blog

Miracle Piano

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:19:31 +0100

I'm the happy owner of a BEAUTIFUL piano! A Schafer 5+footer, built around the turn of the century (1895-ish), hand carved vines and flowers all over its cherry finish, exquisite rounded legs, 5-foot strings, all the key caps in place, wonderful action, perfect weight, intricate metal carvings over the petals... *sigh* I'm in love. Now it needs a little TLC- two new strings and a good bunch of tuning (the last tuning was in 1982!), but, considering a low-priced refurbished piano would run me $700, I think I'm ok investing in my antique!

And that's not the best part!

Monday morning I was *literally* walking out the door to see about purchasing that $700 piano when the phone rang. A friend from church called to ask if I knew "of anyone who needed a piano for free." Um... The timing was a little too coincidental to NOT be a God thing! So, even though free pianos are usually a piece of junk, I figured I'd check it out. (When God turns up the volume of His whispers, ya GOTTA listen!)

I took one of my piano technician friends with me to check it out and he gave it the thumbs up! So today, Tuesday, Jase, Pop, the babies and I headed out, rented a truck and moved this wonderful piano. It's currently sitting in Mom and Pop's living room, waiting for when we move into our new apartment (sometime next week).

*sigh* I am SUCH a happy camper right about now.

GOD IS GOOD!!!

She's Here!

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 06:56:03 +0100

Well, she's been here for almost 2 months. But that does not negate the fact that she is adorable, sweet, beautiful and charming!

Alethea [ah-LAY-thee-ah] Rose was born on July 7th after only 3 hours in the hospital. I had (unaware) been having contractions the entire day before and so, when I got plugged into Patocin, well, she was ready! A slight 7-pound, 9-ounce perfect baby, she made a natural birth a pleasant not-entirely-awful experience! No, that's not how I had planned it-- she just came so stinkin' fast, I wasn't allowed any happy drugs!

So, now that I've had her for over 7 weeks and am (pretending like I'm) getting the hang of life again, I am getting antsy about teaching, gigs and all my other musical outlets! I will most likely be switching up a few lesson slots to allow me more breaks and easier baby-adjustment time. If you are a current student, you will be receiving an email from me soon regarding your lesson time!

*sigh* So now I'm a mommy of 2. And it's wonderful! ...most of the time! No, no- it really is amazing. I'm just realizing I've a lot less patience than I thought! And somewhere in the jostle of adding another kiddo to the family, I lost my Wonder Woman suit. Turns out I'm human. So, I'm feeling cheated that I didn't grow an extra arm to accommodate the new little one in addition to my 3-year-old (I guess I should mention his birthday is today), but I am learning that children are VERY forgiving. And that God is good. And that I need naps. (Naps are very good things!)

Looking Ahead

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 18:31:24 +0100

Well, this child I'm incubating is definitely an excited little one! She is jumping around almost non-stop and is doing a great job at stealing much of my energy and brain matter! We've only got 11 weeks until the due date (4th of July), which means that plans are in the works for how lessons (and the rest of life!) will change!

The proposed plan at this time is to continue teaching through the middle of June, and then take the next Summer months off to spend time with family and get used to having another little one in our lives.

I'm hoping to start a month of lessons up in October, to prepare for our recital at the end of the month, and then take off November and December for the holidays.

Come January, the plan is to resume lessons on a normal schedule, adding a few extra lesson slots as well for new students.

Of course, with a new baby, one can never be too sure how life will work out, so please take this as a Proposed Plan, as opposed to one set in stone!

OOoff! There she goes again! I'll assume she's ready for some chocolate...!

Snowed Out!

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 19:03:55 +0100

Today lessons are canceled.

On account of the mass amount of snow accumulated over the past week, I decided it would be prudent to head over to the church (my studio's current location) this morning. I wanted to turn on the heater a little early and to make sure the parking lot wasn't too slick. Well, it wasn't icy. The problem was that I couldn't even SEE the parking lot! There was easily a foot-and-a-half, to two feet of snow covering the entire lot! Needless to say, I'm glad that I was driving our little 4-wheel-drive truck- the only way I was able to turn around to go back home!

I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed. I love teaching. My students are all very dear to me and the joy I derive from giving voice and piano lessons is very high on my 'this-makes-me-happy' list. I was also looking forward to starting up a few new students today as well, and that too will have to wait until next week.

On the flip side, my husband is at home and our two-year-old has been asking to play in the snow all morning... Perhaps we'll take a family walk and explore our sun-shiny, snow covered world! Yes, it's a fair trade.

A Quick Note: On occasions such as this, all pre-payments are put towards the following week of lessons. As this is the last week in February, all payments will be put towards the first week in March.

In the Musical Saddle Again!

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 06:51:54 +0100

I am SO thrilled to be starting up my music studio again! After several moves, enjoying life with my 2-year-old, and gearing up for baby number 2 come summer, it is now time to pursue my love of teaching!

I have sorely missed teaching- voice, piano, even theory! It's amazing, though, how much more I realize my love of this venture; to have gone without for so long (almost 3 and a half years!) I see so much clearly how much my heart truly is wrapped in teaching.

I am most excited about taking on beginning students. It is such a thrill to see those musical light bulbs go on for the first time... and seeing their faces light up- whether they're 4 or 40- when a concept is presented in such a way that IT MAKES SENSE! Oh! I just love it! If I had my way, I would take only only beginning students. I love working with more advanced musicians, but there's something about taking a student from the very beginning and forming them with the correct musical foundation to send them into the wide world of 'other teachers'...

Which is one thing I'd better get figured out soon. I have yet to meet many of my fellow teachers in the area as of yet. When it comes time to 'graduate' any of my students I want to make sure that I sincerely trust the teacher I'll be passing them on to. I want the transition to be as smooth and natural (and wonderful an experience) as possible.

But I'm not there yet. With only a few slots filled in my studio thus far I'm busy planning our Fall recital! And that's as far as I need to be planning so far.