A friend was making fun of me the other day for often having “lunch dates”. I was thinking about this, and it makes sense. Not that I don’t work, but that I often work during other “social” times, like happy hour (hahahaha to being free on weekday evenings between 5 and 7) and traditional weekend evenings…even when I might be free during those times, the (probably also a musician) friend I’d want to see would be busy!

So I do a lot of lunches with people. I usually don’t start working until the mid-afternoon unless I have a daytime rehearsal, so lunch is my favorite. Plus it gives me a reason to get up and get going on my day, rather than spending all morning in pajamas reading the news.

For instance, today I met my good friend Sarah the photographer at a neat little noodle place in the Loop, called Corner 17. They make their noodles fresh in house and the soup was delicious! No, I didn’t take a photo because I was too hungry. But before lunch I was up and at the gym working out, because I knew I had a lunch date and therefore needed to get it done first. (I’m getting back into twice weekly weight workouts, and I feel fantastic. By that I mean I can’t bend down or lift my arms.)

Recently I also went to Mai Lee for lunch with another friend.

Yummy pork chop plate. Well, don’t eat the plate, but do eat the stuff on top.

I think animals standing is always funny, isn’t it? She was very interested in something happening outside. Probably a squirrel, but I can’t say for sure.

Sausages at Volpi on the Hill.

And over the weekend…my view of the Winter Opera production of Falstaff. We have a weekend off before starting rehearsals for the next production, Lucia di Lammermoor. I’m surprised sometimes that many people haven’t even heard of Winter Opera—I’ve been concertmaster of the orchestra for about four seasons now, and the quality is just getting better. All of the operas are sung in the original language with subtitles when needed, and we do a great job on a small budget.

I have a couple of other random gigs happening this month too, and I’m working on getting to know my electric fiddle. (Pictures of me playing it need to happen soon, I know!)  This is kind of a “down” week, with just teaching, which is a welcome change to the hecticness of the past few weeks, so I’m trying to catch up on practicing and random stuff that I manage to get really behind on. (For as few hours as I work, I manage to get plenty behind…does anybody want to clean my house? That is really just because I hate housecleaning though, not for lack of time.)

Okay, that’s is. Brain dump of random info, and photo dump too. Obviously I’m not taking enough cat pictures, but I’ll try to do better. I need to get back on the Caturday house…perhaps this weekend!

Nothing.

Now I just have to figure out how the whole electric part of it works. It is a Bridge Aquila, and sounds like a muffled violin when you play it acoustically, which is all I’ve done so far. A friend is lending me a practice amp to try it out (if my neighbors don’t already love me, they will soon…I’m just kidding…) and I’m pumped. This is all new to me, but like I said. PURPLE VIOLIN.

Love the race bib for tomorrow! Wish me luck. It’s going to be cold and early (especially after an 8 pm opera that will likely last nearly three hours) but I’m looking forward to it. Plus, a new bridge! How cool is that?

I hear the Olympics are on. I find it difficult to watch the Winter Olympics! I love them, but it’s a busy time…how do people manage? The summer is so much easier! I love the figure skating though (of course…duh, who doesn’t)…when is that on? SOMEBODY TELL ME SO I DON’T HAVE TO GOOGLE IT.

Note to self: when you don’t go to the gym for months and then go for the first time and do a bunch of back squats because you miss them…you will be sore. Very sore. For several days.

Unrelated: I have been invited to my very first trivia night in St Louis. As far as I can tell, this is a huge local tradition for fundraisers. Anybody have any good “trivia night” advice?

We are having so much snow this winter. Yesterday ended up being another snow day—I was supposed to have a few students and an opera dress rehearsal and ended up having a day off. I’m trying not to freak out about the lost income and just go with the flow…the weather wasn’t nearly as bad as earlier in the month, but the roads were pretty bad for several hours. I drove over to a friend’s house after rush hour and it was pretty slow going…I didn’t have too far to go so it was doable though.

February is shaping up to be busy with all kinds of good stuff. There are tons of articles going around the internet about how “busy” isn’t a good answer for “how are you?” and how “busy” isn’t an answer, or a way of life, but the fact of being a freelancer and private teacher is: “busy” often means “making more money” and that’s certainly a good thing. “Busy” also often means feeling more worthwhile and getting a lot of great work done, so I’m not afraid to say “busy” when somebody asks how I am. I like “busy” when it’s for good reasons rather than just for “busy”’s sake.

Okay, I’m done with quotations, I promise!

This weekend:

Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi: Friday night at 8 pm, Sunday afternoon at 3 pm. We had to move our dress rehearsal but I think that will only make the show better! It’s cold outside and there isn’t too much to do: come see an opera. For those of you who think opera isn’t for them, I suggest you reconsider. If you like movies or musicals, you’ll like opera. It’s dramatic, beautiful, silly, and it has subtitles so you can follow the story easily. I’m in the pit, so come say hello.

And Saturday morning:

I’m running with a friend for sure, and possibly more people I know are doing it. Are you? This is part of a series of events all day allowing folks to be out on the new bridge before it opens for traffic. It’ll be cold, but I’ll be there NO MATTER WHAT. (This is a personal response to my chickening out of a race in December, but I’m feeling far more hard core these days.)

I know it’s only Wednesday, and I’m already talking about the weekend, but let’s not fool ourselves: the older we get, the faster time flies. Lots going on in St Louis this weekend and lots of rehearsals and teaching to get through before then!

Oh, and I went to the gym and did squats the other day. I hadn’t been for awhile, and I’ll tell you what. I’m sore.

And busy. Did I mention busy? 🙂

My fellow blogger Katie from Mom’s Little Running Buddy runs an event called Celebrate Fitness on March 8th.  I wanted to tell you guys about the event because I thought some of you might be interested– in addition to a 5k/10k race there are all kinds of great workouts being offered, and the proceeds from the event benefit the Siteman Cancer Center, which is fantastic.

Celebrate Fitness Beneficiaries

ALVIN J.SITEMAN CANCER CENTER at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Comprehensive Cancer Care Center and is an international leader in patient care, cancer research, prevention, education and community outreach.

THE YOUNG WOMEN’S BREAST CANCER PROGRAM at Siteman Cancer Center is dedicated to providing support, raising awareness and conducting research focused on the unique issues surrounding breast cancer diagnosed in women under the age of 44. Of the over 180,000 women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer, over 12% will be 44 or younger. These women experience higher recurrence rates and the lowest five-year and overall survival rates. There is little research focused specifically on young women with breast cancer and few support programs available to them.

THE DIRECTOR’S DISCOVERY FUND enables Siteman Cancer Center’s director to respond to promising new discoveries and scientific breakthroughs, providing the most advanced patient care in the region. Siteman Cancer Center is changing the face of cancer through personalized therapies, impacting the lives of its patients and those who love them.

I wasn’t able to attend last year, but this year I can! I’ll be doing the bootcamp class. I considered the run but decided it would be more fun to do something more unusual (and it starts just a little bit later, ha!)

Have any readers done this event in the past?

Okay, here’s all the basic information you need to know:

Date: March 8th, 2014

Location: Washington University Athletic Complex

Registration Fee:

• $30 in advance
• Junior Registration for ages 13 – 19 = $20
• Day of Registration = $35; Junior $25

Time:

• 6:30 am 5k/10k Check-in & Registration
• 7:30 am 5k/10k run begins
• 7:30 am Workout Events Check-in & Registration
• 8:30 am to 10:00 am Workouts Begin

Event Options:

• 10K Competitive Run
• 5K competitive Run
• 5K Walk
• 1 Mile Fun Walk
• Boot Camp
• Water Aerobics –Shallow
• Water Aerobics – Deep
• Yoga
• Zumba

See the registration form for more details.

Participants get to choose between a shirt and a goodie bag.  Katie tells me the goodie bags are filled with great stuff and that that is one of her favorite parts of the event.  I have tons of shirts, so I chose the goodie bag—I can’t wait to see what it is!

Come on March 8 and get your workout on to Celebrate Fitness!