We woke up this morning, thinking it would be a nice lazy morning with coffee drinking and perhaps even french toast, reading a book while listening to the sound of the rain hitting the windows.

But no. Because the sewer drain in the basement was flooding, and suddenly it was a fight against the water. The perils of home ownership and a finished basement! Louie worked valiantly but we soon realized this was a job for a professional with more than a shop-vac and a little pump, so we called Roto Rooter. They were great and were there within 20-30 minutes, and solved the problem. Then we had some cleaning up to do which I won’t discuss, but I’ll just say, what a morning. The cats were very excited and couldn’t decide whether to be terrified of the water or explore it. I’m sure they’ve actually tracked unimaginable things all over the house, but I’m sure it’s not actually worse than what they normally do either.

It’s been a stressful week. Things are getting settled, and soon I’ll be on “spring break”, but I was hoping to spend most of today relaxing. The good news is that I’m relaxing now, and that I’m looking forward to our trip later next week. Both of my college teaching jobs are off next week so I canceled a few days of lessons so Louie and I can get out of town for a few days. We are heading to Branson, Missouri to relax, hike, see a show, and be touristy. We know that most of our friends are saying, why Branson, but we are saying, because we haven’t been! So it should be fun (it will be fun with Louie no matter what because he always loves new places) and it will be a nice diversion.

I think I’m getting all my summer travel dates figured out too. We planned a trip to visit Chautauqua, NY this summer where my sister Leslie will be with her new baby, and we have a Memorial Day trip planned with friends, and then a long road trip at the end of the summer. I must admit I feel very lucky to be able to do so much, though I hardly feel it sometimes! I know that most people can’t take a 3 week trip, but I also know that most people don’t work as many days and hours as Louie and I do on a regular basis (he rarely takes a day off either). In other words, we feel lucky, but not too much. If you add up your weekends, if you have them, you have way more vacation time than I do . But nonetheless, I’m also happy and grateful that having to pay for the plumber didn’t knock our finances too badly either, and that we can still afford to leave town. I know others aren’t so fortunate.

No pictures lately, which is a sad oversight—well, not of the water, but of say, the cats or something delicious I’ve been eating or something funny I saw. I’ve been feeling a little low and stressed, and that means less pictures. It’s nothing huge, just a million tiny things adding up. I think a few days out of town will be just the ticket, and I can’t wait to share the trip with you here later. I’m hopeful the weather will cooperate and not be too rainy, and we are definitely planning to see Dolly Parton’s Stampede and probably stopping by Mansfield Missouri en route to see the Laura Ingalls Museum and House.

Have you been to Branson? What are your recommended activities or places to eat?

Do you get your sewer lines cleaned preemptively or do you wait until there’s a problem?

This winter has been kind of outrageous as far as precipitation. This morning schools were canceled due to ice. I didn’t have anywhere to be in the morning and so I didn’t go anywhere. (Deep, I know). I did have some errands to run after noon and I hoped my car would have warmed up. No such luck!

I did not drive away like that.

It’s still precipitating a bit but the roads seemed okay, and the sidewalks are pretty icy where they are untreated but if you do the penguin walk you’re probably okay. I haven’t heard any cancellations from my students so I’m assuming we are on…we’ll see what happens!

As far as illness and inclement weather, I do let my students cancel. I trust that they won’t take advantage, but if they are sick, I don’t want them to come or feel obligated, and I don’t want the responsibility of them coming out in bad weather they aren’t comfortable with either. It’s how I run my studio. I do request them to come otherwise, and I try to be particular about absences when possible, and I am especially sticky about “no-show” absences, when they don’t let me know and don’t show up. (In case you are a music teacher and reading this! I have them pay for the month in advance and then if I miss a lesson or they do they carry over, but I have my money in advance most of the time. A few end up paying later and to me it’s not a huge deal as I actually enjoy getting a few more paychecks over the course of the month.) I keep track of all the payments by hand in my little book and if somebody hasn’t paid or gets behind I get in touch.

But you probably don’t read this for my business ideas do you? Actually, let me know if you have more questions about how I run things at the studio-I’m happy to share. I’m always thinking about things and reevaluating, but I’m pretty happy with my current policies. There’s always some teeth pulling and at times I feel like I’m herding cats, but the students keep showing up and the parents keep paying me and giving my name to other parents so I think it’s working well enough!

Obviously I’m in work mode right now. I was on the computer doing some other things (reconciling accounts for February, getting things planned for March, looking at hikes at Glacier National Park) and figured I’d pop in for a blog post. Maybe that’s the way to get more readers?  Posting?

I saw this on facebook and thought it was worth sharing. I kind of miss being a kid on Valentine’s Day! It’s a Thursday this year (in case you are unaware) and so that means it’s just a work day. Louie and I are cooking a nice meal tonight and I got some gelato for dessert.

It’s been a busy but productive week. I ended up filing my taxes—I started them just to see how things were looking, and the truth was, they were looking good (as in, I am getting a refund) so I figured I’d better just go ahead and file. I did some of those “adult” things such as moving money into various tax deductible accounts for retirement and health savings, and I feel very responsible and am patting myself on the back.

As far as my schedule and feeling overwhelmed, I’ve tweaked some things and had to back out of a couple things I agreed to, but nothing last minute. I hate backing out of things, but sometimes it’s necessary, and sometimes I do overextend myself. Generally I do what I agree to, but as a freelancer, I have to set priorities, and lately I’m trying to set the priority of “not going insane with stress” and that’s a new one for me, so I have to keep verifying I’m on track.

And! This morning I made the last reservation for camping on our big road trip in late July/August. We’re looking at a trip that encompasses Yellowstone, Glacier, Waterton Lakes, Banff, Jasper, Theodore Roosevelt NP, and the Badlands, with a couple more small stops along the way. I’ve been researching our trip and looking at campgrounds for months now, and this morning was the day to make the last reservation. It’s still nearly 6 months away, so no reason to get overly excited, but I am excited, and I had to plan it this early in order to get some of the campgrounds we wanted (Banff and Jasper in particular seemed like the most likely to fill up, followed by Glacier). People sure love camping and seeing National Parks, and I am no exception.

This weekend should be okay. Tomorrow we are supposed to get snow so we’ll see how that affects things. Saturday I have a makeup lesson or so, maybe a short activity in the afternoon, and we are attending a concert that night. Sunday we have an event in the afternoon, and otherwise, I have to practice for our upcoming quartet concert on Tuesday night (at the Sheldon!).

That’s where I am right now. Boring stuff, mostly, but maybe boring is good. Oh, and I’m reading a book about the Oregon Trail, so maybe I’ll have time to finish that.

This week went by fast! I suppose the holiday on Monday helped the speed, though I did of course have a few things to do on Monday. Otherwise, the week has been taken up with teaching and opera rehearsals, with some quartet sprinkled in. I’ve been making a concerted effort this year to work out nearly every day and I have to pat myself on the back a little bit because I’ve been keeping at it! Has the scale moved, not exactly. But I’m feeling good about it, and I think ultimately that’s what matters.

Life is busy, but good. I feel much more positive this January than last one, and I am enjoying quite a lot of what I’m doing. I’m not loving every minute, but who is. I have finally gotten my college teaching schedule organized (that took longer than expected, and I should know better!) and I’m even feeling a bit caught up on some odds and ends I’d been putting off. As you all know, I tend to take on more than I should because I feel like I can, and then sometimes things get back-burnered for entirely too long. I’m trying to stay more on top of things this year with a planner/bullet journal combination, and so far it’s been working. Only working 40 to 50 hours a week helps as well, rather than closer to 60…(that is even counting my emailing/admin/business time!) January is a good time to reflect and refresh, and the more I reflect the more I want to keep being less busy…or at least appreciate the time when I am.

Pictures! My mother shared a few things from my grandmother’s house.

This adorable picture of my dad. He already looks like himself here too, as I believe that is his natural expression.

My grandparents came to visit me at Interlochen one summer, and I guess they saved the concert program! I come by my hoarding tendencies genetically But I am tickled that they saved it. I remember looking out and seeing them in the audience from the stage, and it was a nice feeling.

My niece, practicing for being a big sister. (I didn’t take this photo as I’m not there, but love it.)

Miles and Muriel, sitting together. What usually happens is that Muriel sits somewhere and Miles joins her. It’s not as often the other way… I’m not sure what that means, but aren’t they cute? Miles has also been stealing all of my pencils, so I need to either find his stash, or get some new ones. Or both, I suppose.

This weekend I have two opera performances, one performance at a retirement community, and some relaxing to do. I haven’t gotten as much reading in the past few days so I’d like to be able to do that. I’m also planning to get some good workouts in, and maybe even a walk outside in the neighborhood if weather allows—it’s been so cold and gross here, but as I type the sun is shining and who knows, maybe it’ll be possible. We’ve gotten quite a lot of snow here this winter, and …it’s funny, I still love seeing the flakes come down, and seeing everything covered in snow, and that quiet that comes with it all, but then, ugh, being wet, and shoveling sidewalks and digging out cars and worrying about people following too closely and driving too fast, and all the salt and the cold and the grey slush…yuck. I guess that’s a pretty normal way to feel about the snow, but still.

What’s up with your weekend? Have you ever attended an opera before?

Another year is almost behind us all! I remember when I was a little kid it seemed like it took FOREVER to get through December, but I am certain the rest of this year will fly by for me. Since Thanksgiving fell early this year, it seems to me that this past week was a sort of “bonus week” in the holiday rush, and now we are getting down to brasstacks.

I was supposed to have three students today followed by a rehearsal, but I’ve had two cancel, so it’ll be one student, practice time, then a rehearsal. I find some of my college students get a bit overwhelmed at the end of the semester and can’t always make their lessons. I try to be strict, as it’s for credit, but also understanding, because I know how it is to be totally overwhelmed. It’s different if they are a music major or even a music minor—I feel like their lessons are more integral to their degree in those cases. I also try to be accommodating, and end up teaching some make up lessons during reading and finals week.

I do plan to do some Christmas decorating this weekend. Last year I bought a few Nutcracker figurines in an after-Christmas sale, and I put them up on the mantel this week (I had stored them in a different place than my regular decorations). One of my students last night told me she thought they were creepy and felt like they were staring at her! I thought this one was particularly cute.