"Alas for those who never sing,...

But die with all their music in them!"
~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Kristine and Adam had one of their fabulous music parties on Friday night. Emery, Brian, Derrick, and I all went to join in the fun. I had a great time singing! I sang several Carole King songs with my new guitar-playing friend, Doug. He mentioned that we ought to do so a couple of parties back, and we finally had the chance to practice a bit for this party. Together we performed "It's Too Late", "Where You Lead" and "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow".

Later in the evening, I had the opportunity to sing accompanied by Marc, a Russian concert pianist. He was incredible to watch as he performed Chopin and Rochmoninoff, and it was a pleasure to be able to sing with him. Accompanied by Marc, Emery sang "Goodnight, My Someone", after which Emery and I sang "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man of Mine". Marc also accompanied Adam and me singing "The Prayer".

As the night went on, Brian sang "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah" and "Cruella DeVille". Derrick played a few blues numbers on his saxophone. Emery sang "On My Own". I sang a couple of jazz songs with a man named Keith and "All I Ask of You" with Doug. Emery and I managed to fit in our famous rendition of "I've Been Workin' on the Railroad" and Brian, Emery and I attempted "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and our Cole Porter medley of "You're the Top" and "Friendship". Adam performed several of his own songs, including a very comical new one entitled "You're the Best X I Ever Had". We had a fantastic time at the party!

Speaking of singing, Emery and I have been asked by our LDS stake leaders to record the song "In That Holy Place" - the song we have sung for several ward and stake events recently. We are excited at the opportunity. We will have to act quickly, as our accompanist, Clara, and her husband will likely be leaving on an LDS mission within the next couple of weeks!

I begin teaching again tomorrow. I think I am ready to have the kids come back on track... :) It should be good to be back on a more regular schedule, although I certainly had no problem filling every moment of my off-track time. There are always a million things I would like to be doing! But, I can't complain. I will only be on for about 2 months, then I have the whole month of December off. I even have a four-day weekend in October in addition to Thanksgiving break in November. Not bad at all. I have also registered to go to a technology conference toward the end of October, for which a three-day substitute will be provided. So, a lot of fun and exciting things ahead!