A morning musing

It's a quiet morning and I am on my second cup  of coffee. The neighborhood is beginning to stir and I can feel the humidity starting to rise. Sigh.

I am currently involved in a great book called "My name is Mary Sutter" by Robin Oliveira. Only  a quarter of the way through but engrossing. It's about a woman in the Civil War era who is desperate to train as a doctor. She is a midwife and comes from a long line of such. Amazing to think about the advances of medicine over the last century. Wow.

Today is the beginning of a new era for our household. I have been speculating the arrival of "Flo" - as my friend Kim calls her. Actually, the final exit and the new arrival, I guess you could say.

Yesterday I had one full year in without any periods. And, yesterday, my beautiful 13 year old started hers. Wow. She is 13, I am 50 and my mother would have been 87. Thinking about my mother makes me tear up because she is the one person I wish I could have picked up the phone to share the news with. I wonder if I will be lucky enough to get that news when I am 87.

My mother was 37 when she had me as I was 37 when I had my daughter. All three of us make up the Friday Girls club as we will all emerged into the light on a Friday. I was a morning girl and my daughter is an evening girl. I am not sure when my mother made her appearance. This November it will be 3 years since she left us. I know she is near us and I feel her presence often. Wow...just as I wrote this it became very calm and quiet out here on the porch. Lovely. It is the best thing about summer, for me. The chance to rise early and enjoy my porch with a good srong cup of coffee before anyone else is up.

My mum never had the chance to experience this space in the morning but she enjoyed it alot of afternoons and evenings. I think she is here now, enjoyng the bird songs and the light as it hits the neighboring trees.

Work has been completed in and on our house. What looked like a large and expensive job became a larger and affordable job. Confused? Yup, me too! We needed a new roof, that was clear, and the wind storms of March completed what had started to spell the end for our roof. As the roofing companies passed through with estimates, one guy mentioned after being up on the roof and patching a few spots, gratis, I may add....that some of this could be covered under our homeowners inurance.

Sure enought. Many phone calls and inspections later, here I sit on the porch of a house with a new (and lovely) roof. The company also paid for new ceilings in the upstairs rooms ( minus two of the bedrooms) and  an amazing paint job. The back hall no longer has a crummy, leaky ceiling and it looks amazing. All for the measly sum of $500 in the form of a deductible.

And, somehow, I feel I have my mum to thank. It is just this amazing stroke of timing and luck that makes me think that she somehow had a hand in it. Crazy, you may say but I feel it nonetheless.

With the foundation issues addressed last November and the roof and ceiling issues this June...sigh. What a year. I really feel blessed.

As usual, I am hopping from subject to subject but, as this is a real blog, I guess I have the green light to do so.

If anyone is readinng, so far, let's recap. Lovely, sunny morning...good coffee... quiet...and a bit of longing ....Perfect settng for a blogger, eh?

More music!!

This is Mallory and her step dad playing at her annual piano recital just last weekend. The camera messed up so I'm afraid it starts mid piece but the other two selections should be just fine. Enjoy!

A little reminder

Singing, week after week, at our church and offering wonderful music is a lovely thing. I think we all get a little jaded when you are doing something week in and week out. You forget that, to others, music is uplifting and can touch people like nothing else can. We too need to be reminded to enjoy the gift of music.

This week has been a struggle. Hectic schedule, hormonal shifts that are wreaking internal havoc....Anyway, on one particularly black morning I came downstairs and found an envelope on the kitchen table with my name on it.

5/1/2012
Dear Rose,


The beauty of your voice singing the Sunday morning anthem lingers in my memory.


Thank you for this gift, that you might not know you gave. 


I regret, as a visitor, that the sanctuary was not filled to hear both the music and Peter Smith's encouraging message about creativity and choices.


Again, thank you for the gift you shared.


Best Regards,
xxxxx  xxxxxxxxxx
(visiting from Colorado)

Wow. It is a gift and thanks for such kind words. Made my day!

UPDATE!!

My Aunt Margery passed away on March 8th of this year. I have been writing her letters - about every other month - to keep her updated on our lives as she lives (lived) in the south and we are in the north. This letter was to go into the mail when I got the news. This covers from about mid February to early March. Margery was a shut-in in the later part of her life and lived into her 90's, I can imagine that those last years were not so happy. Anyway, she never read these words and the letter was never sent. Here is the edited update letter to update you on what all has been happening in our lives.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012 

Good morning Aunt Margery! I am sitting at my computer and thinking that I need to catch you up on all the comings and goings…and there have been quite a few lately! First off, I have to say that I hope this finds you well. I get so little information about you I prefer to think of you getting along and finding some joy in your day, however large or small it may be. I hope that my little newsy letters can be considered a little break in your day. It does come with love!

What has been happening with us.. Hmm! These last couple of weeks have been filled with music! I was asked to perform at a benefit for a friend of ours who is also a theater organist like Stephen. This is an annual event at a small theater in Royal Oak that is home to the Stagecrafters – a local community theater group with a great reputation for really good productions. This was a concert of “Love Songs, sweet and sour” with 8 singers participating. We had two performances of it bracketing Valentines’ Day. The second show was on a Sunday and that was also the kick off of Mallory’s Winter Break week so her and I headed off for our annual trip together. 

This time we decided to cut up the time and visit two cities. So, after the afternoon concert, we got in the car and drove to Chicago to stay with and hang out with my best friend, Michele. We had a great time with her. She lives in a community called Pilsen in the Latin area of the city which borders on Chinatown. We spent one whole way walking around the city, shopping, riding the public transit (Mal loves that!) and poking our heads into all kinds of places. The second day we went to the Adler Planetarium and had a wonderful time spending the morning looking at all the amazing exhibits. We headed back home Tuesday night.

Wednesday I worked all day teaching at the Montessori school and teaching 7 hour long voice lessons! Thursday morning Steve and I drove to Grand Ledge (Lansing area) to rehearse for our recital that was to be held on that upcoming Sunday. I drove back, gathered up Mallory and we were on our way to Cleveland. 

Stephen’s brother lives there and we always stay with him but, this time, we stayed with another old friend who is working in the city during week and rents an amazing 3000 sq. ft. loft in the warehouse district. It’s a truly interesting place to be. It’s in a turn of the century small car factory that has been renovated into business and loft spaces. His kids were down for the school break too so we hung out and hit some of our favorite places – Westside Market, Malley’s Chocolates and, this time, the brand new City Aquarium. Open only a month, this attraction has opened in the city’s old power plant. Very cool indeed! We drove back home on Saturday afternoon in time for Sunday church and then our recital. A childhood friend of Steve’s was in town from Traverse City as he was playing several pieces with the choir – alto and soprano saxophone – and so he was able to come to our concert as well as keep Mallory occupied. He is like an adopted uncle for her and she loves to spend time with him.

After such a whirlwind of activity it was great to get back home. The week back from school was busy as we were auditioning our next Youth Theater show – “Seussical, the Musical”. It’s a fun show featuring the characters and stories of Dr. Seuss whose birthday I share! Speaking of that, I spent most of my free time getting the house in order and shopping as I was throwing a birthday party on Friday March 2nd. I decided the best way to celebrate the grand FIVE OH was to have my friends near.

We had a great time and I went on to have a great weekend as my friend Michele drove in from Chicago and another old friend flew in from New York. All stayed till Sunday - including Michael, my brother-in-law who drove in for the party as well and stayed nearby at his cousin’s place... Really nice weekend! We ended it with Steve, Mallie and I going to a local Finnish hot tub place and relaxing before coming home and having pizza. Ahhhhh!

This week we get back into the swing of things. Now I go back to running between both show rehearsals –“The Wonderful World of OZ” in Farmington and “Seussical” in West Bloomfield. Mallory is back to rehearsals for her school musical, “Once on this Island” where she has a lead. She had Piano Achievement Testing day on Sunday as well so after the girls headed out we took her over to the local community college to run her through her paces. In the 4 areas of testing she received, as a final score, a 99.5! We had lots to celebrate Sunday evening.

So now we jump into work. The house is coming along as we continue to pull Mom and Dad’s things out of the garage and incorporate them into our home. It sure is a good feeling to be surrounded by the things I used to see everyday. I am working on my student voice recital that I will hold on March 31st. Stephen has a meeting with a local organ technician who seems keen on handing over his business to him. He is an established name in town and the two will meet tonight to see what all can be done. Stephen is getting to be known in the organ circles as someone with a lot of knowledge and skill and I am so proud of him.

Where we are now................

 The Student Vocal Recital was a success! Eight singers performed for an enthusiastic crowd. Mallory went on to Solo and Ensemble Festival and played a cello piece with Mr. Stephen as her accompanist and received a ONE rating along with an A+ in tone and interpretation. We are currently running "The Wonderful Wizard of OZ" and all is going very well. I return to the "Seussical" cast next week to push on to a late May opening. Mallory opens, next weekend, in her show ("Once On this Island") and I will so enjoy being in the audience watching her instead of seeing her from my position off stage.  Stephen produced lovely music to deepen the walk for our congregation through Holy Week and Easter. He has booked a few more silent film presentations as well as recitals and is busy working on new music. 

Thanks for checking in with us!

A Smidge of Kashmir!!

If you had told me, back in the 70s, that my child would be playing Led Zeppelin in her middle school string group.....HA! Here is a tiny bit of the group. Again, my camera didn't have alot of memory left AND I had , inadvertently, erased the performance of "Clocks" - a cool Cold Play tune. Arrggghhh! Ah well...enjoy!

Looking for new music

This is a very cute video by Jim Gill! We love his music in my Montessori classrooms!

Mallory plays at her first Solo and Ensemble Festival

Although the memory in my camera ran out I think you can get a feel for how well she did! She got a ONE rating for her performance. GO MAL!