piano practice – Page 9

Spur play date and outing reality check

We’ve all been getting sick for a while now, but I was in denial all morning because I wanted Lydia to be able to go to preschool. Our co-op has a rule that runny noses aren’t allowed, and you would think that’s pretty easy to understand except that I get hung up on the definition of “runny.” Finally, I admitted to myself that she really did have a runny nose, and we stayed home. Bummer.

Until! Until the phone rang. Aria called and suggested a play date, which was perfect since her kids both had slightly runny noses too. Great! We proceeded to have an awesome play date which culminated/ended in lunch and hot chocolate. By the time we were done, Mary was waaaaay overdue for her nap (usually at 11 am, today pushed to 1:30 pm).

After naps, I loaded the girls in the car. They have not set foot outside of the house since Sunday; we were overdue for an outing. But man, oh, man, by the time we were done with our library-grocery store run, I was just about ready for self-induced house arrest for the rest of winter. Waiting in line with two screaming children in an understaffed Sprouts was…horrible. To be fair, Lydia was great 90% of the time, but all it takes is a five minute meltdown for the whole outing to feel like a total disaster. By the time I got both girls back into the car, I was ready for a meltdown myself. Also, Mary lost her binky half way through our outing and screamed for the rest of the time. I spent about five minutes searching up and down the aisles for it before giving up and heading toward the mile long check-out lines.

To make it slightly worse, the woman behind me kept making exasperated sounds while I fumbled to get my groceries loaded onto the checkout stand. I was holding one screaming baby in one hand while the other cried and hung onto my legs, and I was mentally already throwing the b-word around when I realized that the poor woman looked like she was about to have a heart attack. She was bent over in pain and looked ashy gray in the face. I should have made sure she was okay, but she didn’t seem to enjoy the time my situation had already cost her, so I figured I’d better skip the small talk. Instead, I tried to internalized the lesson: Don’t judge on appearances. A woman who might appear to be an unfeeling, heartless b– is much more likely to be a wonderful person who might be acting out of her own personal duress. I hope I have more understanding and patience the next time I run into someone like that.

Anyway, here are today’s pictures:

I set up the princess castle tent for the play date. Espen really wanted Enna to come in with him.

He wanted to give her a hug. Precious overload.

Lydia put this hat on Espen. His great grandparents were the first LDS converts from South Africa after the missionaries were sent in the second time, so this was actually a pretty appropriate attire. Also, the girls and I spent part of the morning playing “Imagination” on that pink blanket. I’d forgotten how fun that game is! Also, Lydia handed me a pretend sea shell during dinner, thanks to our morning game.

At the library. Lydia was up to her old hoarding tricks again.

I made stuffed pumpkins again, and I kind of love taking pictures of them. They're just...cute. — I made stuffed pumpkins again, and I kind of love taking pictures of them. They’re just…cute.

picture back log

My yoga class ended around 10pm tonight, so this is a late night post. Therefore, it will be quick. I took some pictures with my iPad today and in so doing discovered a small back log that I am going to throw up here, since this is the end of my daily report.

Mary woke up before Lydia this morning, so we hung out for an hour. We took some selfies.

Mary threw her first angry tantrum today (no tears, just screams and kicks and wriggles) for an hour and a half. This is what happened afterward. We cuddled, unbeknownst to her... — Mary threw her first angry tantrum today (no tears, just screams and kicks and wriggles) for an hour and a half. This is what happened afterward. We cuddled, unbeknownst to her…

This is Mary happy, earlier in the day. Today she wanted my undivided attention at ALL times. It was fun, but the minute I tried to do anything except pay attention to Mary, the fun ended.

Then I found this one on the iPad and couldn't believe I'd forgotten to post it. Mary LOVES climbing, and she's even gotten from where she's standing in the picture to the top of the desk. We are now super careful never to leave anything out that could give her a foot lift. — Then I found this one on the iPad and couldn’t believe I’d forgotten to post it. Mary LOVES climbing, and she’s even gotten from where she’s standing in the picture to the top of the desk. We are now super careful never to leave anything out that could give her a foot lift.

I know Christmas is done, but I LOVE this picture of Lydia cuddling the snowmen. And I miss that tree.

Abe’s first day

Today was Abe’s first day at his new job! I wish I had more to report, but I haven’t seen or spoken to him much, since I went to class tonight and ever since I’ve been home he’s been running on the treadmill. We did have a quick conversation during one of my class breaks, though, and he was ecstatic about his new work environment. It seems like such a healthy, wonderful change for him.

In the meantime, I enjoyed his new schedule, because it means I now get up before the kids. It was really nice to read and shower and brush my teeth BEFORE the kids woke up. I also like getting up when it’s still dark out. There’s something cozy about that.

This morning I cleaned the whole house while Mary, who was in a don’t-put-me-down mood, cried most of the time. I fed her a couple times, and that helped a bit.

Class was also fantastic. I finally feel like it’s what I signed up to learn, and I learned so much tonight! For example, stock is not supposed to be salted. Who knew? We learned about a ton of stuff that I’d love to write down, except I hear Abe and want to hear about his new day. So, quickly:

By the time I took this photo, I'd already showered, dressed, and brushed my teeth. (This is AM.) Sadly, I was about six hours ahead of normal. — By the time I took this photo, I’d already showered, dressed, and brushed my teeth. (This is AM.) Sadly, I was about six hours ahead of normal.

While I was cleaning, the girls stopped tantruming for a couple minutes to watch Daniel Tiger together.

When Abe was watching the girls tonight, he took this picture of Mary with the potty seat around her head.

Here's another one Abe took tonight. That's supposed to be a smile... — Here’s another one Abe took tonight.

Okay, now I get to hear the full scoop on Abe’s day!!!

9 to 9 run-down.

Abe went to Tom and Suzanne’s house this morning to work on his work stuff, and in the meantime I: Started making tomorrow’s dinner, played piano with the girls, aided Lydia in her attempts to craft more postcards for her cat, read books to Lydia, and rocked Mary for approximately half an hour while both girls threw long, loud tantrums. Finally, I figured out Mary needed breakfast #2, and after that she went to sleep.

Then Lydia and I Skyped with Clark and Swathi until Abe came home. As soon as he came home, I hightailed it to the piano and remained there until Mary woke up from her nap. I think after that we ate again, read more books, and then I took a nap.

After that, we went to the library to pick out more books and read down some more fines. Then we stopped at Payless to buy my chef shoes (this semester is my first one with a lab class, so I didn’t need them until now). It seems like a lot of food industry people must shop at Payless because they had a TON of non-slip, food-industry friendly options all in the same place.

Then it was gas, groceries, home, dinner, clean the kitchen, read to the girls, and bedtime.

I should mention that Lydia, who had been anticipating our outing all day long, fell asleep the minute we got into the car and didn’t wake up until we returned home hours later. Even after we brought her inside, she sat on the couch in an unblinking stupor for (Abe and I timed it, sort of) 20 minutes.

We thought it was funny.

Since I finished The Hobbit, I feel like maybe I can read again. But even though I checked out three fabulous options (Gladwell’s David and Goliath, a Beethoven biography, and The Fellowship of the Ring), I feel pulled to this month’s issue of Martha Stewart Living. The iPad edition has links to six different heirloom seed catalogs for vegetables alone. There are also links to flowers and other plants, but it’s the veggie links that truly pull on my heartstrings. Does this link not make you want to plant tomatoes, or does it not make you want to plant tomatoes? Tomorrow I am going to ask the bishop if I can get a plot in the church field a couple blocks from our house. Hopefully they’re not already all taken!

I should also mention that Tom did a magnificent job fixing Abe’s laptop today, and Abe has been over the moon with excitement and anticipation all day. My nightly blogging habit on his desk computer has made him miss a working laptop, and now he has one again. Hooray!

Nearing the end of Bliss

Having Abe home for the past three weeks has been glorious. To be perfectly frank, I am terrified about what next week will bring. It would all be easier if I weren’t in cooking school, but I just have to remember that Abe and I both feel extremely good about that decision. I keep going back to those assurances, because starting Monday Abe starts his new job and we will not see each other much for the next four months. I have class three nights a week, and the other two nights Abe will work late. Pity party at my house!

Aside from feeling terrified that our blissful vacation is drawing to an end, today was pretty good. Abe, who is turning 30 this month, even went outside to work on the snow fort…by himself. Lydia refused to go because she didn’t want to get cold, and Mary was napping. Here’s the fruit of his hard work:

He still says it has a long way to go. When he will find time for the going, I don’t know. But doesn’t it look great? Can you imagine the size this would be if we had the weather currently affecting the Midwest?

I got some fun time in with my children, some cooking, some piano, and now I’m about to don headphones while Abe and I snuggle up to watch our separate movies. He’s going to watch training videos for work while I watch youtube piano videos. Super romantic, I know.

Here are today’s pictures:

Okay, Lydia and I did a lot of stuff together today, but she ALSO did a lot of this. Daniel Tiger is her friend. — Okay, Lydia and I played the piano together, read a ton of books, stamped and crafted postcards for her cat, talked on the phone to my mom and Grandma, and yet…there were still somehow many hours left in the day to kill. These no-nap days are craaazy!! Needless to say, she spent a couple hours with Daniel the tiger, too.

My house is a mess. Instead of cleaning it, I took a picture and ran to the piano to get more practice in before 9 pm hit.

Since I had all the ingredients on hand, dinner tonight was free. I just braised some cabbage and onion and layered that with some leftover spelt bread (frozen since Christmas) and some cheese I bought a week ago. I drenched it in broth and baked for 30 min. Loosely based on a recipe I read a couple days ago, and I think it was yummy. — Since I had all the ingredients on hand, dinner tonight was free. (And by that I mean it didn’t come out of this week’s budget. Ain’t no free lunch in real life.) I just braised some cabbage and onion and layered that with some leftover spelt bread (frozen since Christmas) and some cheese I bought a week ago. I drenched it in broth and baked for 30 min. Loosely based on a recipe I read a couple days ago, and I think it was yummy.

Mary in her high chair. These times of day make us all so, so fussy.

Since Mary had trouble getting to sleep last night, we fed her second dinner to her a little later today. She is a fan of ramen...and, we found out today, milk! She drank a TON of milk tonight. I've only been giving the girls water because I don't like milk, but I guess it turns out their preferences differ from mine. — Since Mary had trouble getting to sleep last night, we fed her second dinner to her a little later today. She is a fan of ramen…and, we found out today, milk! She drank a TON of milk tonight. I’ve only been giving the girls water because I don’t like milk, but I guess it turns out their preferences differ from mine.

cozy

After Bikram this morning, I came home to discover this:

Abe and Lydia had spent over an hour building this together.

Lydia packed the snow by kneeling on it.

Abe told me that he’s done with snowmen for the season.

These are leftover from the last snow. The one on the right used to be 10 feet tall. Lydia named (all by herself) the one on the left "Snowhopper." My mom named the one on the right "Mr. Snowshine." Their time has since passed. — These are leftover remnants of snowmen from the last snow. The one on the right used to be 10 feet tall. Lydia named (all by herself) the one on the left “Snowhopper.” My mom named the one on the right “Mr. Snowshine.” Their time has since passed.

After I came home, Abe went to lunch with his friends, Morgan, Kendall, and Kade. After that he went to his dad’s house to work on his homework for his new job, and so I had the girls to myself. We played, ate, and napped.

During their naps, I read some more of The Hobbit. That book is meant to be read on a day like today:

While I was reading, fat snowflakes were falling outside of my window and I felt so cozy and warm inside. It felt so wonderful to be reading about such adventures while I was snug under my blankets during an actual snowstorm. I also really like the parts of the book where the travelers get hungry–and then really enjoy getting fed. That cycle seems to happen every couple pages, and it never grows old (on me).

In fact, I was so taken with the coziness of the whole situation that I went downstairs and made soup. Then Abe came home and I spent the rest of the evening practicing. Last night I had nightmares that I had memory slips on La Campanella, and I woke up panicky and spent the next thirty minutes trying to see the score in my head. It was nice to address the shaky parts in real life.

Also, I am really nervous about my competition audition tapes. I did not realize they were an actual audition until Abe read the fine print before packing them up to mail. When I made the recordings, I just thought that the judges wanted to see how you played, and it didn’t really matter what you sent in. Those recordings a) weren’t memorized, b) were chock full of technical errors, c) seriously lacked in musicality, in part because of a. But I guess that the good news is, if I don’t make it into this competition, there are tons of other ones around the country, and I can make other recordings–hopefully, ones that I actually like. In the meantime, though, I’m biting my nails and hoping I make it into the competition.

cheating

Abe charitably agreed to help me with preschool this morning, even though he still had yet to write the sermon for Jon and Shirley’s marriage AND do a ton of homework for his new job. Our subject was dinosaurs and the letter “L,” and since we didn’t start lesson planning until 10 pm last night, I had to run out early this morning to the library to procure some books on dinosaurs. Driving in the snow was scary, and at one point my car even slipped over a couple lanes. It made me really nervous for Abe’s new commute, which will total two hours a day–in good traffic. Why aren’t we moving to Provo again???

After preschool, Abe left to write the sermon and I stayed home to feed the girls and put them to bed for naps. Both girls napped today, and Mary even took a 4 1/2 hour nap. She had trouble sleeping last night, so I guess she was tired. It was great, though, because during her nap I got to practice, read The Hobbit, and nap myself. On long nap days, I feel like I’m cheating at life. It feels…nice.

Then it was dinner, more piano, reading to the girls, and bed. Lydia has discovered that Mary is a great play mate since Mama is basically absentee, and she goes around the house calling, “Maryyy, Marryyy, where arrre you?? Oh! There you are! I’ve been looking all over with you. Can you come play with me?” I always get nervous because I’m sure Mary can’t understand what Lydia’s saying, and I don’t want Lydia to be disappointed, but somehow Mary and Lydia interact enough to the point where Lydia is convinced they’re actually doing things like playing hide and seek together. Again, Mary can’t understand hide and seek, but actually, neither does Lydia!–so I guess that’s why she thinks they’re playing it successfully.

Lydia also scared the bejeebers out of us by hanging onto a bookshelf today. We have been meaning forever to secure the bookshelves to the wall, but haven’t gotten around to it. Anyway, Abe spanked her for not listening when he told her to let go, and then he cuddled her and explained how scary the situation was. Later at dinner, Lydia said, “Daddy, I love you. I’m sorry I hung on the shelf, and I know why you spanked me. I won’t do it again. I love you.” Our hearts melted on the spot and Lydia got a TON more cuddles and a tootsie roll. Also, Abe is securing those shelves tomorrow.:

These first two pictures are from the dance the kids did to this Dinosaur Stomp song. It was really fun, and we had to replay it three times before calling it quits.

Lydia got her first massage today. She loved it!

Hodge podge

This morning we all woke up with tummy aches. Lydia said, “Daddy, we are all sick because we ate meat yesterday. Can we not eat meat anymore?” Abe and I happily yielded to her request (today).

I went to Bikram this morning with Cynthia, and we slid into class a little late. Our instructor, Marc, doesn’t like latecomers, and he often lectures on how latecomers should reflect on the way their behavior affects others around them. Today he was a little milder in his rebukes, but he still delivered a rather stern post-class homily to us on the virtues of punctuality while Cynthia was signing up for her pass.

After sweating it out in yoga, I proceeded to be cold for the rest of the day. (Although I shouldn’t complain–the recent reports and pictures from the Midwest make Salt Lake look like the tropics right about now). When I finally warmed up enough to move, we packed up my sewing machine and took it to a sewing shop in Murray that does repairs on warranty. I KNOW my machine could not sew buttonholes last I checked (in June), but it magically fixed itself on the way to the shop. I felt like an idiot for bringing it in–but a happy idiot, since no further repairs are needed. Now I can sew buttonholes all day long if I want to!

Speaking of repairs, Abe has spent hours this week following various tutorials on how to break a Master Lock. We lost the combination to a lock we have on a door that leads to the roof, and Abe tried hundreds of combinations before finally just taking a hack saw to the clasp. I felt sorry for my poor husband, frustrated to the point of having to use a hack saw on his vacation. Also, his vacation ended today with an email giving him loads and loads of homework for his new job. It’s been fun while it lasted.

I also read Preethi’s recent blog on resolutions and loved her idea of having her toddler start memorizing scriptures. Lydia and I started on this today, and I have to say, after an hour of drilling, drilling, drilling, Lydia’s recitation of the first clause in 1 Nephi 3:7 was… spotty. Preethi, if you’re reading this, how do you do it?

Also, my friend, Maria, and I have been exchanging a very fun, spirited set of emails on Amy Chua (she has a new, super controversial book out, people!). As Lydia and I repeated the same clause over and over (at least a hundred times, no exaggeration), I did feel slightly closer to Amy Chua (my number 2 idol, right after Martha.) Maria made the awesome point that Amy Chua takes sole credit for her daughters’ success when actually, a whole host of unacknowledged social privilege played into that. So true! But I still admire Amy Chua’s personality, humor, intelligence, and even her ability to play the media. The link in this paragraph actually irritated me quite a bit because the reviewers seemed not only derisive, but dim. But I’m lazy and it’s the first thing I clicked on when I googled her new book…by now I should have just gone back and changed it to the simple Amazon link, seriously.

Here are today’s pictures:

Lydia was picking her nose with the corner of this paper just seconds before the picture snapped.

We took this picture because we realized during dinner that we thought we hadn't taken any pictures today and wanted a blog picture. — We took this picture because we realized during dinner that we thought we hadn’t taken any pictures today and wanted a blog picture.

Then I took some of Abe for his linkedin profile. This is a contender.

One of Lydia's favorite games is to pretend Minnie Mouse is shopping in these "stores." — One of Lydia’s favorite games is to pretend Minnie Mouse is shopping in these “stores.”

We have to distract Mary because if Mary touches the Minnie Mouse set-up, Lydia loses it. We could just make Lydia deal, but we’re not always up for noise decibel that entails.

Meat.

Let’s get straight to the point of today:

Karin is strong! Abe and I struggle to do this these days... — Karin is strong! Abe and I struggle to do this these days…

Oh, to be a child. Lydia was so excited to discover a "forest" outside of the restaurant. — Oh, to be a child. Lydia was so excited to discover a “forest” outside of the restaurant.

After showing me the forest, the girls ran to the nearest bench, which was almost as exciting as the "forest." — After showing me the forest, the girls ran to the nearest bench, which was almost as exciting as the “forest.”

For dinner, we ate cabbage and onions, and after that we felt much better. (Does that last sentence conjure up a very hungry caterpillar for anyone else?)

OH! And okay, for real, I think I found a book I can finally finish. I checked out The Hobbit today. I haven’t read it since I was in middle school, and I am so, so excited about it. That’s what I will be doing right about…now.

Ice skating at the Gallivan

The only exciting thing I have to report on today is that we went ice skating. Misty, Rich, their kids and some more of their family came too, so it felt like a party. Both Lydia and Mary loooooved ice skating, although Mary got the hang of it a lot quicker. (And by “got the hang of it,” I really mean: She moved her feet like she was skating while Abe and I did the real work of holding her upright as we circled on the ice.) Before we went, Lydia kept telling me that Sophia would hold her hand and teach her how to skate because Sophia was a big girl and knew how to do that already. Maybe she got that idea because the little girl we watched on Youtube yesterday was blonde. At any rate, Abe and I practically threw out our backs helping Lydia skate–she loved the experience, but she was timid and limp the whole time (translation: dead weight).

Abe took pictures on his phone, but the files won’t transfer to the blog. Bummer, since nothing of note happened for the rest of the day. But not a serious bummer, since despite my 270 minutes of exercise this week, I look, um, not skinny in all of the pictures.

Oh! And I memorized my scherzo today. That was happy. All I have left is my Brahms, and my little competition line-up will be 100% memorized.

And now Abe is playing computer games with his brother because his brother is about to leave town, so I’m on my own tonight. Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law, I have Netflix to keep me company. Good night!

This is the day after. We fixed the picture problem, so here are the pictures from ice skating:

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
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4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30