What's Going On

Winter weekday afternoons, more often than not, find Gavin and Arwen on the floor of the living room concocting new Lego Star Wars creations. Sometimes they coexist peacefully for hours at a time; other days things are a bit more rocky. The past week has tended more to the latter. One afternoon I caught Arwen jumping up to give Gavin a hug, and overwhelmed by the positive energy, told them to hold that pose so I could grab the camera. Tonight as they were getting ready for bed, Arwen repeated the performance and Gavin immediately asked if I was going to run downstairs for the camera.

When I first picked up the ukulele in early December, I was fortunate to stumble upon the site of one self-proclaimed Doctor Uke, who has provided via his excellent website all I’ve needed to get up and running. I was intrigued to discover that he runs a monthly ukulele club, that meets less than an hour from our house. Last Saturday, having printed and practiced the 24 songs slated for the January meeting, I decided to check it out. During the first hour – a beginner lesson – I discovered my form could use some improvement and learned how to finger a G7 chord without contorting my fingers. Then I threw all form out the window and just worked on keeping up with the band for the next couple of hours as we rehearsed about half the pieces, then performed them all for the crowd that showed up to sing along. Here’s a look at one of last year’s meetings, and a peek at the singalong crowd. What an adventure!

Several weeks ago out of the blue Gavin said, “Hey, I haven’t been making dinner!” We’d given him the chance to be in charge a couple of times in the past but had let the effort lapse. So for the past two Tuesdays he has come home from school and whipped up a meal of his choice (with a bit – OK, a lot – of help). Last week he chose chicken and rice casserole, and this week it was baked rigatoni with Bolognese sauce. Riding last week’s success, he had developed visions of restaurant ambiance, printed menus, and multiple courses leading up to today’s meal. But I could see things were going to go differently when he walked in the house with a new library book on making paper airplanes. And they did. We did end up with dinner (thanks to a few gentle reminders that this was his meal); mood music (bagpipes); and tablecloth, placemats, and napkins. It was delicious and fun. And with Gavin having selected Chad’s top two meals so far, he may just be in the running for head chef at our house.

Hope you’re all having a great week!