The girls dueling piano debut!

So Megan and I played our first dueling pianos show 11/23. It was just a tad more nerve wracking than I'd planned on, but the good news is, the first show is now under our belts and it can only get better from here!

The sound isn't great, but here is Megan and I playing Billy Joel's Movin' Out:

Simply Music headquarters

So I walked into the SM headquarters Sunday after the conference and started drooling at all the materials. Student materials, teacher training, supplemental programs. It was ALL there. So note the devilish grin as I think I will be sneaky and slide a student home materials under my shirt.

Realizing I need some Christmas accompaniment programs, I then attempt to sneak some of those out.
Finally I thought, this is not nearly as efficient as it could be. Time to bring out the big guns:
**disclaimer** No materials were stolen or harmed in the taking of these pics. :o)

Simply Music trip 2007

What an amazing, thought-provoking, learning experience this trip was. The passion and energy surrounding Simply Music is just incredible. Here is a brief synopsis of our trip. Tuesday we headed over to Omaha to meet with the teachers there and and then later spend some time in a couple of their studios. Omaha has such a neat group of teachers. Although they each have their own separate studios, they work very closely together. They have a fantastic website (www.omahapiano.com) and a very giving, caring way about them. Last year one of the teachers was in a major car accident, and the other Omaha teachers stepped in and taught all her classes for several months until she could teach again! Wednesday morning we headed to the airport and made our way to the Bay area in beautiful central California. Wednesday afternoon/evening we spent some time at a very large studio run by our friend Jy in Marin county. We did more of the same on Thursday morning and then Thursday afternoon visited our friend Tommy in Mill Valley. Tommy is actually a former advertising executive who found out about Simply Music when his daughter started taking lessons at Jy's studio. Amazed at what he saw, Tommy opened up his studio not too long afterwards. Friday we made our way up to Sacramento for the conference. We had tentatively planned on doing some more observing Friday, but I am here to tell you that the traffic in California is a force to be reckoned with. We kept hearing horror stories about Friday night traffic to Sacramento so we decided not to risk it. Saturday was our big day with Neil. If Cali traffic is a force to be reckoned with, Neil is even more so. He is an amazing man. Don't let the sweater vests and accented 'be sure to keep your playlist alive', fool you. :o) He is a visionary who is passionate about providing the opportunity for everyone, everywhere to have the option/ability to play the piano. And just to have music in their lives. Below are some pics from the week....

This is Tommy

this is Neil with my mom and me:

dinner:

the wonder that is GPS

so I am pretty ok with directions. I enjoy a few minutes poking around on maps.google.com like anybody else. But oh my word I have now discovered the bliss that is traveling with a GPS. My mom and I just spent the past week trekking all over central California, and I can't even begin to imagine how we would have done it with out our girl Gladys Magellan here. Don't ask me why we named her Gladys. Hours and hours of travel along with hours and hours of sitting (ie way too much time to think) will do that to you. The thing is incredible. Not only does it get you *anywhere* you need to go, you can punch in 'Starbucks' and it tells you all the nearest locations from wherever you currently sit; "Mall" and you suddenly have a huge list of shopping options. I also feel like I learned some important parenting skills after dealing with her constant interruptions that were impossible to talk over. It was I imagine much like having a 4 year old child in the car. Except for it'd be a very helpful child telling us to 'stay on the current road' or that there was a 'left turn in 0.5 miles'.

the little things

When you're on an airplane, is there anything more blessed than an aisle seat AND nobody next to you in the middle??? ahhh. This is a picture of the empty seat next to me. It made my day. Truly.