A Glimpse into Our Little World & Beyond

Last week was a busy week, but then almost all of them are. Alex was so excited to go recruiting for band at local elementary schools, including his old elementary school. They went to different schools and played a few numbers, including a trombone solo by Alex. Then the band teacher talks to the 6th graders and tries to motivate them to take band in 7th grade. That’s what got Alex interested in band. Alex is very musical, if you ask his biased mother. He had almost two years of piano when he was younger and did very well as long as he practiced. I was worried that he wouldn’t practice the trombone, but he practices every day without me even reminding him. He wants to play the trumpet in band next year. He tried someone else’s and played a song on it the first try. He swapped his trombone for a friend’s baritone horn for a weekend one time and played that one too. He wants to learn how to play all the brass and woodwind instruments, minus the flute.

Elisa had her science fair this week and had a few mishaps. She was typing up her report for quite a while when she did something that deleted it. I had reminded her to save it several times, so I told her to just go back to the saved copy. She hadn’t saved any of it. She was not happy, but was able to get everything done on time. Her teacher gave the students a test the same day as the science fair. How fair is that??? But Elisa got 100% so she was happy. Here is Elisa with her project. It was “What material absorbs the most water?” She didn’t win, but she had said she didn’t want to. She saw how Alex had to talk to the judges at the regional level while all the parents had to remain outside the room a couple of years ago. She did not want to do that.


Sabrina always brings home fun papers from kindergarten. One was What I Would Do with $100. She had big plans for that money! She drew her answers: ballet lessons, karate lessons, a dog, a limo (for $100), and last, but definitely not least, a DISCO ball. She has been dreaming about all of those for a long time. Maybe one of these days she’ll get one of those, but I somehow doubt she’ll be getting the limo from me.

We also went to my brother and sister-in-law’s house for my nephew’s 3rd birthday party. I can’t believe he’s 3!
Isn’t he sooo cute??

His little brother too, with one of his grandmas. The birthday boy was having a great time at the party until Sabrina accidently ran right into him and gave him a goose egg on his poor little head. Even then he was cute because he was crying while saying, “Careful. Careful.” I hope he’s feeling better today!

And now a look beyond my world---What do you usually do during your ladies’ night? I occasionally have lunch with a few ladies before my kids get home from school. We sit and chat and laugh. It’s fun to get together with other women, but I’ve felt lately that I need to make our time together fun, but worthwhile. I was brainstorming some ideas like humanitarian kits or tie blankets for a local nursing home. Today I visited a great blog I often visit called Women Doing More and saw the trailer for the movie A Powerful Noise . It is a film “that proposes the solution to global poverty and injustice lies in the ability of women and girls to have a voice in their societies.” Here is the synopsis from the website.

Hanh is an HIV-positive widow in Vietnam. Nada, a survivor of the Bosnian war. And Jacqueline works the slums of Bamako, Mali. Three very different lives. Three vastly different worlds. But they share something in common: Power. These women are each overcoming gender barriers to rise up and claim a voice in their societies. Through their empowerment and ability to empower others, Hanh, Nada and Jacqueline are sparking remarkable changes. Fighting AIDS. Rebuilding communities. Educating girls.

This 2 ½ hour documentary is going to be shown one night only, March 5th. Wouldn’t it be great for us as women to go together for a ladies’ night on International Women’s Day and support this film? I’m sure we’ll be lifted away from our own problems and see the issues that face women around the world daily. We can spend a few hours together with an inspiring message. Anyone want to go? Here’s the list of theaters showing the movie. Participating Theaters