Piano Competitions

I am getting a little more seasoned at these things now and think I did a better job clearing the stress crazies of a house full of people out of the way so we could calmly leave the house and head out to prepare for dear daughters performance.   Phew.   She had a goal of practicing her piece 100 times this week and made it to 81.   Wow.   She knew it well.   Tweaked, polished and well played.   Several area teachers made a point of coming to her and telling her what a fine job she did.  I was so pleased for her.   

 I do try hard to not be an oppressive parent.   It seems to be a dance of not leaving them completely to their own devices coupled with helping them set goals and listening well at her lessons.   Hearing her teacher work with her floats my boat.   People who teach well are a joy to listen to.   She draws out their strengths and keeps them accountable to the weak areas without crushing them.   Her teacher is  honest though too and doesn't just fling  praise around.   It has been a privilege to have her teach my kid.  And it is a pleasure to listen to my daughter play while lounging around the living room.  Ahhhh.

Side tracked and whining a bit

That phrase seems to apply to almost everything.   Shakespeare hardly made it out of the starting gates and my uncle got sick and in a very short time died.   That took me to Minnesota for several weeks and only left time to breathe in between.   I did spend some valuable time with my dying uncle, my extended family, and  my own family in a context outside of normal.   That saying that stress is the new normal is pretty true, but if I push aside the stuff which seems important, then stress goes down a lot.   I'm still not back on my feet per se and sort of want to do absolutely nothing for a long time.   I have more items on my to do list to take care of where it concerns my uncle.   I am going to have to make myself make the necessary phone calls, and fill out the paperwork.  

Right now I am listening to awesome horn music and sinking my teeth into it's awesomeness.   I might have to look this particular concerto up and see if I can get the music.   I seem out of touch somehow with regular tasks and being alone away from the messes and constant needs and my self inflicted guilt over not getting to all the things which are waiting for my attention.  

Syrup season appears it will be short lived this year.   I suppose it could still get pretty cold again and get the water moving again.   I haven't collected yet but the kids and hubby have.   I've been attempting to focus on the kids school and making up for the time I was gone.

And.....I've wanted to blog more.   I need to write my days out of my head a bit since finding an audience besides myself is not readily available in light of crumbs on the table and floor and my desperate need for kids to help keep up after that.   The divorced socks persistently make me nutty too.