I had one of those teaching experiences that just makes me incredibly glad that I decided to start teaching piano yesterday. Lori is a great, great friend of mine that I met while working at TD/Commerce Bank and she decided to learn piano. We started doing one of the first songs that involves some real syncopation between left and right hand. This is usually the point where someone says, “piano just isn’t for me” or they get it. The act of having your left hand doing something different than your right is a challenge that some just do not overcome. Lori was struggling a bit, so we broke the song down into two measure parts and she started getting it. Then she really started getting it. And a few hours after our lesson, I got a text from her saying she had just played it perfectly three times in a row. And that is what learning an instrument is all about. Creation. Pride. Achievement. And all the collateral fun and smiles that comes with getting past plateaus and limits. Nice job, Lori!

Abbe and I have been doing well on our runs again after I had to take a week off while the kids were out of school and before summer camp started. Yesterday, we ran to my mother’s home and back (which is close to 4 miles round trip) in the rain to see her new kitchen. The kitchen looks awesome, and Mom deserves it.

The Phils won another extra inning game with a walk-off shot last night, even spoiling a nearly perfect game by Reds’ pitcher Travis Wood. The only bad side to this refound swagger by the Phillies is we are now at the All-Star break, and I fear we might lose this amazing momentum. But my Flyers had a similar momentum swing just prior to the Olympic break last year and they ended up having an amazing end of their season.

And lastly, Abbe and I headed over to our friends’ Rich and Rachel’s for a couple of drinks and to visit with Adam and Suze, down from Vermont. Adam brought a bag full of horrible golf sweaters and gladly modeled them… Suze looked on at her oddly proud husband and his new possessions…

• Simpson Characters vs Voice Actors
• How to Trick People Into Thinking You’re Good Looking

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 11th, 2010 at 9:56 am and is filed under Abbe-ness, beer, family, friends, health, home improvements, Phils, piano lessons, running, thoughts, weather, wine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.