Piano Playing Update:

I'm sure you are dying to know how the piano accompanying went at Lucy's school.  Well, to be honest, I ROCK!!  There are only 3 songs that I have to play, as one is already recorded on the piano (good thing it's the hardest one!!).  So, crisis averted, Lucy is not ashamed to call me her mother, and I may have a future as the gullible, wannabe, UNPAID volunteer Parkview Middle School chorus accompanist. 

Coming soon:  A new list of funny Sam stories and quotes.  There is no shortage of these kinds of things to pass along, I assure you!

Kelly's latest look.

Kelly decided to shave his beard. However, he did it in "stages."  He went from goatee, to this, to just a mustache (the worst) and then finally a soul patch (which I really hate).  Needless to say, the beard probably won't be back anytime soon. 

I Love The 80's!!

We have fabulous friends!  We like to go out to dinner, have play dates with the kids, shop together, play sports together, START BUSINESSES TOGETHER (ie. Our super fun children's salon opening next spring...) and most of all, play games together.  These photos are from our most recent game night, hosted by the Barlows.  It was an 80's High School Reunion Murder Mystery party.  As you can see, we all had a part to play and that meant costumes!  

I was Cindy Crawfish, the class flirt.  My character had fooled around with almost every man at the reunion, and Kelly's character was my current secret affair!

Kelly was Nick Nixon, Class President and Presidential Candidate!  He was married to Nancy Nixon (pictured here with her "real" husband!)  

Here I am with our gracious Hostess (and salon partner) Laura Barlow, Prom Queen.

Turns out that my not so secret boyfriend, Steve Spielberg the movie producer, was the victim.  Here I am crying over the tragic turn of events.

Our beautiful and sassy friend Molly Ringworm, the drama queen turned Hollywood actress was the killer!

Here is "Nick" chatting it up with his bodyguard, B.A. Barricade.  Too bad you can't see the awesome tattoos on the back of his head!

At the end of the night, I walked away with the prize for best costume.   It was a great time for sure!  This one will be hard to beat!

Holiday Jam Session

Hannah is learning how to play the guitar.  This Christmas when Poppy came to visit he brought his guitar and they learned some fun duets together.  They practiced for a few days and then gave us a concert.  It was so great for Hannah to use her new skills in a fun way!

I Can't Say No....

Here is my stress of the month:  I sort of accidentally volunteered to play the piano for Lucy's school chorus.  Her teacher was asking me if music ran in the family, and I mentioned that I played the cello and piano.  She grabbed my arm and excitedly asked me, "You play the piano???  I would love to have a real live accompanist for the chorus classes!"  I should've just wished her luck with that, but the people pleaser in me blurted out, "I'd LOVE to help out!  That would be fun!"  That was a month ago.  Now that it's time to go to the school and rehearse with them, I find myself panicking because I haven't had time to practice properly, and I don't want her teacher to wonder why on earth I volunteered!!  Let me say first that I am NOT a pianist by trade.  I am a pianist by ACCIDENT!  Cello is my game, but nobody wants to be accompanied by a cello.  So I sort of taught myself how to  play the piano, and although I have gotten pretty good over the last 2 years, I still feel that I need LOTS of time to practice anything important.  The mistakes of my childhood still haunt me to this day - I was, and still am, a terrible procrastinator.  I always think that I"ll get to things later, and then when later comes, I CRAM!  So now I'm off to practice like a mad woman and hope that by the time I have to go to the school I won't humiliate myself  or even worse.....MY DAUGHTER who will have to admit that the lady pretending to play the piano is her mother!

Hello fans.  Here is the blog you've all been waiting for.  After numerous requests, I have decided to chronicle my day to day life for your reading enjoyment!  Photos and cuteness will be coming soon - as I try to learn new computer skills!