Thunderstorm

Tonight we experienced the first thunderstorm of the year causing Maya to run through the house scared while screaming like a lunatic. She asked if she could sleep with us tonight and I said yes, contingent upon her folding the laundry on our bed. Feeling pretty clever after having negotiated such a deal I figured Zaheeda would be pretty impressed. When I told her of the arrangement all she did was roll her eyes and say, "have you seen the way she folds clothes?" I went back to the bedroom and it was apparent that the folded clothes were indistinguishable from the unfolded laundry. So I said, "just put the clothes on the dresser and get to sleep." Call me cynical but I find it amazing how she seems to have "selective development" - she can play soccer, the violin and swim but for some strange reason can't seem to master the craft of folding a t-shirt. Hmmmm....

Housework

Today and yesterday we spent working around the house and we're all kind of worn out - too worn out to write.

Wizard of Oz

Per her violin teacher's request, Maya checked out a copy of The Wizard of Oz from the library this afternoon. Her assignment is to see if she can find where they perform "Happy Farmer" in the film. I told Maya that when I was little that movie scared me so much and that when I went to bed I was afraid flying monkeys were going to come in through the window. To allay my fears her grandma put my baseball bat by the bed and said if the monkeys try coming in the window I can hit them with the bat. Maya said she probably should have given me a gun or knife or something, which upon reflection makes a lot of sense, after all, fighting off a flock of flying monkeys with a bat would be a tall order for anyone much less a little kid.

Early Release

Maya had early release from school this afternoon and I even remembered to pick her up, though she admitted being a little surprised I didn't forget. After school we stopped at the store and she got some Nerds. No school, Nerds - everything is coming up Maya today.

iPod Baby

I think I see a baby shower present for Lisa here :-)

Maya's Cousin

Altoff, living the good life in Guyana

Happy Farmer

In violin Maya has been working on the piece Happy Farmer for the last couple weeks and for some reason is having a difficult time with it. This week we really plan on working hard so she can finish the last couple pieces and be done with Suzuki book 1.

On June 9th she'll be having recital and will be performing Minuet 2 with Lydia doing the accompaniment.

A new week

After a long and genuinely uneventful weekend Maya is back to school today. Last night she did some violin practice without my even having to ask, which seemed pretty remarkable, but then I realized she just wanted to watch one of her movies and figured if she practiced then I'd let her... Well, it was late and after practicing I made her go to bed. She had a tantrum and then went right to bed - all and all a pretty typical evening.

Book Season

Book buying season is underway and Maya was up early and on the road with me driving to Wayzata for a sale. We had a pretty good time and got some good books - Maya even got a few for herself. We got back, picked up Zaheeda and left again to do some shopping and get Maya some shoes for Misty's wedding.

Week is finally over

Tomorrow we plan on doing some work in the yard and then doing some more work in the house.

There are no small parts

Today Maya found out she gets to read a couple lines for the Spring concert at school. Ironically her lines are explaining about what Sunni Muslims are. I think she should add something about how it is customary for Sunni women to make their husbands drive all the way across town to buy poor cuts of meat at inflated prices - eh, we don't want to do anything to give the Muslims a bad name.

I'm guessing the theme of the concert, like the "Holiday concert," is about how all cultures are different yet similar - for the Holiday Concert it was about how each culture had it's own version of Santa Claus. Could the Spring concert be about how we all have different versions of God that are all the same yet different? God is after all very similar to Santa other than the fact that Santa doesn't condemn people to hell - which goes a long way in explaining his popularity. I'm guessing it is all going to boil down to tolerance, just because people think and believe differently than ourselves they are still worthy of our respect - and that even extends to those weirdo Mormons

The Future

as viewed by Maya's Grandma.... :-)

On TV

Maya's school was on the news tonight, some guy from some hockey team was there with the Stanley Cup. Being that she doesn't follow hockey this meant very little to her.

Gizzy and his Nemesis

Sunday Bike Ride

Yesterday afternoon we went for a bike ride and Maya...

saw a big glob of slime in a lake

tried climbing up a big sandstone bluff

unsuccessfully

visited the waterfall at Minnehaha Park
... and that was the bike ride.

Classic Violin

Classic violin picture circa 1978. Maya's dad is about second row, fourth from the left (next to the tall blond kid with the blue shirt.) I think Sonja is first row, second on the left in the orange shirt.

Driving to WI

We're getting ready to drive to Wisconsin and we can't find the ipod. If we can't find the ipod that means that Maya is going to nag and whine the whole way there... We need to find that ipod.

Dentist

Maya had a dentist appointment today, Zaheeda had a doctors checkup and I got my hair cut. Weather was nicer and hopefully Spring is now here to stay. This weekend we'll be in Wisconsin for Misty's wedding shower - well, 2/3 of us will be at a shower I plan on sitting at Maya's Grandma and Grandpa's all weekend reading a book with Gizzy.

Coral Snake

Pigeon

Bird on a Branch

Another Tuesday

It hard to update this page everyday, especially when there is nothing to really talk about other than the awful weather - so I'll talk about the terrible weather.

Oh the weather sucks.

Well, that's all the time we have for today, hope to see you back here tomorrow.

Back at work on the violin

It's not easy being a violinist

Funny article - what happens when world renowned virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell performs as a street musician in Washington? Answer: People ignore him.

Easter

For lunch today we had grilled lamb and with baked potato and then DQ Easter ice cream cake for dessert, it was really delicious. After eating we were pretty much full and did nothing but sit around on the couch the rest of the day.

Vacation is winding down

Maya has been home for a month this week and we are all ready for her to go back to school.

Space Lobster

Housing Market Ride

Snow in April

It is cold and we have snow on the ground, albeit not that much, but we want our warm weather back. Maya is inside today working on her electronics kit that she got for Christmas.

Vacation day 2

She did a little violin today... She needs to do a lot of brushing up though before her big retirement home gig.

Monday

One day of vacation and Maya seems about all out of ideas on how to occupy herself. Tomorrow is violin day... No computer, no tv - violin and only violin.

April Fools Day

Maya did nothing foolish today, just some grocery shopping, math, painting, talking to grandma and watching tv - overall kind a coldish boring day.