All posts by hannahviolin

I am a violinist. I also enjoy running, working out, reading, and hanging with my friends and cat.
Deep Thoughts

So many appointments

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.

The “Ain’t Too Proud” mural at the Fox Theater: visiting shows can paint on the walls backstage and it’s always fun to see the new murals.

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.

Muriel and I enjoy a few moments of down time.

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!

Performing

Fall is definitely here

5 Comments

October is most definitely fall, so I can say that fall is definitely here. The weather this week in St Louis has been phenomenal, and I wish I could be outside enjoying it more, but oh well! It’s the perfect weather to throw on a cardigan or wrap and be totally comfortable.

In the pit, headphones on and ready to go!

I’ve been incredibly busy this week, but today is the last day of double shows, and then the show wraps up tomorrow. It’s been really fun as they always are, but it’s been exhausting! I am looking forward to a week of a more normal schedule.

Onstage at the Fox Theatre, I’m on the far right side, dancing and playing.

I made a few mistakes with overbooking lately. I don’t mean doublebooking, but taking on too many things. I took on a job next weekend with a group I enjoy playing with, but I think in retrospect I should have taken the weekend off. I’m missing a wine dinner and losing two weekend nights for it, and I’ve been feeling so run down that it would have been worth saying no. Nonetheless, I am doing it, and I’m sure it’ll be enjoyable and all of that, but I find myself falling into the old trap of “empty space on the calendar can be filled” and maybe that’s not the best way. I’ve taken on more students that I probably should have as well, but there aren’t any I’ve taken on that I wish I didn’t! It’s hard to find the right balance, and we are considering buying a new house as well so I feel like I need to be maximizing my income and savings.

How I’d like to spend my time

Anyway, I’ve got a couple lessons this morning and my usual Creative Ability Development class, and then two shows. Tomorrow is only ONE show and nothing else, what a glorious day of relaxation it will be! (I’m being serious too, I’m really looking forward to have a morning and evening off!)

Random thoughts

Adulting Work

1 Comment

I read an article yesterday about all of the admin work that we need to do in our lives and how to cope with it. It is sometimes ridiculous how much there is to do outside of work: you’d think you’d have work and then free time, but it’s work, more work, paperwork for work, and then all of the household stuff, and then hardly any free time at all. Granted, I do too much of the “work” part, but the household stuff tends to expand to take up as much space as possible!

Nonetheless, I am mostly keeping my head above water. I’ve had a good first week of the shows, and I love the show I’m playing (Ain’t Too Proud, it is great!) and we start week 2 (the last week) tonight. I’ve been teaching otherwise, and even managed to watch the latest episode of Rings of Power last night. I haven’t done much outside of work, but I’m keeping up with everything…life will get more back to normal next week. I scheduled a grocery shopping delivery for tomorrow because I didn’t want to spend precious time grocery shopping when I could blog instead.

Me in the pit!

One of the nice parts of waking up really early is getting to see some beautiful sunrises. I don’t mind getting up early so much, but it’s been a little bit of burning the candle at both ends. There’s only a few more days of that and then I’ll be “back to normal” next week. I’m sure the cats will appreciate having me around more, as well as Louie.

Unfortunately, soon it will just be dark when I leave, and then also cold. But in the meantime I can appreciate the sun, and the lovely fall temperatures.

Sometimes during busy times, it’s easy to start looking forward too much, but I am trying to “live in the moment” and appreciate what I am doing. I forget sometimes how unusual it is to spend my life trying to teach people how to play the violin, what a weird thing to do! And to get paid to play the violin as well, and the viola, and get to experience two weeks of a Broadway Musical up close and personal. I got an email recently from my alma mater about a potential meetup reception in a few months, and my first thought was, ugh, I don’t want to meet up with all those symphony musicians because I am a failure compared to them. My second thought however, was, my career is more of an interesting thing that students should know about, because not everybody can get a job in an orchestra, and not everybody wants that, and perhaps a career path like mine would be interesting for young people to know about. And I shouldn’t feel bad! (I don’t, normally, I just imagined the event in my head briefly in a certain way.) As a high schooler, I didn’t know there were options like what I do, and there is a lot to know about how to run a freelance and teaching career like I do! (And things NOT to do, as well.) Then again, perhaps high school me would have run screaming 🙂

Random thoughts

Popping in to say hello

1 Comment

I don’t have too much time to chat today, but just a quick hello. My first week fully back at work went well: hectic, but good. The new classes are going well, the new students are good, and the weather was better when it was a little cooler rather than today’s heat and humidity.

My mom asked me how I was feeling, post-surgery, and I said, pretty much back to normal, and she asked was that normal September, when I’m really tired? (I’m totally misquoting this conversation, sorry Mom). The answer is yes and no…I do feel like the early mornings are easier for me this year than last year: that’s probably a cumulation of having done the job already now for two years. But the next two weeks are crazy busy with the Fox show and all my teaching (I’m excited, but totally apprehensive), so I imagine I’ll be fairly tired.

Went for coffee the other day. This is my motto for the month, coffee!

On top of that I’m dealing with a little shoulder injury. It’s been bugging me since the late winter/early spring (not exactly sure, as something happened and then I assumed it would start feeling better over time and it did a bit but not really). In any case, I finally saw a doctor about that today and I am supposed to do some physical therapy for it. That will start in October. Exciting times, getting old, am I right? I’m fortunate to have good insurance, but I am using it a lot recently and feel like doctor’s appointments are happening entirely too often. Sigh.

Beignets!

We met a friend for brunch recently and ordered beignets, which I had actually never had. They were, of course, good. We are planning a trip to New Orleans over Thanksgiving Break, so we’ll try them again then. (Of course pastries covered in sugar are good. It’s a no-brainer.)

I’m off to more work! How was your weekend? Did anyone get to the balloon glow, local readers? What are you up to this week?

Random thoughts, Teaching

It’s Pumpkin Spice Time

People get so angry about Pumpkin Spice. Or excited. Or both!

Anyway, I’m doing that thing where I’m entirely too busy for the whole month of September from here on. Remember me, back a few years ago during the pandemic, saying things like, oh, isn’t it so wonderful to have weekends free, I’ll never work so hard again, and then here I am.

I mean, granted, inflation hits hard. I haven’t gotten a raise at all in some jobs, and in others it definitely doesn’t cover inflation. I set my own rates for home teaching, so I have nobody to blame but myself. But my retirement savings also aren’t looking so good, and then just when I start feeling like I’m making a decent amount of money, I was seeing a teacher (somebody I don’t know, but follow on twitter as they are in the personal finance world) complaining about how little teachers make, like obscenely little, and then said they make $70,000 a year! Now, I know some teachers make less than that, but 70 grand a year is way above the median income and then I started doubting everything I’ve ever known about teacher salaries, and my own sense of what a good living is, and really, like I said, everything. I’m being slightly overdramatic of course, but still. I’m not telling you what I make, and like I recently said to Louie, I don’t even know what I make: I learn how much money I made when I file my taxes each year.

All those words to say: I’m happy to be busy this month because everything I’m doing is fun and things that I’ve chosen to do, but it’s also a little bit overwhelming looking at the calendar. It’s really just the next two weeks (not this one) and then it’ll be back to just normal busy and totally manageable. I’m back at it in my before school job, which simply means that I woke up very early to spend 50 minutes putting tapes on violins two days in a row, and will do the same tomorrow and Friday. I’m thrilled to be coaching a chamber music group at Wash U–I have been teaching there for 7 years but this is my first year doing a chamber music group, and our first rehearsal was really fun. And I played on a fun concert over the weekend.

I played with a group some friends started called the St Louis Chamber Soloists.
Miles on the catio. It’s out the back of our house.

Louie and I have a standing weekly lunch date, and we go somewhere on the Loop or nearby. Most recently we went to the Bahn Mi Shop. I highly recommend it, though I was afraid to eat the peppers.

Bahn Mi with Tofu and Lemongrass, yum. Not pictured, shrimp spring rolls, also yum.

I got my new COVID booster, very exciting! I wasn’t sure if I should wait longer, but I really wanted to just teach the students and not worry, so I went for it, as well as the flu vaccine.

I kind of want this sign for my home.

It’s been nice getting back into the swing of things. I’ve mentioned before I’m sure, the semester has a rhythm to it, and I am used to that rhythm. People who don’t work in the college/school system may not feel the seasons so strongly, but each one has a different feel. Fall is the new start, the fresh start, before you get too tired and run down from the cold. Yet it’s also the end of summer, so there’s a bit of sadness (hence the pumpkin spice love) but it’s nice to get back into a routine. We will push through until Thanksgiving, and by then we will be utterly exhausted. But not yet!

How is your week going? Have you had anything pumpkin spice flavored yet?

Random thoughts

Happy Labor Day!

I’ve been a union member for a long time. Currently I’m a member of the AFM Local 2-197, which is the musician’s union here, as well as a member of the SEIU Local 1, which is the union I belong to for my adjunct teaching. Unions certainly don’t solve all the problems in the world, and certainly many of the union jobs I play should pay more than they do, but being in a union is still better than not being in one, and we definitely have the labor movement to thank for so many things many take for granted, things like weekends (though as a musician, that isn’t a thing for us) and ending work on time and getting paid for overtime and more. So, Happy Labor Day!

I’m taking today off from teaching, ostensibly because everybody wants to have barbecues or cookouts on Labor Day and nobody wants violin lessons, but it’s a gloomy rainy day and nobody wants anything really. It’s my last day off before the craziness of September really hits.

I know you are all wondering, how did my first week back after surgery go? Pretty well. The first few days were the hardest and then I was super happy I had taken Saturday totally off again and really got to rest some more. Yesterday I had the first rehearsal for something since before, and it went okay too, though I realized I cannot yet move while playing in the way I might want to. My incisions are healing well, but the stuff on the inside is still healing and that’s what I still need to be careful of. I have been frustrated sleeping sometimes because I can’t yet lie comfortably on my stomach but I really want to sometimes. But all in all, everything is going well. I’m glad to be back to teaching again, and I am looking forward to a bit of a busy September.

Things that are happening: chamber music concert with friends, starting up college teaching this week, starting up before school classes NEXT week, and then adding two weeks of a musical at the Fox the following week. Once that’s done, I think October will be a bit less hectic…I have never played a Fox show while doing the early morning classes, and while I’m excited about it, I know it will require more coffee than I usually drink–I’ll be getting home between 10:30 and 11 (depends on the length of the show) and then getting up to be at the school to teach by 7:15 am. It’s only two weeks though, and only 6 days of doing both so I’m sure I’ll manage. There is a bit of dancing/choreography for the show, so if you go (Ain’t Too Proud at the Fox) look for the musicians onstage at the end!

Louie has been doing great things around the house lately, or I should say, outside. He has dug a few drains to help our house and garage stay drier. He has done a ton of yard work as I sit inside, recuperating, learning Norwegian or Spanish on Duolingo, and reading. He has also taken over my usual house chores such as laundry and grocery shopping, though hopefully not much longer. He has been invaluable to me during the last few weeks and I am so grateful to him for his assistance, love, and patience. (He doesn’t even read here!)

I’ve been catching up on my music reviews as well the past week. I write reviews for the American String Teacher Journal. Every few months I get a half dozen or so pieces in the mail (this totally varies) and I am supposed to write a review of them for the journal. I tend to leave them in a pile and ignore them until I’m right up against a deadline and then I quickly sit down and write a few and it really isn’t a big deal. I’m trying to clear out my pile (two down this month, two more remaining) by the end of September, which should be easy enough. It’s quite fun to see all the music being published and getting to have my say, and of course it’s always great to see my writing in print. (It is a volunteer position, though I get to keep the music.)

In honor of starting teaching my college students this week, let me share this tweet.