When I was singing in my college choir, we started working on a double choir Bach motet.  The conductor divided up all of the singers into two choirs, and we relentlessly rehearsed the intricate music.  After a bit of time I started to feel confident in knowing the notes and…

Sunshine on a fall afternoon is beautiful to behold.

Last Saturday it was sixty eight degrees.  In November.  On a Saturday.  Amazing.  The kidlets elected to hike at Hartley.  In the Spooky Forest there were at least 30 college aged students dangling from pine trees in their camping hammocks, reading.  I thought that was absolutely fabulous.  Mr. SP and…

I think I write about Autumn being my favorite season as a piano teacher each year.  It continues to be a time of progress for my students, and I love working with them.  For many students who take a break over the summer, fall is a time to dive in…

My favorite part was the gigantic bugs. Each fall the UMD science clubs (chemistry, biology and physics) do a science night at our school, with hands on science experiments.  It’s always terrific.  For the past several years I have been volunteering in the kitchen, so I missed a lot of…

Almost all of the trees  in people’s yards and along city boulevards that were topped in our huge summer thunderstorm last July are now cleaned up, and most of the trails are cleared in the forests as well.  Still, while hiking along, there are just so many trees that have…

I hate to be tickled.  I really hate it.  My whole family knows this. The other night I was sitting at the dining room table while Mr. SP worked through  couple of math problems.  My husband was being a pest. Mr. SP:  Hey Dad!  Want me to hold Mom while…

  The Saturday before Halloween I was drowning in a sea of homemade applesauce.  I was overjoyed to have bins of apples given to me by Grandpa Bob (the grandpa of our neighbors up the hill) and the applesauce is so very tasty.  It is a time consuming process, however.…

  As I expected, the logistics of Halloween were a bit tricky this year, but it all worked out in the end, and the kidlets had a fun night.  The Banana and YaYa both had youth orchestra rehearsals since Halloween fell on a Monday night.  The Banana’s rehearsal was moved…

Leaves can clog a vacuum cleaner.  Big time.  I also learned how to unclog all the possible parts where my vacuum cleaner could potentially be blocked with debris. Navigating a super-polarized, largely inappropriate election season with a middle schooler and high schooler is very, very challenging.  Yikes.  I’ve had more…