Red Leaves

I'll try to catch up today, unless Momo climbs on my lap and preempts the post again.  So. . . .

New York:

You can see photos of Eva's fabulous b-day dinner at the Noodle Bar with Julie Turley and family. We also shopped like crazy at Loehman's and found a great coat for Eva, with a quick but productive trip to H&M thrown in at the last minute.  We went to Cafe Sarbasky for lunch, DUMBO to see Black Watch  at St. Ann's Warehouse (Hot Scots!!!!!) and watched the lights of Manhattan turn on from the Manhattan Bridge Overpass Park (while eating Jacques Torres chocolates), The Frick (and I was so happy that Eva seemed to like it as much as I do.  I think it's one of my favorite places in the world.  One night we ordered chinese and watched a television series about a group of single Manhattanites and their love lives.  One night we went to see Eva's friend belly dance at a fundraiser put on by a pan-Asian sorority at Columbia.  It was very long so we went out in the middle and got caught in a rain storm and ducked into that famous Hungarian bakery across from St. John the Divine until the rain (sort of) stopped.  My favorite thing was just hanging out with Eva and seeing her life and getting to talk with her late into the night. She is a terrific companion.  On the downside, it really increased how much I miss her.

Ingrid:

We are sort of incommunicado these days.  We send her a once a week letter.  She has no internet and we've been told to phone her no more than once a week.  I'm hoping her family will eventually get her internet working and we'll get a little more information from her.  We did get a letter from her, and it sounds like she's doing quite well.  She's starting to volunteer for a nursing home on Tuesday through the church she's been attending, and she's excited to practiced her German with people she's not afraid of (i.e. the oldies).  She said she goes for long walks and does yoga.  She says nothing about school or her language, so we're in the dark on that topic.  It's hard to believe we're not going to see her for so many more months.  I feel like she's on a mission.

Little Kids:

For Halloween, Lula was a go-go girl, Cecily a spider queen, and Moses a bat.  Things went pretty smoothly this year.  No one had a melt-down about their costume at the last minute, which is my least favorite Halloween occurance.  Lula is doing well in piano and school and is a fantastic friend and helper for me.  Cecily is "adjusting" still at school.  I think she is doing better, but it's still a challenge.  Will I ever have a normal child who goes with the flow at school?  Maybe Moses will come through.  Momo just asked me "Why do skeletons not have ears?" and "Where is the button to turn off the rain?"  Last night for movie night, Lula and Cecy, Christian and I watched Kit Kittredge and ate popcorn and Halloween candy.  Curse that candy that's so disgusting and yet so irresistable.

Christian:

Viola CD release last week at Muse Music.  He played a beautiful show including prepared viola acoustic stuff, viola and harmonium, viola and wahwah and then the beautiful finale Joseph Smith death scene from The Open Curtain.  We had a little get together at our house afterwards which was fun.  He goes to Seattle with the CD on November 15th, so check it out, Seattle.  He's currently arranging a couple of primary songs for strings for our primary program on November 16th.

Lara:

I totally revised my poetry manuscript (Alburnum of the Green and Living Tree).  Not really totally.  I guess it was more of a clean-up, so now it's in really good shape.  Even though I hate it now.  I'm not touching it again unless it's being published.  I sent it off to some book contests, and hope to see it accepted somewhere by next fall.  It's such a long and competitive process.  I don't know if it's worth it.  I also wrote a grant proposal that asked for six essays.  It is a large award, but perhaps I shouldn't have spent so much time on something that is such a long shot.    It's hard to know what to spend time on, for me.  

We're on our way to Bam's for Sunday dinner, picking Eliza up on the way.  It's raining out and the mountains are red and gold.  This is my favorite time of year.  

Love you all and miss you.

xo

L