How's this for a coincidence?

So we did our normal library volunteering this morning. Spent about 2 hours there. Sayer read about half a dozen books to me and the other volunteers. Then she and Duncan were getting restless. We headed out to run other errands after a quick stop at KFC (yeah, I know). Post office, bank, water store, picking up new glasses, other bank, Target, and then, when it was finally after 2 PM, we headed to the South Bay School of Music to see about signing Sayer up for music/voice lessons.

After taking a minute to figure out where in the building the school was we went into their small lobby area where I read signs saying that it was a Quiet Zone (so as not to interfere with ongoing lessons), and that if no one was at the desk you might have to wait until said lessons were over as they don't keep an office staff. Okay. Keeping Sayer and Duncan quiet for a half hour in a small room with few distractions ... I'm up for the challenge.

Luckily, the phone rang, drawing someone from out of the back of the suite. She asked how she could help and I told her we would like to get Sayer into voice and music lessons. She said that the voice instructors don't like to take children before they're about 10, to avoid damage to vocal cords. (Um, okay ... children's choirs, anyone?) Then she went on to say that most piano instructors also didn't like to take younger children, however, she was a piano instructor and did take them starting at 5.5. (I pointed out that it might be a good idea for them to put some of this info on their website, which now only states that they take students from 5.5 to adult.)

So, I lucked into finding the right piano instructor to talk with, it seems. We chatted a bit more and she pulled out her schedule to tell me what times she had available. I'm a bit bummed that the school doesn't offer lessons before 2 PM, but oh well. This instructor had about 5 slots open during the week. I told her the one that worked best for us was Monday at 3 PM. I explained that we home school, and that I try to lump our out-of-the-house chores and activities together so that we can have solid days at home dedicated to studies. At which point she told me that the slot I'd chosen had belonged to a little boy a bit older than Sayer, also home schooled, whose parents had just decided to move to Tracy and canceled his lessons.

This rang about 101 bells for me. I asked her if the student's mother was named Suji. Wouldn't you know it ...

So, next Monday at 3 PM Sayer will have her first piano lesson in a spot vacated by Suji's son. Crazy coincidence, huh?

For those of you who don't know who Suji is, she's got a great blog over at funschooling.net. She used to live shouting distance away, for all that we never met, but has now moved away. :(

BTW, we chose piano to start because Mark is brilliant. We'll have to get a keyboard for her for practice, and keyboards come with headphone jacks ...