The house is coming along nicely! We have been making “diligent and expedited” progress as we say in the proposal writing biz. We felt like we really turned the corner on the main level a couple of nights ago when we got all the window coverings hung (Matt) and the office unpacked (me). Since then we’ve mostly been “cleaning up” the main level, sending bits and pieces to their proper places (sometimes Goodwill) and taking out the trash and recycling. There’s actually quite a lot of that to do. My oh-so-exciting plans for when I get home from work today are to actually vacuum and mop our wood floor on that level. With zero landscaping and lots of rain, we’ve got the muddy paw prints everywhere!!
I hope to post some nice photos of how things are progressing by Sunday. It’s looking good!!
But loads of other things are happening right around us. A couple of months ago, Ben earned his third stripe for yellow belt, jumping ahead of his sister who took the summer off from karate to focus on her intensive music program. That alone was a big accomplishment and he has been getting high marks from his sensei who has applauded his greatly improved focus. Last night we learned that in addition, he will likely be able to test for the next belt (orange) in a week as well. It’s been a great summer for Ben!
Tabby has had a great summer too. She successfully completed an entire school year’s worth of music classes in about 2.5 months. This effort took huge commitment and dedication on her part. She went to class two days every week and in the time between each class, only 3-4 days, she had to learn the material for two lessons, or about 2 weeks worth. That included two theory lessons, 2-3 brand new songs and additional elements for songs she’d already learned and music appreciation elements. Barely a day went by when we didn’t practice and as I’m sure I mentioned, we even found a keyboard to continue with while we were on vacation!
Yesterday, she passed her final assessment with flying colors and performed at her recital. It was interesting because she’d never practiced her piece without the sheet music available and I was worried for her when I saw it wasn’t there. She said she was a bit worried too. But she sat down and played it from memory as though she’d done it 100 times.
Now we get a two week break from music before Tabby heads into the third year program and Ben begins his first year in the same program.
… and in just over a week, they both start back to school! Where did summer go? How are they growing up so fast??