On Your Mark ...

Get Set ... Demolish!

The construction starts tomorrow. This means that tonight will be a flurry of activity as we do the final preparations which include dismantling the dining room table (a friend is taking it) and moving the Female Child's bed in to her brother's room.

Somehow we are also squeezing in violin lessons today and Mike will decided if he wants to buy one or both of the violins that he has been trying out. He took them to be evaluated by some professionals yesterday and is slightly on the fence. It seems that the one he and Female child really love is a bit long of neck. If Female child continues to grow ala' her mother, then she will have large hands and long, slender, fingers. This will work with the violin. We are possibly taking a chance but they both love the sound of it so I suspect that we will own it by the end of the evening.

I was not brought up with music of this sort in my life. We were more of a Broadway Musical kind of family along with music with rousing and /or funny lyrics. Until I met Himself I did not really know from Classical music and I certainly did not know anyone who played the violin. During those first few summers of our courtship, I was introduced to Concerts in the Park -- the NY Philharmonic playing on the Great Lawn of Central Park. I was also introduced to Theater in the Park and got my first real taste of Shakespeare.

We try to combine our upbringings with me blasting the kids with show tunes in the car (Male child could sing the entire score to West Side Story at age 4) and Classical music in the apartment. Mike spent much of the last year ripping his dad's classical record collection to digital form. He is not even a third of the way done -- there were over 5000 albums. (They are mostly stored at his sister's house.) They were played aloud, for the most part, during this process, providing a nice calm backdrop to sometimes misty-eyed year.

Last year we were all introduced to Live Opera and instantly fell in love. Honestly, I never thought I would like opera. We have a friend who is the equivelent of an Operatic Crack Dealer. First she gifted us with free rehersal tickets. Then free tickets to a few Operas, then it came: "I can get you tickets to Die Fledermaus but you have to pay a little." Now we are hungering for season tickets -- orchestra of course -- and are trying to figure out if we can afford this. They would have to be weekend matinee's due to Male Child's tendancey to get migranes when kept out too late. Hmm ...