Spring Break is over

I had a lovely spring break. It was exactly what I needed: relaxation.

Unfortunately, it began in a rather panicky way. After spending a wonderful day with my parents, sister, aunt, and the puppy, my sister and I had Sunday school. Well, I had school to teach and she had a website to design.  So, that wasn’t break. We spent Sunday afternoon downtown, mostly people watching. She took photos at Millenium Park, we went to a cupcake bakery and bought mini-cupcakes. yum! We ate those at Borders while reading/people watching from above. We finished off our day with some yummy thai food and TV.

Monday morning was an early morning. I had ordered a cab the night before to take us to the Blue Line el stop, to shave off some travel time. Unfortunately, the cab hadn’t arrived 15 minutes after it’s promised time. So, we had to shlep to the bus to the train station. It was super windy. And I ended up running upstairs for my winter coat, which I had hoped to leave behind. After getting into the train station, my sister got her handle stuck. Whoops. I went back through the turnstile to detach it. And, of course, it wouldn’t turn again. And the machine freaked out at my card, not letting me back in. I never have gone over/under a turnstile in a subway before. Now, I have. I am short, so I craweled UNDER the turnstile. What an experience! It happened so fast that I have no details. Needless to say, we got to the airport on time. We LOVED JetBlue. It was so nice to have the personal TV screens and the free snacks (with variety) were great.

Our stay in Florida was very relaxing, as I said. My grandparents live in a country club, with a pool at the house and one at the “club”. We spent a lot of time at the club, because my grandparents decided not to keep the pool heat on. What did we do? mostly we read by the pool or swam. The weather was in the low 70s, not super warm, and there were 10-15 mph winds every day. The wind made it chilly, so that was a disappointment. But, we did get to the beach, where we did not swim. Too windy and cold. We read and my sister took really cool photos.

We had some really nice meals with my grandparents. And, for me, it was just so nice to be cooked for. And, of course, we had my Grandma’s amazing blintzes. There’s nothing like them. ANYWHERE.

We were supposed to go to a one-person theater production, however that person was sick so the show was cancelled. We thought about going to the movies, but nothing good was playing that all of us hadn’t seen. So, TV was our primary evening entertainment. We should have played a game, actually…but we didn’t. One day, though, we took Grandma to Whole Foods. They just built one nearby. That was really fun. They won’t shop there, of course, but it was a fun experience. The store was really nice and instead of the cool noodle shop at the new South Loop location, they had an espresso bar/gelato shop. (I know they sell gelato everywhere, but this was formatted differently).Good evening entertainment!

I enjoyed myself and soaked vitamin D into my skin, hopefully it’ll last. And I only got sunburned at the beach, inconveniently on my calves. Oh well.

it’s fall so it’s raining

Last week we had the remains of Gustav, now it’s just raining for raining’s sake.

I had a pretty good weekend.  I was able to run errands and discovered a near-ish by home depot and Whole Foods.  The Whole Foods is good because I can buy cases of soy milk  boxes (individual sized) for cheaper. I also managed to stock up at Trader Joes and visit a nice Borders (just to kill time).

Dinner was with friends in Lakeview at Pompeii Bakery. The restaurant hearkens back to the day when there was only 1 in Little Italy. It’s a nice place but their speed of service (for an order-at-the counter type) is pretty irregular. Allison and I went to the original in Little Italy a couple of years ago (when we saw Wicked). After dinner we wandered around the neighborhood, stopping in at both Borders and Barnes and Noble. What can I say, we like books! It was startling to realize that instead of the requisite Badger gear that I’m used to seeing around there was Cubs gear! Strange…

Sunday was a busy day. I had religious school orientation in the Gold Coast, so I took the bus and El from Hyde Park for the first time. I got down there on a Sunday in 45 minutes, which was quite encouraging. The orientation was fun. I liked that it included all the madrichim (high school aides) and the teachers. The teachers were all friendly and interesting. It was a much more social experience than I had in Madison. We did ice breakers and broke off into our teaching teams. I have 4 madrichim for my 24 kids, but only 2 were there. They’re both basketball players! so, in our “team” photo, I said that they should stand on each side of me like tall bookends. They probably thought I was weird. During the orientation, it was emphasized repeatedly that kids come to this congregation with varying degrees of Jewish experience and have so many different family structures (both dual/single parent/lgbt/adopted homes but also varying types of interfaith and nationalities). I really liked that emphasis. And there were role-plays done to illustrate what kids might think from what you might say. Good reminders all around. And, before going to orientation, I had already planned on making my first lesson about the diversity of observance/practice in Reform Judaism (the first denomination on our comparative journey). So, that was fun and the bagels/food spread were amazing.

At 5 (busy day!) I had my first rehearsal with Lakeside Pride (yay!) It was so nice to be cheerfully welcomed back. The band has changed so much, especially since they’re involved in search for a new conductor. I really liked the old one, but I understand that he needed to do other things with his time. The conductor team seemed to run smoothly and I got to talk to people I should have met before. My whole section changed while I was gone. Mostly, because people now have kids and are too busy for band. I like the guys in my section, they seem very nice and fun. The organization has more men than women, unfortunately, that’s the way it’s always been. There’s an “ok” amount of ethnic diversity, but the gender balance leans towards the men. My section used to have 3 women, not it’s just me! And the Trombones are currently even…tubas just guys. It’s fun to sit on the top of the risers and look down….

This week is more Hebrew and prep for my first religious school class. Now,if it would only stop raining…

For the love of music

There’s something about playing music that makes me feel whole. I have a feeling that it may have to do with what part of the brain I’m using. But, that’s unsentimental. Just to be cheesy, it’s about the feeling of unity from playing with a group, the beautiful sound emanating from my horn, and the amazing skill of the composer’s music. I adore Eric Whitacre. Everytime I play a piece of his, I’m wowed. This season, my new community band, Edgewood Community Band, is playing Ghost Train. Oh my! This piece is different than October and Cloudburst, but similar. The sounds that are created stun me. I just want to swallow and keep it (the piece) inside, to listen to again and again.

Last night was my first rehearsal with the band. I missed the first 2 because of Rosh Hashanah and Hebrew School orientation. I gave sight reading my all, even though I was exhausted from a long day at Starbucks and Hebrew school. I’m playing with 2 men, in the back row. Both are older than me and one didn’t even speak to me. It’s ok though, I’ll chat him up next time. The tuba player is a woman, which is exciting. I did miss my VFW section-mates, but this music and the director are worth it. I do like the other pieces we’re playing. It should be a fun concert. And, the euphonium parts are nothing to shirk at, which is refreshing. (no da, da, da stuff for me!)

I’m happy to be back in a band that I enjoy again.

Practicing

I’ve been playing the Euphonium (Baritone Horn) since sixth grade. I played through middle school, high school, college, and now in community bands. I’ve complained before (on livejournal) about my most recent stint of community band, where I played a lot of marches and old pieces for old people in nursing homes. I didn’t enjoy the 2 weeks of sight reading followed by less-than perfect performances for audiences that fell asleep during even the most peppy of songs. Well, I found a replacement group and hopefully it will satisfy me. I was already promised a minimum of marches and “good college music”. That sounds good. And I’ve been led to believe that the people will be younger.

However, I have to audition. The conductor did apologize, saying “I feel embarrassed to have people of your caliber audition.” But, auditioning makes me nervous. I’m shocked that I have a caliber. I love playing music, it’s like breathing. It’s relaxing and meditative. I relish the opportunity to make music with a group. But, I’m just a recreational player…(no caliber!)

I started preparing a piece for the audition. And, with all my complaints about the previous community band, I must give thanks for one thing. I’m a much better sight reader than I used to be. It’s a smooth transition to move beyond working on just the notes to those little extras like dynamics and tempo. I’m still extremely nervous about the audition (I have a bad case of stage fright). Right now, though, with the audition 5 ish days away, I’ll enjoy practicing, work on those high notes, and hope for the best.