"my neglected blog"

...that's the link name that leads to this blog from Maya's blog.
It seems fitting.

Most of my thoughts in some way revolve around her now....so I've been finding it difficult to think of anything worth posting here. It's so hard to find anything else to be worthy of writing about when your whole body is being taken over by another living, breathing, human. It's a bit distracting. Not just my body, but my role as a person, my priorities, my future, my relationships, my desires are all changing. And I'm sure that I have only begun to feel these changes.

But I'm not giving up on my "tranquility in the chaos." So today I'll make a feeble attempt to write some of my 'other' current thoughts...


~Wednesday we saw "Wicked" in Chicago. It was amazing...a beautiful story of friendship, sacrifice, love,...the stage effects were unbelievable...it was hilarious, powerful, magical....more thoughts on that later....maybe.

~We'll have a new kitchen soon. Ryan has been spending every spare moment on this current project. Our house is insanely unorganized...or at least it feels that way. Everything from the kitchen...the dishes, pots & pans, small appliances, food, refrigerator, stove....it's all in our dining and living room.
He's repaired a water-damaged portion of the ceiling, torn out the old linoleum, painted the walls, and just finished laying tile and grouting. He is amazing and may have some super-hero powers, but he usually overestimates what is possible to accomplish in one day. He thinks he'll finish tonight...actually, it will probably be finished by this weekend. And that's okay. The end is in sight.

~Thursday night one of my senior students, Amanda, won Showcase (an all-area talent show/scholarship competition) for the second year in a row (unheard of). She is just in a different class as a vocalist and stage performer. I think someday we'll see her on a big stage in Chicago or New York.
I love when my students make me proud. Though I can't really take any credit for her vocal accomplishments, I'm her violin teacher. But on Saturday, all of my highschool string players went to State Solo & Ensemble...and all scored "ones." My top violinists, Christy and Amanda, performed the Bach Double Concerto in D minor, and a string quartet played the first movement of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. For some of them, it was quite a stretch...a bit above their level. But they worked really hard, and the affirmation of their efforts on Saturday was so rewarding. And fun for me to watch.

~On Sunday, we got to listen to my dad teach,...something I miss often. He drew some beautiful pictures of The Church...what it IS....and a lot of things that it is NOT. It reminded me of how precious the Church is to Christ, how much He gave for us. Sometimes, I get so tired of the way that we have lost our perspective and our purpose that I start to just not care anymore. The shopping mall-consumer-driven, performance style of "church", the divisive political and cultural issues that we waste so much time judging and arguing about, the people that seek to control churches (and ruin them) for their own power-hungry insecurities,... It seems hopeless. But despite our constant sin and shallow understanding, Christ's sacrifice in the face of complete hopelessness, makes my apathy ridiculous.

~This thursday at 7:00 PM, I'll be playing at the Dogwood Center in Fremont for a CD Release Party for Chris Cordle's new album, "Seasons, Friends, and Lovers." His music is kind of folk/ easy-listening...with some beautiful arpeggiated guitar picking and smooth vocals.

~There are only four days until Spring Break begins!! (Last year over Spring Break, these two were born.)

And soon, they'll have a new cousin! ...who seems to be stretching at the moment. She's pushing down against the lower left side of my abdomen and pushing up with her feet on my ribs on the right side. (sorry, I can't write or speak this many words without mentioning my main preoccupation.)