I Got the Music in Me

You are a child whose parents insist that you take up a musical instrument for the next 3 years. Which would you chose? That was the last poll which ended last night. The choices were drums, flute, guitar, harp, piano, saxophone, and violin. By a whopping 55%, piano was the winner. Drums were second with 22%, and flute and violin were tied for third with 11%.

When I was a young child, my sisters and I all took piano lessons. In the beginning, I found it neat to learn how to play the piano. But as I progressed, the practicing and the theory homework became cumbersome to me. Like many things I had to learn back then, I failed to see what value any of it could have in my future life. Of course, fast forward to now, nearly everything I thought that would never find useful back then has proven to be the most useful knowledge that I learned.

They say, whoever they are, that hindsight is 20/20. I look back on my childhood piano lessons now with fondness and gratitude. I enjoy a wide variety of musical genres. When my children first came home with their tenor recorders from school, I was able to pull from my background in music theory to help them. And in this digital age, I am conscious of the effort it takes to master an actual musical instrument and play it in concert with others to create something pleasing to the ears. Sadly, I don't know how many of our youth can appreciate music that is not electronically generated or enhanced. It's my hope to pass the gift of appreciating music to my children.

When One Poll Ends, Another One Opens . . .

So now we have a new poll. While on vacation in New York City, a snowstorm knocks out power, trapping you in the elevator of the Empire State Building for the next 48 hours. Which of these icons would you most want to be trapped with? Voting ends December 15, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. PST.

Twas the Season Before Christmas

Twas the season before Christmas and all through the house, three little creatures were stirring, and I am not talking about a mouse. I'm not talking about the retail season. I'm talking about the season of Advent.

For my non-Catholic friends, the Catholic Church celebrates seasons in during the liturgical calendar just as we celebrate seasons in our secular calendar. The season of Advent, which is Latin for "coming", kicks off the liturgical year. In the simplest of explanations, it is a season of preparation for the coming of our Savior, Jesus - preparing our hearts to deepen our relationship with Him in the beginning of the new liturgical year and in anticipation of celebrating his birth at Christmas time. Christmas is actually a separate season than Advent in the liturgical calendar. It's a short one at that, from Christmas through the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord which is usually around the second weekend in January (Western Rite - other rites have different liturgical calendars).

To set this Advent season apart, we are doing something a little different. Aside from the Advent Calendar, we are going to gradually decorate our tree each week until Christmas Eve, when we will put the star on top. On Monday night, Justina and Abby assembled our artificial tree. And here's the kicker - they did it without fighting! Perhaps it was an early birthday present to me. Or maybe the whole peace on earth and good will towards men business. Either way, I'll take it! Right now our tree has the lights only and the tree skirt. Next week, we'll add the glass ball ornaments.

By practicing some special Advent traditions, we can celebrate Advent by preparing our hearts for Christmas and making that season even more special. I hope that your family enjoys a happy and blessed Advent.

42

Happy birfday to me. Happy birfday to me. Happy BIRFday to me. Happy birfday to me. Check out the pretty flowers that my mother and siblings sent me for today. They were at my front door when I pulled in this afternoon. And Abby and Justina made me a card. On the inside, Abby drew a picture of me when I was little. (And I looked magnificent!) The card is now proudly displayed on my desk. I am one blessed woman. Thanks guys! I love you all!













In Other News . . .

Tonight was Biggest Loser Night and it was Makeover Night. None of the players underwent too drastic of transformations. But I loved Becky's haircut. I was disappointed that Sunny was the last eliminated player and that arrogant jerk John made it into the final four. That guy is a mental case. What he has lost in weight, he has gained in ego. I'm rooting for Antone, Vinny, or Becky to win it all. Next week is the marathon where all the contestants come back to compete in a marathon. After that will be the finale. Stay tuned . . .

The voting on the latest poll ends tomorrow night, November 30th at 11:59 p.m. PST. Inquiring minds . . . ok, just me really . . . would like to know how you voted. You are a child whose parents insist that you take up a musical instrument for the next 3 years. Which would you choose? Vote today and ask a friend to as well.

Until the next time, take care and may God bless you. :)

You Make Me Smile

For over two weeks, we have been anxiously awaiting the shedding of Abby's loose front tooth. She could wiggle it and twist it. But it was still "had tooth guts attached" to it. I was even expecting a visit from the Tooth Fairy after she stuffed her little self with Thanksgiving dinner. But no. The tooth guts were still holding on. Those are really strong tooth guts!

When I picked Abby up from school this afternoon, she proudly announced that her tooth finally fell out. She's excited that she will have her name on the tooth chart in her classroom for each month of school thus far. And something that excited her even more was that one of her kindergarten classmates told her that because it was a front tooth she would get $5.00 from the Tooth Fairy. Hmm. It was time for me to explain to Abby the cold, hard facts about the Tooth Fairy.

I explained to Abby that the economy was not doing very well, and that many households were on tighter budgets these days. Not every child receives that amount of money for each tooth. I continued to explain to her that the Tooth Fairy must look at each situation differently and factor in the cost of living index before depositing money under the pillow. She woke up to $1.50 sitting under her pillow. It didn't matter the amount. She squealed with delight and was happy with it.