a quiet smile

Things have been good... My piano concert went off really well, I thought. Of course I slipped and to me it was obvious but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. It went quickly! For that I wasn't prepared. Once I got started the pieces flew under my fingers. It was all I could do to slow down and enjoy each one fully. My set list was

1)  Lines of Desire - Tarik O’Regan

2)  Lacrymosa - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

3)  Glassworks - Philip Glass

4)  The Heart Asks Pleasure First - Michael Nyman

5)  Hush - Craig Armstrong

6)  Gnossienne no. 3 - Eric Satie

7)  Sur le fils (Amélie) - Yann Tiersen
 ⋞ Intermission (10 mins) ⋟

8)  (You make me feel like) A Natural Woman - Carol King
with Celindy Oige ~ vocals and guitar

9)  Moving Ground - James Whitburn

10)  Winter (3rd Movement) - Antonio Vivaldi

11)  Jewish Town (Schindler’s List) - John Williams

12)  Elegy - Chris Craker

13)  Big My Secret - Michael Nyman

14)  The Quiet Room - Debbie Wiseman

15)  Moonlight Sonata - Ludwig van Beethoven

And we came home to a quiet house. Jude on an overnight visit to Nanny's house, I kept finding myself quietly sneaking down the hall so not to wake him. Although we came home slowly down powdered pembina roads feeling dead tired from the hours weeks months of prep, we still stayed up til two. Collapsing into a baby-free bed for the night (so restful!) waking to a snowed walk down corydon and breads and circuses breakfast.

Today I did nothing. Nothing. I rested, I played, I read, I watched a movie... we dined on KD and weiners... watched Thomas and Rolie Polie Olie on youtube. Chris got to enjoy the best part of going away - reuniting, his happy giddyness at having mom and dad at home palpable. His kisses and hugs, huge mischievous grins... His smiles these days are delicious and sneaky, knowing, tugging at the emotional manipulations "hey, if I do that do they always react the same? Can I get out of it with a giggle and dogged determination?" It's hilarious and often exhausting to keep up - but this is the exhaustion I love, the sweaty blond head stopping to rest at my breast, snuggled into mom's warmth, breathing heavily. What a great decision we made when we decided to have a child. What an amazing, lovely child we have. I'm in love.

A few things I've really enjoyed lately:

Winter's Bone - I wanted to see this film when it came out and is a powerful, intense storyline beautifully shot. Slow moving at times but completely absorbing. That link brings you to the streamed movie, if you want to read more about it go read the CBC writeup here.  

These Roving Eyes continues to rescue me from the no time toddlerhood days with music lists to download that feature usual treats (Sia, Owen Pallet, Fiona Apple, Cat Power, Tegan and Sara, Caribou) and introducing me to new faves (Gentleman Reg, Antony and the Johnsons, Gonzales, Perro). Plus he may be my favorite Toronto man... you'll see why.

How women can participate in Movember kept me laughing the last few days when I needed a quick pick me up. Unfortunately Chris only decided to participate when the month was more than half over. How large does the moustache need to be to count?

Take a look at how lovely my days have been: