Cello, Cilantro, and S'mores

With a somewhat heavy heart . . .

. . . I returned Joy's cello to the instrument rental store today.  After a few months of cello lessons, Joy realized that she really prefers the piano after all.  She likes that the piano can produce a wide range of sounds that create beautiful harmonies all on one instrument.  I think the biggest clue about where Joy's heart truly lies is that she often sits down to the piano to play fun variations of familiar tunes, but she never picked up her cello unless she had to. 

I don't regret letting Joy try the cello, but I told her if she wants to take any other non-piano lessons, she'll need to get a job and pay for them herself.  I'm happy to help her expand her skills with an instrument that she will actually play on a regular basis (the piano), but I'm done paying for experiments with instruments she may set aside after a few months.

In other news, we're finally past the final frost of spring (I hope), so I decided to start planting some herbs and vegetables in our raised bed.  But first, I had to yank out all of the mint (AKA the herbal equivalent of the Roman Empire) that had sprung up in our garden again.

Ah, that's better!  I still need to buy some of the veggies I want to plant, but at least the bed is ready, and I've got my cilantro, parsley, and thyme planted.  Also, the garlic I planted last fall is doing pretty well. :)

After the sun went down, we fired up the grill and roasted s'mores for dessert.  Except for Joy, who stayed inside because she worried our gas-powered grill would explode.  Fortunately, no grills exploded in the making of these s'mores, and Joy's nice little sister roasted an extra marshmallow for her to eat in the dining room.