Music and Old Friends

I have decided to get my piano chops back up (not that I was ever very good!) since I am no longer in school and have a little extra time on my hands. So, I have been practicing my piano playing almost every day. The songs that I am most excited about are the jazz duets that my sister, Becky, and I used to play. I have the book at my house, but I’m hoping we can play some of them next time my sister is in town. Anyway – I can tell it’s going to be a long process.

I have also been trying to get my singing voice back in shape – that muscle is really weak. I know I will never be a soprano again, but I’m hoping to enlarge my range a little bit. Randy made a CD for me of 13 of his songs where I sing the lead or we do a duet on them, so that I can practice singing along with them. It’s hard to find other songs where the range is low enough for me.

Speaking of music – Randy took today off from work and got to play music with his guitar player from Los Angeles (Ralph), an old missionary companion that was in town from California (Craig Nelson) and a couple of brothers from Provo that Craig knows. I guess one of them is head of production at BYU films and the other one is the son-in-law of one of the piano players that Randy has used on his recordings. Anyway, he had fun.

Also, since Randy’s Meniere’s disease has been in remission for months, he got some digital hearing aids. He has really been enjoying being able to hear tones that he couldn’t hear before – crinkling paper and running water are a bit irritating, however. I’ve had ANOTHER cold. This is the third one this winter, and they have all been pretty substantial. I’m pretty tired of it. Nyquil (nighttime and daytime) has been my friend this week.

Lastly, I saw some old friends this month. First, I was in the temple doing a sealing session since I had a few names from my mother’s family that needed to be done. A man came in near the end that said his name was Brother Tobler. Afterwards I asked him if his name was Karl, and he said yes. We talked for a while and I reminded him that we had dated one spring when I lived at the same apartment complex that he lived in. We talked about the people we remembered from there and about our families. I’m not sure he remembered me too well, although he said that he remembered my name. I guess he is the owner of Mattress Warehouse and is on their commercials here in town. Then, an old friend from California, Mark Baker, came up with his wife to visit their daughter and her family that live near here. Randy and I met him for lunch one day and visited about old times and talked about our families. Nice visits – nice people.