One Deep Breath-Spring Sounds

I love waking up to the joyful conversation of birds in early spring...you can tell they're excited about nesting, loving the warm breeze, and looking forward to a tasty breakfast of plump worms (yum!)

spring sunrise

bird's chorus sings

joyful alleluia's

Equally joyous are the sounds of children's voices from the elementary school down the street, raised in excitment at the promise of warmer days to play outside, and spring vacation coming soon.

eager young voices

all a-twitter

on the playground

for more sounds of spring in haiku, click here

I Get By...

For a Monday, today has stacked up pretty well. However, I think I earned a good Monday, since my entire weekend was spent sitting on piano benches. Contrary to Mae West's famous quote, you actually can get too much of a good thing, and the past two days proved it to me!

This morning I managed to get in a walk before driving Magic and Molly to the groomer for their monthly haircuts and baths. Imagine my delighted surprise when Tami, my lovely friend/doggie stylist, gave me this gift~

This darling decoupage box is covered with pictures of M & M and filled with little bows for Molly and kerchiefs for Magic.

Tami is one of those people you meet during your life that warm your heart with their willingness to go the extra mile. When Magic was just a puppy, he apparently had a bad experience with the groomer I was taking him to at the time. She obviously hurt him, whether intentionally or not, I'll never know, but the result was the same. He was terrified of being groomed, and when Magic is frightened, he's gets aggressive. I was in a horrible quandry. Shih-tzu's must be groomed regularly... they get matted very easily and then you have to shave their hair all off!. (Trust me, that isn't a pretty sight, because we had to do it to Magic once or twice!)

I was at my local PetSmart one day, and happened to be talking to one of the salespeople there about the situation. She called Tami over from the store's grooming salon, and she suggested we begin a grooming rehabilitation program with Magic.

"Bring him in a couple of times a week and we'll work with him," she said.

So we started popping over to PetSmart every so often, and Tami would sit on the floor with Magic, just talking and playing a little. Then, we'd put him up on the table. At first, he'd start growling and snapping the minute he was up there. But she was very patient (and wearing a big glove!). She started out with just a little brushing, maybe two or three minutes, followed by a treat. Gradually, and this was over a period of several months, we worked up to actually cutting his hair, and then finally, he trusted her enough to have a bath and a full haircut!

This whole process took about a year. Not only did Tami spend all this time with us, she refused to ever take a penny! She said Magic became sort of a "pet project" for her, and the day she was able to completely groom him from start to finish without one growl or snap, she was as proud as if her firstborn had graduated from college. Now, sometimes he actually licks her face when she's grooming him~what a success story! What a gift for me, too~ I trust her with both my dogs, because I know she's a kind and caring person.

So often we don't realize how going the extra mile can mean so much to someone. Sometimes, I'll run into students that I haven't seen in a long time, and they'll tell me about things I did for them that meant so much to them. Often, it was such a small thing that I don't even remember it, but to them, it was meaningful. Those comments make my day, and remind me that every one of us can make a difference to someone else, often with very little effort on our part.

So, now I have two shiny clean doggies, and the rest of the afternoon to enjoy a little rest and relaxation. I just made a cup of tea in this nifty little tea maker (it's the greatest! if you like tea, click right over here and order yourself one!) and I'm ready to enjoy my afternoon "cuppa" with a couple of crisp butter cookies. I hope your Monday has turned out as well as mine :)

Afternoon tea, courtesy of my new Ingenuity tea maker from Adagio teas, and my mom's famous butter cookies.

Sunday Scribblings-Deepest and Darkest

"Deepest and darkest" is a phrase that just begs to be ended with "secret" or "fear." Somehow, I'm not in the mood to talk about either one of those right now, although I admit to having my fair share of both. Instead, I'm choosing to reflect on some of my "deepest and darkest" passions...much more uplifting don't you think?

• Rich, dark roast coffee, freshly brewed and steaming hot (you all knew that would be on the top of the list, right?)
• Running a close second~you guessed it~dark, bittersweet chocolate, which tastes even better when you're sipping passion number one along with it. Truthfully, one of my favorite ways to enjoy chocolate is to eat those little chips you put in cookies right out of the bag. Hmmm, guess I just shared one of my little dark secrets after all...
• I love the color black. I love to wear black (which is lucky, since it's the musician's uniform color), and nearly every car I've ever owned has been black. Although, I'm due for a new car soon, and I think it's going to be red this time (aha! another secret is out!)...
• I'm fascinated with novels and movies about mental institutions and deep, dark, psychological illness. The old TV miniseries Sybil, with Sally Field in the starring role, is one of my all time favorite spine tingling pleasures. I have this odd little penchant for the macabre that is completely at odds with my outwardly sunny disposition...
• No list of passions would be complete without at least a hint of the carnal, now would it? So, I admit, when it comes to the opposite sex, my taste in men runs to tall, dark, and deeply romantic. I adore the actor Jimmy Smits~as Victor Sifuentes on LA Law, Bobby Simone on NYPD Blue, and most recently, as Matt Santos on West Wing. Yes, my heart does flutter a bit just thinking about him :)

So much for my deepest and darkest...for more on this subject, go here

Will I Never Learn?

You would think that after 51 years on this planet, I would have learned when to say "No." Haven't I said "yes" and been sorry enough times? Haven't I said "yes," only to say "never again" once I realize what I've gotten myself into? So why, a couple of weeks ago, did I go against my better judgement, and agree to a huge accompanying assignment for someone I don't know, an assignment that keeps growing by leaps and bounds, and is turning out to be nothing less than a nightmare. I've been flagellating myself over this decision ever since the first rehearsal, when I could see what an exercise in frustration this job was going to be. So I was really interested Patti Digh's most recent post over at 37 Days. It's about developing your own set of criteria to help you make decisions, criteria that you can use when someone offers you the opportunity to run a charity event, or enter a marathon, or accompany 20 voice students during a three day competition. Criteria that you establish, based on what is most important to your life, so that you can make intelligent decisions about the way you spend your time.

What a fabulous idea, especially for someone like me, who has real difficulty saying "no." For the past couple of years, my life has often felt completely out of whack, with too much time being spent on activities that keep me away from home, and prevent me from doing things that enrich myself personally. Yet I always seem to fall into the trap of accepting one more gig, or joining one more committee, or taking on one more big project at work. Wouldn't it be great to have a written set of criteria that any new project must meet? And wouldn't it be great it I committed myself to abiding by those criteria when deciding whether or not to accept a project?

Without too much thought, here are some of the questions I'm going to ask myself the next time someone calls me on the telephone with a proposal. Patti advises writing them down on a piece of paper which you carry in your wallet. That way, you're never tempted to say "yes" without first considering what's most important to you.

• My number one criteria would definitely be time...how much time is this project going to consume? time that I could be with my family or doing something healthy for myself...
• Do I care about the people involved, and do they care about me? Will this project help me enhance and strengthen existing relationships or provide an opportunity to create new ones?
• Can I learn and grow in a positive way? Will this project help me enhance my abilities in any of my fields, or help me learn a new skill?
• Is this going to be fun? Is this project going to help me enjoy life while I'm participating in it? Will I get a positive feeling from participating?
• Will this help someone else? Can I impart some lesson, or provide some worthwhile service to someone?
• Is there a monetary reward, and is it commensurate with the time and effort involved? Will it help me provide for some aspect of my future, or make me feel satisfied with the way I've been compensated?

How does my current project stack up to this list?

• It's certainly far too time consuming
• I didn't know any of the people involved, and I don't see any long term relationships emerging from it
• I will likely feel a sense of growth and accomplishment as a muscian, since the musical aspects are quite challenging, but I'm not sure the process to this growth is a positive one
• It is not fun (and it isn't often that I don't have fun playing the piano!)
• I am helping the students, and I always feel good about that
• The money is good, far better than the usual fees, but still not commensurate with the time and effort involved

Hopefully, from now on I'll be able to make more informed decisions based on what's important to my life now. The beauty of this list is that it's your own, and it can change depending on the way life changes.

But for now, I have to go practice...sigh.

They're Home!

if you are a mother you have probably worried about

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~your child taking his first steps, fearful he would stumble and fall

~your child going to school fearful he would fail'

~your child driving a car, fearful he would be in an accident

~your child going to war, fearful he would be injured or killed

~your child facing the dangers of the world, fearful he would be hurt

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this picture illustrates the airplane bringing my son and daughter in law home from their six week journey in Thailand and China, countries more than 10,000 miles away

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as of this moment, they are back on American soil

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and i'm happy :-)