Leaves, leaves everywhere and not a rake in sight

Anyone who has seen our yard would agree raking is a futile activity. And now I can't even locate the rake.




Too many leaves. Too much "yard," if you can even call it that. I prefer to think of it as indefinite forest.


It makes a nice backdrop, too.

Tunes

I recently took up the piano because a) I can no longer play the violin and terribly miss making music and b) Reagan's great-grandmother surprised us with a piano this fall.

The best (or worst) part of all is that I'm teaching myself to play. Tracy's mom recently took pity on my plight and hooked me up with a stack of piano books. The kind with big notes and large print designed for the kindergarten crowd. Tracy and his siblings worked their way through them eons ago. Right now I'm playing pieces my husband and in-laws played back in '89. That means I'm only 20 years behind.

OK. Time to fess up. The real reason I'm playing "Crunchy Flakes" and "Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore" multiple times until I get them right? So my little boy gets to grow up with music in the house.

It sounds a little cheesy, but music is such a gift.