Tales of a Shoebox Princess

My house will be certified organic sometime in early December! No, I'm not removing pesticides. I'm getting an organ! My mom taught me piano, most of the time not formally. I did go to a piano teacher for a couple years when I was 14-15, but I already knew the basics and was playing songs here and there. Then my mom got called to be the organist for our congregation, even though she had no experience (hello Mormonism). She tried to get me to play the organ and I had NO interest. I rolled my eyes AND threw my head back in exasperation. Then when I was 36, I was called to be the organist in our congregation even though I have had no experience and never wanted any experience (hello, still Mormonism). But God had other plans. And He knew I would like it once I got over not knowing how to play it. I love playing Christmas hymns especially. "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" with the chimes, especially especially. I did take organ lessons for a year as part of an i...

I don't get poetry or most song lyrics. I try to deconstruct them, but what I infer from each individual line or thought in lyrics doesn't seem to ever coalesce into one theme. (Except for the song "I Wanna Hold your Hand." I think I've got that one figured out) Take my post title. I was casting about for a good line to use as a header for a post about being married a while, and this line "Still crazy after all these years" popped into my head. (don't judge. Paul Simon was a major contributor to my early teenage years. Hello, "One Trick Pony" and "Slip Sliding Away," which was my first introduction to music other than what my mom had in her record collection and never played--fodder for another post). So I thought I would look up the lyrics for this song to see if it applied. Hmmm, not so much (look them up yourself). The individual line applies, ya know, still crazy (for each other, in love, googly-eyes, etc) after all these ...

The second to last high school indoor marching band concert that we will attend as band parents was November 9. Our lone public school attendee, Matt, was decked out in his marching band finest (new uniforms this year!) for the show.  First, some perspective:Matt got his trombone just six years ago, in 2009. Nope. Nope, try again. He can't figure out how to hold it. This is foreshadowing. Seriously, most of the pictures I take of Matt playing his trombone end up looking like this. And now, the pictures from his recent band concert: We were close enough to him that he saw me wave at him and was instantly ashamed. Then he put on his stony face and refused to acknowledge my presence at the concert. Ingrate! L A....K E....RS.....Lakers, Lakers, we are the LAKERS! chant Bell face. See? No matter where I sit or stand, he has that trombone bell and his music in between my camera lens and his face. It's almost like he does it on purpose. Can you...