A Busy Week

Good afternoon on this lovely day!

Chris, Owen and I had a very full week, and we are so happy that it is a 3 day weekend. I made my first solo trip with Owen to Boston on Monday, where we got to stop in and visit with a few of my former students and families. Owen was great and slept the whole way up, making my drive a lot easier! On Tuesday, we met our friend, Suzanne, who kept Owen entertained while I tuned 6 pianos at Wellesley College. Owen and I were both really tired by the time the day was over, and neither of us had had much sleep the night before. By the second day of tunings, we started the day well-rested, and a little more prepared for the schedule. I got another 6 pianos done, and at the end of the workday, we all loaded into the car and drove home to NYC. (Suzanne lives in Brooklyn, but was already visiting Boston.) We arrived in Jersey City around 9:30pm, and after bathing and nursing, a near-comatose Owen poured into his co-sleeper at 10:30pm! He had mega bags under his eyes, and we kept Thursday a very quiet, stay-at-home day. He caught up on his rest somewhat.

Today, we took an excursion to the town of Nutley. It is a place we have passed through for shopping, and had thought was residential and conveniently located. We drove around for a little while to get a view of the place, and commented at how similar it was to Belmont, MA...where we enjoyed living for several years while in Boston. There is a town center where the post office is, banks, the middle and high schools, shops and restaurants, and a large municipal park. It is so green, and even the houses on the main avenues are well cared for and imminently more suburban than our current neighborhood. There are no security bars on any homes and no heavy metal roll-down doors on any of the stores. We sat outside at a little cafe and ate breakfast, and marveled that the food was inexpensive yet tasty, and even our meter for parking was 25 cents for 45 minutes! I exchanged numbers with a realtor, and we shall see what happens next.

In other news...I have purchased a series of piano recital tickets at Carnegie Hall this season. I was just giddy after booking my balcony seats for 5 different concerts: Andras Schiff, Mitsuko Uchida, Emanuel Ax, Murray Perahia, and my favorite, Yefim Bronfman. Bronfman is playing Balakirev's "Islamey", for you piano enthusiasts out there...you know will ROCK. This is the true way to enjoy living in NYC! And, I am still planning on getting tickets for the Vienna Phil. with Bronfman performing Prokofiev's 2nd piano Concerto. Drool, drool, drool!

We are all off to Atlanta this coming Tuesday. Chris has a trip for work, and Owen and I are coming along for fun. We will be departing on Tuesday, and returning on Friday night. I have never been to Atlanta before, much less just flown to a new city with no agenda but to hang-out at a spiffy hotel and explore the neighboring area. A real mini-vacation! Cross your fingers that Chris's work time there is smooth and predictable.

Enjoy your holiday, Everyone!