It’s amazing that sometimes things can feel overwhelmed and go go go, and then you get a morning to sleep in and relax and suddenly all is right in the world again.

I’ve been entirely too busy–a thing I keep returning to in my life due to my workaholic tendencies and the fact that a musician really can fill the entire week with work if you aren’t careful…but it’s been going well, and aside from a few moments last week when I was wistful about the time I spent 10 days in bed recovering from surgery in August, and secretly thinking getting COVID again might be nice because then I wouldn’t have to go anywhere…aside from those moments, things are going well.

Fun things: Louie and I went to dinner again at the Lucky Accomplice. It was us really wanting to eat the Missouri Rice dish again (so good!) and a few other things. We agreed that we need to not go there for awhile. We also went to the Symphony last night, which I didn’t want to do because I was tired and the idea of staying home and watching Deadwind on Netflix instead was so very appealing, but we had tickets and so we went. And enjoyed it. Leila Josefowicz played a concerto by Helen Grime, and it was an intense experience. I would say that half the audience was blown away in a good way and the other half was blown away in a bad way, but there is no way to walk away not having had an experience!

Other fun things: the Election results weren’t so bad, so that was okay. And that was a gorgeous day, weather wise, so Louie and I were able to spend a little time walking around the neighborhood. It is becoming a bittersweet feeling, and we will really miss this neighborhood.

Work things: I had two lovely weddings yesterday: I love working with good musicians who are relaxed about weddings. I’ve had some stressful experiences the past few years and it’s nice to just show up, play, and be told calmly what the plan is. Yesterday was great.

I have gotten better at making phone calls again. Over the course of my life I’ve had mixed feelings about calling people I don’t know (as many do, I’m sure!). I got over my fears in college when I worked for the Box Office at my school and often had to make and answer phone calls. At some point in my life I grew wary again, and a few years ago really got bad at it after getting yelled at by a potential student’s mom. Well, not a potential student. I had kind of forgotten this, but I remembered recently and wanted to share because I realized it made me stressed about phone calls for a long time afterwards and now I feel like I can face it again and that yes, it’s okay to pick up the phone, because that wasn’t my fault and most people are kind and decent.

What happened was (at least in my recollection) I got a voicemail from a person looking for violin lessons on a Friday. I was busy. I was busy all weekend, and besides, it’s the weekend, right, there’s no law that you have to make business calls on the weekend? and then I called the number Monday morning, and they YELLED at me for not returning their call sooner. It took me several years now to realize WHY I was stressed when I got voicemails and to feel like I needed to call them back right away, because getting yelled at by strangers is for me one of the worst things. And I am reminding myself, I didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, I can return a phone call weeks after and anybody who yells at me about that is the one in the wrong. So when I have phone calls to make, I am trying to just relax, and say to myself, they may or may not answer, and if I leave a voicemail and they call back later and I can’t answer, that’s okay too. Because my work schedule is such that often answering the phone is hard.

That’s my Sunday navel-gazing 😉 but seriously, with all of the stressful things going on, trying to get in touch with people about house and moving stuff, it’s nice to pinpoint why phone calling is so stressful because then I can move past it, which I did pretty well with last week and made like, 6 phone calls to people I didn’t know, and every single person was totally great!

Okay, one more full week until Thanksgiving week, isn’t that crazy?? What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

My to do list isn’t too bad, but I keep having appointments! For instance, in addition to my regular work schedule (nearly 40 students a week plus morning classes) I had an eye doctor appointment and an appointment for a blood draw for my yearly physical. Nothing big, but adding those things on makes life busier! In addition, I’m working on decluttering here, giving things away on my local Buy Nothing Group (this is relatively new to me and I absolutely love it), and we might be getting ready to buy a house…that is, we are working on that, and that means more appointments, as well as looking for various financial paperwork stuff and figuring out what needs to be done.

I’m also getting my students ready for the Arch Cup, which means more paperwork and communication. And we divided into individual classes for my morning job, which means attendance is now my issue as well as communication with parents. Basically, things are hectic here! It’s a lot! We are managing, but I sometimes feel like I’m just running on adrenaline. I had thought October would be my breathing time, and while yes, it is compared to September, it’s still pretty crazy. If we end up getting the house, I don’t think we will have any breathing time until all is moved and settled, and that seems like a long way away.

However, it’s all good stuff. If we get a new house, it’s a very good thing. My students are doing well and most are really trying their best and just the sweetest kids. Decluttering is always a good thing as well, as we all know. And while I feel like I’ve been having tons of doctor’s appointments, it’s just the time of year a lot of my annual things come up, and I’m recovered really quite well from surgery: almost entirely back to normal. I’m dealing with a shoulder problem though, nothing super serious, but I’m meeting with a physical therapist next week about it. And I thought my vision was getting back that I couldn’t read well and would need bifocals, but it turns out that my right eye prescription just isn’t strong enough, and when my new contacts come in I should be able to see perfectly again! The cats are well, Louie is doing well, our parents (and siblings) are doing well dealing with their various maladies but with solutions and medical interventions that seem to be working, and we have some nice travels planned for the rest of the year: New Orleans for Thanksgiving and our families, though separately due to scheduling issues.

Other than the horrific things going on with our state and national government, life is good. We are planning a hike for this weekend, which will be lovely. I haven’t gotten outside for something like that since before my surgery, and the weather looks perfect for it: cool enough and sunny. Every time I think life will be less busy I obviously don’t mean it, but I think it’s probably just important to recognize that I get value from being needed in my career and that Louie and I both do enjoy our work and end up doing it more hours than some people do.

Funny thing yesterday: (well, sort of funny). I have this two drawer wooden filing cabinet that I bought the first year I was working. I remember I thought, well, I need somewhere to file important paperwork. Which is absolutely true! And then I’ve kept things filed in it for years, I know that any important papers are in there and even if the filing system isn’t always perfect stuff is there. I was looking for a particular tax document yesterday and realized I still had my taxes from 2003 and 2007. Which I don’t need so, yay, decluttering! But you know, that little filing cabinet was a really good purchase!