Month: December 2013 (Page 2 of 2)

Done. 3:00 and I’m home from the last senior citizens Christmas party that I have to be in charge of! Whoo-hoo!

It isn’t that I didn’t enjoy my job, but there were a lot of stressful things about it that I’m feeling more and more relieved to be (almost) done with.  When you get right down to it, it isn’t in my personality to be up in front of people at a party. In a class setting, yes. At a party, not so much. So this job has definitely stretched me to do things I would never have done and, in doing so, I’ve grown as a person. But what a relief to think of being able to go back to being who I am – a piano player/teacher who happens to like to help people exercise and get in shape.

And I’m so excited to not be working for anyone, so when I want to take a week off to be with my grandkids, I can!! Another big whoo-hoo! Only 17 days left .

Today is the last really crazy day. I go to work, send a group off on a trip, go up to Cameron for a 1:45 K-1 concert, rush back to Chetek to practice with the HS choir, back to Cameron to give two lessons, up to Rice Lake to play for 3 girls in the UWBC student recital, back to Cameron to give another lesson (and eat), then over to the Cameron school for the grades 2 – 4 Christmas concert, then home.

After today I just have juries to play for up at UWBC tomorrow afternoon, the work Christmas party Saturday, the Methodist cantata practice Saturday a.m. and performance Sunday, the HS concert Monday, my church choir rehearsal Wednesday and the following Sunday and their performances on Christmas Eve. But I have actual days with nothing except the normally scheduled work and lessons!

It isn’t supposed to get above 0 degrees until noon tomorrow. Above zero! I’m so sick of this really cold weather that I could scream. At least the cars start. Good thing we just got a new battery for the Jimmy.

I know, we never go to a movie. But after I saw that trailer for Frozen, I just had to see it. It was wonderful! I definitely will buy it on DVD and I also may get the sound track. I LOVED so many of the songs. There was really a lot of music in it. But the story line was just so wonderful. And seeing it on the “big screen” was great, too. And for only $6.00 a piece. It must have been the senior rate :). We went right after my two concerts with the Red Cedar Choir, so I was really ready to relax and enjoy myself. Only down side was that after watching a movie in the cold, we had to go back out to our cold cars in below zero weather! (We rode separately, because I went straight to the concert venue after church and Dad just came up for our second performance at 4:00.)

My mom stopped decorating for Christmas at some point. I seem to remember my Grandma did, too. It finally makes sense. It is hard to decorate when there isn’t going to be any company or any other special event at your house and you know that the two of you aren’t planning any extravagant gifts for each other.  It isn’t that you don’t appreciate the meaning of the season. It is just that decorating is a lot of work and doing it just for yourself is hard to justify and sometimes hard to get the energy for when you are so busy with other stuff. But I finally did today, and I’m very pleased with how everything looks.

Well, it did eventually stop snowing. Instead it started raining. What a mess! They called off school yesterday because of the weather, so you know it was bad.  I had the walks at work nice and clean when I left yesterday, but I know this morning I’ll have more REALLY heavy snow, topped with a nice crust of ice to shovel off. Not a lot of snow, at least. But so heavy. Like shoveling concrete, as someone said. The rain mixed in was really weird. You’d be out shoveling, again, and come in soaked from the rain. But it is hard to hold an umbrella and operate a snow shovel at the same time!

The other bad thing was that we missed a day of rehearsal for the Roselawn grade school program which is Monday. For that section of each of the grades, that was their last rehearsal and the only one with the piano part. Maybe today we will have combined classes, so they all get their last rehearsal. I know the show will be fine, either way, but I’m sure Miss Neby is a little worried.

Last night was my first night to rehearse with Jennifer Albrecht’s Methodist church choir and there were 5 people there. We didn’t want to call it off, because there was no open day for a make-up. So we just did it with the small choir. At least there was someone on each part!

Now we are bracing for the really, really cold temperatures predicted this weekend.

(Set to an appropriate tune)

Oh, the weather outside is frightful; with no fire, not so delightful. And since I’ve places to go, Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop.

(Oh, wait, that doesn’t rhyme….)

It makes me tired just thinking of all that I have going on this week!

Tomorrow is the middle school concert, so I have practice for that at 1:00. Then I practice with the gal whose juries and voice recital I’m playing for, then lessons, then the concert.

Tuesday I start going in to practice with Miss Neby at Roselawn. Then lessons, and the monthly Community Center Board meeting (my last – yea!)

Wednesday more at Roselawn, then another practice with the college gal, then lessons and my first practice with the Methodist Church choir for their Christmas program in a couple weeks.

Thursday Roselawn again, then lessons, the recital at the college, and dress rehearsal for the Red Cedar Choir concert coming up Sunday.

Friday I have a dermatologist appointment in Eau Claire (just for a skin checkup), and in the evening a wedding rehearsal for a wedding I’m playing for.

Saturday is a fund raiser at work in the a.m. and the wedding in the afternoon.

Sunday is church, then the Red Cedar Choir concerts at 2:00 and 4:00.

I’m sure glad I’m not singing with the New Auburn Community Choir, too. But it sure is a lot of music I have to have learned this week – middle school choir music, gradeschool program music, Methodist choir music, the college student’s music, Red Cedar Choir music and wedding music. Come to think of it, I’d better go practice!