A word from the mom

I haven't been keeping up my end of this blog. Let's get that out there right away. Despite Em's gentle nudges---"you could write about that, Mom!"---"that would make an interesting blog post, Mom!"--I have, as usual, let work take precedence.

What's this blog's title? Play on. Play.

Play is not what comes naturally to me. I was a serious kid. I liked to read. I liked to listen to adult conversations. I didn't care much about meeting unfamiliar kids or playing tag, hide and seek, or alley alley in free.

And I'm a serious adult. I take responsibility, I follow through, I do what I say I'm going to do, I work hard, I accomplish the things I want to accomplish.

But. How fun is a life without play?

I have learned to play through watching my children. There was some child psychologist who talked about the concentration exhibited by children stringing beads. I have watched my children, and my piano students, as they metaphorically were stringing beads. Sometimes what they were actually doing was moving sand, forming dikes and ponds, sometimes what they were doing was taking on a role, and sometimes playing "Heart and Soul."

But the thing all these play-ers had in common was, they were in the moment. Experiencing whatever they were doing without any self consciousness at all. Totally absorbed in what they were doing, without the "how am I doing" or what do they think of me" or any of those other self conscious thoughts that intrude.

Those are the moments I'm seeking to create in my life.

Back from St. Olaf

The verdict: I still love St. Olaf


Even though I pretty much knew everything about it from my mom before I even visited, I liked actually being there, and I could really picture myself there in--golly!--a year or so.

We were there on Flower Friday, when a local florist comes and you can buy flowers for your peeps. The student mail boxes had a bunch of flowers poking out of them.

I found it a cute little quirk, but we're not supposed to go to college for the cute little quirks, so here are some other things that I liked:

They have a top-notch music program, lovely hills to climb on your way to class, a rock wall to climb to qualify as your physical education class, a wind turbine, nice admission staff (even though someone added an extra letter to my last name, I forgive them), and a tight community that I really like. Although, they could have saved a lot of money by making climbing the hill from Skoglund gym/auditorium a way to take phy. ed., instead of walking down the (steep!) hill to get inside the building to climb up a wall with ropes bothering you in uncomfortable places, then walk up the hill again to your dorm on the other side of campus.

I like the smallness of the school, the not-too-faraway-but-still-far-ness of it, the liberal arts structured education, and the basis in the Lutheran faith, while still being culturally diverse and having many non-Lutheran and non-Christian students.

Oh, and this is the best part--it smells like cookies. I know it's the Malt O Meal plant, but the place smelled like cookies to me.

(This is not one of the major deciding factors in how I choose the school I will attend, but it doesn't harm their chances at all. If it smelled like cows, that would be a different matter)

The only thing that could potentially derail my dream of becoming an Ole is the financial aid that I may or may not get. I find it very unfair that it costs three arms, two legs and your first born child to go to a good private school. But hey, we'll see what happens.

I would say at this point, St. Olaf is my first choice, with Augsburg College in second, then comes Wartburg College (love my Lutheran schools) and UW-Madison with a shrug and a maybe from me.

May the best school win.


And may they all really really really like me and want to shower me with monetary gifts. Amen.

I'm getting excited for my first college visit this Friday to St. Olaf in Northfield. AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! I've been there once to sing in the fall choral festival, so I got a look at the beautiful campus when all the leaves were changing color. Hearing all their wonderful choral groups later that evening also made me want to go there. Singing is my second musical passion next to playing the piano, and I hope to someday direct choirs. Northfield is also a nice little town--not too big, not too small, and just the right distance from home for me.
It's also got a Ragstock. I'm so there. Case closed.

Lots of people I know have gone to St. Olaf (my mommy included), and all of them like to gush about the music program. [Mom edits: I do not gush.] I haven't even applied yet, but I'm probably going to gush too. They're also trying to win me over with their food--but they didn't need to send me a whole postcard about it, though. I'm sure becoming an Ole does not include starvation.

Fun fact: In 2009 St. Olaf won the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest hosted by Purdue University. They were the only liberal arts college in the competition and the only college to enter without an engineering program. Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist who drew insanely complicated machines to do simple and mundane tasks, like turning on a light bulb, as seen in the video.



But anyways. I'm just going for the music. Let's hope on Friday I like what I see even more.

'Oh, When the Saints"

If you need something to make you smile...



Two of my favorite people tearin' it up!