Am I a bad person if I prefer the cashews? I like to pick out the other nuts first so that all that is left is the cashews. I’m a firm believer in saving the best for last.

I feel like I’ve spent hours trying to organize my teaching schedule for this month. It’s probably only been around an hour (which is actually still a lot, in my opinion). I’m missing some lessons and other people are missing and I’m trying to fit in as many lessons as possible on those days I can teach. I’m starting to get ridiculously excited about our upcoming trip to the Grand Canyon, but before that I have a lot to do…as always!

I am a planner, as I’ve said. And I have students that already know exactly which days this summer they want lessons and they are on the calendar. I have other students who don’t even know what they are doing yet, and think I’m crazy (this is me extrapolating) for trying to get them to pin something down that is over a month away. This is one of the challenges of being an independent music teacher: you spend a lot of time scheduling and collecting money and herding cats. (Not literally). I couldn’t do this job as well as I do if I weren’t a planner, but I also have to be able to work well with people who don’t or aren’t able to plan as far ahead. It’s a challenge!

Sometimes I blog while doing other things—I almost forgot I was blogging right now because I got distracted by my email. I tried the whole “check email less often” for about three hours one day and realized it just didn’t work for me. I like people knowing I am quickly reachable by email because it’s a better record of conversations than texting (longer, more searchable, can archive but find again later) and I definitely don’t want people feeling like they have to call in order to do something that can be done via email. Texting is fine too, for last minute things and for quick questions, but for longer conversations and for groups, I think email is easier and clearer. Plus I can type (on the computer) far faster than I can type on my phone. Call me old-fashioned.

Anyway, I’m just rambling. Random thoughts. Does this still count as creating content? (Inside blogger joke). I went for a run this morning. The weather is amazing this week—60’s and low 70’s with sun. May is shaping up to be all right!

Can you believe it’s May already? What does May mean to you? For me May is the last month of school (this matters when you teach school children, even though I’m self employed and aren’t tied to a school schedule exactly) so that means recitals, missed lessons, lots of rescheduling…and USUALLY hot weather.

Not today though. I went for a run this morning wearing shorts and a long sleeve shirt! It was around 60 degrees, which is honestly beautiful weather for running—but strange for May. At least in my recollection. Then again, maybe it’s perfectly normal. In any case, it was a nice day for a run, and I’m glad I got it in before any rain.

So, the weekend was a busy one—I actually had some rehearsals and a performance, plus a cocktail hour. It was a lot of driving to Illinois and around, but I suppose there’ s a good sense of accomplishment Honestly, it’s nice to play with people rather than simply being at home practicing and teaching, so I’m always really glad to have work!

The storms on Saturday were pretty amazing—there was a complete double rainbow. My view from the car wasn’t as nice…but it was still pretty gorgeous. Unfortunately this view meant we were driving directly into the storm!

Let’s see: just a bunch of random stuff. Saturday night Louie and I ate dinner at Sapporo 2  and then went to the second show at Jazz at the Bistro to see a saxophone player named Melissa Aldana. Dinner was really good—we split a few things including Bibimbap with Sashimi, which was unique and delicious. The show was good—the crowd was pretty chill and quiet (I was exhausted so maybe everybody else was too) but Melissa played well. She looked a bit like April from Parks and Rec and had a unique weirdness about her, but it only added to the charm and the fun of the show. I’d definitely see her play again!

Other happenings mostly include hanging out with and taking care of these ridiculous pets.

The next two weeks are pretty busy, and then it’s a week of family and hiking in Phoenix, Sedona, and the Grand Canyon. I can’t believe I’m really looking forward to camping, but I am. We are staying with my sister for a few days, camping for a few days (reread this blog post to see what I daydream about some days), another few days with Leslie (and my NIECE) and then home. This coming weekend Louie and I are planning a big hike in order to “train”.

I’m one of those people who loves planning. I love grand, elaborate plans, excitement, and breaks from routine. It’s part of why the freelance life appeals to me—every day can be different! But teaching can be much the same: every Monday might be the same. So it can get me down a little bit, and I think the past few months have been a bit of slog for me. Nothing against ANY of my students, but it’s more when you put it all together. I think I’ve been doing a bit more complaining here than I should, and I need to embrace things as they are, and I do indeed realize how lucky I am . 

(Lucky that is, if you like the smell of cat urine and enjoy giving twice-daily insulin shots to a cat )

And with that, I’m off. Things to do before I start teaching, as always! Looking forward to a good week.