.  It's almost unnerving when they all leave for school that first day and I wander around the empty house.  OK, there is an up-side.....there's no bickering between siblings, but a lot of times it just feels empty.

EH?

This is Brad.  Brad is my son's roommate.  He's from Canada.  He's a hoot, eh?   My son brought him home for the long weekend.  I'm always a little skeptical when he wants to do this, because he knows the kid but I don't.  Well, Brad fit right in to our zoo.  As you can see, he made himself right at home.  We spoke Canadian to each other.  We bonded.  He ate my cookies like they were going out of style.  He sang with the choir on Sunday.  He called me "Mom".  We watched a lot of hockey and made sarcastic comments about the ice dancing costumes. 

Brad, you come back, eh?

Adjustable Meals

So it's the LOOOOOOONNNNNGGGG 3-day weekend.  DS #2 made his way home last night with one of his roommates to spend it with us.  His roommate is from Canada, so we were up early watching  Canada's hockey team get trounced by the Swiss.  (Some of you may know that I was born in Canada, so this always brings out a little residual Canadian pride---much as I love my adoptive USA.)  Love the comments I heard as they played...."How can the Swiss play a competitive sport?  Aren't they NEUTRAL???"......"You know what I don't get?  How they can market something called a Swiss ARMY knife.  It probably doesn't even cut anything!!"

It's great to have the house brimming with boys again.  I find that I have to adjust my cooking big time, though.  I'm used to my shrinking family size and with the testosterone influx I may need to make an extra batch of cookies or something to stave off starvation.  Soup tonight....very adjustable!

Mixed Feelings

You know, once you hit a "certain age" you have really mixed feelings about having birthdays.  On the one hand it's so nice to be remembered and have people make a bit of a fuss, but on the other.....well, it's kind of like "Can't we just ignore it and maybe it'll go away?"  That's what I told DH last week.

On the up side, one of the college boys is going to wend his way home for the weekend.  Really excited about that.  On the down side, I still need to get some cleaning done before he puts in an appearance.  On the sort-of up side, since the school district always schedules their teacher inservice to coincide with President's Day weekend (yeah, happy birthday to me......) I can get out my whip and chair and make my kids help!

All You Need is Love

Valentine's Day for me came at the end of a wicked week of busy-ness.  I felt very harried and overwhelmed even when I thought I had prepared well.  I've learned the hard way that you have to be careful what traditions you start in a family, because they haunt you when you don't have time for them.   I spent Saturday in the kitchen, making a sheet cake for a family gathering on Sunday, but I also did a triple batch of chocolate chip cookie dough with Valentine M&Ms instead of chocolate chips.  I thought not only could I use it for the high school room mom thing I had to do today, but I could also use it for our annual Cupid tradition I'll fill you in later about.  DD then informed me that Valentine's Day as we know it would cease to exist without the traditional, but very time consuming frosted homemade sugar cookies.   Sigh.

So yesterday I spent the day making the blasted sugar cookies so all would be right in her world.  I guess it came out alright.  I'll save the extra M&M ones for this weekend when DS and his roommate come home for the long weekend.

So this Cupid tradition begins with a story from DH's childhood.  When he was little, his grandparents lived right across the street and he was very close to them.  Every Valentine's Day, his grandfather would buy each of the grandkids a big chocolate heart with their name on it.  Then he would put one heart on the doorstep at a time and doorbell ditch.  In our family it has evolved into a paper plate with a few of those darn sugar cookies on it.  DH runs from the front door, to the back door, to the garage door knocking and ringing like crazy, sending the kids in all different directions hoping to catch him in the act.  It's a fun family tradition for us and one of the reasons I just love him.....forget the pretty roses I get....he's just a great dad.

Passings

I went to a funeral today.  I didn't know the woman who had died.  I was there to play for someone who was singing.  What struck me about this funeral was the overwhelming legacy of love she left behind.  Person after person got up and talked about the love and service she gave.  Even though I didn't know her, I found my eyes filling with tears and they described a life well-lived.  I find myself hoping I can do the same....

Life is Good...

Really.  Love those days when things flow pretty well.  Didn't start out that way.  DS had a flat tire this morning, so I had to cram driving him to school in the middle of the morning routine....which doesn't include driving him to school.   But we survived.  Got my walk in, too, before the errands took over.  The thermometer in my car while I was driving DS to school said 24 degrees, so it was a, um, brisk walk in more ways than one. 

Got the groceries bought, new ink for the printer so I can SHUT UP those blinking lights, got the Valentine care packages ready to go for DS #1 & DIL and DS #2.  Got the Valentine cards enveloped and stamped for grandparents and siblings.  Yeah.....going great guns. 

I have a silly LO for you today.  Sneaky peek of the sketch challenge for next Monday....made with the end of the absolute OLDEST SA kit I own that still had shreddies left. 

In addition to that I have a good quote that came to my inbox this morning.  Think about it!

"We are bombarded on all sides by a vast number of messages we don't want or need. More information is generated in a single day than we can absorb in a lifetime. To fully enjoy life, all of us must find our own breathing space and peace of mind."--

James E. Faust

High Fashion

I'm so fortunate.  For now, this is my daughter's idea of high fashion.  I wonder how long that will last.  For now, I can go to Taget (love that place!) buy her a pair of toe socks and have her walk out with a grin on her face, convinced that she is the has the corner on the fashion market. 

(LO done using a kit from Scrap Addict.)