I love fall!

Fall is here, my FAVORITE season of the year. I love the cool, crisp temps, the dew on the grass in the mornings, the colors of the changing leaves, the coming of fall break and some home-time with my girls, and so on.

Yes, the leaves are starting to fall and some trees are very pretty. Only a very small handful, it will be a few weeks yet until the peak is here. The leaves though are no longer bright green, we had enough rain this year to keep things green, They have developed a brown tinge and the crunchiness of the drying leaves is getting louder. The breeze wafting through the trees makes for a gentle symphony of rustling that I just love! Driving to wherever I am headed allows me to see the leaves falling gently, our yard has started to see some leaves on the ground. The sun just does not seem as bright as it did just a few weeks ago, by 7:15 pm t is dark outside.

I love fall! I love everything about it, except for when the temperatures are above 85 in this season.

Fall does mean that soon the girls will be mostly inside the house, either too dark or too cold to play outside once December hits. However, they play really well together and homework certainly keeps us busy.

It is a blessing to be able to enjoy all of these things this year. For so many years band ruled my life, my entire fall. This is my first year since 1984 without band. Granted other things have taken space in my life that I am dedicated to, but for the most part I am at last able to sit back some and enjoy this particular fall.

I am enjoying dressing the girls in thicker clothes and pants, I like pulling out my fall clothes and certainly love not sweating in them. Soon enough the chill will be just crisp enough to wear sweaters and turtlenecks.

Have I mentioned? I LOVE fall!

Considering how tired I was last night, I have had a good day. I played two services this morning and then came home and folded several loads of laundry after lunch. The girls helped me. It is so nice that they can help more with the everyday things around the house. Not that Dave encourages them to do much of it aside from cleaning their rooms, but it is nice I am able to do it with them.

I was back up at church by 4 pm for a 2 hour rehearsal them we played at the evening service We did a promo of one of our classical pieces for our upcoming concert Friday night. It went really well!

Soon after 7 pm I was back home and the girls had just finished getting their lunches made for school. Libbi was in a learning/practicing mood so she sat down with me and we worked through numbers and letters. She is getting so much better! I really had begun to worry that my "baby" was not quite ready for kindergarten and that I may have to pull her out. But she is doing so much better. Dave is meeting with her teacher Thursday evening for a conference. I will be at my own school for conferences, so I cannot make it.

This week is full of dress rehearsals for our big orchestra concert Friday night. It's a thrilling feeling to be playing with such talented musicians. This group has become my "therapy" group. Playing releases any tension I have and being with these wonderful people is something not quite describable. I feel at home there. I will always and forever be Catholic, but I am drawn to this church, the teachings and the simplicity of believing in something good. It has grounded me and keeps me on even keel. I would have never imagined this from a Baptist church! I am not asking why things have worked out this way, I just know it feels right and that I thoroughly adore playing my flute there!

My piccolo is on its last legs. It is not playing well at all and I am afraid I will have to get a new one. My repairman keeps working on it, but there's only so much that can be done before you reach a point where you have paid more for repairs than you paid for the instrument in the first place. I wish I had a $300-$500 to get me a new one. Where as the flute I want is many, many times costlier than this and MUST be professional modeled, the piccolo does not need to be. Piccolos just do not last as long as flutes. Since everything about them is so tiny, things wear out faster or are just a lot more tedious and time-consuming to fix. Things break faster. I again finding myself wishing I had the funds to get a new piccolo. I can wait on the flute, but I do not think I can for the piccolo. All of my extra funds goes to my children, their dance classes, clothes to fit their ever-growing bodies...but you know, this is all ok. There will come a time I can get that new piccolo and that flute, while my girls also have the things they need too. Perhaps my "piccolo doctor" will be able to repair it enough to last until such time I can get a new one.

Anyways, I have my pre-evaluation meeting Tuesday and only have 5 days of teaching until a NICE 4 day weekend. The girls and I will take a much needed rest and enjoy being together.

Dave and I are starting to figure out the holidays. We will be here for Thanksgiving, but are considering going "home" for Christmas. He brought the idea to me this evening and we are going to think about it. It can get so expensive to "go home" due to gas, and so many other things. But, to see our families and knowing the girls are a lot easier to travel with now makes it so much more tempting than in the past. We'll see what we come up with.

Well, I have rambled enough for one night. I've vowed to be in bed and asleep before 11 pm, it is 9:43 right now.

:)