Brevity is the soul of?

True story: this past Saturday, I was driving to voice lesson when the brakes gave out on the left side of the car. It was safe enough for me to drive to a Sears auto center afterward, where they replaced all the brakes, which mysteriously enough were all about to go out. I still think the meaning of the dream in my last post was true. Prophecies are that way, true in lots of times and places, because they always stand just outside of time to say what they want to say. Anyone who looks at scriptures and tries to quibble that a prophecy can only mean one thing clearly has no clue about how prophecies work. I had a prophetic dream telling me that I felt the need to slow down and savor the small beauties that fill my days, and it also told me not to putter around when I felt the first set of brakes go. Both true.

I've been incredibly busy preparing for my opera workshop next month. I've discovered that I am far more timid than I ought to be, and I plan to write a whole 'nother post on some revelations regarding the voice and what all.

What has drawn me out of my seclusion, my reclusive little tower of music scores and shopping for fake hair?

The Cutest Baby in the World, of course! Pip now uses like 15 words on a daily basis, and keeps adding other words that he repeats but doesn't use often. Sometimes we have to guess if he means, "Bottle" or "Bath," since he sometimes says "bath" in rapid succession, leading to a "bobbuh" type sound. But anyway, the big news is that he's a climber. He totally takes after his Poppa in that regard. They will soon outstrip me in mountain climbing, but they will be so gentlemanly about it that I'll never suspect that they are waiting up for me rather than just admiring the birds and leaves.

Note: I use the baby's real name in this little video. Please don't put it in writing in the comments, though, as I prefer him to be known as "Pip" online.

Speaking of the world's most awesome baby, I had a wonderful first Mother's Day. Andrew and Pip and Pip's godparents and I went out for skeeball and pizza after church. My gift from Pip was 200 skeeball tokens. We had loads of fun. Pip liked the dancing critters and lights and watching us play games. We all took turns holding him while the others played.

Let me back up a bit: Andrew gave me the sweetest card with a note written in that made me weep, accompanied by a new set of computer speakers to help me in my music studies. He traced Pip's cute little hand in Pip's card to me, which is no mean feat. That kid wiggles. Here are some gratutious photos of Mother's Day and a few that just go to show how much Pip is like his Poppa.

Mothers' Day photos. ^First thing in the am.

Above: Pip getting into Poppa's juggling gear.

"I will hold the umbrella with Poppa."