Date night

Aleks and I went on a date Friday.

It was long overdue.

I had just laid into him on Thursday saying "what are you doing on your phone? looking at more bike shops? you should be looking at it for places to take me on a surprise date."

Well, he was. Looking at places to take me, that is.

Friday morning Aleks told me to take a change of clothes to work and to be outside the house at 6. He had hired a sitter and planned it all out, early in the week.

Insert foot into mouth.

We went to a mediocre chain restaurant, which was packed on a Friday night, something we'd forgotten since we never go out anymore.We had cheap drinks and lousy food and felt totally giddy that we were out together doing things. It felt like playing hooky.

Especially since we didn't have to put our kids to bed.

God bless babysitters.

And then, because Aleks wanted to give me a date that wasn't just eating out at a "nice" restaurant 

(the quotes are necessary because trying to find a nice place to eat in Wichita that has good food without being ridiculously over priced is impossible) we went and played laser tag.

This was Aleks' first time.

Which I blame on the fact that he didn't go to church youth group as a kid.

At any rate, I wasn't terribly excited about this event, in part because the last time I had played, I had done terribly, but also because plan A had been to go to an indoor trampoline park thing and if you know me, you might know that I love jumping on trampolines. In fact, if I went to the Olympics, it would be for trampoline.

Unfortunately, this place hasn't opened yet, so laser tag it was.

There were 17 players.

"The Painkiller" I drank with dinner (see first photo) was making me sleepy.

But, as soon as the lights dimmed and the fog machine and music started up, this 32 year old mom of 2 became a different person.

I'll spare you the play by play.

The most important thing to know is that I came in 2nd.

Aleks came in 11th.

And while it was fun to beat my husband, it was even more satisfying to have beaten the other 8 boys who were between 10 and 12 and had worn face masks because they were so serious.

It was a good night.

And it got me through this hellish weekend. 

It reminded me I really like my husband. 

Hopefully we can do this more often.

See you sometime in January

A couple of months ago I deactivated my website because I was being consumed by my children and teaching was my focus.

And then it (metaphorically) started drizzling, and now it's pretty steadily raining performance opportunities. If I get a minute to breathe, I might try to get my website back up and running.

(Here's one of my new headshots. My friend Abby took them. She's pretty awesome.)

Anyway, if any of you are interested in knowing what I'm up to this season, here's what's going on:

Dec. 4
I was contracted for a gig with The Priests at the Orpheum. I'll be singing a few solos and backup with the Fathers. Maybe you've seen their concert on PBS...

Dec. 7
Opera Kansas is presenting Amahl and the Night Visitors and I'm singing the role of the mother. There are two shows that day at 3 and 7:30. A great event for the whole family.

Dec. 10
I'm singing with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra on their holiday concert, including Rejoice from Handel's Messiah, White Christmas, and Santa Baby.

Dec. 14
WSU's summer program, Canta in Italia is holding their second annual Canta Carol 5k fundraiser. Proceeds of this event go towards scholarships for students attending this program. Why am I including this? I'm acting as race director this year.

If any of you are in Wichita, I'd love to see you at these events. Please let me know if you want to come and need more information!

Also, the next few weeks are a bit busy for me.

I apologize in advance for my absentmindedness and if I forget to ask how you are. I'll return to my normal self around Christmas.

Reading

I can say with complete confidence that Maia is reading!

The best part of it all is that she seems to really enjoy it.

For us, Bob's books were the impetus for helping Maia figure out how to use all the reading tools she had acquired.

Here's a little video I took earlier this week.

We bought a second set of the books and she's shown improvement in just the few days since this video was taken.

In other news (those of you who are friends with me on Facebook may have seen my post yesterday) Maia decided not to wear underwear to school yesterday because she wanted to be silly.

I didn't discover this until 2:30.

At least she wore pants.

Happy Friday!

Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran's Day.

As each year passes I come to know more and more veterans who are younger than I.

I know their wives and have seen their little babies, conceived and born now that Dad is home from service.

It draws me closer to understanding my family and especially my grandparents and the impact WWII had on their lives.

Both my grandfathers served in WWII, doing their duty, giving up their freedom to protect ours.

My maternal grandfather has a pretty incredible war story.

He played in the army band, then was captured and became a POW.

My grandmother has refused to marry him before the war, and understandably so, was devastated to receive the telegram that the army had no idea where my grandfather was.

When grandpa came back home, his dad said to him "Gordon, you'd better go see Ruby, I hear she's got coffee on for you."

They were engaged and married shortly after.

Many years later they traveled to Europe where my grandfather met the man who had once been his captor in Germany.

Last year, my aunt, who is a teacher, asked her dad to come share his story with her class.

A student videotaped it and shared it on youtube. It's about an hour long, but if you've got time, it's a fascinating story.

Part One:

Part Two

I'm not terribly patriotic. There are lots of things that are wrong about this country.

But I am intensely moved by and fiercely protective of those who have decided that my freedom and rights are so important that they are willing to give up theirs in service.

And as the years pass, the story tellers are getting younger, but the sacrifices are the same.

So thank you to all who have served this country so that I can be educated and worship whoever and however I want and vote and all the other things we take for granted.

Your sacrifices are not in vain.

O beautiful for heroes proved 

In liberating strife. 

Who more than self their country loved

And mercy more than life! 

The forecast calls for sunny days

There has been a dark cloud hanging over the Sternfeld-Dunn house that gathered the weekend Aleks burned down the house.

Just kidding.

He didn't burn down the house.

Just part of the kitchen.

Then Ruby spilled coffee all over my laptop and it died.

Have I mentioned that I'm event coordinating a 5k and producing (and singing in) an opera, both of which are happening in the first two weeks of December?

The final crack of lightening happened when the Sternfeld-Dunn ladies all got sick at the same time.

The littles had been sick for a week or so already, but it all came to a head Monday and Tuesday.

So, now we are on antibiotics and after a rough go last night, fevers have broken and all are on the mend.

Today as I washed the sheets and pillow cases, I started to feel the clouds break up and the sunlight shine down on our exhausted bodies.

But in the midst of a rough month, there have been so many wonderful things.

1. I got to spend quality one on one time with my brother. We haven't done that for years.

2. My husband is a genius and has a time machine in our house.

No, that doesn't mean he got to travel back to his high school days and rejoice in his long hair once again.

But, it does mean that I could restore a "spare" laptop with all my information and that it virtually looks and feels like my old computer.

3. We had to keep Maia home from school for two days and while I might normally groan under my breath, it's been really wonderful and cozy. The girls have been playing so well together, if it weren't for their hacking coughs and fevers (yesterday) I wouldn't have even known they were sick. And we got to miss the frenzy of pickup, which is more stressful to Ruby and I than I've realized.

4. I actually cancelled work on Tuesday, which is something I have never done for illness before. Shoot, I was teaching 2 weeks after my c-section with Ruby. Once I got past my guilt, I've mostly felt relieved that I did so and certainly I've felt healthier.

So, as this storm slowly passes I find that I appreciate the clarity of life in a new way. These things come in waves and goodness knows I've experienced these periods before. 

I'm grateful for a husband who steps up to support me rather than run away from his crazy, stressed out wife. 

And I'm grateful for daughters who gravitate toward each other, being caring and loving even though they don't feel well.

 Mostly I'm grateful that each waking moment feels lighter and that I can see clearly into the days ahead.

So here's to sunny days, antibiotics, freshly painted cabinets, and a family that gets knit together more tightly every step of this journey.