We have a teenager

Hard to believe we have lasted through 13 years of parenthood! Daniel is doing great in his first days as a teenager, sleeping in, being generally grouchy, do you thing around, and of course being a lovable little dude- although he is 100 pounds as of today! I can't believe his first Spokane youth orchestra concert is next week, they are playing Carmen  among other things. 

My goal is to paint and put flooring in his room by thanksgiving. Since he is all big now, we got a new bed and he's spent a lot of time culling his things. All the Legos have gone (gasp)-- mostly he has books and bird items now. 

Life in the fast lane

Wow, I can't believe I'm back from Europe and my big trip is over! Had a great time, missed my guys but not too much. Loved something about each place-- Germany we went to the zoo and had great sauerkraut, Paris was amazing to look at and one of the best meals of my life, Luxembourg was so cute with its hilly old city that nearly killed me walking up it, and Brussels was maybe my favorite of all, yummy food and the amazing architecture. Many pix on FB so I'll just post one here. 

Hahaha- yes there were Starbucks everywhere we went, but never fear - I branched out and sampled local fare wherever we were. 

D has a new bird-- a conure, slightly bigger than a parakeet, supposedly more intelligent, certainly more expensive! His name is sunny because he likes sunflower seeds (will bite off your finger to get one), and he has a yellow sun on his belly. 

Jim surprised me by replacing the toilet (which had been languishing on the front lawn for a month!) when I returned. We has gotten stuck trying to decide whether to remodel the bathroom when he took it out to fix the pipe, but this is better- we can still remodel later but now the bathroom is functional! All ready for guests- Uncle P! Planning to be home at Thanksgiving and over the hill the day after Christmas for visiting/skiing! We all have new (to us) skis so all we need now is snow...

New chapter

We lost Ds little bird Herman yesterday. He is really taking it hard, but I think he was just an old bird. They say you never know when you get them at a shop like that (p@tsm@rt). He lived with us nearly 2years though, and was a surprisingly good pet-- I had never had a bird before.  They are more affectionate that I would have thought. 

D vows he will never have a pet again, but I'm hoping he changes his mind in a few months. 

School starts next Tuesday-- and our carpool schedule is finally worked out! Yay. D is going into 6th grade, and will have his same teacher as last year. Still planning to play the bassoon, and he is in the Lego robotics club. 

J fixed my new (to me) car. Very agonizing, but apparently good to go now! Saved us a bundle, but was it worth it? 

I am entering the insanely busy season, parks concerts, opera (Rigoletto), Les Miserables, symphony opener (Pictures at an Exhibition!) and Bach Soirée-- all before my exciting trip to Europe with the Cleveland Orchestra! No, I'm not playing with them (hahaha) going as a guest of the fabulous Auntie C! 

 

vacations!

Summer is the time to relax, right? So far we are failing at that - but having a great time anyway. D and I went to Washington DC for a week to see uncle P in his natural habitat - we stayed at a snazzy hotel in Dupont Circle (Palomar). For D the first time on a metro or city bus, first taxi, lots of awesome museum experiences including Nat Hist, American Hist, Space, various fine arts (who can keep it all straight?!) and sculpture gardens. Also the ZOO, which was in many ways the highlight of the trip! We did a harbor cruise (at night - lovely weather and beautiful lit up monuments) and the double decker bus tour. Fourth of July was spent in the parade at LaClede (tiny burg), we have done this 4 years from the back of a pickup, but this year we upgraded to our hay trailer! Complete with hay bales covered in festive fabric, our motley crew has expanded to 11 with D on the cowbell! He did great, Jim played cornet and I played baritone, other highlights were the accordian, banjo and tuben (not confused with tubA, which we also had). Fun times, but on to the next trip to the Tetons! Soon we will be home for a couple of weeks in a row, and I'll be playing for the Fireworks (chop killer). Then the opera (Rigoletto), Les Mis and symphony opener (Pictures!). My face is hurting already. And I am really excited to play Bach's Wedding Cantata in November, with a world class soprano, I am soooo lucky! In non musical stuff I am still trying to do the C25K (couch to 5K) but I keep starting at the beginning after our endless vacations! Oh well, at least I'm doing something. D is taking an online typing course, he's already faster than I was after a year of HS typing! Of course, they didn't have computer games back then for motivation. He is most frustrated that the course won't let him backspace to correct --- hahaha! I should drag out my old electric typewriter and see what he thinks of that!

I'm sick...

So for the first time in ages I am sick- just a achy sore throat giant headache thing, but it is so beautiful outside I am annoyed! Today would be a perfect kayak day, but not for me. D is taking full advantage, "researching" to his hearts content (probably learning all about the Klingon Galaxy or some such). But he has done great this week with all his school projects. So I'll cut him some slack!

J appears to be sick too, but not what I have (what a pathetic bunch!) he is depressed that he didn't finish his latest work project, and Monday they are all being yanked away from whatever they were doing to work on something new. He hates that.

It is my goal to get healthy before Monday, I'm helping with field day and yearbooks and PGA Popsicles! So much fun stuff, and I have not been planning what to do After. 

Not entirely true, we go to visit auntie M and uncle D next week, have a bit of cousin time-- then later this month we go see uncle P in Washington DC! Should be amazing, and completely non- musical! Then we'll do a parade at our friends place on the river, couple of nights, and off to the Tetons for more excitement! If we survive all that we may just chill for a bit. 

Kind of hating the new blogger look. I suppose I'll have to check in more than once a year if I want to know what I'm doing... So much going on, probably the biggest stress is where D will be headed for school next year. We are on 4 waiting lists, doesn't look good at any of them, but my "safety" school (local public school) is closed til Aug 22. Super closed, as in, I can't even get an application til then. Since we did this last year, I know there are pages and pages of repeated data to fill out. Makes me really hate the system, but hopefully things will work out in the end. One good thing is that he should be able to participate in the once-a-week gifted program again. Really a wonderful group of people, just wish we could get into the full time school there. The house is a total disaster. J says he isn't bringing in anything new, but the old stuff is towering over us! Hoping to work on the downstairs next, new paint, carpet and curtains - and a good purging. We have another piano coming (the one that came with great grama over the plains) so we need to make space. J doesn't want to move anythihng in his workspace, so we're leaving a 10x12 space with the old carpet. Seems crazy to me, but I guess it will be ok if we can put up a room divider or something. Fun news is that we had kitties! Five babies on mothers day, has been great watching them grow up on the deck. Had to raise them outdoors since D is so allergic, but they seem fine with that. Two have homes now, we'd like to place one more if possible.

Time to blog

Every 4 months or so...Halloween was very fun, Auntie C inspired this costume, borrowed from Uncle J. I've done a whole bunch of shows. Opening the last one in the endless lineup tomorrow, so hopefully I will be done next week! Looking forward to some downtime.
D started at his new school, he seems to be doing very well, but he misses the old one. We were so lucky to have such a great place to start his education, wish they just kept going through grade 12! We are in the market for some skis as he will be going with his school 4 times, and I'm sure 2nd hand are cheaper than 4 rentals. J & I should go too, it has been way too long.