Have we been staying at home for months? Years? The weeks blend together. I always know what day it is but not necessarily what month. My students are sometimes shocked that it’s May, and so am I. The cooler weather certainly doesn’t help!

The other evening I finished teaching and it was still light out. I thought to myself, weird that’s so light after 8 when it’s fall. Then I remembered it was late spring.

Usually this time of year is fun and festive. College classes are done and grades are in. The weather is getting warmer and friends are having backyard gatherings. Restaurants have their patios open. We are often looking forward to seeing family from out of town and looking forward to traveling after having worked for months straight.

I have been somewhat enjoying my weekends, but I will be happy to trade it all back. Weekends just make life blend together. I would rather work a month straight and then have a week off to do something really fun, instead of just puttering around the house for two days. Then again, this is hardly a true representation of what people do on their weekends, I suppose.

I’ve been doing my weekly live concerts on Mondays. I might take off for Memorial Day, but it is pushing me to keep practicing, which is good for me. It is too easy to get complacent and lazy! (I know people say this is the time to be lazy, but I’m getting enough of that as well. Life is to be lived.) I’ve had fun learning some new pieces and pushing myself to do something that is pretty scary! Check it out if you have a few minutes.

This week I dedicated my concert to my friend April and her dog Olive. Olive passed away a few days ago, and was the sweetest dog. I’m so glad we got to visit them shortly before the pandemic (really it was right as it began) and I’m so sorry for April to have lost Olive.

Olive had a great life, and was well loved, and she was a real sweetie. We used to dog sit for her when April lived here and when we had Mackenzie. Olive was so small in comparison to Mackenzie but held her own. In fact she was a little aggressive, particularly in regards to this one toy that was a stuffed pumpkin with a squeaker in it. Mackenzie was a reasonable dog though, and realized that Olive was a bit insane and smartly left her alone and let her have the toy!

My niece was visiting us a few years ago and was walking around with a small bit of granola bar in her hand. This made her very popular. You can see Mackenzie was also keeping an eye on Olive in addition to hoping Athena would drop her snack.

RIP Olive.

Pets really are the best.

It’s hard to believe Miles has been back with us for almost two months! It’s even harder to believe he was missing for almost a year and came back. In fact, pretty much everything over the past few months has been unbelievable, so then again…