Crazy Dancer

This guy makes me happy!

Orchestra

Rehearsals started tonight with a guest conductor.  We were about a half hour late so I am sure he was impressed by that! 

I took Ara swimming at my Mom's house today and she had so much fun.  She reminds me of myself, I just love to be in the water.  Last summer I bought her a life vest to help her float but I always held her to keep her face out of the water.  Now she is so confident in the water she complains if I try to hang on to her.  She really understands how to move in the water to propel herself and to keep her face out of the water.  I keep thinking she will be a little fish by the end of the summer! 

This is going to be an exhausting 5 days with rehearsals and/or concerts every day.  It's hard on all of us.  We have to drive to my Dad's to drop Ara off, then back track 30 minutes to get to the rehearsal.  Immediately afterwards we zip back up to get her and by they time we can finally relax and get Ara in bed it is past 11pm.  Ara's regular bedtime is 7:30 pm.  Every concert cycle A and I wonder if it is worth it.  I hate having to impose on my family to baby sit 5 days in a row until 10:30 at night.  I hate keeping Ara awake that late and dealing with grumpy-girl all the next day.  On the other hand, I miss playing and this is my little sparkle of time to do something for myself.  As tiring as it is, it somehow feeds my soul and makes me feel important for something other than cleaning and driving and answering the constant "momma!" call of duty.  I need that for myself and so every time I ask "is this worth it?" the answer is the same.  That doesn't mean I won't complain though!  I just need a live in nanny. 

Seriously though whenever I day dream of what I would do if I were to win a lottery or casino jack pot I think I would like one of those adorable houses in the old neighborhoods.  With a charming courtyard and a shady spot to put a swing in a garden.  I don't think I would actually have a nanny because raising my daughter is my job!  I would however, like to have a maid, driver, and cook!  Can you imagine having all the time you usually devote to chores and grocery shopping and errands to do with as you please?  Ara and I could have a room devoted to painting and someone to clean up after we get a little wild.  And now I feel guilty!  The life we have now is a dream come true in itself so I will pull my head out of the clouds and look around and be thankful! 

I need to get to sleep, it's 2 am and the madness starts again in 6 hours.

Giant Update

I've been unable to post to my blog for so long I don't know where to begin. 

First off, we moved into the other side of the duplex we were living in.  It's so much nicer than our old place but there is still a little part of me that aches about leaving the house that was Ara's first home.  I finally have cupboards with doors and cooling/HEATING that comes through actual vents.  We have 2 bedrooms now and tile throughout.  I will post some pictures another day when I am not so tired.  I wasn't able to leave any sort of message about moving my blog on fluteloop.com so I doubt anyone will be reading this.  I imagine Ara reading this someday and I enjoy writing so I will continue. 

Ara has grown so much these past few months.  She can hold real conversations now and her curiosity knows no bounds.  She can spin like a real dancer and her new passion is My Little Pony. 

I went to California with Ara and my family at the beginning of May.   We drove and I tried to prepare myself for the most horrific road trip of my life and I was pleasantly surprised.  The kids were really good and they entertained each other.  I do really hate long car rides though and I hope to avoid them for a long time.  The visit was very nice.  We visited with my Dad's family and they all met Ara for the first time.  She declared that she did not like most of them.  I want to stop her from telling people that but at the same time I think she is entitled to her opinion.  I just encouraged her to say it in a nicer way! 

<unknown relative> ARA!  Aren't you a pretty girl!?

<Ara> I don't like you (furtive glance at mother) No thank you please!

That's how it went down the line of loud and adoring Filipino aunties until we went to visit my great grandmother (93 years old).  Ara's great great Grandmother looked into her stubborn little face and giggled!  Ara smiled and started to laugh.  It was a wonderful moment.  I took about 1000 pictures on my Sister's camera but I haven't brought them back to my computers yet.  We were able to spend a lot of time with my Grandmother Regina, and that made my heart ache a little.  I miss her so much and I wish that she could be a regular part of my Ara's life.  I wish that I could watch over her and make sure that she had eatable food and her house was in better repair.  I am glad that we went, I didn't really want to go but this was probably the last chance for Ara to meet her great great Grandma.

Well as far as big updates that is all I can think of for now, I have a lot of time to make up for!

Movable Words

I can't post to my fluteloop.com website because it seems my FTP information is wrong. So... I've decided to move my blog back over to Blogger's site until I can figure that situation out. I may just keep my blog here and use fluteloop.com for design and pictures. Anyway look here for more updates!