Dear Family and Friends,
Happy August! I hope those of you living outside Connecticut have not been experiencing the terrible heat and humidity that we have. Yesterday the humidity finally died down a bit and it actually got pretty cool overnight, but it's not fall yet, and I wouldn't be surprised if we have another round of heat and humidity.
Things have been busy around here. Joey played his first Sunday service at Calvary Church on August 7th. I was asked to provide "special music" for the offertory and communion, so I played "Vocalise" by Rachmaninov and two movements of Handel's Sonata in E Major with Joey on the organ. It was great to get to play and we were surprised how many people were in the congregation considering the time of year. People were eager to meet Joey and welcome us to Calvary. During the service the rector brought us up front and introduced us to the congregation and said a blessing and prayer for us. It was a special day and we felt very at home. This past Tuesday the church held a wine and cheese party for people to come meet and welcome us to the church. The reception lasted for an hour and then we all met in the church sanctuary where Joey and I gave a 30 minute recital. Joey and I spoke a little about ourselves and about the music before we played and then answered questions from the audience at the end of the performance. It was a lot of fun and everyone was so supportive and welcoming. It was a great first week in Stonington.
The only down side to Joey's job right now is the long commute from Wallingford. We keep reminding ourselves, however, that it is temporary and that in a little over two weeks we can walk 5 minutes to church. Actually, I'm starting to enjoy the drive. It's a relatively scenic drive up the coast and Joey and I find that it provides a nice time for conversation (something that you don't always get when you are at home taking care of a baby!), and when Clara decides to nap in the car we enjoy listening to beautiful music. (Lately it's been the Brahms Trio in B Major, one of my favorites!) Anyway, we are making the best of the long drives.
Clara is doing really well. Her newest development is "talking". She has started making different talking sounds and enjoys talking back and forth with us. (We don't have a clue what she's talking about but we just go with it!) She is also turning out to be quite the social baby. Several times we have taken her to restaurants and she has quickly become the center of attention due to her happy squeals and "talking". (We realize this could potentially annoy people but so far she's had a pretty positive response) Anyway, she is a lot of fun. She sleeps pretty consistently from 9pm to 5am every night. Sometime she wakes once in the night to eat, but many times she sleeps straight through. She is not a great napper. She likes to take 30mn cat naps. However, she is in good spirits and doesn't seem overly fussy so I'm not too concerned at this point.
Well, I better get to bed. We have to get up early tomorrow because Joey is playing a funeral service in Stonington. We hope you enjoy these last few weeks of summer! Best wishes! Joey, Erin and Clara