November is gone...

So it looks like the only way for me to find time to update my blog is to take a sick day from work the day immediately following a 5-day weekend. And lest you think me dishonest, I actually AM sick. Started with a sore throat Saturday night, and has developed into a generally miserable cold. My hope is that staying home today, I can kick this thing before it gets out of control and drags on for weeks. But lets get back to the tast at hand, which is keeping you up to date on the inner workings of my busy life...

This time of year my already busy life is crammed full of performances. For those who don't know, this is my 3rd year singing in the KC Symphony Chorus, and the holiday season is definitely our busiest. The weekend before Thanksgiving, we performed Handel's Messiah - once in Leawood at the Church of the Resurrection (COR) and once at the Community of Christ auditorium (the dome, not the spiral) in Independence. Of course, my evenings the entire week were taken up by commuting to and from seemingly unending rehearsals at both locations. But the end result was well worth it. The Messiah is one of my favorite works to perform.


The next day, I directed our branch choir in it's second ever performance in Sacrament Meeting. We sang the Sally Deford arrangement of For The Beauty of the Earth, complete with flute obligato. I'm so pleased with the amount of progress this new little choir has made in only a couple of months. Although truth be told, I'm looking forward to the day when they call a new choir director (not actually my calling - I'm filling in until they find someone) and I can actually sing with the choir instead of waving my hands out front.

I was lucky to have only 2 days of work last week, and I gave a test to all my classes both days (we are on a block schedule), which led very well into the Thanksgiving break. Now I just have to finish grading all the tests... I know, I know, I'm such a procrastinator. I love teaching, but grading is definitely not one of the reasons why!

Of course I slept in on Wednesday, then met most of the family for lunch at the Pizza Hut buffet before seeing Twilight for the second time. I was very pleased with the way the movie turned out, although there were some very obvious changes and ommissions from the book. I won't say anything more, in case some of you are still planning to see it. But overall, it was very good. Good enough to see several times, and looking forward to the sequel.




Thursday I spent the day at my parents' house, baking pies (with no sugar for Dad) in the morning and waiting until everyone else came over for dinner. Usually we eat earlier, but Shawn and Quinci had an early dinner at her parents this year. Trent was the only one who couldn't make it this year. He spent the holiday with family in Idaho. Because of the late dinner and all the babies, it was pretty much impossible for us to play our usual games after dinner, so most everyone left around 9. I spent the night in Trent's room, not wanting to drive home.

Friday afternoon I met up with some old friends at the Crown Center Ice Terrace: Cory, Alex and his two oldest girls, Jon, Anna and her girls, Kat, Kelsey and Kevin. I didn't ice skate, not wanting to risk falling down and getting wet before my performance, but I got to talk to them a bit. It was nice to see them. They all took off, and I got ready to sing for the Mayor's Christmas Tree lighting.


Halls borrowed graduation robes for us to wear, to make us look more festive and uniform, which we put on over our coats. Then we stood around for a half hour, waiting for our turn to take the stage. They said we would have chairs this year, but that didn't happen. We stood in our usual 4-row formation (on 2 risers) and did our thing. I didn't know they would be broadcasting the ceremony on television, or I would have recorded it. There was a good crowd, we had fun, and afterwards I met up with a few of my friends from the branch for dinner before heading home.


I was really excited to wake up on Saturday to the realization that the weekend was not over yet. Mom and Dad brought over a queen size bed and armoire for me, and took back the antique bed for their spare room. It took us a while, through the snow and a few post-move repairs, to get everything in (the armoire didn't want to fit around the railing), but we did it. I had to promise never to move again. Or hire professional movers next time. Or else! Ha ha. I'm very grateful, though, as this armoire solves my lack of closet space problem.


Sunday morning I woke up to find that the temperature dropped low enough overnight that the snow finally decided to stick. It was not enough snow to make the roads bad, just enough to cover everything in a light blanket of white. Love it! Hopefully next time we will get enough to warrant a snow day. And yes, that IS one of the reasons I love teaching!

Okay, so that's pretty much it for November. It was a crazy month. Now I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of December. And I'm going to start by putting up my Christmas tree...