Wednesday, April 3, 2024

A Late Winter Wrap-Up: Anna Karenina, Mozart, Brick and Mortar, and Eclipses!

Parenting two busy teenagers, one of whom is a classical ballet dancer in a pre-professional company, is a serious business these days! My husband recently told someone that I "run the [insert our last name] empire," and he's not wrong.  Between paying bills, keeping house, cleaning, chauffeuring, cooking, grocerying, supervising homeschool, laundry, some part-time work, and countless volunteer hours for the ballet...well, I am not bored. 

Here are a few tidbits from our busy, busy lives lately (I hope to see some calm after my daughter's spring ballet performance):

*I am in the last hour of listening to Anna Karenina (read with great success by Maggie Gyllenhaal) and I cannot wait to finish it so that I can then turn around and read everything about it--criticism, interpretations, etc.  WOW! I have so much to say about Anna, Levin, Kitty.....whew.  I can't wait to start reading about what I've been reading (surely this is one of the marks of a bibliophile?). 

*We went to our first opera last month! We saw The Marriage of Figaro and we were all heavily invested in the narrative. It was so fun!

*Our spring break trip to Charleston was cancelled due to a flat tire that suddenly appeared on my car the morning we were set to leave (with a fully-loaded vehicle, coffee and muffins in hand....).  So we stayed home and had a quiet week, and as it turned out, it was very, very good.

*Big changes are underway in schooling for my sweet Annie.  Next year she's trying a brick and mortar school--I can hardly wrap my mind around this.  But she is so excited to at least try it out.  (She knows that her fallback will always be homeschooling, and having a safety net is nice!)  She's got a few friends there already, we know several teachers/administrators, it's a small school....so it has potential.  If you know Annie, you'll probably agree that she is a powerhouse of genuine kindness and solid determination packaged in one small, long-haired, graceful human.  I am happy for her.  Finn and I won't know what to do with ourselves, but I am happy for her!

*We have reservations to head to the midwest for the eclipse--if the weather cooperates.  We've had these plans in place for nearly 7 years, since we saw the last eclipse. It was incredible.  No words. I pray we can see it again. It's especially tricky because it's theatre week for Annie--eek!

*March 27th marked the 23rd year since my mother's death, and I realized that it also marked that I've now been without my mother for half my life. I was 23 when she died, and I'm 46 now.  She was a lovely, lovely human, and I am thankful I had 23 years with her. 

*The peonies are coming up, the crabapple tree is in bloom, the tulips have popped, the bleeding hearts are rising, the lilac is purpling, and I pruned the roses last week.

Life is full and fascinating and I'm thankful for it all. 

 

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