Wouldn't it be loverly?

Wow, what a stressful month June is and has been! First, all of a sudden we are selling our house and moving. I am actually happy about that. This house and yard are a burden that I will be happy to let go of--but the change, the people I'll miss, the stores I am used to that I won't live near...it is stressful.

And then worrying about getting Josie ready to go to Ireland and then Wales. That was stressful. Finding her a host family for her week in Dublin, and making sure she had everything she needed to go, and also getting her things in her apartment packed up so that, once we move, we can move her things into our new house so we don't have to move them twice.

And then all the flooding in Alberta--all of our friends in High River evacuated, since the whole town is a disaster area. Even our former home there, built far out of the flood zone, underwater. Very weird, being far away and feeling helpless but so concerned for others.

Yes, indeed, a stressful month.

In Primary on Sunday, one little girl (Emarie T.) was so sad that I was moving that she cried all through singing time, which made it very hard for me to sing myself! And then during the last song, I saw that one of the teachers (Debra W.) was pretty teary, and between the two of them, I just lost my voice completely. Sad day.

So, back to Josie and her trip abroad--she has a twelve hour layover in NYC tomorrow, from 6 AM to 6 PM ish. My (former) student Blake lives there, where he teaches viola lessons and also plays in the pit for musicals among other musical pursuits. So Blake is going to pick her up at the airport (on the metro) and take her into the city for a few hours. And someone got the idea, wouldn't it be loverly (only really we said cool) if Josie and Blake could go and meet my friend Marni Nixon? (If you don't know who she is, there is always Wikipedia.)

So, I emailed Marni, and she said that would probably work for her, but she told me to call her the day before so that she would know better how her week is going. Marni is 83, but still actively teaching voice lessons and performing, too; she is very busy.  This morning I called her and this is how it went:

Me: Hi Marni, this is Myrna. How are you today?
Marni: Oh, just fine.
Me: That's good. So...are we on with our plans for tomorrow?
Marni: Oh dear. What were we planning?
Me: Remember, my daughter Josie is coming to New York, and she and my student Blake were going to come and visit you.
Marni: Oh, yes. I remember. But...I lied to you.
Me: You lied to me?
Marni: Yes, I did. I lied to you just now. You asked me how I was, and I said I was just fine. But I'm not fine. I actually feel terrible. So I don't know what I am going to be able to do tomorrow.

She went on to tell me about her diverticulitis, and how she had to cancel some filming with the BBC because she just needed to go to bed. So the kids are supposed to call her tomorrow morning, and see if she feels up to visitors. I hope that she is feeling well. Wouldn't it be loverly if they could meet her? It would.

"I am an artist"

When Josie was about six years old, she was creating a piece of art one day when Uncle Bruce stopped in. He watched her at work for awhile and then said, "Josie, that is really good. Are you going to be an artist when you grow up?" She turned and looked at him seriously, and then simply stated, "I am an artist." And went back to work.

One of the things that we enjoyed about Northridge School for Josie was the opportunity for creative outlet it afforded. She had orchestra or art club before school, and ballroom dance and chorus in grades five and six. She was a happy elementary student.

As I have been cleaning and sorting through things in the house, I came across some of Josie's art projects.  Here are a couple. I can't quite decide whether to be content with just the picture, or to frame the kite and keep it on the wall along with some of her other elementary art projects that I happen to love. It would go along with them so nicely, all yellow as it is.  She was a yellow kind of girl.

This bag is nice, but does not show the creativity that so many of her early art projects showed. This tells me that whoever was in charge of this project was saying "This is the way you do it..." and Josie was a free-spirit artist, who wanted full reign of her own imagination. So I like the bag, but I don't love it in the same way that I love the kite, and the guitar and the mask that are hanging on my wall. It is less an expression of Josie, and more the fulfillment of an assignment, if you know what I mean. Although I do love it as an expression of her love!

Lately, Josie has been doing watercolors in a little notebook and then texting them to me. She still has the latent talent...nice to see her using it again.