Sylvia Walks, Claps, and Drinks...All at Once!

Here is the video...boo to WordPress!

The Blog Has up and Moved

Please go to symphoniadomestica.wordpress.com to find the new home of our blog. All the previous posts have been exported there.

The reason for the move is two-fold:

1. Wordpress (the new blog host) has some features that Blogspot does not. At Wordpress anyone can comment and leave their name, no need for an account or "Anonymous." There is also a feature that shows recent comments so we can see who has left us a note. Wordpress also keeps viewing statistics; it's just a bit more sophisticated.

2. The name for our blog comes from a composition by Richard Strauss. He wrote a symphony that depicted his life at home with his wife and son. While some call it Sinfonia domestica (the proper Latin/Italian spelling), Strauss himself titled it Symphonia Domestica, and that is the "correct" title as recognized by musicians today. I thought our blog's name should reflect the official spelling.

There you have it. We hope to see you at the new site!

The Merry (Busy) Month of May

So sorry for another hiatus. We have been having a lot of fun this month, and boy are we glad it is over! Sometimes it is so comforting to get back to normal...

May began with our family vacationing with the Raynes clan in Ruidoso, New Mexico, home of Neil Patrick Harris, aka Dr. Doogie Howser. Never saw him around town, but we sure felt his spirit. Ruidoso is a beautiful ski resort town nestled among mountain peaks smack dab in the middle of the Southwestern deserts we call home. We stayed at a lovely condominium that Ron and Sue reserved for a family getaway before Leah and Brandon (Meghan's sister and brother-in-law) headed off to Guatemala for their study abroad projects.

Ruidoso itself didn't have a whole lot to do beyond hiking and finding scenic points on mountain tops, so we took advantage of its proximity to several New Mexico tourist spots. First on our list was Carlsbad Caverns. Let me encourage all of you to find a way there someday; it was spectacular. The caves are ENORMOUS and full of stunning features. Perhaps the best part of the experience was the mile plus hike descending into the main caverns. It is not too strenuous as long as you can walk that far (although the constant downward grade was a bit tiring). If you're up to it, go that way rather than the elevators.

The entrance to the caves is a gaping maw-like opening that smells very strongly of urea, thanks to all the bats! According to the park rangers, every dusk the bats exit the caves en masse in an impressive display of nature. People gather every evening to see the spectacle.

The next shot is taken from the opposite viewpoint (from within the entrance looking out). It's hard to put it all in perspective, but let me assure you the space you see below is MASSIVE. I don't know the actual dimensions, but the cave is 100+ feet high, possibly much more.

Once you finish the trek in, you come to what is called the "big room." This is a continuous, looping cavern that comprises an area bigger than six football fields. The picture below is just one example of what you see there. The US Parks Department has done an incredible job with lighting the caverns and creating paths. This was definitely worth the three hour drive to get there!

On the way back to Ruidoso we made a quick stop at Roswell, home of UFO enthusiasts and conspiracy theorists. A cute tourist trap, but nothing too memorable, other than the ubiquitous alien memorabilia and decorations around town. Even the street lights had alien eyes!

We also visited the rolling white sand dunes outside of Alamogordo, NM. We did some sledding down the dunes but found the oppressive heat wore us out very quickly. (Blogger isn't letting me post pictures currently, sorry.)

My graduation also kept us on our toes this month. My family (parents, grandparents, and my brother Trevor) came to town, and Meghan's mom Sue and sister Sarah were also on hand to witness the big day. Of course, the day wasn't really about me; the true honored guest was President Obama. His attendance meant that 60-70,000 people would fight for the chance to be at ASU's commencement this year. As you can imagine, tickets were hard to come by. I was fortunate to find a seat for all who wished to come see me graduate. Meghan took the picture of the amassed throng in Sun Devil Stadium.

Here's a shot of the fam trying to withstand four long hours in full, 100 degree sunlight. And that was just to be in place for the start of the 2 1/2 hour ceremony! Security was tight so everyone had to arrive four hours early. Sheesh!

The President gave a remarkable and memorable speech. As a doctoral grad, I sat three rows from the front and dead center in front of the lectern. Amazing! To top it off, after I was hooded by Dr. Russell, I got to go on stage and shake the President's hand. Meghan got this shot of me approaching Obama as seen on the jumbo tron. Dr. Russell took some close-up shots but he hasn't emailed them to me yet...

As you can imagine, after a nearly eight-hour ordeal in the hot sun, we were exhausted. We found our way to Jack in the Box (the only open restaurant we could find) for a celebratory dinner and collapsed in bed. Below you can see bleary-eyed versions of me and my grandparents.

The picture below is of my father and my doctoral hood. The lovely pink signifies that my degree is a DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts). The maroon and gold on the inner part of the hood designate that my degree came from ASU.

The next day we got to do it all over again at the Herberger College of the Arts convocation. Here I am posing with Sylvia beforehand.

We've sure had fun this month--and we hope things stay quiet for a while so we can recover!

Developments on the Sylvia Front

Our adorable baby girl is growing up so fast! In the last couple of weeks she has utterly mastered crawling and pulling herself up--she always grins a goofy toothless smile when she gets praise for that. She has also recently discovered how to speak in syllables. She spends long periods of time saying "Ga-ga-ga-ga" and my personal favorite "Da-da." Of course she is referring to me!

One downside to her mobility and insatiable curiosity is that she is GETTING INTO EVERYTHING. And she finds herself trapped in predicaments like these...

Easter Festivities

We enjoyed a fun and busy Easter last week. Because I had so many musical responsibilities, the day itself was a bit stressful for everyone (until the Howdens invited us over for dinner--then we didn't have to cook). Here are a few pictures to give you a taste of our holiday activities.

Fire Chief George made sure egg dying procedures were followed to ensure optimal safety.

The Easter Bunny left a generous spread for all this year.

Sylvie channelled her inner Aretha to put together her Easter look this year. Tres chique!

George's egg hunting skills were markedly better than last year, but we still couldn't hide them TOO well...

Of course there was time for the mid-hunt snack. To the finder go the spoils.

From the looks of these kids, Easter was a success.

Job Search Update

If you regularly check the blog, you are probably wondering how my job search goes. In all honesty, it hasn't gone well. I've sent out around two dozen applications and gotten exactly zero interviews, let alone job offers. The biggest disappointment came yesterday. Recently Dr. Russell informed me the Metropolitan Opera had contacted him about my qualifications for the Lindemann Young Artists Development Program for Pianist/Conductors. Apparently they had a very positive discussion (Dr. Russell made me sound like I walk on water) and the indications were that I would be invited to New York for a daunting but exciting audition. For three uneasy weeks no news came, until yesterday. As we suspected (given their long silence), the Met opted not to invite me for an audition.

While disappointing, I am not too upset by this outcome. When it comes to "big breaks," you want them to come at the right time. If you get your chance before you are ready, you can do irreparable damage to your career. Nobody wants to eat a cake before it has fully baked! So I am happy to continue working hard and getting better at what I do before being exposed in the big leagues of the music profession.

There are some glimmers of hope. Along with the Met's interest, I was encouraged by a call from the Calgary Philharmonic. They let me know that they were very interested in me but that my lack of Canadian citizenship would exclude me from being a candidate for their resident conductor position. Also, a colleague of mine recently won a conducting job at Michigan Technological University. This is good for me because his resume looks almost exactly like mine (he studied at both BYU and ASU) but he graduated back in 2006. So when our applications go to the same search committees, they likely preferred him over me due to the fact that he has a bit more experience. So, phew, he's out of the job market and my resume no longer has a twin!

The job market has been very quiet since January, but in the last couple of weeks a few last-minute positions popped up. Here are job applications I'm waiting on:

Simpson College (Indianola, IA). Vocal Coach/Opera Conductor, One-year sabbatical replacement position. I've had this one sent off for more than a month; likely this committee has already passed on me.

State University of New York, Purchase. Assistant Professor of Conducting, part-time position.

Metropolitan State Collge of Denver. Director of Orchestras and String Studies, tenure-track position.

Elon University (NC). Music Director of Music Theatre, tenure-track position.

Interschools Orchestras of New York, Music Director. This is a youth orchestra position.

Orchestra Toronto. Apprentice Conductor, part-time position with community orchestra.

Royal Conservatory of Music (London). Professor of Conducting, part-time position teaching class conducting courses to music majors.

And that's it for now. If I haven't secured an interview by the beginning of May, we will likely be staying in Mesa for the forseeable future (possibly six months, maybe until the 2010-2011 school year begins) while I continue the hunt for employment. That's not all bad; we have great friends here, Meghan has a good job, and I can have time to find the very best opportunity.

We feel hopeful that this will all work out in due time, and lucky to be living a happy, healthy, and provident life! And we are especially grateful all of you care about us and give us your support and well wishes.

We'll keep you posted!

Matthews Safari: A Crawling Tour...by Sylvia

Today we will be exploring a wild and treacherous land known as "The Matthews Home." My name is Sylvia and I will be your tour guide this afternoon. (Spoken in a highly affected British accent).




Notice to your left the hind quarters of a ferocious animal the natives refer to as "Bobo." Rather a ridiculous name, if you ask me, but what can you expect from people who use their feet to walk around on. Everybody knows that feet are meant to be sucked on, anything else would just be vulgar.



Moving on. Oh my...hmmm...it appears as though the Redheaded Milk Machine has not mopped this floor in weeks. It is exceptionally deplorable. I did warn you that this was a treacherous place.



Ah, we have now come upon a truly majestic creature; full of both terrifying mystery and irresistible fluffiness. If only he would let me grasp him for just a moment...Alas, every time I get close he looks at me with contempt, bites my arm and scampers away. I have heard rumors that the animal is possessed of an evil spirit, inflicted on him by the Bald One's constant abuse.

I can see how this is possible; I too am often a victim of this man.






Never fear, one day he will be paying my therapy bills.



Oh, I see we have come to the dangerous precipice. One must navigate carefully.




Slowly...

Slowly...

AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

I curse you, unfinished and useless step! Why must you impede my journey into the land of moving pictures?

Oh. You saw that? Well, perhaps we better conclude this crawling tour. As you can see, the peril is great. Maybe at some later date we can explore the black snakes that grow out of the wall or the green bowl that holds those delicious brown pellets.


Until next time.

Starting the Indoctrination Early

Sylvie and I had our first Mother-Daughter outing this past weekend. We took a little roadtrip up to Southern California with my good friends Jessawhy, Holly, G and EmilyCC to attend this conference. Sylvia was an angel during the drive and exceptional for the 8 hour conference. She was the best baby there! Okay, she was the only baby there but I think she added a much needed cuteness factor to this serious academic conference.

After the conference we headed up to Lake Arrowhead with some more friends for a two-night stay at a cabin in the mountains. It was so wonderful to talk and laugh and play with friends. And Sylvie had more snuggles and loves from her mom and the other curmudgeonly feminists than she could hope for. All in all, it was a wonderful trip!

Hopefully all the intelligence, empowerment and assertiveness seeped into Sylvie's beautiful little soul. She could do a lot worse than become like these women. And if she needs reminding, I'll just round them all up again in twelve years for a menarche ceremony :).

(Thanks to Jana and G for taking the pictures.)

A New Look, Transportation Update, and a Bath

Hope you like the new look for the blog. Springy, no? Here in Arizona spring is about to end and summer is arriving. Urgh.

In Matthews transportation news, little baby Goo (Sylvia) has discovered the joys of crawling. She's not yet mastered its intricacies, but she has begun full-fledged mobility.

George has a new set of clogs, and we are relieved to report that he likes them almost as much as his old ones; he's already slept with them and eaten with them as well. Oh the joys of "uh-shooooos." (That's Georgie speak.)

The babies also had their first bath together and it was completely adorable. Oh, how they will one day rue these photos...

I Want Justice...by George

LOST

One red & blue rubber clog.

Lost somewhere on Dobson Road, between Guadalupe & Baseline. An unfortunate arm twitch/throwing compulsion resulted in the misplacement of my beloved shoe.

WANTED

I am charging this man with criminal negligance for failing to notice me throw my shoe out of the jogging stroller.

The suspect is considered mean and unsympathetic.

The Lost Month

Yes, we're still alive here. Thanks for checking in periodically, and sorry that you have had nothing new to see for a while.

We have had a tough month. I spent all of February conducting an opera production, so I was basically absent from home. We enjoyed a visit from my parents and grandparents at the end of the month--they came down to see the show. Once they left, I immediately contracted some horrible illness from which I am only now recovering. Unfortunately, the kids both picked it up. They had a fever for three days and are still both congested--Sylvie sounds downright pathetic when she tries to cry and a raspy sqeak is all she can produce. Happily, they are getting better now, too. But Meghan just came down with it. That's the fun of living together as a family, I guess.

Anyway, we've been in a funk for a couple of weeks and have hardly felt the energy to do much, especially blog. But it would be a shame to let an entire month go by undocumented. So here are some shots:

George sporting a BYU hat and monkey-leash harness at the cactus arboretum. We went there with Grandma and Grandpa Matthews. Such a pity that the kid already has a monkey on his back at this age!

Sylvia gets more beautiful every day. Look at those eyes! And as an added bonus, she can also suck her own toes. So talented!

Last Saturday, we celebrated Pi Day (3-14, get it?) with our ward; everyone brings pie and pigs out. Meghan and I made a beautiful chocolate ricotta tort. Unfortunately, it looked better than it tasted. It was just too rich! Curse you, Giada di Laurentiis, and your over-the-top recipes! The pine nuts looked cool but overwhelmed the pie. Oh well.

Dear World: I Promise I'm A Good Mother

Dear Colleague:

I realize that despite the cold spell Arizona has had recently, Baby Sylvie consistently comes to work in little more than a onesie. I refuse to take responsibility for this...Brandon is perfectly capable of dressing her in weather appropriate clothing. He feels, however, that Sylvie has enough baby fat to withstand the elements.

I could fight this battle but I would lose, just like I lost the baby kissing/baby pinching battle. Plus, if I were to actually exert the energy it would take to insist that Brandon put a sweater on our Rubenesque child, I would no longer have enough energy to keep from telling you that "supposedly" is never pronounced "supposebly."

Dear Random Man at Church:

Yes, I know my son's hair is similar to that of a old, homeless man's. Despite my best efforts, I cannot tame the monster's mane...

I have cut, brushed, combed and gelled as much as one mother can do with a two year old. Unfortunately, I cannot overcome swift toddler hands or my father's genetic gift of cowlicks.

Don't worry, I'm fully intending on taking George's do from Transient to Skinhead as soon as the weather heats up. Yeah, that's how I roll.

Dear Judgemental Lady at Safeway:

I agree that perhaps m&m's at 10:00 a.m. is not the wisest nutritional choice for my child, especially as his genetic line is littered with people who have "the sugar." Nevertheless, I think that you'll agree that your shopping experience is much pleasanter without his goat-like bleating reverberating off the canned foods.

Also, thanks to your withering death stare, I just forgot to pick up the key ingredient I need to make dessert for Valentine's Day. So, ruiner of my self-esteem and chocolate bread pudding, if you would please remove your cart from the middle of the aisle so I can push my double stroller through, I would appreciate it.

Dear Neighbors:

If you think you hear my child screaming alone in the backyard and worry that he is being neglected, please don't call the police. I promise that he is actually in his screened-in playroom playing with the mountain of toys that I have bought him out of my hard-earned guilt...I mean money.

Your benevolence in this matter will save me a year's worth of humiliation, a fight with my husband and two days worth of crying.

Thank you all for your patience.

Sincerely,

One unexceptional, but earnest mother

Fashion Week

So we are creating new trends in haute couture here in the Matthews household. George has a real knack for choosing amazingly dapper ensembles. Featured below is his latest pick--he is wearing it as I write this post!--Pampers diaper (size 4), Sunday dress from waist up (blue shirt, red tie, suit vest), monkey leash harness (he literally asked Meghan to put it on him), and that "tie it all together" accessory, the fireman's helmet.

Doesn't he look reflective in that shot? Looks like it is straight out of the Neiman Marcus catalog.

Sylvie is wearing what I call the Rhapsody in Pink:


In case you assumed that Dad must have chosen such a get-up, I must inform you that you guessed wrong. This was Meghan's fashion sense, all the way.

Happy Birthday, George

This has been Georgie's birthday weekend. We have been very busy celebrating and having fun--and dealing with the rather disappointing reality that George doesn't yet understand how special a birthday is compared to every other day. Even when his Mom and Dad go to great lengths to have toddler-friendly festivities.

Friday, the birthday proper, began with the two-year old opening his presents. His favorite was a racing cart his parents have him. The video below shows his first drive; initially you will see that he was not pleased that he was being filmed so early in the morning. What a vain two-year old!

George had a monkey-themed weekend, and breakfast featured "monkey bread," basically cinnamon pullaparts with a carmel sauce. Very yummy. The rest of Friday was very busy--work for Mom, lunch appointment for Dad, and several voice lessons in the afternoon. That evening we had a fancy dinner in George's honor and saw a movie, The Tales of Desperaux. It was cute, and George enjoyed it (most of the time).

Saturday we invited some friends (the Steeds and Curtises) over to have lunch and monkey cake. We had a lot of fun, especially having other adults over to keep us company. We really had a blast--thanks for coming over, guys! Meghan created the most amazing cake, see below. Its creation was an odyssey in itself--ask us again sometime...

Everyone was happy to help George blow out the candles. We had at least four boys trying simultaneously. In the end, Meghan did the honors.

We were just relieved George seemed to enjoy the cake!

Call of the Valkyrie

As you may know, Sylvia is a vocal little baby. She loves to coo, goo, and shriek with delight. I've always wanted to catch her vocal outpourings, but whenever I got the camera in front of her, she clammed up. Well, this week she has become even more vociferous, and far less camera shy. So here are a couple of clips of Sylvie-speak, one filmed by me and the other by Meghan.

Major Announcement

You heard it here first, people. Today I finished the first draft of my "doctoral document." It came to about 80 pages. I say that's not bad for a non-scholarly degree in performance, right? In case you are wondering it is entitled "Programming Trends in American Orchestral Concerts: A Reexamination of Musical Taste Twenty-five Years after the Price Study." Sounds cool, no?

I Make Milk

So I have to admit, I feel a little left out of this blog thing. Yes, I have my own blog and I write for another...but that is about boring feminist stuff, not about my cute kids. I wish every day that I was at home snuggling my babies and blogging about their crazy baby antics.

Insert crazy baby antics here:

(George deciding that the rules of the road, and gravity for that matter, no longer apply to him.)

(George declaring that he is the kind of drummer that rips cushions off of furniture...Motley Crue here I come.)

I was meeting with a client in my office the other day and having a fairly serious conversation with her about her parenting skills. She was telling me how she wanted to be more involved in her children's lives. Then out of nowhere she said, "You know, if I had wanted to stay home and where a long skirt, I would have married a Mormon!"

I just about fell out of my chair laughing and had a hard time keeping my composure for the rest of our meeting. After my client had left, I heard those words reverberating over and over again off the BYU diploma hanging on my wall. And I wondered to myself (in a very Carrie Bradshaw-like way), how did I manage to mess that formula up?

Epic Fail.

So, when not managing to mess up perfectly simple cultural formulas, I go to work and feel pretty good about providing for my family. Of course, providing is relative, as I learned from my little friend Jaxon.

We were over at the Steed's home recently so that Brandon and Mark could practice their Wii Tennis skillz (see, I can be a TAMN blogger too). As I was nursing Sylvie, Jaxon climbed up on the couch next to me and we had a perfectly adult conversation about breastfeeding. (Props to Jessica and Mark for being such wonderful parents and teaching their boys that nursing is natural.) Jaxon told me about how his mom used to nurse his little brother and that she had this really cool pump that sucked milk out of her and put it in a bottle. I told Jaxon that I go to work like his daddy and that I had a pump like that I used it to make Baby Sylvie's milk. Jaxon thought about that for a moment and then said, "Yes, but my daddy makes money."

So for any of you wondering what I do all day...I make milk.

And she is obviously not complaining!