So far I’ve finished my recital with Jen and one quartet concert. We have two more quartet concerts, two performances with another group I play with, and then a bunch of band concerts. And then it’ll be Christmas!

The solo recital went quite well. Of course there were a few memory slips in the Bach but I think I recovered well and felt that overall I did well. I’m glad we did the program, and I’m equally glad it’s over. It made for a very stressful time.

I’d already put my violin away by the time we thought of getting a picture, but I think we look very nice!

I feel like I am not a terribly interesting person lately because I mostly just work. It’s the way it has to be right now, and honestly, I’m having a great time with it (mostly)…and it’s not all work. But I feel like for the amount I work I should be incredibly wealthy, and (this may come as a shock) I’m NOT.

Friday my parents were driving through town on their way west. We went to lunch in the Central West End. We are all heading west in the next few weeks since my sister Leslie just had a baby. Yes, I’m an aunt! 

We did go see a concert on Saturday, the Philharmonic Quartett of Berlin. They played a concert at UMSL and it was very neat. I always feel incredibly inspired and like I’m not doing enough after seeing concerts…I wish I could devote MORE time to practicing and studying…I suppose if I were independently wealthy and didn’t have to teach to make ends meet, right? Of course I enjoy that too…but I am just often struck by how much more I could be doing with the violin. There is always more to practice, and I feel like I’m in a very artistically productive state of mind this year.

Here’s a picture of me awkwardly crossing the finish line at the MO Cowbell Half Marathon the other week.

Is it just me or is this fall just crazy busy? I haven’t even finishing unpacking from my move yet! There just isn’t enough time in the day. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t mildly stressed out…

I’m getting used to it. I feel productive and satisfied musically at least. I feel like I’m making progress in my life. I’m just…busy. In a slightly overwhelmed way. Did you already pick up on that? But really, I’m dealing okay with it. I’m just ready to NOT be stressed out for a bit. I think that will taper down a bit. I’m sitting here listening to Borodin’s String Quartet no. 2 and feeling quite lucky…I’ve said this before, but I’m often tickled by how my life is turning out, and a little bit of overscheduling isn’t going to make me feel bad 🙂 Life has its ups and downs but for me lately it’s been mostly ups and I’m grateful for that.

How about you? How is your October going? Do you say yes to too many things because they all seem like great opportunities and experiences?