Anna’s little twin boyfriends came over to play today!

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In an effort to post something on my blog between weekly menu plans, here are some things that have been going around in my head and our home.

I’ve been feeling musical lately. I’ve started trying to practice piano again—not just sit down and play, but really practice and work on something difficult and get better at it. I manage to do this for about 20-30 minutes after Anna’s nap while she’s sitting in her high chair eating raisins and graham crackers. It takes about 10 minutes to warm up, so I only get a few minutes to actually work on something, but it adds up, and I’m making slow progress. I’m working on Felix Mendelssohn’s Praeludium in E minor. It’s a rich, fluid piece, fairly short, a little challenging without being insanely hard. I’m done trying to learn stuff that’s so incredibly difficult that only professional musicians play it, and stick with pieces I actually have a shot at playing well. Maybe I’ll play it for you someday. But probably not. I’m just doing this for me, to remind myself that there’s still some talent buried in there somewhere.

David’s parents visited us this past weekend. Anna doesn’t see them very often, but whenever they come, she warms up to them in just a few minutes and is all over them. How many adults does it take to accompany a toddler to the park? Four. To storytime at the library? Four. None of us wanted to miss out on anything! They enjoyed getting to see Anna do the fun things she likes to do, and Anna loved the captive audience and undivided attention all weekend!

I’ve been trying to get back into the exercise habit. A few weeks ago I heard about the “Miles for Milestones” 5K on October 31 and thought it would be a good goal to work towards. I’ll be satisfied if I finish in 31 minutes; happy if I finish in 30. Now if the weather will just cooperate that day. It’s at 8 A.M. (Why do they have these things at 8 A.M. in the cold-weather months?!? Wouldn’t 10 A.M. or noon be much nicer?) It will be chilly, which is fine if it’s dry, but I’m not running in 40-degree rain. I don’t have the right kind of clothes for that anyway.

I think I want to paint the kitchen and living room. I haven’t told David this yet. Hey, honey, I think I want to paint the kitchen and living room.

Is there any way I can tell you just how enamored I am with Anna? She is one amazing kid. She’s been especially sweet lately. She is such a blessing! She is so funny sometimes. The other day in Wal-Mart we were stopped next to the milk, and she smiled, stuck out her tongue, and went “AAAAAAAEEEEEEEHHH.” I looked up to where she was looking, and there was a picture of a cat on a big sign hanging over the pet stuff. Yep, that’s how she makes her cat noise. I hope I can get her animal sounds on video sometime! They’re too cute.

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Last night, David and I got to hear the Fuchsia Band from County Cork, Ireland. They were performing in Little Rock at Studio Joe in a concert presented by the ACMS. (It was sold out, which means we should actually come within a couple hundred dollars of breaking even on this one!)

Here’s the thing about Irish music: you get to hear some of the best musicians in the world for their genre, but you get to pay 10 bucks a ticket and sit just a few feet away from them, and even talk to them afterwards, and sometimes even play with them in a post-concert session. Do you get to do that with pop music? No way! you pay 100 bucks and sit with 18,000 of your closest friends in Alltel Arena, and if you’re lucky and persistent enough, maybe wait in line for hours for a 10-second autograph from the artist(s).

I remember a few years ago just after I had started playing pennywhistle, I got to meet Mary Bergin at a pub in St. Louis. I know, you’re thinking, “who?” But I was thinking, “oh my gosh I’m shaking hands with Mary Bergin and talking to her and I can’t believe she’s sitting right there playing pennywhistle not five feet away from me and WOW!” Little did I know then, that’s pretty typical with this genre of music. You get to mingle with the best of the best in a casual setting—no media reporters, no bodyguards, no crazy mobs—just people like yourself who appreciate good music.

I’m pleased with my choice of entertainment.

Here’s a short video clip of the boys tearin’ it up on a reel set last night:

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She has her own whistle—a little green Clarke Meg that cost 3 dollars. But I’m letting her play my Michael Burke Narrow-Bore Brass, which cost… um… more than 3 dollars. Why, exactly?!?

So do you think she can learn a jig in time for St. Patrick’s Day?

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Mama went out partying last night! I didn’t get home until after midnight! What kind of trouble did I get myself into, you ask? Some wild stuff, I tell ya—the traditional Irish band Legacy out of Jackson, MS was performing for the Little Rock Folk Club last night, followed by a huge session and 50th birthday party for Judi Warner, one of our Arkansas Celtic Music Society fiddlers. I think almost the entire ACMS made it to hear the concert and celebrate with Judi. She had it catered, so we had some good food and birthday cake to keep us going. The session was probably made up of about 20 musicians I’d guess, including the band. I did more listening/visiting/eating than I did playing, as I’ve gotten quite out of practice lately and can’t quite keep up (or pretend to) as well as I used to. But it was still a lot of fun! I left about a quarter to midnight, but I don’t know how long it lasted. (Martha, do you know?) These things can go way into the wee small hours sometimes, long after all my energy is spent.

David was such a sweetie to stay home with Anna so I could go—thanks, David!

Here is a short clip from the final set of the concert. That’s Tim Britton (special guest) on uillean pipes, Valerie Plested on fiddle, and Don Penzien on guitar.

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… of my budding musician! She even knows to put it in her mouth—she’s a genius! (What, you say it’s because babies put everything in their mouths? Nah. It’s because she’s a musical prodigy.)

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The Clarke Meg Pennywhistle.

When I first started playing pennywhistle in 2003, the Clarke Meg was just 3 dollars. It is still just 3 dollars. It’s hard to believe.  I’m probably about to order a bundle; I always put them in my Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, and I like to keep some on hand for people who are interested in starting whistling.

So I’ll take this opportunity to make a plug for the humble pennywhistle. If you already know a bit about music and would like to branch out, you should try pennywhistle. If you know nothing at all about music and would like to start playing an instrument, you should try pennywhistle. If you think you have no musical ability whatsoever and there’s no way you could ever play an instrument, you should try pennywhistle. You don’t have to read music and you don’t have to put in long hours of practice; just keep it handy and pick it up and toot on it.

At 3 bucks, you haven’t got much to lose. You can’t even buy a gallon of gas for that!

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I was nursing Anna at the computer, like I often do, and popped in the new Steven Curtis Chapman CD that JoAnne got us. The first song, “Miracle of the Moment”, is one of those songs that K-LOVE plays probably a little too much, but I’ve never really paid attention to the words. I guess I’m a visual learner—stuff doesn’t really sink in until I see it. So I was listening and reading along with the words that came in the CD, and I thought, “This is actually a pretty cool song…”

It’s time for letting go
Of all of our if only’s…

… this is the only moment
We can do anything about

So breathe it in and breathe it out
Listen to your heartbeat
There’s a wonder in the here and now
It’s right there in front of you
And I don’t want you to miss
The miracle of the moment

Sweet, huh? Anyway…

While we’ve had a wonderful time with Anna, I’ve also had some “if only’s” about her birth and our first few weeks together. So as the first line of the song was still sinking in, the chorus started playing; right at that moment Anna suddenly stopped nursing, looked up at me, and with excitement in her eyes, smiled the biggest smile I’ve ever seen! I wish I had a picture because I can’t come close to describing it—it kind of looked like she was laughing her head off except there was no sound, just the expression. We just stayed there a few minutes, smiling at each other, me talking to her and her cooing back.

It really sealed the meaning of the song for me and became my own little miracle moment I won’t forget. I think this might be my new favorite song.

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“You have a baby! In a bar!”

Indeed we did. Well, officially it’s an Irish pub, but basically, yeah, a bar. We took Anna to her first Irish pub session tonight at Cregeen’s in North Little Rock. For the first part of it, she slept as soundly as she’s ever slept. Maybe I need to record a noisy pub session and play it in her room at night.

At one point while she was taking her bottle, she was sucking to the beat of the music. That’s my girl!

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Today we went down to North Little Rock for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, sponsored by the Irish Cultural Society of Arkansas. Here are a few highlights:

Some of our Arkansas Celtic Music Society friends:
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