the GRAND DAY

Third grade - I remember it: learning to write cursive while pressing my pencil so hard onto the paper my teacher would comment on how difficult I was making it and tell me I needed to loosen my grip and write "lighter". Hmmm...I still have a tight grip and still underappreciate the cursive style. Here I am, twenty-five years later, visitng Emery's third grade class after eating lunch at her school's GRAND DAY.

Em is quite the little artist - she had fun showing off artwork by both her and her classmates.


Emery's school cafeteria was so bright, open and quiet - mine at good old Crescent Elementary School was dim, enclosed and noisy - we had to control our noise level with a stop light on the wall that turned yellow when we were bordering too noisy, and if it turned red we missed recess.


It was a beautiful, snowy day with a bright young lady.

Thanks for the invite Angelbum- YOU are a grand TREASURE!

The Ending of an Era

For at least a decade, and I am thinking closer to thirteen or so years, I have been bang-free. For whatever reason I have never enjoyed doing my hair - it is tedious, time-consuming and flat out frustrating for me. In fact, if I were able to have one way of spoiling myself without feeling shameful or putting me in the poor house I would have someone come do my hair for me every morning so I didn't have to deal with it. But alas, that is not reality.

Well...the reality of ponytail-n-go is now gone, though it will still pull back into one. I really do like it (thanks Eden!) I just have to figure out the bang thing. At least my shampoo will last longer now, right?

First Class First Crush

Children are funny, often unpredictable, and so charming when they want to be. On more than one occasion I have witnessed one nephew in particular act very shy toward strangers and those he knows (natural to do). In grocery stores old women will often try to engage him in conversation and he will just turn the opposite direction and say, "I am being shy." Or, as we walk into some place a man will make a remark like, "what's up little man" and he will completely ignore the man as if he is not there at all.



I have spent this weekend with Sharee and her family in Maryland after attending a work conference in the DC area. It was here that this particular nephew (Dmitri) surprised me - and his parents - with an interaction with a stranger. Just before my trip started, I learned my good friend Catherine Ramirez would be performing in the DC area the same time I would be visiting, and I arranged for us to attend. It was Dima's first recital/professional performance and we had to help him keep his voice down as he asked questions about what was happening with the lights and when my friend would be coming out and what a flute was. Catherine did come out, with her flute, in a magnificent dress, and Dmitri watched closely as she started her performance. It was a very technical piece that required her to make some unusual noises with her flute and use some unique rhythms, and about half way through the piece Dima leaned into me and said (not quietly btw), "I don't think your friend knows how to play her flute." Hysterical he was; amazing SHE was.



We snuck out early to catch Cathy back stage and got to visit her in the Women's Stage Dressing Room. She was stunning with her hair pinned up and her gorgeous gown. Dima just stared at her, a little star-struck, and when Cathy said hello and reached out to hug him, that was it. He was all smiles and talk - quite the ladies' man. It was like he was a different person, that little four-year-old boy, and it was hysterical to watch! Cathy stole his heart in an instant and I've rarely seen him smile so big.



If you are in to classical music, I invite you to get to know Cathy and her flute- it will be worth your time! Here is her website: http://www.catherineramirez.com/