Author: Superpaige (Page 105 of 180)

For quite some time our house has looked like this:

There have been snowmen all around, since we’ve had so much snow. This one is my favorite, though. I think he started out upright, but with the wind and a little bit of sunshine, he quickly looked like this:

The large wreath, which I LOVE at Christmastime, was getting to be a little bit out of place towards the end of February. This past week we’ve finally had a taste of spring, with the temperatures creeping up to the 50’s. The snow was mostly melted and the kids were so happy they could play outside and jump on the tramp, even if it was still kind of cold. Saturday was finally the day. The day that it wasn’t supposed to be cold or rainy, with all the snow melted from the roof and from the ground by the house. The day that my dear husband would take down the wreath and the Christmas lights. March 1st. It’s a little long to have the Christmas lights up, in my opinion, but we were not alone in our lateness. A few of our neighbors (especially those with two story houses) also had their lights up this long.

While he was up there he took these pictures. Why he had the camera with him on the roof, I’m not sure, but I guess he was following that scout motto….”be prepared.”

It seems this little bird had been living in our wreath for a while, and was a little bit confused about where his home was going. He flew off to a neighbor’s pine tree, so I hope he’s enjoying his new little home.

It’s a good thing he got the lights down early in the day, because later in the afternoon the storm came through, dropping the temperature to about 30 degrees and the wind really picked up. I saw on the news that we had 73 mile per hour winds going on here for a while. We did lose a tricycle, which is now across the street, but no damage to the house or anything. A few of the neighbors lost shingles or garbage cans. Then the snow came, and it feels like winter again. Darn. I guess we’ll have to wait it out for a few more weeks until it really begins to be spring.

Do you look good?

Are you trying hard?

And that’s all I have to say about that.

Today, after cleaning my house and feeding my children a dinner of “let’s eat what we find in the fridge or freezer”, I watched Music of the Heart. It was probably on Lifetime or O or some other sappy channel weeks and weeks ago, and I remembered that it had looked interesting and I recorded it.

Described in the opening credits as being ‘inspired by a documentary’, the film opens with Roberta having been deserted by her husband and feeling devastated and almost suicidal. Encouraged by her mother, she attempts to rebuild her life and a friend recommends her to the head teacher of a school in the tough New York area of East Harlem. Despite a degree in music education, she has little experience in actual music teaching, but she’s taken on as a substitute violin teacher. With a combination of toughness and determination, she manages to inspire a group of kids, and their initially very skeptical parents. The program slowly develops and attracts publicity.

As I was watching this movie, I got choked up more than once. Tears were escaping my eyes. But then my children needed me, so I pushed pause and went to go and look after them. When I came back and watched it again, the same thing happened again.

Ten years later, the string program is still running successfully, but suddenly the school budget is cut and Roberta is out of a job. Determined to fight the cuts, she enlists the support of former pupils, parents and teachers and plans a grand fund-raising concert ‘Fiddlefest’, to raise money so that the program can continue. But with a few weeks to go and all participants furiously rehearsing, they lose the venue. Fortunately,the husband of a publicist friend is a violinist in a string quartet, and he enlists the support of other well-known musicians, including Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman. They arrange for the concert to be mounted at Carnegie Hall. Other famous musicians join in the performance, which is a resounding success.

As I watched those kids practice for their upcoming benefit concert, with great obstacles keep coming up, there I go crying again. It’s not like they aren’t going to succeed, for heaven’s sake. The movie is actually quite predictable, but there I am, wiping away my tears. I mean, MERCIFUL HEAVENS– WHAT IF MERYL STREEP DOESN’T RAISE ENOUGH MONEY AND THEY HAVE TO CUT HER PROGRAM? It would be Mr. Holland’s Opus all over again!

There’s obviously something wrong with me. I cry over everything. Really. All they have to do is show a picture of a puppy and play some music and I’ll practically burst into tears! Remember those etoys commercials? The ones where they played IZ’s “Somewhere over the Rainbow”? Those made me cry every time.

Of course, this is the song they played on ER when Dr. Greene died, too, so I almost ALWAYS cry when I hear this song, now.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to watch Minnesota Cuke and the search for the magic hairbrush or something like that. Don’t worry, I’ll have my Kleenex ready.

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