Time for a Little Music

On August 4, 1923 an upright Steinway & Sons piano was completed in New York and shipped to Indianapolis, IN.  In the mid 1960s, my grandparents bought the piano from my grandfather's friend from IU, Lucas Wise.  The piano made it's way to Greenville, IL when my grandparents moved there in the 1970s, and resided in my grandparents house on Forest Ave. until the early 1990s, when my grandma got a new piano and gave me the old Steinway.   It moved into the finished part of our basement at our house on Willow Street where I started taking piano lessons.  When my parents move to the house on the lake in 1997, the piano moved once more into the basement.  Last month, the piano came to our house in Des Peres.  When we bought this house, I knew from the start exactly where that piano would sit.  It will probably be in that spot now until we move out of this house, which I hope isn't for many years.  The mahogany finish is crackled and worn from sitting close to a fireplace for years, but I love that about it.  That gives it character.  Ironically, that also makes it coordinate perfectly with our office furniture that is in the same room where it now resides. 

Everyone asks me now whether Audrey is going to take lessons.  That is her choice.  It would be great if she decided to do that.  Honestly though, Barrett has shown more interest in the piano than Audrey.  He is always trying to climb up on the bench so he can press the keys.  Surprisingly, he doesn't just pound on them either.  In a few years, he too will be able to make the choice to take piano lessons if he so desires.  In the meantime, we have a beautiful addition to our home as we carry on the history of a 90 year old piano. 

West County Observation #3

When you live in the city or even in the Clayton/University City area, parking space comes at a premium.  It can seem nearly impossible to find a parking spot that you don't have to pay for or walk a few blocks from your car to your final destination.  Then, if you do find a spot, the chance that there is enough space for you to get out between your car and the car next to it is almost laughable.  Moving to West County, not only is the parking easy to come by, but the spots are all SUV sized.  For someone that isn't the world's best parker, like me, that is a truly magnificent improvement. 

This past week, I have not been feeling well.  After the bizarre stomach bug that hit Billy, Barrett and I last Saturday, I quickly caught a cold, which turned into a sinus infection.  Now, I don't know about you, but when my head is full of gunk and feeling like it's about to explode, the last thing I want to do is go to the pharmacy to pick up medicine.  Living in the city, that required finding the coveted parking spot near the door of the store, unloading the kids, and navigating through the pharmacy while trying not to touch anything so as not to spread the infection in my head.  This whole ordeal could take 15 or 20 minutes.  However, in West County where the parking spots are ample, everything also has a drive through, including pharmacies.  When you feel awful and just want to go home after a long day at work, the drive through pharmacy is one of the most beautiful places on earth.  As I pulled up to the Walgreen's drive-through Thursday night, I could almost hear the angelic choirs singing all around me.  In less than 5 minutes, I had my antibiotics and was on my way, and I never had to leave the comfort of my car. 

Trick or Treat

What sparkles, waddles, and says "trick or treat?"  Why a Fashion Princess Bride and penguin of course. 

Thursday was rainy and gloomy, but that didn't dampen spirits in the Nance household.  Since it was our first Halloween in our new home, we didn't know what to expect in terms of trick or treaters.  Unfortunately, the rain made that even harder to gauge.  We have lots of leftover candy! 

The kids were absolutely adorable in their costumes.  They both got to wear them at school for a party.  Barrett's penguin ensemble was perfect, because he waddles a little when he walks anyway.  The costume just extenuated the waddle.  When we first put it on him, Audrey couldn't stop giggling.  I had to take it off of him to get her to stop.  He was just so darn cute! 

Audrey's costume is a yard sale flower girl dress.  The original intent was to have her be a bride, but as you might expect, Audrey had to put her own twist on it.  She decided that, because it has sparkles, it was a princes.  Not just any kind of princess though, a fashion princess.  The crown of flowers and veil made it so bride-like, that she did eventually settle on being a fashion princess bride. 

The biggest challenge of the night was getting both kids to hold still and look at the camera at the same time.  I didn't completely succeed, but I did at least get one decent shot with both of them in their costumes.