Dancing with Daffodils

I had a goal to read 30 books this year and thanks to a great website that helped me keep track, I did it! Some were long and emotionally intense, some were okay, some were fun, some were so depressing, but each one was a journey and I'm grateful for books and the joy I find in reading. Here is my list! 1. Ms. Bixby's Last Day --I loved this book. So sweet and meaningful. 2. The Midnight Rose --Reminded me of The Forgotten Garden except in India. It was good. 3. House of Robots --I read this to my kids and loved it. It was positive and smart. 4. The Orphan Keeper --Sad but interesting read and I suppose it had a happy ending 5. The Emperors of Chocolate --Fascinating but outdated (it was published in the 90s and a lot has changed since then). I loved learning more about Mars and Hershey and now I look at the candy in line at the grocery store with a more educated eye. 6. The Family Romanov --Interesting, kind of slow, but I learned more about them and that was the idea...

I learned two very important lessons yesterday. First, I am not a performer. Second, practice does not make perfect, unless you can practice in the very environment in which you need to perform. I was having a fantastic day yesterday. We had some wonderful and seriously quality family time, I found a $20 bill hiding in a Christmas mug, and there was the most perfect and magical Christmas snow falling. I was even excited to be participating in my church's community Christmas concert. I have a friend who is an amazing singer and she asked me last year for this same annual concert to accompany her while she sang O Holy Night. I got the music and it has six flats (this means it is challenging) but I spent hours practicing it last year and performed it well enough. I made a few mistakes but felt it didn't distract too much from her performance. When she asked me again this year I was excited because I already knew the piece and therefore could focus on nailing it. I started prac...