In March I begin to smell spring. Even before it's really here. Better looking produce...the end of the school year...spring piano recitals...vacation plans...new growth on the crape myrtles. Asparagus. I can taste it now.

This week we became the recipients of a (free!) Hammond organ, built around the time I was born. We've given it a prominent place in our "living room" (more accurately, the music room!) and the girls are looking forward to learning to play. When I look at it (and even smell it), all I can think of is sitting up on the bench beside my grandmother as she played, and thinking that she must have been the most talented woman in the world. In truth her musical skill was very limited, but she shared what she had and carved out a unique place in my soul...

It's so nice to have the Slaughters back in town. Yes, for all the reasons you'd think and one you might not: I have a list a foot long of projects I need Dave to tackle, in and out of the house, this spring. In some ways I hope he stays busy enough not to have time for me. On the other hand...

I'm still working my way through Crime and Punishment and again, like with The Brothers Karamazov, wondering what took me so long to tackle this great literature...

Have you taken me up on my challenge to read Atlas Shrugged? Joanna has. Come on--you can do this! Even though I just read it fairly recently, I've decided to read it again this year since it has become so much more relevant to what our country is experiencing than it was when I last picked it up.

I've always liked the idea of having a wheat grinder since we make so much of our own bread, but I've bristled at the prices, wondering how many decades it would take to recover the cost from the savings on bulk wheat. Now we're tossing around the idea of having our families here pool resources and have one to share...and since we ALL bake bread, we KNOW we'd recover the cost much sooner. Now just to decide which one. Opinions on this topic are as passionate as they are about homeschool curriculum!

I'm leaving tomorrow morning to be with my mother while she has knee replacement surgery. Having been the recipient of more than one joint replacement, I know she's in for some difficult days and challenging rehab, so I'd appreciate your prayers for her...

I hope you've had a wonderful Sunday. I'm off to pack!

Labels: Books, Family, Food, Music, Sundays