more things i am learning in grad school

1) aunt betty is really selfless and gracious. she cares for people well. i am the uber-undeserving recipient of that care.

2) not everyone appreciates sarcasm. and i am apparently really sarcastic.

3) i LOVE meeting with students. i am constantly surprised at how much i enjoy spending time hearing about their life stuff. they are awesome.

4) i have subconscious methods and layers of self-protection that i have not even begun to uncover. it's true: i'm still a work in progress.

5) grad school is preparing and equipping me for something in the future, but it doesn't matter what that happens to be. i have really specific purpose and joy right where i am. holy bananas!*

*yes, i did just shout out to lily. the three year-old. who does not read my blog.

picture this: he's the piano man

this is my younger brother, travis. or, as he is affectionately called around our house, lonny, skippy, or tubby. this is a picture of him playing piano. (the fitness orb is a whole other story.)

here's the context:

in my family, all of us took piano lessons when we were kids. some of us took them longer than others. some of us still play. and some of us are very talented pianists. (don't be fooled. despite my liberal use of the word 'us,' i am not actually one of those still-playing and very talented children.) travis took piano for approximately five minutes. ok, it was probably closer to two years. the point is, he didn't like it and didn't stick with it.

cut to 4 days ago. picture this scene: it's probably 9:30 pm...i'm in bed, reading and winding down. travis is in his room, bellowing 'it is well with my soul.' (i was later informed that he had been singing hymns all day, so it wasn't completely out of the blue.) suddenly, i hear him knocking on aunt betty's door and asking if she has a hymnal. out of the kindness of her soul, she digs one up for him, and he plops down at the piano and bangs out his part. i am not sure how long this lasted, but i think it was at least an hour.

over the next few [snow] days, he and betty jo dug up more music he could play--including christmas carols. t bone has been logging practice hours at the piano, hammering out chords, singing, and having a merry old time.

hilarious and delightful.

i think he shows great potential.

what is something you love about one of your siblings?