For the record

Now, here are a few things that I know now, and I want to remember:

1. I found out recently that my great-grandma Nora Amelia Taje was a midwife. She was born in Norway and attended births in South Dakota. Since I want to be a midwife, it was exciting to find out about this link--I would've liked to have known her and look forward to talking to her someday. In the meantime, I'm glad to know that midwifery's in my genes (spiritual ones too!).

2. My grandma Zelda Lorraine Taye had measles as a young teenager and never knew whether she'd be able to have children. Starting at 27-28 she was able to have four (my dad among them), never knowing if each would be the last. I admire her earnest desire for motherhood, which she expresses to this day, at age 93.

3. My mom adores having custard popovers with her rhubarb sauce! I talked to her tonight and she was so delighted about a night spent with the pair. :) Rhubarb is also in my genes. Ahhhh, yum.

My mom can also spell ANY word--just try her. Why don't you leave a comment with your favorite misspelling of a word in it? It will be like a little pop quiz fun for her. :)

4. I have a mothering trick. Maybe you know it too. But if not! I discovered with Simon that when I'm rocking him in my arms to sleep, he can't keep resisting if I let a little light track back and forth over his eyes. Like the light trickling through the window blinds or from the nightlight. Dark, light light, dark, light, dark . . . . can't. fight. sleep. I call it eye-tiring, which I learned about in childbirth class, but I've found more effective for babies. It works great on Tess too, but I honestly can't remember with Allianna (shame. I also can't remember her first word, but we all claim it to be "daddy"--perhaps I should check the blog archives).

5. I'm enjoying this post so much I have Bluebell ice cream melting all over my counter. woops. One flavor is Groom's Cake, a concept I only heard of this week--timing!

6. I'm back in the Sinfonietta as of tonight. I adore my husband. The sound of wooden instruments being brought into position, exposed viola melodies, cello/viola comraderie: these are a few of my favorite things. And having to figure out how fast to play a dotted eighth rhythm in a 4/4 measure conducted in 8 (that sentence is for you to decipher, Nancy. Shostakovich 5th.)

Sinfonietta

Way back in December I broke a string on my viola, the day before I was supposed to play in a welcome slew of Christmas music events at church. So I had to track down an instrument shop. There are generally two types of these: 1) megamusic shops that carry tons of beginner piano music and drums and band instruments and some token string stuff, or 2) charming string shops that make you feel like you've stepped into a little bit of Italy (see Nancy's recent Cremona post). I was delighted to find one of the latter and as an added bonus it's a working luthier shop.

While there, the girl working there asked what orchestra I played with, and I somewhat sheepishly answered that I play mostly just at church (imagine Alli and Simon milling around my prego belly to complete the image). She recruited me to be a part of the chamber orchestra she plays in--it's so great to be a viola player because you're always in demand for great opportunities like these.

So in January I began rehearsing with the H* Sinfonietta, which has these great features:

• the best name of any group I've ever played with--and I'd never even heard the term before. It's not a symphony (those are too large), it's not an orchestra (generally strings only), it's got a little Euro spelling and flair (and an older little Greek conductor--all adjectives meant to be complimentary).
• the string sections are small--3-6 players in each. If you're a string player in my area, you should join up!!!
• a full and talented woodwind and brass section
• a concert on March 9--just early enough that I can be sure that I won't burst before then.