Goodbye to one daughter and hello to another

The week began with us still in Greenwood.  Because we couldn't arrive until Saturday afternoon due to my orchestra concert Friday night, we stayed until just after lunch on Monday.  We spent the time with Juli at the Goodwill Outlet store nearby looking for sweatpants that I can cut up and sew into gun socks for Alex's growing gun collection.  And, while we were pawing through bins, we also managed to find some clothes for us AND miraculously, I found a lamp shade the perfect size and dimensions to fit the free stand lamp I was given about three months ago from our neighbors.  Juli found a couple of things she can use with her kiddos that she visits as an OT , so we left satisfied.  Our drive home to St. Louis went smoothly and quickly due to the fascinating podcast we started to listen to on the way out called "Sold A Story".  It was about the reading crisis in our schools.  Steve usually sleeps while I drive and listen to podcasts but he was pretty riveted on this one as much as I was.  

Tuesday we hit the ground running to prepare for Kirsti and Ryan and Alice and Ivan's arrival midday Wednesday.  We cancelled our usual temple visit because we just had so many things to do.  The main project (s) was to shuffle the house around since Kirsti and Ryan would be in our bedroom, Alice would be in the TV room and Ivan in the library.  We emptied some of our drawers, part of our closets, and hauled all of our bathroom supplies down to the basement bathroom.  We moved the television and the table into the living room and moved the music cabinet with the two big plants into where Alice was to sleep.  I drove to Naomi LaFond's house to get her pack-n-play for the library and set it up, making sure that the desk nearby was empty of all things that might tempt little two-year-old fingers.  We added a leaf to the table and put it in the middle of the kitchen, placing the island against the wall.  We brought up additional chairs and the high chair that Emily loaned us.  Plus, we had laundry to do.  By the time dinner was over, we just collapsed and watched a DVD from the library called Magnificent Obsession.  It was a 50's movie, Rock Hudson's break-out role, and it was really pretty cheesy.  BUT, I remember hearing about it as a girl and I might have seen some or all of it but of course, I didn't recall any of it.  So, it was mindless entertainment, it got us off our feet, and I was able to cut up all fourteen pairs of sweatpants!

Wednesday morning, we cleaned bathrooms and floors.  Beckie came over close to noon to let us use her Subaru to get the Merrills from the airport.  Steve drove it and I drove the Element and I met Kirsti and Ryan and kids at the arrivals area and helped them load their suitcases in while Ryan wrangled with the car seats.  They drove away and I called Steve, who was waiting in the cell phone lot, to come get me.  Once we got home and settled, Steve and I took Beckie's car back to her at work.  Beckie is currently dog sitting four little pooches at a house close to Little Fox so she was able to walk to work earlier in the afternoon.  That evening, after the kids were in bed, we watched a documentary about a volcano eruption on White Island in New Zealand.  It was pretty interesting, if not horrific.  

Thursday morning, we went to the Butterfly House.  But, because we had just the Element, Steve and I had to drive to where Beckie was staying to get her car again so all of us could attend.  Very convoluted but it turned out to be very worth it!  So many beautiful butterflies fluttering all around!  The kids loved it. 

 Beckie had something she had to do mid-day so we picked her up and she dropped us off at home.  But, we saw her later on for dinner and a nice little visit afterwards.  She brought belated Christmas gifts for the kids, which delighted them, of course...

Friday morning, Kirsti and family headed to the zoo to spend the morning with two friends that Kirsti knew in the area.  I taught two lessons during that time.  And, we also heard from the Kia service department.  That was a surprise as we weren't scheduled for repairs until May 2nd.  But, nice that they worked us in early.  Much of the repair is covered by warranty but what is not is still going to be pricey.  Sigh.  That afternoon, the Merrills and I squeezed into the Element to go to a car rental place to get a vehicle for them to drive to Indiana to visit Julina over the weekend.  And that is where they are still tonight.  We will see them sometime tomorrow evening - probably around bedtime for the kids.  

Saturday Steve and I had a very busy shift at the temple baptistry.  We then went to Southerlands for  long overdue piano lessons with all four kids.  After that, we went home and just crashed.  I did manage to get to a couple of nurseries to get some plants and we watched episode one of season four of Manifest.  I sure hope this crazy story gets all wrapped up at the end of this season.  It is fun to watch but I swear each season gets more weird and convoluted!

We invited a 70 year old man from the ward over for dinner tonight.  He is Vietnamese and extremely hard to understand - between his very thick accent and his very rapid speech and maybe even a speech impediment - I probably understood 20%  of what he said.  But, I hope he felt our love and concern for him.  

Ivan is so cute but definitely a two-year old.  He is slowly warming up to me.  But, in this photo, he was not going to smile for me.  He DOES love our l-o-n-g driveway, though....

The dogs and the grandkids have been quite good around each other, happily.  I will close with two final photos of  Beckie and Linus and Sally (who were delighted that she was there).  

 

A music-filled week

My studio recital last Saturday marked the start of this week's music-filled events, specifically Elise's Choral Union concert on Thursday and my St. Louis Civic Orchestra concert on Friday.  Because my dress rehearsal conflicted with Elise's concert, Steve and I (and the dogs) drove to Columbia on Wednesday to hear her dress rehearsal that evening.  But, of course because we were going to be in Columbia, I packed the day with a visit to the Amish stores and a cello lesson.  It was supposed to be two cello lessons but we didn't leave as soon as we had hoped and city traffic made our departure even slower so I had to cancel Roberta's lesson and just meet her and her husband at the Sturgeon exit to show them the Amish stores we loved.  They had never been and they ended up loving the stores, too.  We also squeezed in dinner at El Oso with Steven and Tamara and a short visit with Melanie to see her new apartment (and to leave the dogs in their kennel while we did our evening activities).  Elise's rehearsal was very good - dress rehearsals are as close to a performance as possible - and I am SO glad we got to attend.  I am also realizing that I just don't have the energy to do as many things in a day as I used to do so, going forward, I will really think seriously about what activities I plan when going to Columbia...AND if leaving the dogs at a doggie daycare in St. Louis is also a possibility.  Happily, they LOVE to go on road trips but they are just one additional concern whenever we do take them.  Here is a photo of the Choral Union and MU Jazz Band on the stage of the Missouri Theater (you can't see Elise but she is embedded somewhere on the right )

The St. Louis Civic Orchestra had their board meeting Monday night, their usual rehearsal on Tuesday and their dress rehearsal on Thursday and the concert on Friday.  That is a lot of Civic Orchestra time. Then, there was the additional time with the orchestra's printed program.  I thought I had sent it to the printers in plenty of time (the middle of last week) but evidently, I didn't because the final proof was not available for approval until two days before the concert!  And, I had to do that on a borrowed laptop in Columbia!  Ugh.  Going forward into next year, I will continue to do the programs and I will definitely build in additional time for the back-and-forth communications with the printer.  One thing I will NOT be doing next year is the administrator role.  That hand-off was approved at the Monday board meeting.  I am so relieved.  I will be glad to have only one email account to deal with and to not have to carry so much responsibility.  Continuing with the programs (and practicing) will be enough duties.  

Below are some rehearsal and concert photos.  The kid wearing the mask playing the violin is the soloist who performed with us.  He was the second place winner of the Frager Competition that is sponsored by the civic orchestra and is open to young people every year

On Tuesday, while at the temple, we saw Will and Melinda Kimlinger and invited them to our house afterwards for lunch and a visit.  It was nice to catch up with them.  And, today, we are in Indiana visiting Julina and Alex.  We usually like to drive over on Friday but couldn't leave this time until Saturday morning.  Our tentative plan was to help with yardwork Saturday afternoon but we had a cold front blow in Thursday night so temperatures have been quite chilly and windy, making yardwork very unpleasant.  Instead, Juli and I went to get dinner from Costco and Steve hung out with Alex.  

We managed to finish watching The Adam Project Monday night and, in spite of the potty language, it had a very good ending.  And Steve and I watched the final episode of Picard last night and I just loved it.  Steve had some issues.  

 

Second week in April

First of all - some photos from last Sunday at Emily's.  Her in-laws were in town so you see Emily with Vicki and Steve with Papa Joe...

The weather this past week was dry and warm.  You can see the asparagus are going crazy.  We have to wait until next year before we can harvest them, though.  See part of my raised vegetable garden in the background.  Nothing is planted in them because the Farmer's Almanac says to not plant until after mid-April which will be this coming week....(and that is Sally's derriere photobombing on the left)

Monday I took a lady to SLU (Saint Louis University) for a doctor appointment and found a cool hardware store nearby to visit to find rubber bumpers for my cello case.  The rest of the time I sat in the car with the windows down to enjoy the mild breeze and read a book.  Steve and I finally finished our income taxes that evening.  Ugh!

Tuesday we went to the temple in the morning and it was orchestra rehearsal that night.  Our student winner of the Frager competition was there to rehearse and he was pretty amazing.  And only a freshman in high school!!! 

Wednesday our Lucy turned 12!  She had a pretty busy night so we didn't drive over to Ballwin.  She got our gift and card on Easter Sunday.  But we did have a nice little FaceTime visit in the afternoon.  That morning, we drove Beckie home after she dropped her car off at Bates Street Auto and, on the way, she helped me collect some mulch from the Carondelet site.  

Thursday was our time at Bates Street Auto.  After the dismaying news from Suntrup Kia in early March, and after weighing the pros and cons of trading in the Kia for another vehicle, we finally decided that a second opinion was needed.  And, according the Bates St., the engine is just goopy with oil (still) and ready to "blow".  It needs to be replaced before going back on the road!  So, currently, Stella is parked in the back of the yard and I called corporate Kia on Thursday to see what our options are since we have TWO full power train warranties on the vehicle!  Hopefully, we will hear something early this coming week.  Hooray for Leo the Element that still runs beautifully! (even if "he" doesn't have air conditioning)

We had Larkin at our house Friday morning.  Emily sent out a distress text quite early to both Beckie and me asking if one of us could help out since she had a newborn photo shoot and Larkin was sick.  Beckie's car was still in the shop and Stella was out of commission so thankfully, Emily could drop Larkin off here.  Because I had lessons all morning and Steve had errands to run for Charles and Fred, Larkin just hung out in the TV room and played on her iPad the whole time (and was happy as could be!) That night was a lady's art night and most of us water-colored flower bouquets.

Saturday, we worked in the baptistry in the morning and we watched the first storm front blow in as we were heading home.  The sun came out in the early afternoon and my studio recital went without a hitch but with the sun came even stronger storms that evening.  The whole city was under a tornado watch.  It was stake conference and Steve was already down at the stake center.  I was driving myself and Emily Hughes from the ward down to meet him but that was right when the storm front hit and sirens were going off and the sky grew incredibly dark the further south we drove.  If it had just been me, I would have continued down to the meeting but Emily Hughes was freaking out so I exited and drove us back to our house to watch the conference session on YouTube.  She was so scared that it made me unreasonably nervous and our drive to the house was fraught with running stop signs (safely, mind you) just to get to the house quicker.  Talk about a wild night!   By the time the meeting was over, it was mostly raining as I drove Emily back home and then drove down to the stake center to pick up Steve.  

Here is a photo of the Saint Louis recital group.  We used technology to include the four Phoenix performers. In back is Noah, Ethan Barner and Eliza Brandt.  In front is Lucy and Quinn.  Poor little Larkin was still sick so she stayed home with her daddy.

 

Ethan is taking a floral design at the career center at Rock Bridge High School and he brought me one of his creations to the recital.                                                                                                                                                                 

I watched most of Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (Amazon Prime) on Wednesday night while Steve was at youth activities and I finished it on Thursday.  It was absolutely charming!  Steve even enjoyed the part he watched. Together we watched the penultimate episode of Picard and it was very satisfying.  We always have discussions with Steven after every episode and we are all curious as to how it will finally end next week.  Steve and I started watching The Adam Project last night after we got home from stake conference but just got too late to finish it.  I think we will be able to finish watching tomorrow night and, until then, the suspense is killing me!

Our final orchestra concert is this coming Friday and I am doing the printed programs.  I got them sent to the printer on Wednesday - my earliest ever submission.  Yay me.  

P.S.

Me with the newly weeded bed that I cleared out Saturday morning at the MARSH garden in south Saint Louis.  

 

EASTER!

While the week started out with the residuals of my last weekend sickness, happily I got better as the days wore on with my energy gradually returning.  Music lessons and cello practice resumed.  We did grocery shopping.  I finally cleaned the house on Wednesday and I finally worked in the yard on Saturday.  I shuttled fourteen-year-old Chelsea to and from school for three days as her mother had emergency colon surgery last Sunday.  Steve and I worked on income taxes.  He was finally able to get his raspberry plants into the ground.  And he did a lot of shuttling for Fred Olver and Charles Tabor towards the end of the week.  

But, the big focus this week was Easter.  Steve worked all week on scripture reading assignments for today's sacrament meeting and it turned out very well.  I led the ward choir in "That Easter Morn" and I played in a string trio that accompanied the congregational hymn "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" for this morning's service.  Wednesday night was a rehearsal for the string trio.  Thursday night was our ward's Maundy Thursday service that comprised an hour of quiet contemplation and prayer with reverent background music.  I played fifteen minutes of that music on my cello with a piano accompaniment.  Friday evening Steve and I traveled to a Methodist church in Webster Groves to hear Emily sing in a small ensemble for a Tenebrae service.  It was quite beautiful and moving and Emily had a gorgeous solo at the end.  And, throughout the week we have joined Elizabeth Crippen in reading the scriptures connected with each day of Holy Week as well as watching related Bible videos.  So, it has been a beautiful week in that regard.  

Below is my Easter tree.  The ornaments are old but the tree is a saucer magnolia branch I found this year.

We have creeping phlox that I planted two years ago in the strip of ground by the street 

On Saturday, I planted more sets of creeping phlox in another front flower bed

Steve and I found some more stable pots for the two front-door evergreens and I repotted them yesterday afternoon.  The original pots narrowed so much at the bottoms that whenever we had strong winds, they tipped over.  They were also made of a faux pottery and these new ones are real terra cotta - so much heaver - and hopefully, no more tipping over.

I planted the little daffodil bulbs in the ground and replaced them with violas for my front door sitting area.

Steve and I watched a very satisfying episode 8 of Picard on Thursday night and we watched a very old version of "Treasure Island" last night.  When Steven was here a few weeks ago, he mentioned that he had recently watched it.  We actually had a VHS copy of the movie in our family video library while the kids were growing up.  Do I remember watching it with the kids?  Hardly.  I probably saw it once. I had seen a 1950 Disney version of the story and really disliked it because it was so stressful.  So, why I agreed to buy a different version is beyond me.  But, we had it and Steven liked it so he watched it again last month and I decided I needed to watch it, too.  Thanks to the public library, I did.  And, yes, this one was stressful (so much treachery and killing) but it was a good story and well executed.  Charlton Heston as Long John Silver had a great role with great lines.  In fact, there were so many cliche pirate lines throughout the movie and I wonder if Robert Lewis Stevenson originated them?  Arg...

I close with a very depressing photo of Steve's sister's front walk in Liberty, Utah (waaay up Ogden canyon).  SO - MUCH - SNOW!

 

The energizer bunny finally ran out of battery

 I woke up in the early hours of Friday with a stomach ache and it progressed into vomiting and fever and just knocked me flat all day.  Two days later and I am thankfully not throwing up or feverish but I have no appetite or energy.  Yuck!  

It marked the end of a somewhat unusual week that started on Monday with Elise hanging out with us.  After she and Beckie had lunch, we four played an ancient version of Celebrity Taboo that Beckie got a hold of and figured that we would be able to tackle it since we lived in the 90's.  It was pretty fun.  Tuesday was time to get back to "reality" since all our visitors were gone and it was fairly successful except for a frustrating shopping trip in the afternoon.  Wednesday afternoon we had an older couple, Stephanie and Mike, from our ward over to explain how we did Billion Graves since Stephanie wants to get involved.  Not that we're experts but we have been doing photographing and transcribing those photos for Billion Graves for over a year now.  I spent Wednesday evening baking Beckie's birthday cake and making gluten-free Chex mix.  Thursday we did grocery shopping and had Beckie over for dinner that night.  Emily and the kids joined us for cake and ice cream.

Aaaaaaaand then Friday morning hit and everything came to a screeching halt.  No music lessons that morning, no FaceTime with Kirsti and family in the afternoon, no Art Night with ladies in the ward that night.  General Conference has been this weekend and, thankfully, I was able to sit and listen and do some hand projects with lots of napping before and after the sessions.  We did a make-up FaceTime with Kirsti mid-day Saturday and poor little Ivan had hit his eye and had to go to urgent care to see if he needed stitches..... he didn't.  He looks pretty chipper in the photo below, doesn't he?

I watched two movies this week - Age of Adeline because when I was on Netflix looking for something else, it sucked me in and I stayed up way too late Wednesday night to watch it.  I had seen it before but had forgotten much.  I loved it.  I watched Pretty in Pink while I was languishing in bed Friday night and I honestly don't ever remember seeing it before.  And, I really don't ever need to see it again.  Lots of potty mouths and a teen angst plot.  But, now I can say I have seen it, right?  We watched Picard Thursday night and it was a bleak episode.  Three more episodes to go to get them out of the mess they are in...

Here's to a healthier week with more energy because I am going to need it....