Public art and the deep, dark underbelly (with kittens!)

Miriam and I went for a walk together last night. We were going to stay in the mall and do a few casual laps, but the weather outside was relatively decent, so we headed outdoors instead. Our goal was to find the metro entrance nearest to the tornado tower (and we did, but its location surprised us since the tunnel didn't go under any roads or anything—it just goes under the plaza, which you can just...walk across...so maybe it just exists for, like, the heat or something...I don't know). 

Here's Miriam with one of the Hala Summer guys:

Miriam and the libraaaaaaar...ian

After we finished with our school work, we took the metro to the Qatar National Library. I really like the metro (I just wish it went more places). It's very clean, riding in the family car was perfectly chill (though Andrew really felt like a duck out of water because he was the only man in the car; without us he would have to ride in the "standard" cars, which he reports are also just fine). 

Here we are ready to hop on once the doors open:

Miriam's last Sunday

 

Today was Miriam's last week at our ward. Technically she still has one more Sunday left in Georgia, but we aren't going to our ward next week. So this was it for her. 

Miriam's Organ Recital

Our stake (largely through the efforts of Sister Hammond) arranged a farewell organ recital for Miriam this past Sunday. Miriam has played for stake conferences, our ward, the Magnolia (Spanish) ward, stake Easter events, stake Christmas events, and so forth. She has loved getting to use her talents in this way. Sister Hammond keeps a little sign with (a paraphrase) 1 Corinthians 10:31 on the organ, "Do everything for the glory of God" to help remind her while she plays the organ that...that's why she's sitting there. 

Miriam also feels that music contributes to worship, with variations and flourishes helping people listening to the same old song feel something new and different and—God willing—divine. She has, at times, received pushback for playing classical music during postlude, which she thinks is rather funny because much classical music was written for worship. Our current bishop more or less gives her free reign but that doesn't mean everyone in the congregation approved of her choices (and, boy, did she hear about it...but she's pretty good at ignoring superfluous advice). 

One of Miriam's favourite composers is Bach (despite her program last night being full of French composers). He began most compositions with the inscription J.J. (for Jesu, Juva, meaning Jesus, help) and ended them with S.D.G. (for soli Deo gloria meaning glory to God alone), indicating that his music was his worship. It sounds like he was a fan of 1 Corinthians 10:31!

Healthy (like a horse)

Miriam is going to two separate organ camps/workshops out in Utah later this summer. So she'll actually be flying out to Utah by herself and then flying to Doha by herself (which is incredibly brave for a 16-year-old, I think). She's excited though! 

One of these events is a Pipe Organ Encounter, which is hosted at Timp Lodge up in the mountains, with trips to BYU and SLC to play on organs. She's very excited for this camp because they have at least one hike planned for the kids (which is one more hike than she got to go on at YW camp...not even joking). 

We had to turn in some permission forms for her (since it's several days of overnight stay and so forth). Andrew helped her fill out the forms on InDesign (so we could type on the forms) and under "current health conditions" he jokingly wrote "healthy (like a horse)":

Miriam reacted so strongly to that that he went ahead and submitted it in that way!

Miriam was aghast. 

Snakes, Hawks, and Coyotes

Moving can be a stressful time of life (see here, here, here)—an international move perhaps even more so—because moving can cause a cascade of stressful events (not only are you changing houses, but also schools, friends, culture, language, etc). It's a lot to handle. 

So sometimes emotions run high.

This is normal. 

But there are things you can do to cope with those emotions, to help your body lower stress hormones, and feel like you're able to keep on keeping on. The annoying thing about the things you can do to help your body lower stress hormones is that all the things you might need to do to lower your stress hormones feel so annoying. So they can be hard to do. 

Miriam had a difficult morning, so I suggested she try a few things, like write down some thoughts in her journal—not just about what she was worried about, but things she was grateful for, or looking forward to, or just...silly, funny, delightful things that have happened. 

Because it's literally good for you to do this.

I can't remember what else I suggested, but there were other things. 

I do know that she ended up curling up in a weepy ball on her bed. 

So I let her stay like that for a while (because, honestly, a good snooze typically helps me get out of a funk) and then invited her to go for a walk with me. 

Because exercise is annoyingly good at helping you release stress hormones. 

"Come for a walk with me!" I said. "Get some sunshine, some vitamin D, fresh air; generate some endorphins; appreciate nature...come on...it will be fun!"

Readers, this walk was a mental health fail. 

You see, Miriam ran over what she thought was a stick on her way home from the pool this morning (she gracious took Benjamin to his practice; Andrew took the early morning crew before then). But on our walk we discovered that it was not a stick. 

It was a danger noodle.

Spring Recital

Zoë and Miriam had their last spring recital with Ms. Deb's studio on Saturday. It's been so wonderful to be part of the studio for so long, not only to see our own kids improving, but to see the progress the other students have been making. The tiny girls that Miriam used to help teach have all grown into beautiful little pianists (and Zoë's good friends with them since she also used to be in the group lesson with them). 

It's been fun! Miriam at least will continue zoom lessons with Ms. Deb...until we find an organ teacher for her in Doha (which I'm doubtful we'll be able to do) or until she leaves for college). I'm sure we'll be able to find a local piano teacher for Zoë. 

Zoë played Allegro by Alexander Reinagle and Hurry Scurry by Robert Vandall:

A.C.T. now!

Today was my last full day of classes (I technically still have a class on Thursday but it's not a full day), which means I have no readings left to do. On the one hand that's nice because now I can just focus on getting my writing projects finished. On the other hand it's kind of unfortunate because I don't have a "productive" way to put off the writing that I need to do (and, um, it's kind of a lot of writing). 

So instead I'm writing this!

This morning, Miriam and I were walking from the parking lot up to Aderhold and she was saying how relieved she was that she didn't have anything to worry about (just rubbing in the fact that her semester was over, I guess, while mine is so painfully lingering). 

"Except for my ACT score..." she said with a pout, then screamed, "I GOT MY ACT SCORE!"

Because at that exact moment she got an email telling her that her ACT score was in.

Sometimes it feels like we live in a sitcom. 

Other Music News

I forgot to write about Rachel's choir concert! 

It was a Tuesday night (March 31) so Miriam and I watched half it in on our commute home from Athens and then watched the rest of it in Andrew's office. 

Andrew took a bunch of screenshots but I honestly don't know where I put them...like...they're on my computer somewhere probably...but I don't know where precisely (and should be writing actual papers so I'm not going to take the time to find them now). I got to attend Rachel's concert in person in December, which was wonderful, but I think it's so nice that streaming events like this is "normal" these days because I don't think it always was (or at least not so quick and easy to access). 

Here's a quick view of Rachel:

I zoomed in on her below in case you need help finding her (she is in the second row from the back, third girl from the right):

Anna Lapwood at UGA

I don't even know how I got a ticket to Anna Lapwood's concert, honestly.

We were so excited when we saw her on the list of performers on UGA's docket for this semester. I marked the first day of ticket sales on the calendar and Miriam and I were both poised and ready to buy the minute the portal opened. 

But somehow the show was completely sold out—like, immediately. 

It was rather disappointing. 

But life moves on.

We planned instead for Miriam to head out to Utah with Grandpa, intending for her to hang out with Rachel until the semester was over (Rachel comes home on Thursday)...

But then I was talking with someone on campus about Miriam and Anna Lapwood and they were like, "Seriously—her show is sold out? She can't be that famous!! You should check again."

First of all, Anna Lapwood is that famous. 

But, second of all, there's no harm in trying, right?

Scheherazade

Miriam just finished a major project for her history of fashion design course. From the list of available time periods she chose the Edwardian Era, which she has loved for ages. She dressed up as Mary Poppins for Halloween when she was four (her choice). And she cherished the Edwardian fashion sticker book Naanii sent her years ago, carefully placing each sticker in its correct spot and referring back to it frequently (though admittedly it has spent more time on the bookshelf than in her hands in more recent years). 

She was thrilled to get to sign up for that era...she was less thrilled with the group she had to work with, but group projects are an evil we all must endure, it seems.

Anyway, one of the odder fashion trends from the time, in my opinion, was the hobble skirt (though to be fair and completely honest, I did wear a long pencil skirt to church today and realized that the hobble skirt never entirely went away).

Miriam asked for help pronouncing Paul Poiret's name, a French designer often credited for the invention (she had to give an oral presentation so wanted to be sure she was pronouncing things correctly). We practiced and practiced saying Poiret together until she felt comfortable with it. 

Later we were on a walk and I asked how Poiret even conceived of such an idea in the first place. What an absurd thing to do—tie women's legs together so they could hardly get a good stride in (this was before I willingly put on that aforementioned pencil skirt, revealing my hypocrisy). 

Women used to even have hobble skirt races! 

Anyway...she said it was inspired by Orientalism and ballet. 

مريم غبية

I've been teaching the kids (Benjamin, Zoë, Alexander, and...Phoebe) the Arabic alphabet this year. We liked to make fun of Miriam—and Miriam makes fun of herself—because she can consistently recognize alif...and that's about it. It's just a straight line. And it's the first letter of the alphabet, corresponding to the letter A in English. 

But last night at dinner Miriam proudly announced that she knew how to introduce herself in Arabic. 

"اسمي مريم," she said (ismi Miryam).

"Or..." Phoebe said impishly before breaking into maniacal laughter. "Are you غبي?" (ghabi)

"Wha...what does that mean?" Miriam asked. "Wait...I know this... Are you...are you calling me stupid?"

"Hahaha! YES!!" Phoebe shrieked with glee.

"Rude!" Miriam said (with mock offense—she tends not to take Phoebe's insults very seriously).

"Okay, okay," I said, trying to redirect the conversation and get Phoebe to settle down. "Miriam—what do you celebrate today?"

"I celebraaaaaate..." Miriam said, pausing to think.

"Doing stupid stuff?!" Phoebe said, without missing a beat (and once again dissolving into uncontrollable giggles).

I don't know what to do with this child, honestly. 

Prom: Under the Sea

Miriam's at prom tonight with a bunch of friends, who all decided against dates (which I'm not opposed to—pairing off can make things awkward at this age, especially with so few youth in our area). So, these three girls spent the afternoon together and are meeting up with other friends at the dance.

One of their YW leaders did their hair, and then they had dinner and took pictures at the park:

We lived happily

Today the words of Ilya Kaminsky are running through my mind. I was fortunate to get to her both him and his wife speak at a poetry event a couple of years ago. His collection Deaf Republic is chilling.

We Lived Happily During the War

And when they bombed other people’s houses, we

 

protested

but not enough, we opposed them but not

 

enough. I was

in my bed, around my bed America

 

was falling: invisible house by invisible house by invisible house.

 

I took a chair outside and watched the sun.

 

In the sixth month

of a disastrous reign in the house of money

 

in the street of money in the city of money in the country of money,

our great country of money, we (forgive us)

 

lived happily during the war.

It is a beautiful spring. And the world should be celebrating it together.

Snow and studying and stuff

I remembered and then forgot and then remembered and then forgot and then remembered...that our library books were due soon and that we needed to go to the library this week.

It's supposed to snow tomorrow morning. I got an email that the temple was closed tomorrow. And then I got a notification that Gwinnett Public Libraries would be closed tomorrow as well...which helped me remember that we needed to go to the library today. 

So we gathered up the books and waited for Daddy to get home from campus so that he could be around to help with the oven (Benjamin had banana bread going), but we ended up taking the banana bread out just as Andrew got home.

I debated waiting until it was time to take Benjamin to swim practice, but while I knew I'd be brave enough to exit the library parking lot turning right during rush hour (the direction needed to go home), there was no way I'd be able to turn left during rush hour (the direction needed to pick Benjamin up). 

So I just left with the kids and we decided Miriam would take Benjamin later. And no one would have to turn left out of the library parking lot during rush hour. 

Andrew closed the garage door for us. 

And that was that. Zoë, Alexander, and Phoebe had a great time choosing books. 

Phoebe wanted to check out all the early readers, and that was fine with me (except that I only let her check out as many as she could carry, which was twelve...not all of them). She's been somewhat disinterested in reading lessons lately. While she can read through the stories without much trouble it takes her ages to get through the word banks. She just doesn't like doing it, drags her feet, makes it last forever. 

Zoë was similar, Andrew reminded me...kind of. 

When I was talking to him about Phoebe's...behaviour...he asked me how many kids managed to make through the whole book. 

"Well, Rachel, as we all know, couldn't get through five lessons," I said (she hated it that much). "That made Miriam determined to get through the whole book...because she's Miriam. Then Benjamin had to go through the whole book—but in a different way—because he's Benjamin. And then...Alexander made it through the whole book, too. He was very proud about finishing in a very Alexander way. But I know there was someone who didn't finish the book because they just didn't want to...but who still got pretty far. Like they learned all the basics and then were like...yeah, no, thank you. Who was that?"

"Uhhh...Zoë?" Andrew said. 

"Right! Zoë!"

How could I forget Zoë? She was the one who got through the basics and then was like...meh. 

And Phoebe seems to be following that path. So, we'll keep reading stories together. And maybe we'll revisit the reading lesson book. And maybe we won't. 

Either way, here is Phoebe with her dozen stories all lined up:

IOOF's Organ Advent

The International Online Organ Forum asked members to record and submit themselves playing a Christmas piece, which they'd then review and select from the pool to publish during advent. Miriam recorded Angels We Have Heard On High (arranged by  R. Elliott) and submitted it just before the deadline. I'm sure she would have done it sooner but November was a messy month with travel and sickness and (for me) finals so finally I helped her film it on, like, November 30 or something! 

Miriam was thrilled to be selected for December 11 (the 12th day of advent)!

From the other players listed, it's becoming clear why she'd like to go to Europe to study organ (there are a lot more organ(ist)s in Europe). 

Well-child checks for Phoebe and Miriam

Rachel went to the doctor today. She has the flu, poor thing.

I also took Miriam and Phoebe to the doctor at the same time...just here in Georgia! 

I need to remember to ask to not see Dr. Z. She was okay at Zoë's appointment in May (though I need to remember to take Zoë back in for a COVID shot) but was rather pessimistic about homeschooling today. 

First, I should mention that Miriam was hoping to have gained at least an inch since her last visit. Instead she learned that they mis-measured her at her last visit, so she not only didn't grow. She's shorter than she thought. 

So it was already a ho-hum visit.

At Phoebe's visit, the doctor insisted she couldn't understand Phoebe very well and that Phoebe thus needs speech therapy. I told the doctor that was ridiculous. 

Actually I said, "Respectfully, I'm going to disagree with your assessment. I'm a trained linguist. I'm currently getting a PhD in children's literacies. I'm around children a lot. And I don't think Phoebe is behind her peers at all. She's made significant improvements from last year—if you recall, she was fronting all of her sounds, couldn't say /k/ or /g/, but now she can say words with /k/ and /g/ and she has mastered several consonant blends and..."

"I'm pretty fluent in toddler myself. I should be able to understand 90 to 100% of what she's saying and I simply can't. Early intervention is key!"

"Yes, but she's making fine progress by any metric," I countered.

Guys, listen—the doctor is working from old standards. 

Newer studies indicate that the "General rules of thumb for intelligibility of multiword utterances, based on data for the lowest performing typical children, are as follows: (a) By 4 years, children should be at least 50% intelligible to an unfamiliar listener; (b) by the 5 years, children should be at least 75% intelligible to an unfamiliar listener; and (c) by just over 7 years, children should be 90% intelligible to an unfamiliar listener" (see further, less erudite discussion here).

Now, I wouldn't say that Phoebe is among the lowest performing typical children range. In fact, I think she speaks rather clearly and that her vocabulary is rather impressive.

For example, consider Benjamin and his "ucky, mucky augie." 

Ward Christmas Party (in absentia)

Today while I was attending session after session of conference presentations, I started getting pictures of the ward Christmas party. Miriam passed her driving test this morning (hurrah!) so she drove to the church early and started hanging garlands. Andrew and the other kids joined her later to put up some finishing touches...and then the party started. 

And I think it was worth all the headaches and tears putting it together. People seemed to have fun and it was pretty well attended—around 100 people by our estimate. People seemed to understand the roving rooms set up and many seemed to appreciate having various activities to do. 

I...admittedly...wasn't there (off doing actual job stuff), so I have to rely on what I was told and saw. But what I saw was pretty good. 

Here's the nursery room before Miriam got the popcorn strands up:

Lino prints

I really need to finish packing for my trip. But I also had to help Miriam finish some preparations for the ward Christmas party on Friday. I went through...many emotions...when they moved the date to the one weekend I would not be here, but Andrew assures me that he can help Miriam pull it off. 

I will have to rely on pictures to tell me how the evening went.

One of the stations at the party will be a card making/letter writing station. The Young Women (after much insistence on Miriam's part) had a stamp carving activity, so those will be available with blank cards and ink pads for people to stamp their own cards. People are encouraged to write a nice thank you to someone in the ward, and then the Young Women will deliver the cards on a Sunday down the road (after making sure people who need cards got one...). Or people can write to one of the missionaries from our ward. Or to a neighbour. Or grandparent. Or whoever. 

Deep down inside, Miriam wanted the Young Women to make linocut prints...but that activity didn't ever pan out. And it's easier to carve rubber than linoleum, anyway (or wood). So she'll have to live with the stamps. 

But she decided to make a sunstone linocut and it turned out beautifully. 

This card she decided she's keeping for herself (but people will be open to use one of these premade cards if they want to)—started as a mistake because she simply didn't put enough black on the card, so she redid it in blue and it made a stereoscopic/grunge/overprint effect:

More haiku moments

1) That time (yesterday) I very nearly stepped on this tiny frog that was sitting on our driveway.

Small piece of gravel
hopped away from my foot fall—
camouflaged frog