enjoying the sunshine

Hey all! It's been a quiet week since my parents flew back home last weekend. They left just before the weather in Frankfurt got really good. We've been enjoying getting outside and letting Rowan run around the nearby parks. (We've discovered that he really likes wood chips). He's at an age now where he's curious about absolutely everything, he's mobile, and he doesn't understand what "no" means. That's a dangerous combination. To make matters worse, when we tell him "no" he realizes he's getting a reaction out of us so he keeps doing whatever he's not supposed to be doing. So his favorite toys these days are the dirtiest things in our apartment (i.e. our trash can and our shoes) and the most dangerous (i.e. the outlets and power cords). He keeps us on our toes.

Brenda's season in Frankfurt is winding down. She is singing at the ensemble dinner tomorrow night and has just three more performances of Arabella. I start studying for the bar in earnest next week, which means Brenda will be busier looking after Rowan. Hopefully the weather will continue to be good so they can get in a lot of park time.

It's getting late and it's my turn to get up with Rowan tomorrow, so I'd better call it a night. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next time!

looking forward to summer

Hello again! It's quiet around here tonight. Rowan is sleeping, Brenda is at the opera house singing her second performance of Arabella, and my parents are watching the show. I really enjoyed seeing the opera on Saturday, which actually surprised me a little. The cast is great so I knew I'd enjoy the singing, but when I read the synopsis beforehand the story didn't seem all that interesting. Thankfully I was wrong. The plot of Arabella is a little bit like an episode of Dowton Abbey, and the Oper Frankfurt production is excellent. Also it was refreshing to see an opera where the main character doesn't die some tragic death at the end like many of Brenda's characters do. If you'd like to see some of the photos from the Arabella production you can do so here.

Speaking of tragic opera, we're getting really excited about flying to Santa Fe in less than a month. I think I mentioned previously that Brenda is singing the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor this summer, which admittedly is not the cheeriest story, but the music is truly stunning and Brenda will sing a whole bunch of high notes. You should definitely come see it. Plus, Santa Fe has incredible Mexican food, hiking, and sunsets. Yeah, we can't wait to get there. By the way, Santa Fe Opera announced their 2018 season yesterday and sent out this brief trailer. It's worth a look.

I should do a little studying. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next time!

Arabella

Hello again from Frankfurt! All's well here in Mainhattan. My parents arrived on schedule last week, and they've been having a lot of fun chasing after Rowan. He couldn't be happier to have them here. In fact, if I pick him up he'll often want me to hand him over to Grandma or Grandpa. I think that shows his affection for them as well as his resentment towards me for making him take naps.

Brenda had her last Rigoletto performance on Friday and is now totally in Arabella mode. The first performance is on Saturday. As soon as the opera is up and running she should get to enjoy a little more free time, although she has a few more songs to get under her belt before she can take a big break from learning new music.

My parents have been kind enough to babysit for us (or should I say grandparent for us?), which has allowed Brenda and me to do some fun stuff like see a movie (Guardians of the Galaxy 2), go to the grocery store, and vacuum the apartment. I can't help but notice that our idea of fun has changed a little since Rowan came along.

I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

visitors incoming

Hey all! It's been a gray week here in Frankfurt, but that's to be expected this time of year. Brenda's been busy rehearsing, Rowan's been busy walking, and I've been reading law stuff when time allows. We're very excited that my parents are coming to visit tomorrow. They'll be here for over two weeks, and they'll get to see Brenda's last Rigoletto performance this season as well as one of her Arabella performances.

I'm going to keep this short because we've got some last minute tidying up to do before they get here. Have a great week and we'll talk to you next time!

Frohe Ostern

Hello everyone! All's well here in Deutschland. We spent a lot of time with friends over the Easter weekend, and Brenda enjoyed a little respite from her Arabella rehearsals. Rowan is making great strides with his walking (maybe I'll give up puns for Lent next year). Last week he was cautiously taking a few steps between Brenda and me, and this week he can toddle anywhere he likes in the apartment. We're looking forward to the weather warming up again so he can wander around one of the nearby parks.

Brenda has two unexpected children's performances of Rigoletto today. Oper Frankfurt adapts some of its operas into shorter, kid-friendly versions, and the singer who normally sings Gilda (Brenda's role in the regular version) is sick today. The kids' version is actually quite different from the original. For example, most of it is in German even though the original is in Italian, and the singers perform multiple roles. So Brenda's jump-in isn't quite as easy as you might expect, but with an audience full of kids I'm sure she's having a great time.

My pre-bar-prep studying is going well. I'm trying to get through all the courses I didn't take in law school before the official studying begins next month. I just finished Evidence. Now I just need to read Criminal Procedure, Wills and Trusts, Secured Transactions, Agency, Corporations, Partnerships, and Conflict of Laws. Oh man, I almost fell asleep just typing that list. We'll see how far I get.

I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next time!

stepping it up

Hello and greetings from an intermittently sunny Frankfurt! Brenda finished her first week of Arabella rehearsals a few hours ago and is already hard at work in the kitchen baking cookies. (Lucky me!) Arabella is Brenda's last production at Oper Frankfurt as a member of the ensemble, and she's enjoying working with some of the same colleagues she worked with during her first year in the ensemble way back in 2008.

While Brenda's been rehearsing I've been chasing after Rowan who has started taking a much greater interest in walking over the past couple of days. Crawling is still his preferred method of transportation, but when he's cruising around the living room he's started taking a few adventurous steps away from whatever piece of furniture he's holding onto at the time. He'll also walk between Brenda and me when we're sitting across from each other on the floor. Rowan had a play date this weekend with a little guy who was walking all over the place, and I have a feeling Rowan might have gotten some inspiration from him.

In preparation for us moving back to the U.S. sooner or later, I've decided to take the Minnesota bar exam this summer. I graduated from law school almost three years ago (how is that possible?) and I never took a bar exam because we didn't know which state we may ultimately live in. We've now got our sights set on Minnesota so I'm going to take the bar there. This week I've been familiarizing myself with the online bar preparation course I've chosen so I can get a better idea of what bar prep looks like. The course begins May 22nd and I learned yesterday that they expect you to study 8 - 10 hours per day, seven days a week until the exam on July 25 and 26. Fortunately, I can begin studying earlier, which would make for less studying later on.

That's what we've been up to. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next time!

Skål!

Hello all! We're having a noisy day at home today with a lot of drilling and pounding coming from the apartment upstairs. It's been under renovation for months, and we have the scaffolding outside our apartment to prove it. The odd thing is that workers only come once a week at the most. That's fine by me since we've got a baby that needs to take naps, although even with the noise he still seems to sleep pretty well.

Brenda's parents flew back home a couple of days ago after a wonderful visit. They spent a lot of quality time with Rowan and even taught him a few new tricks. For example, he now lifts up his sippy cup and expects you to hit it with your glass to say cheers. They also babysat so Brenda and I could go on dates and so I could see Rigoletto (which was incredibly well sung). We were sad to see them go but look forward to seeing them again in a couple of months in Santa Fe.

Brenda begins rehearsals for her next opera on Monday. She'll be playing the part of Zdenka in Strauss's Arabella in a revival at Opera Frankfurt. Revivals typically get only two weeks of rehearsal but for some reason Arabella is getting four. Brenda made this discovery last week, and since this is a role debut for her she has been forced to accelerate her role preparation. After Arabella Brenda doesn't have to learn a new opera for a whole year (next season is filled with roles she already knows). This season she's learned five new roles so she's excited for a break.

So that's what we're up to. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next time!