So what do you suppose it means when comfort food to us means Sag Paneer, Chicken Tikka Masala, Basmati Rice and Naan ( Read more... )

I'm glad for the care, but will be really happy when he's home. It will be good to get back to normal.

Just as we were getting in the car to leave Bemidji, J called. He said, "I'm having abdominal pains, and have had them for a couple of days. Dad and I are going to the ER." He walked through the ER doors.

Five hours later, J walked into the OR to have his appendix removed. He undressed himself and got on the table under his own power. He made it ( Read more... )

If you would have asked me twenty years ago if I would be going to Japanese immersion camp (Mori No Ike) to teach taiko drumming, I would have looked at you like you were nuts. If you would have asked me ten years ago, I might have thought about it, but decided that the roadblocks would have been too high. Five years ago I might have, but would ( Read more... )

I tried to upload an audio file of me singing "Heaven is Not My Home" from church last Sunday. Apparently I can upload still pictures and video, but not audio. So if you would like a copy, please email me and I will send it to you. I'm pretty happy with the results, even though recordings of myself never sound like what I hear in my head ( Read more... )

Wow, do I feel surrounded by love. J announced my birthday at church, and Van and the band sang "Happy Birthday" with a reggae beat (what else). I got to sing "Heaven is not my Home" at church, came home and worked on financial stuff (got an appointment with the tax man today), S made a cake and J made dinner. I got a new copy of the "Princess ( Read more... )

I taught a session with some of my colleagues yesterday at the Minnesota Music Educators Association conference on Japanese songs and games. It was really cool when my peers enjoyed it and came up and thanked me, the "old guard" came up and told me I did a good job, and I'm a natural teacher (no, I practice, but I make it look easy). I also had ( Read more... )

We got a puppy. His name is Kumo, which means either spider or cloud in Japanese. Merlin, while not yet at Death's door, is grumpy and smells bad, like vomit, almost all the time, even after a bath. We got this puppy through an ad in the paper. For some reason, as I was reading the Star Tribune, I clicked on "cute puppies." Then I scrolled down to ( Read more... )

December 2007

Dear Friends and Family,

I hope this letter finds you well. Not much has happened that is newsworthy in our lives (though I seem to be able to write two pages about it. Must be the graduate school influence). Bill and I are still happily married to each other. Sophia and Julian are still at Crosswinds Arts and Science School, ( Read more... )

I got an A in Mulitcultural Perspectives of 20th Century American Classical Music. Whew! What a lot of work.