april

How goes it, Reader?  Long time, no post right?  Tonight I have about 17 minutes before I plan to hit the sack so I figured I'd give a brief update:

Things have been really, really busy.  I guess that goes without saying, seeing as how its been a couple of weeks since my last serious post.  Literally since mid-March, each week has been one thing after another:  a joint concert with a touring choir, a huge wedding, Holy Week, a graduate vocal audition, and today was district contest.  Thursday Lutheran goes to sing at the Fox.  Then we have about two and a half weeks til their spring concert.  A week after that is my kids' recital.  Then graduation.  Holy cow, right?  Try living it.

But it's been good.  The past month has indeed been busy, but it's also been a really great set of performing experiences.  My teacher has been helping me a lot and I've learned so much professionally as a pianist and a performer.  And even though I've been busy with stuff for other people, I've kept working on my own stuff (right now a Beethoven sonata and some smaller advanced teaching pieces that I've always wanted to spend a little extra time on) because I've realized that more than anything, that's what I enjoy.  I love teaching my kids and working on my own music.  Accompanying is fun and great and wonderful but when the rubber meets the road, it's work.  And that's ok.  It's taken me a year and a half to realize that, but now that I have, I enjoy it a lot more because I'm not trying to make it be the thing that sustains me.

Nine minutes left.  What else can I tell you?

Oh yeah, my parents sold the building that was my last home during late adolescence and college.  My mom will still live there and rent from the new owner.  But yeah... definitely someone else's property / responsibility now.

A lot of other things have happened too.  But all I can think about right now is getting to the end of this school year.  Or even this week.  I'm ready to slow the crap down.  We've been in busy season for at least six weeks now... high busy season for a month or longer and what keeps coming to mind is no more running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  I have visions of driving calmly from place to place, taking my time with people, and actually spending more time thinking about my students than the choir I play for.  I look forward to that very soon.

And I keep hoping that at some point I'll have slowed down enough to collect my thoughts again.  Because I know there's more processing to do... of life period, if nothing else.  But I can't quite get there yet.  Because last night I got home and realized that I needed to go to bed a half an hour later.  And right now, that's kind of the norm.  One of the few solaces I have left is the morning tub routine of either reading or doing my Bible study for 20 minutes in the tub before I get ready and go about my day.  I finally finished "A Tale of Two Cities" and it was so, so good.  One of my favorites ever I can safely say.

Anyway, I hope you are well, Reader.  I promise to return again as soon as things settle down a little.  In fact, you'll probably get sick of me this summer.  I plan to do nothing but practice and sit on the couch and watch the Olympics.  And occasionally wander outside to water my rosebush.