Music & Things

So much going on now ....

Houston is loving 1st grade and doing fantastic. So far he's made a 100% on all of his spelling and math tests. We're extremely proud of him. His piano lessons are going great too. I wasn't sure after the first couple of lessons but he's really caught on now and continues to surprise me by how well he can read music. It's all pretty basic but he's doing it.

Brody went to his first gymnastics class tonight. I honestly don't know that I've ever seen him so excited about something. He loved it so very much and did such a great job. He did everything the teacher asked and was very brave. His being vertically challenged may come in handy after all ... aren't good gymnasts usually shorter than average? ;o)

Music ....
I'm so excited that I've finally found my way back to music. Of all the things I've done in my life I miss music the most. There was a time in my life when several hours of each day were devoted to music. It's part of my soul really. And speaking of which, I found this quote online that I can't get out of my head:

“Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” ~Berthold Auerbach (German novelist, 1812-1882)

Isn't that just perfect? I think so.

So I've been cruising along with my piano practice and making great progress in the method book i'm using. More on this later but I bought an electric piano. (total impulse buy, great deal, couldn't walk away) Turns out it was the best impulsively spent $300 in the history of my life. I really just wanted it so I could practice late at night without keeping the house awake or worrying about annoying everyone while I practice the same three measures over a hundred times until I get them right. I didn't think I would use all the extras but boy was I wrong. The day after I picked the piano up from the music store I sat down to play around with it. Craziest thing .... I ended up composing a melody. I didn't sit down with that goal or even the faintest thought of it ... it just came out. I was playing around with some of the accompaniment options and it just came out of my fingers. I was obsessed with it for about a week. Worked on it for hours and finally got it all written down and most of the kinks ironed out. It's been stuck in my head ever since.

Met a friend for coffee last night who happens to be a song writer. I was watching the boys play today while thinking of some of the things we talked about. She must have rubbed off on me because I ended up writing the beginnings of a song. Lyrics this time with a little hint of the melody line. The adrenaline rush and the therapeutic benefits of this whole song writing thing ... just amazing. Can't even begin to explain it. Now I just need to find the courage to learn how to sing and to actually share my music with people. Um yeah, that's part of the five year plan ... baby steps.

So besides the economy being in the toilet and me still not finding a job, life is pretty good. We're happy and healthy. Houston is proving to be a superstar at school and excelling in music. Brody looks like he's really going to be good at this gymnastics thing and is looking forward to turning five next year so he can start taking drum lessons. I'm immersing myself in music again and trying to get Brett to start practicing guitar again so we can start that family band I've always dreamed about. ;o) I just may find a way yet to be happy to be stuck in Lake City. When life hands you lemons, make lemonade right?