Home again, home again, jiggety jig

G and I had a good couple days. We checked in, she swam, and we went to dinner in the Key West section of the hotel where we were entertained by, who else, a Buffett wannabe. This was actually funny in a tacky, touristy way. He was taking requests so I slipped him a note with "Little Miss Magic" written on it. In between sets he came over to our table, mentioned what a beautiful song that was, but that he never gets requests for it, so he had the back-up tracks for it at home. Sure. Did we have any other requests? Hmmmmm. Maybe he knows "Cheeseburger In Paradise? Of course he did. We went up to our room, watched a movie and had room service send up dessert. This is G's favorite part because they do the whole linen-covered cart with flowers and candles set-up. Ahhhhh.

Down to business the next day. We listened to Jessie Wise, who is such a lady, speak about teaching reading, not reluctant readers as I'd initially thought. This was still helpful, even though both S and G spontaneously began reading at 3 and 4 respectively, because I know L is going to make me have to teach her, since everything that child does is designed to complicate my life, and I needed to know that it really isn't hard. Next came Lisa Whelchel's keynote address. She is a good motivational speaker, but heavily Christian. At the end when she asked everyone to close their eyes and lift up their children to deliver them into God's hands, I caught G sneaking peeks and trying not to giggle when I started pulling her up by the seat of her pants.

My big purchases were:

1) Spelling Power. Spelling Workout is great for S, but not G. She liked the idea of buzzing through the lists and only working on the words she can't spell. Plus, I'm always for those one-time purchases.

2) Power Glide Junior Spanish. It looks too easy, but the saleswoman assured me the Ultimate level would be discouragingly hard. The program is light on grammar, focusing more on speaking. The Ultimate level is actually worthy of a high school credit, but if we stick to our plans, these guys will need a working knowledge of Spanish, so the credit wasn't as important to me.

3) The Violin Book and a violin. Yes, I've lost my mind. This is a new self-teaching course by Ebaru Publishing. The woman who wrote it is a highly trained concert violinist. She's written a series of seven books covering several years worth of extremely small incremental lessons, supposed to take your child up to a junior concert level performer. SWB included a recommendation of it in the new, revised TWTM and was buying a set for one of her boys. G is ecstatic and has been glued to the book from the minute we bought it. S and I are going to give it a try too. Hey, Thomas Jefferson loved his fiddle. And it's a lot easier traveling with a 1/2 size violin than a full size piano.

In spite of computer malfunctions on both sides, and missed communications, I still managed to bump into Stephanie for a few minutes last night. She had planned to spend the weekend with her entire family, but coincidentally ended up bringing only her middle child for a little quality time. When we get our computers fixed we'll have to catch up. She's always got these amazing projects going on, like building a Trojan horse, so I'm eager to find out what she's been doing this time around.

Another night swimming, G, not me -- you won't catch me in a public pool, nevermind one filled with 10,000 little kids -- dinner, another movie and dessert in bed. This morning I took a wonderful long, hot shower in preparation for returning to the island, where no matter how much you try, you can never seem to get all the accumulated crud off.

G wants me off the computer NOW, to mark off her completed lessons on the progress chart (she's already up to lesson 15.) She's telling me she'll never get into college on a music scholarship if I keep it up.


LITTLE MISS MAGIC

(Jimmy Buffett)

She's constantly amazed by the blades of
the fan on the ceiling
And the funny little faces she makes
can't help but be appealing
She loves to ride through the town with the top down
Feel the warm breeze on her gentle skin
She is my next of kin

I see a little more of me everyday
I catch a little more moustache turning grey
Your mother is the only other woman for me
Little Miss Magic what you gonna be?

Sometimes I catch her dreaming and wonder
where that little mind meanders
Is she down along the shore or
strolling cross the broad Savannahs
I know in time she'll learn to make up her own mind
In time she's gonna learn to fly
Oh that I won't deny

I see a little more of me everyday
I catch a little more moustache turning grey
Your mother is the only other woman for me
Little Miss Magic what you gonna be?
Little Miss Magic just can't wait to see.