What's a Bridie?

Aside from the new wife of a hubby, a bridie is a traditional Scottish pastry with a savory meat filling... Mmm!

I took the two little ones to downtown Hartford for the Pipes in the Valley Festival! Here we are eating our bridies while watching the Games. We watched the caper toss. Both men and women took three tries to hoist a tree pole in the air and see who could get it to land the farthest away. It was exciting and almost comical as they wobbled trying to balance the pole and control its momentum, some tries more successful than others. Not an easy task, makes you appreciate the job of ants more!

After the caper toss was over, the kids rushed over to the bouncy castle giraffe for kicks and giggles and bounced around for a while. Derek took sword fighting 101 before we left. 

Meet Derek

Boy, is this boy fun! Derek's first question this morning was "mommy, will you play with me?" Instead we ate breakfast and learned from "the letter people" as I got ready for work.

Derek just started kindergarten at home and he is like a sponge, and enjoying every minute of it! I don't recall anything from my own kindergarten days except the songs my teacher used to play during class. Derek loves music - homeschooling is working great since he is actually learning much of his lessons through music right now. I always struggled with history myself, I found it tedious.  Derek is going through the Classical Conversations "timeline" song and cards every day - I am so impressed with his progress in memorization and his enthusiasm!

Outside of his schoolwork, Derek loves playing with Legos or board games or running around or biking or playing with his friends that live next door. He is constantly humming music - anything from Star Wars one moment to Mario brothers or something he made up on the spot. 

Derek's whole name means "cheerful leader, protector". Yes, he is frequently happy, bossy, and so protective (not always all at once)... living up to his name. Although he constantly tries my patience, I love this kid!

My family - meet Katie

Meet my family. My father in law came to visit a couple weeks ago and we took this at our church picnic.

Today, I introduce Katie. Katie is my stepdaughter. If it weren't for her I may not have ever gotten involved with this lot. That's a whole other story. Katie moved in with us this year after graduating. When asked what she is doing lately, she often answers "nothing" (she is still job hunting) but that's far from the truth. I depend on her for a lot to keep the household running since I work all day. She loves her little brother and sister and takes on child care responsibilities when Mike and I both have commitments. She washes dishes and does laundry. All with little to no complaining and cheerfully while plugged into her iPod. Bringing her into our everyday lives has been overwhelmingly positive.  We are happy she decided to make our home her new home too!

Trombone

I struggled to reach beyond a middle D tonight. I am still glad to have made it to rehearsal though. I started learning the trombone this spring in order to fill in for the Dick Santi Orchestra and the Al Fenton Big Band. I feel like I belong, I love feeling needed! Some nights, like tonight, my body doesn't cooperate to produce the sounds I am looking for, but like true comrades, I might as well have been hitting every note - the attitude is that we are all in this together to improve ourselves and each other and have a lot of fun in the process! 

The cherry on top was actually getting paid for some of the summer gigs!  Time to go pro! Well, maybe not until I can hit the high D with ease!

Glissandos all around!!

Welcome!

This blog, Always Brilli!, is written by me for you.

What's with the name?

Brilli! to me means "Shining Brightly".  You also might say it's a synonym for my married last name, "Gay".  Or short for the word "Brilliant".  Either way, I hope the words I write make your eyes shine and enrich your mind.  I hope to build you up and encourage you.  

I think the Newsboys lyrics are appropriate here:

"Shine / Make 'em wonder what you've got

Make 'em wish that they were not

On the outside looking bored"

I love to get comments; keep in mind that positivity is contagious and very much appreciated!

Until next time,

Shine!