Mar 17, 2026
Dear Gracie,
This was a very quiet week. Dad left for his long trip to Mississippi on Tuesday. He'll be gone all the way until Friday this week. We miss having him here! Jason Baker actually went out to visit him over the weekend, and they played a lot of disc golf together.
Benson had a tennis match in Heath this week. He and his doubles partner (Brennan Taylor, the band director's son) lost their doubles match, and then each played the opponents in singles matches and won those! He would like to continue tennis next year as a freshman but the band schedule is intimidating, since it's every morning and tennis is every afternoon. But since Brennan is going to do it, he thinks he'd be able to, also. I think I mention this a lot, but he changes his mind about it a lot. He also asked for an upgrade to some of his mallets that he's using that were Scott's and are now breaking, so I guess we can get him some new ones. 
His band did their UIL performance on Thursday and they got superior ratings. Yay!
His band did their UIL performance on Thursday and they got superior ratings. Yay!Tessa had a lot of homework and tests that she had to push through this week. It was worth it, though, because she left on Friday morning to go to Orlando with the band. They're going to be there until Thursday this week, and will be going to Universal Studios (including their new Epic Universe) three times (once to march in their parade) and Disney World twice. It rained intermittently on them for two days and it was really cold (along with all of the Eastern US--us included) on Monday, but the rest of the week should be better for them. I'm glad she gets to go, but I'm kind of sad that this is her "senior" trip (as a junior) and we won't be going somewhere fun with her next year.
I had my usual activities this week, including pickleball, piano, and preschool. The weather was so beautiful all week long, and the spring flowers are coming up everywhere, including on the trees. I went to a Relief Society activity where we watched the broadcast, and then I had a book club meeting, which was fun--though I'm always the first to leave. 
(None of the others get up for seminary!) I finished reading two books this week. One of them was for my family book club (The Magician of Tiger Castle, which I enjoyed), and one was for the library reading challenge. We had to read a book we said we'd never read again, so I chose As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner. I had to read it in 11th grade, and remember thinking it was terrible, though I couldn't remember why exactly. So I thought maybe as an adult I'd understand it better, which I did, but it's still a difficult book to read. I can see the literary devices he used better, and the language is pretty poetic, if you can get around the swearing and subject matter (which was a problem for me as a teenager). It's funny because I had pulled out my journal this week to find something I had written about during that time, and came across an entry that said I was reading that book and I wrote "I never want to read it again and I will never recommend it to anyone." So I guess I remembered my feelings about it correctly!
(None of the others get up for seminary!) I finished reading two books this week. One of them was for my family book club (The Magician of Tiger Castle, which I enjoyed), and one was for the library reading challenge. We had to read a book we said we'd never read again, so I chose As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner. I had to read it in 11th grade, and remember thinking it was terrible, though I couldn't remember why exactly. So I thought maybe as an adult I'd understand it better, which I did, but it's still a difficult book to read. I can see the literary devices he used better, and the language is pretty poetic, if you can get around the swearing and subject matter (which was a problem for me as a teenager). It's funny because I had pulled out my journal this week to find something I had written about during that time, and came across an entry that said I was reading that book and I wrote "I never want to read it again and I will never recommend it to anyone." So I guess I remembered my feelings about it correctly!Spring Break is this week! You might have noticed that Dad and Tessa are not home, so it's me and Benson hanging out. We had our lessons (mandolin and percussion/piano) on Saturday, and then went to downtown Wylie to get some fresh, warm fried pies (and ice cream, for Benson) in honor of Pi Day, which we ate over at the park. There were a bunch of sidewalk sales going on, but Benson had no desire to linger. Later, I also made a blackberry cheesecake pie, but it had to cool in the fridge, and by the time it was ready, we were ready for bed, so we enjoyed it on Sunday. On Sunday a large cold front came through across the eastern part of the country (as I mentioned) and the temperature dropped from almost 80 in the afternoon to 32 on Monday morning. We didn't want to go outside more than we had to, so we ran some errands (going to the post office, dropping Tessa's clarinet off at a music store in Frisco to fix the swelling wood from humidity which made the barrels stick together, and to Sam's Club for lunch and a cart full of unnecessary but fun and/or tasty things.) I did have two piano lessons to teach in the afternoon, but I've cancelled all the others for the week. We have a few more things planned for this week, but I'll update you on that next week! Thankfully the weather is supposed to get much warmer again.
I need to get this sent! We love you!!!
Love,
Mom
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