Mid-January update

So, our January has been pretty good for Steve and me. We just got back from spending Friday night and Saturday with Emily and Joe. We, of course, had temple plans for Saturday but we also took our full-size iron bed to be set up in their basement. However, before moving the bed IN, Emily and I had to clean OUT what was already in the basement. Recall that when they moved into “Kate’s house”, it was only to be for about 6 months. SO, anything that was not immediately needed was just set in the basement in a rather haphazard fashion. Fast forward two years and they are still living in the house and will continue for at least a few more years. And, in the meantime, the crazy basement just got crazier. Emily and I rolled up our sleeves yesterday and organized, cleaned, and pitched (I have never broken apart so many cardboard boxes!)for about 3 ½ hours and now there is a place for the bed. Boy, it feels good to clean and organize.

We saw Emily and Noah the weekend before on a little trip to Nauvoo. We arrived Friday night and stayed in a nice two-bedroom condo at the Nauvoo Villas. Noah had just gotten new snow gear (overalls and boots) so he had to try them out the next morning while Steve fixed breakfast. Not a whole lot of snow but enough fell that Thursday to make a snow day in Columbia. Nauvoo, being a bit farther north, had a few more inches on the ground. Thankfully, roads by that time were perfectly clear. While Steve went to a morning temple session, Emily and I took Noah to the family living center in old Nauvoo and had a great time – only one other family was there so we got the personalized treatment. Here is Noah helping to make his very own rope.

Noah's "mai" riding on a lamb at the family living center.

Then, we bundled up and took a wagon ride. Brrrrrrrr!

And, while Emily and I went to the temple, Steve took Noah to the blacksmith shop where they were the only visitors so, of course, Noah got the demonstration horseshoe. After a nice afternoon nap, we all parted ways around 6:00 to return home. We had a wonderful time and will try to make this a winter tradition. We had hoped to see lots of bald eagles along the Mississippi river but Steve and Noah only saw one pair (which is one pair more than I got to see, darn it) Three Januarys ago, on another trip up to Nauvoo, we saw dozens of eagles along the frozen river. It was an amazing sight.

Remember the organ cabinet I blogged about awhile back? On the MLK holiday, I finally got the extra shelf put in and filled them with CDs. All the “pop” music is now downstairs. Our classical CDs have been multiplying over the years and were spilling out of their shelves upstairs so now there is plenty of room for them and even more.

You all know my love for movies and Netflix…. I watched “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” this past week and found it pretty good and a believable scenario. We watched “Super 8” while up in Nauvoo. Also good. Other recently watched DVDs have been super-hero flicks: “Captain America” (liked that one so much I purchased it) and “The Green Lantern” (good – but not so much that I want to buy it). Steve, with his busy calling, just doesn’t have much time to watch all the movies I do but he HAS created a “must-see” collection of uplifting/inspiring movies (from our own collection) to watch throughout the year. Check it out and see if you agree with his picks:

January – Man for All Seasons

February- Groundhog Day

March – Hoosiers

April – Field of Dreams

May- Sound of Music

June – Chariots of Fire

July – Lord of the Rings marathon over 4^th of July holiday

August – Remember the Titans

September – Chronicles of Narnia marathon over Labor Day holiday

October – What Dreams May Come

November – Family Man

December – Scrooge

Finally, the semester has begun at Central Methodist University and my Tuesdays and Thursdays are just swamped now. I still teach the string tech class from 1-2:00 but I now have SEVEN applied music students. I have had to just eliminate all other activities from those days as I go from teaching orchestra at CIS to traveling to CMU and then back home to my private students and then it is dinner and evening commitments. BUT, I am grateful for the work. That is a blessing in this day and age.

Well, on to Sunday dinner……