I’m finding myself in the mood to write again, so I’m here on my neglected blog once again. I’m not really sure what this will become. It might be the beginning of a new start, or it might be a one-time posting. I guess we’ll all find out together.
Hits and Misses got to be a challenge for me because I sometimes found that there weren’t enough “Hits” in the week to post. That became really depressing, so I didn’t find myself looking forward to writing each Monday. This was further made evident when I realized that the weekly post was just a recapping of my daily journal entries. Who wants to write the same thing twice? I certainly don’t want to repeat the same activity if I don’t have to. So I put my blogging away and just focused on my journaling. It was the right decision for the time.
So instead of separating things into the good and the bad, the “Hits and Misses” of the week, I’m just going to write a review of the week. Sometimes there will be highlights. Other times, it might just be a purging of negative feelings. That’s fine. I don’t want your feedback or your suggestions to improve my situation, dear reader. Just be a silent observer. I have enough people who feel the need to comment on my life as it is….and quite honestly, they normally just end up pissing me off. So, keep your thoughts to yourself. If you can’t handle that, then you can just exit my page now.
Whew….
Now that the ground rules have been established, let’s get on with the weekly review for the last week of April 2023.
Baseball season is here! In case you haven’t noticed, the boys are swinging the bats again. That gives me some kind of routine in my life again that is badly needed. Not entirely sure that I am a huge fan of the pitch clock; I get that it makes the pace of the game move along, but I kind of appreciated the calm, languid pace of the game. Now I don’t feel as though I can look away for a moment or I’ll miss something.
Recital hearing success. I’m not playing for many students these days – yeah, that’s a whole different frustration – so I don’t have as many recital hearings in my life as I used to. Thankfully, this year’s single hearing went off without a hitch on Tuesday night. Now we just keep moving toward the big event on May 9.
Senior moment. I’m such a creature of habit. However, if something doesn’t appear on my calendar, it isn’t going to happen. Last Wednesday, I played the weekly characterization class for opera workshop. One of the students left a few minutes early because he had rehearsal at the church. Ok…that’s a pretty normal occurrence around here. After class, I headed back to my office and sat down at my computer. I had a nagging feeling that I was supposed to be somewhere else, but my calendar didn’t show anything. I just marked it up to being over committed and needing to rest after several busy days. Around 8pm, it hit me that it was WEDNESDAY NIGHT….and I was supposed to play choir rehearsal beginning at 6:30! It had completely slipped my mind and there was nothing I could do about it except apologize and make sure the rehearsal appears on next week’s schedule. Getting old is the pits!
Weekend Getaway. Life in Plainview can be stifling at times. It’s a small community with not a lot to do. When I moved here 8 years ago, I found great joy in staying busy with collaborative opportunities and interacting with a thriving community of music students. Now, I have 2.5 hours of fulfilling music making each week (opera is over for the semester!) and the music building is a desolate and depressing barren space. Why? I have opinions about that, but I’ll keep those to myself for the time being. I needed to get away from Plainview for a little while to find out if the problem was really centered around being in this city or if it’s just me in general. (For the record, I don’t have a firm answer to that question yet, but I have a better idea now.) I decided to slip away on Friday afternoon and headed south to Midland for the weekend. I reserved a small condo through AirBnb and got out of town. Why Midland? It’s a slightly larger place than Plainview – which I like – but there’s not a lot to do and I don’t have any personal connections there. This was just a time to get away and allow myself to refresh and recuperate. That’s exactly what I did too. I stocked the refrigerator with soda and deli meats. I got some really nice bread from HEB and a package of mini cupcakes. I shut the world out for the weekend and enjoyed the peace. There was time to watch baseball, catch up on some television, do some reading, and lots of writing and meditating. I’ve got to do this more often….for my sanity and my mental health.
Food finds. I couldn’t just stay in the condo the ENTIRE weekend though. I ventured out Saturday morning to find breakfast and stumbled on Mulberry Café. It is a quaint little café nestled in the back corner of a strip mall. The aromas from the bakery case were wonderful, but I managed to resist their call. (I’m so proud of myself! Even if that slice of chocolate cake was calling my name…) I had a lovely ham and cheese omelet with a side of melon. I arrived at Mulberry Café just before the end of breakfast service and the place was packed! The customer who ordered just before me had found the last empty table in the room, a lovely large square oak table with seating for 10. I did something very unusual for me – I asked her if I could join her at the table. She was very gracious and laughingly told me that it was far too much table for her to use alone. Another gentleman noticed my request and asked if he could take another corner. Even though we didn’t have a conversation together, it was very refreshing to be in a space where people felt a sense of community. It’s not something I always find when I’m out and about, and I deeply miss it.
Bookworm returns. I am finally finding joy in leisure reading again. Sometimes it just takes the right setting and the right book to snap me back into my reading. This week, I had a finish and made progress in another novel. My finish this week was To Sir Phillip, With Love. The novel is the fifth installment in the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn. I don’t read a ton of romances, but I have found these books charming, fun, and humorous. Sir Phillip focuses on Eloise, the spinster sister of the Bridgerton clan whose journey to love begins with a series of letters to a botanist who recently lost his wife. Little does Eloise know that Phillip is really looking for a mother for his two 8-year-old twins (who are regularly described as “monsters”) and someone to manage his neglected homestead. I am also reading The Stepford Wives on my Kindle. One of the prompts on my reading challenge is to read a book published in the year you were born. I’ve heard the novel referenced throughout my life and am familiar with the basic premise, so I decided to read this short one that I’ve heard so much about. I must say that I am really enjoying the book thus far. I’m only about a third of the way in (Thanks, Kindle!), but I am finding the satire very amusing and an enjoyable read. When I have a moment, I’ll start a new paperback. Up next is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. I don’t know why I’ve always avoided this one that has received such high praise. I guess this is the time to find out for myself what I think about it.
Livin' Life 