*Warning* Musical Geekiness Ahead

So I'm addicted to something new lately. And it's slightly embarrassing to share. I discovered it one Sunday night driving home, listening to WQXR. They were airing an installment of "Performance Today", hosted by the charming and interesting Fred Child. And all of a sudden I heard the "Hello Fred" chord played by Bruce Adolph who takes a familiar tune and embeds it into a piece of classical music or a conglomeration of classical tunes. Yes...it is...the Piano Puzzler! I was hooked instantly. Now I download 20 at a time to listen to while walking in the park. I feel victorious when I can name both the tune and the composer. I laugh at all the geeky musical jokes Bruce and Fred make. I fantasize about being a contestant myself and nailing the Puzzler in record time. I know. I know....shameful. But it's sheer genius. I mean, Bruce not only takes a tune (be it a Beatles song, or a Broadway show tune, an old standard or a folk song) but deftly weaves it into a classical tune. I mean, taking Tristan and Isolde and inserting "Maria" from West Side Story? Brilliance. Love it, love it, love it. Plus, Fred is like the coolest host ever. He gives assistance when necessary without making the guessee feel stupid.

I Need a Weekend After My Weekend

I had quite the busy weekend. Friday night luckily was quiet, but Saturday I woke up early and Luke was still sleeping, so I decided to do the walk without him and try....running. I know, I know, in the past I've thought people who ran for no reason as strange. But there's been something inside me telling me or rather urging me to run. I lasted maybe 4 or 5 blocks all together, but now it's become something I want to beat. It's like because I don't have any concrete grad school plans, I need something else to accomplish or achieve. So....I'm unofficially going to try to train for a 5K. I think. There's a website that has a very reasonable training program. And I've been scouting craigslist for a cheap cheap cheap jogging stroller. So we'll see.

After the nuttiness that was my attempt at running, Luke had OT and then we set off for the Pepsico Sculpture Gardens. I visited them a LOT when I was in college and I have some nice, artsy shots from those days. But I figured Luke would enjoy it. He did...mostly. He had some issues with listening about running off and wrenching his little arm out of our grip, but for the most part he liked the ponds and the vegetation. We had lunch/early dinner at a very kid-friendly restaurant called Q.

Sunday, Luke and I hit the park and did our usual walk. It was so nice out. I felt like I could've walked double what I did, but as usual, the errands were calling me and I knew Luke would stage a revolt if he passed the swings one more time. Then it was off food shopping, run home, receive 5 bags of hand-me-downs from a dear friend who has given Luke some very nice things, take a quick shower and hit the Italian Fest at Hofstra. Happily for them it was very well attended. Unhappily for Luke/Mom/Me it meant navigating the stroller all over, a cranky Lucas and a hot and tired me.

Unfortunately, the weekend ended with probably one of the worst nights for us to date. Luke has been having trouble going to sleep. My theory is that with it getting darker earlier, it's taken away his time to look at his books and gently settle into sleep. He's getting put into the crib when it's pitch black outside. Needless to say, there's been lots of screaming, hysterical crying and frustration. And that's just me. I can only imagine what Luke's feeling. But last night, I had to cave and take him into the bed at 3am - and even then, it took almost 3 hours for him to fall asleep.

Luckily, Starbucks is a panacea for mornings that follow nights like this one. He's lucky he's so delicious, otherwise I'd start looking up gypsies in the phone book.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

I know. I've been an absentee blogger. I can blame it on many many things:

-Trying to sort out all of Luke's transition from Early Intervention to CPSE stuff. (Found a school, got his evaluations done, now just playing the waiting game.)
-Playing in a production of Summer of '42, a few weddings with my quartet and an outdoor concert with the West Islip Symphony.
-Working my butt off. (Yup, still love my job)

But it wasn't all work as I:

-Saw Sting in concert with my mom at Jones Beach. (Easily the best concert I've EVER been too - that's huge praise from a musician.)
-Went to the beach a few times (in a bathing suit no less) with Lukey Bear who LOVES the water.
-Went to the LI Children's Museum, which was sort of fun as there were a million campers there that day.
-Went to weddings for 2 people in my quartet (that's 50%!) and cha-cha-ed at one of them!
-Traveled up to Lake George for one of said weddings
-Ate at Cracker Barrel for the first time
-Turned 35. (*sigh*)

Lots of good stuff.

And Luke's making progress. His vocabulary is now up to about 25-30 words. And he smiles constantly. I could eat. him. up.

Greed.....Not So Good?

Wow. I was surprised to read this. Michael Douglas has Stage IV throat cancer. But was so so pleasantly refreshed to read that:

a.) He openly admits his cancer was caused by drinking and smoking.
b.) He talks about how his chemo and radiation have knocked him on his a$$.

I also felt some camraderie for the poor guy in that he went undiagnosed at first. Sounds verrrry familiar to my story where I was first put on 3 different antibiotics, then told I had pneumonia, then told I had a benign tumor and then was finally diagnosed correctly with NHL.

Not to mention the fact that he had to tell his 2 small children about how sick he was. I pray every day that Lucas will never have a sick parent.

Sending the good vibes, thoughts and prayers westward to Hollywood.