The Christmas Blog

I'm sitting at my mother's computer in the home of my childhood, peeking through the shrubbery at a light dusting of snow, listening to a Little Shop of Horrors, and thinking warm fuzzy thoughts. Does it get much more idyllic? Well, perhaps it does, but I find myself extremely content at the moment. I wish I had company, but that's how it goes.

This has been a strange Christmas. The life of a liturgical musician is busy this time of year; the services on the 23rd, 24th, and 25th were beautiful. At some point, we may add the Friday service that is historically supposed to come before Christmas. If I really put a lot of time into preparing all this music, it could have been a lot of work; as it is, I usually spend about an hour of preparation per service, placing post-it notes appropriately and running through music. So, really, those days were pretty quiet. Peaceful. Lovely. I'll admit, as I arrived at the Christmas Eve service in the dark, I felt incredibly alone. It hit me like a ton of bricks for a moment or two, but I survived. This was my first Christmas Eve alone, and I'm glad to have escaped with only one blue spell. Some church acquaintances invited me for Christmas brunch before the Christmas day service, which was very nice. It helped stave off my impatience; the minute the service was over, I hit the road to Michigan. I was home in time for home-made soup and presents around the tree. It was a quiet evening, with no sister to brighten the mix, but I loved it. Sometimes I forget how blessed I am to have such a great relationship with my folks. My family is very special to me; I wish everybody had that.

Last night was Broadway night, which explains my choice of soundtrack today. We kicked off the evening with "Suddenly Seymour," and the tone for the night was set. For eleven years now, it has been a biannual tradition to get together with as many friends as are available, willing, and in moderately good voice to sing Broadway tunes around the piano. We sing until we're hoarse, I play until the notes swim before my eyes, and we have an amazing time. These things normally last anywhere from four to six hours. Yes, I admit it freely -- I am a music geek. Don't you wish you were, too?

Boy, did I need this respite! Family, friends, good music, sleep... May your week pass as gently and pleasantly as mine is doing!

Yet Another Immortal Song

Again, an appropriate lyric from my personal mental archives:

I'm gonna buy me a dog,
'Cause I need a friend now.

Before my mother worries, I should mention that this is not an immediate action. More than ever, though, I realize that this is not merely a probability. It's only a matter of how long I can hold out.

After R. and Betsy (today's photo-puppy) visited over Thanksgiving, I knew I really wanted a furry friend and could probably raise one without inviting tragedy. Spending days with my boss' half-trained beagle made me re-think this slightly. I don't have the time to train a dog properly at the moment, and I don't think it's fair to the dog to do the job half-way. So, I'd almost resigned myself to waiting for a slower lifestyle and a house with a yard, when Maggie came to the piano lesson earlier this week. Maggie is J's boxer puppy, snuffly nose and all. After she gave up trying to hide behind J's legs, she learned that I was really a pretty acceptable person. I don't think she's a big fan of piano lessons in general, but she seems to have joined my fan-club.

Honestly, how much longer can I live without a dog of my very own?
It's only a matter of time...

Back in the land of the living!

My homeschooler hasn't shown up yet, so I'm going to steal a few moments for blogging at long last! It's been a wild ride, so I'll hit on a few highlights:

The AMTA conference was amazingly fantastic! It felt so good to be a music therapist again, and I absorbed an incredible amount of information. I also ran into a lot of old friends, which totally surprised me. I sometimes get the idea that I'm rather alone in the world. I've gotten used to going to new places and seeing no friendly faces, starting from ground level in each new situation. What a thrill to see friends I once knew so well! Folks from Radford and Galveston saw me before I saw them and flagged me down to trade updates. I'll admit, I thought it was hilarious that I was the only one of the Radford bunch that didn't need to give their name even once! Was I that memorable? I hope that's a good thing... I did have to repeat continually that I am not married, no kids, lots of work and no social life. But very happy.

Thanksgiving was more mellow than I had hoped for. Four adults and a half-grown rottweiler mix in a one-bedroom apartment full of books could be a recipe for catastrophe. But we really enjoyed being together, my T-day Feast was a success, and I even made time to practice. Being an early riser has its benefits; I rose before my sister and went to the Institute to work. Saw BB King perform in person -- amazing!!!! On the down-side, I seem to be battling performance anxiety again. I had it pretty well beat, before last Spring... Let the healing continue!

In a similar vein, I'm changing my degree program. If I can't play special music with my dad in church without anxiety, there's no way I can complete a performance program without going insane. Since I never really cared about the degree itself, I'm not broken-hearted. I don't feel like I'm washing out -- I will still be working with my new teacher, and I'm making so much progress! I can finish a musicology or theory masters (or probably both!) in another year, only adding a couple classes to my original plan. It's dangerous to start giving me options -- I'm thinking the music ed. masters with the Orff specialty might be a lot of fun to do, or the sacred music program... Hmm, what shall I do next?

My piano students gave a great recital last night. Someday, when I'm a real teacher, my student recitals will last longer than forty-five minutes! For now, I'm just happy to keep it a very positive, fun, rewarding experience. I want my kids to love recitals, not dread them. Maybe that's why I always bake cookies...

I think that's the basic summary. UK is finished for the semester, Christmas is coming, and I have lost my voice. So now things are a little easier. I'm looking forward to going home on Christmas day, having a good Broadway night, and sleeping for about three days. Sometimes, being a student is so worth it!