there'll be some changes made . .

(follow this link to the current blog)

for there's a change in the weather
there's a change in the sea
from now on there'll be a change in me
my walk will be different my talk and my name
nothing about me is going to be the same
i'm going to change my way of living
if that ain't enough
then I'll change the way that i strut my stuff
nobody wants you when you're old and gray
there'll be some changes made - today
there'll be some changes made
for there's a change in the fashions
ask just feminine folks
even Sinatra has been changing his jokes
i must make some changes from the old to the new
i must do things just the same as others do
i'm going to change my long tall daddy for a little short fat
going to change the number where i'm living at
i must have some loving or I'll fade away
there'll be some changes made - right away
there'll be some changes made
(sung by billie holiday, lyrics by billy higgins, music by w. benton overstreet)

morning coffee

sometimes my friend and i like to meet at west 11th street cafe for a morning coffee . . or tea . .

another sick day

unfortunately, c was even worse on wednesday . . the fever went higher and though she didn't have a headache, her throat became sore. she's the same today. she's very listless, but still hungry. i'm trying to keep her to cooling foods, and, as you can see, jack is keeping her company.

keeping a little girl company on a sick day

dance rehearsal

c is working on a new dance for the june recital. she's elaborating on a dance she created two years ago for our homeschooling dance gallery. it's about the creatures in the sea and the waves on the ocean.

met museum visit

m and i visited the metropolitan museum of art today. m is on a search for a painting to bring to life in a dance. it's her teacher's yearly project for her 13 and 14 year olds. they perform the group piece vermeer (choreographed by their teacher, and presenting vermeer's works on stage) and then work on their own personal project based on a painter and his or her painting. we first visited a few turner's, and then wended our way to the american wing to see several of winslow homer's paintings (specifically nor'easter). we were surprised to find that the american wing was under construction for remodeling and therefore -- closed! i didn't think we would be able to see anything when, after studying the information and instructions presented by video on the wall of the wing next to a glass elevator, m interpreted that we could see a few paintings in visible storage. !!! interesting. just what is visible storage you may ask? eh, voila:

more dancing flowers

on the way home from third street today c and i ran into more dancing flowers . . ! i wonder if the occupant of this apartment is also the car owner?

this moment

(soulemama presents this moment each friday. these are my moments for today. happy friday, amanda. thanks for helping us all to take a breath).

a march roller skating day

m and c found roller skates under the tree this epiphany. they're very old roller skates and were once my friend's when she and her sisters were growing up. m and c have been trying to get them into working condition. they cleaned the metal, oiled the leather, sewed special covers for the aging leather, and searched for the appropriate boots to sit in them. the boots even had to be fixed at the show repairman's, since a zipper was broken. subsequently, it's been quite a number of weeks since they first started thinking they could put them on and zip around, to the actual carrying out of the thought.

unfortunately, the happiness of gliding along that you see above, did not last long.

c, being the very sweet and considerate sister that she is, removed one skate and joined her older sibling for awhile. then she skated with two skates, but it's not as much fun when you were expecting to do the activity with a partner, so they switched to tag until my hands were so cold we went in.

as for the straps, we're now going to make entirely new ones from a heavy material, and scrap the leather entirely. i'll keep you posted.

waiting for music hour to begin

the car

the car is buried under a pile of snow. we almost walked by it without seeing it. c scraped a little hole and peered inside . . rather dark . .

. . and it is a sledding day . . continued

it's beautiful coming up out of the grand army plaza subway station and into brooklyn. the park always feels so wild. the breadth of it when you enter is exhilarating for me. and then there's all that snow! one time we were there sledding in the evening while it was snowing . . the flakes falling past the old fashioned looking lampposts shone in the yellow light and made the world a smaller and special place. i always have that image with me for these recent sledding expeditions. they are all tinged with the memory of falling snow and yellow lamppost light, surrounded by a slowly growing indigo sky.

isn't this a funny sign? the area was definitely very wet, but we were all sporting upon it! poor grass. i hope our sleds weren't too rough.

sledding frontwards . .


and sledding backwards . .

my version of the snow shelter (here is janet's!)

and the mamas taking their pics!

last year this view was a grey void . . this year a happy blue sky peeked through, and the sun grinned madly on the trees which dropped such enormous globs of snow on us that i looked up wondering who had thrown the snowball at me.

. . and it is a sledding day . .

into the wilds of brooklyn . .

. . . and another!

we're having lots of snow days this year! nyc schools are closed again. i'm sure ellen will have class, and i know m is determined to go since we missed last week. the girls are supposed to babysit, but i wonder how wet this snow is . . maybe it's time to go sledding?

another very wet snow day

winter flower

winning hand

i was very pleased with myself that i impressed g with the word noddy in our bananagrams game this evening. i usually never beat him in word games . . but i have been . . . with this game!

winter birthday

it was g's birthday today. we made shrimp scampi and chocolate mousse . . lots of chocolate mousse. we gave him sulawesi coffee beans from roasting plant, and my sister and brother-in-law gave him bananagrams. however, we were all too tired to play tonight. we ate, sang happy birthday, and went to sleep! (yes, k is missing. she's at a UU youth con in plainfield, new jersey).

dancing flower

happy new year