May Day

It is allergy season, and I am having a bit of a rough time of it lately, but am hanging in there. Even with all of the pollen, I am deliriously happy that it is spring. Today one of my friends gave me a bucket filled with flowers and chocolate and other small goodies in honor of May Day. I thought that was really sweet of him to do.

I have been listening to some new (to me) classical music lately. The concert schedules for next year for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, and the University Music Society are already out. Money might be tighter next year with Bill going to school out of state, so I need to be very picky about which concerts I go to. So far the ones I am really leaning towards are the Netherlands Bach Society playing Bach's Great Mass; the London Philharmonic; the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra playing Verdi's Requiem; and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra playing Beethoven's Sixth Symphony, his Seventh Symphony, and Mahler's Second Symphony (those are three different concerts). We shall see. There are also a couple of good jazz concerts I might want to go to. I already have my tickets to the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Steven has decided to repeat eighth grade. His grades are fine - he has been on the honor roll all year. He either met or exceeded state standards on the required state exams (and the ones he met he was on the border of meeting/exceeding). Like his brother, he is a late fall baby and so is a year younger (in some cases two years younger) than most of his classmates. So he has decided to repeat this year. There is one higher math class he can take, and he can take band again. And maybe an elective or two. I will probably home school him for English and social studies, as the district will allow us to have a combination of school and home school. I am figuring out the reading list with Bill. So far we are talking the three Shakespeare plays we will be seeing, The Iliad, the Odyssey, and probably further classics to be determined later (Beowulf will probably end up on that list). I think it will actually be fun.