The Shape of a Day

Yesterday, my kids spent the day with me. They got to my place at 7am, and we sat and chatted for a little while. Then Robbie noticed the four boxes of new furniture from Ikea that hadn't been put together, and he asked if he could work on them. (Oh yeah, teenaged son. Like I'm going to say you can't help me with something!) So he and I put together one of the two end tables, and then he got to work on the new (and much more complicated) dresser for his room. Becca did a couple things to help at the beginning, and I supported him on a couple of other small things, but Robbie can take credit for putting together that dresser himself. And he did a great job of it. Meanwhile, Becca and I got the other end table put together.

Robbie finished just before 11, so we went for a stroll around the lake before returning to lunch on hot dogs and cheese curls (Wise Cheez Doodles being the only acceptable variety in my home). Then we relaxed for a little bit before Robbie and I decided we really wanted to put together the coffee table. It looks awesome. We all changed into our swimsuits and went for a dip in the pool, which is right next to the lake. Of course, my shoulder tires quickly, but it lasted longer yesterday than it has before, so I left the kids to their play after about ten minutes. They returned shortly after, took showers and changed, and then we settled in to watch a cheesy adventure movie until their dad came to pick them up.

Then I settled in to copy some music that I'd written in eleventh grade. It's a flute sonatina that had one page get chewed by puppies, and I wanted to get that part reconstructed. I was chuffed to find that not as much had been lost as I'd thought, and that it was easy to reconstruct most of it. Now I'm only missing a couple of bars in the piano part and another chord or two in the left hand. Then I got it all scanned, because I have a good friend who has a really good notation application and is going to get the whole thing entered for me. And then we can hear those reconstructed bars on the computer and make sure they're right. So maybe someday, this piece will be played again. It was performed once in its entirety, in a student recital at the arts school I attended, and then the slow movement was performed at my church one summer Sunday. I'm pretty excited. I recently found sketches for some other music that sounded pretty cool, and I'd like to get them written. But I'm lusting over the notation packages out there, though I can't justify the cost to myself.

I was in bed around 9 or 9:30 last night, read a few more chapters of Harry Potter, and then went to sleep.

It was a good day. Not the kind that makes for exciting stories, but a good one. There was laughter, fun, togetherness, affection. Time to get stuff done, and time to relax and enjoy each other. On a summer day, I can't think of much better than that. Thanks be to God.