It’s been a crazy time. Unpacking, work, decorating, shopping, work, trying to get fresh air and enjoy the spring…it’s always a crazy time of year.

Holy Week was insane this time: I ended up with an extra gig fairly last minute and between that and all my teaching it was exhausting, but in retrospect, fun and satisfying. I played at 4 different churches and 5 different services! Probably overdid it, but I’m still here.

We are working on getting our house even more in order. I won’t say I’m done unpacking yet, but I’m getting really close. We’ve gotten quite a few new things, but that’s slowing down soon. We just have a couple more rugs we need, some little lamps, and maybe a light fixture, and then we are really doing well. I’m sure there will be other things overtime, but as far as initially getting the house how we want it…we are almost there. Today the last of the chairs we’d ordered for the living room arrived, and I’ll share pictures with you later.

Teaching at my house has been going really well. Sometimes I ask myself why I even leave: it’s a wonderful place to teach and it’s so nice just to be at home to work! But then I go and play with other people and that’s a lot of fun, to interact with colleagues.

People ask if we are getting settled. Yes, but I still feel like I’m on some sort of vacation in this house. It feels like home, but nicer. I pinch myself pretty often to be so lucky to have purchased this place! The cats enjoy it too.

Just some updated cat photos for you! Life will settle down here once school is done, but until then, it’s crazy (as always). I’m really looking forward to this weekend: Augustin Hadelich is playing a solo violin recital as part of the Great Artists Series at Wash U. I also have a fair amount of free time, and we are going out to dinner on Saturday night with friends and then going to Jazz St Louis. AND Friday and Monday my morning job is off school so I may finally get to sleep in a little bit. It’s a happy time!

I’m trying to manage my stress and remind myself that the house is terrific, that it doesn’t need to be perfect yet or ever, and it’s okay if my garage is full of boxes (hey, if you need any and you are local, let me know!) but there is so much work…I can’t wait for vacation and for things to settle down a bit. Until then, I will sit on my velvet couches when possible and enjoy the windows and watching the cats!

We made it through the move! It was a stressful time leading up to it, but the actual moving day was easy and smooth. Trick: hire movers.

The day started rainy and we were nervous about having all our things moved in the rain, but by the time the truck arrived it had stopped raining. Since we aren’t getting rid of the old house yet (planning to do some fixing up first before dealing with it) we didn’t have the added pressure of having to get absolutely everything out and clean as well…I’ve done plenty of those moves in the past!

The movers were great: quick and professional. The whole move took just over 4 hours and then it was time to start unpacking! And (other than some gigs) that is what I’ve been doing for the past week. I’ve spent hours unpacking, moving boxes around, all of those fun things, and I have to say, the house is better and more amazing than I even thought it would be.

One of the more stressful parts of moving day was moving the cats. While the movers were at the old house, we put them in the bathroom to wait. Then we tried to load them into their carriers. Muriel went easily, but Miles was doing that cat thing where he became basically liquid and it was very challenging to get him into his carrier!

I drove the cats over ahead of the truck and got them settled into a basement room. Muriel seemed thrilled that we hadn’t arrived at the vet, but Miles was terrified and frantically looking for a hiding place in the room I placed them.

After the move was done Muriel was ready and eager to explore. I’m not sure if she is brave or stupid, but she couldn’t wait to get out and see where she was. Miles needed some time to hide, so we let him do his thing, and by evening he was venturing out a little bit.

By now the cats are super comfy here and chasing each other all over. We got a few new cat trees and scratchers for them to use as well, so it’s basically cat heaven.

One of the two new couches I ordered has been delivered and it’s fantastic! I read mixed things about Joybird, but their couches looked awesome and comfortable, and I hoped that the delivery issues people complained about were pandemic related, and it turned out well. Our couch was delivered during the week they said it would be, and the color, texture, and feel is amazing.

There’s still work to be done unpacking, particularly in the kitchen. We had a painter do a lot of the walls, but we decided to do a few things in the kitchen ourselves, mostly because we plan to remodel in the next few years. There is an amazing pantry, but it was this blue color that I didn’t care for, so we finally finished painting it white yesterday. I would spend today unpacking the kitchen and getting it set up, but I have a rehearsal and a concert, so that will have to wait, though I’ll manage a bit this morning.

I start teaching here tomorrow though, so I’ve done a lot of the office set up.

I feel lucky in that all my students have agreed to come to have lessons at my new house. It’s not terribly far, but for some of them it will add 10 to 15 minutes each way. I am looking forward to getting back to work–I told Louie yesterday that if I weren’t starting up this week I don’t know if I ever could again: I enjoy teaching and love my students, but I’ll tell you, it’s been nice to just be doing stuff around the house all day and playing some gigs.

However, it’ll be back to teaching, but there is just 7-8 weeks left until summer vacation. Less for my college students, more for my private students, and everything else in between. There’s a lot happening between now and then: NFMC Festival, my studio recital, school concert, college recital, Holy week services (SO many!), several concerts and performances on my end (more being added all the time, gah!) and some visits from family. It’ll be a busy time, but nothing too terrible for the most part. I can’t believe it is almost April!

I’ve got laundry going right now and I do want to get some work in the kitchen, so I’d better go. What have you been up to lately?

Things are moving along: the house is painted, the floors are waxed, and the moving truck is coming on Thursday! I’m finishing up teaching, packing like a crazy person, and just trying to keep my head above water. I ordered two couches and both are being shipped as we speak.

Once we are done moving, the unpacking will commence, but hopefully also the “normal life” again, of doing things other than working or preparing to move/working on the house. May I recommend NOT moving during the school year, if you are an overbooked and overworked teacher?

See you on the other side of everything!

Things sure are crazy around here!

We made it through our second household bout with COVID well: I was unscathed and Louie recovered quickly. We’ve been busy busy with the house, life, work, etc. I’ve been spending all my free time at the new house, or browsing the internet for ideas for decor, closet design, etc. We have our moving date set (ONE MONTH) and in between still lots to do: you might think this is taking a long time, but really, it’s moving as fast as we can. The paint is looking great, and the plaster cracks are getting fixed and will be basically nonexistent soon. We are getting the floors waxed and cleaned soon.

Basically I sound and feel like a crazy overwhelmed person! In between I’m teaching, playing entirely too many concerts, and oh, did I mention our washing machine at the “old” house broke so I can only currently do laundry at the new house?

But, it will all be WELL worth it in the end, when we move, when we get to live in this glorious space. The bedroom color is gorgeous, the couches are ordered and will be delivered at some point in the spring, and I’ve picked up a few new (to me) things on facebook marketplace.

Anyway, I’ve posted a fair amount on Instagram over the past month, so look for me there as well for more house stuff.

As I sit here on my couch typing, the weather app tells me it is -7 degrees fahrenheit. MINUS SEVEN. Just yesterday morning it was in the 30’s and then it dropped by early afternoon to the teens and then here we are. The predicted high for today is 6 degrees. We only got a little snow yesterday, thankfully, but the wind is crazy, and I’ll tell you, I am very grateful to be snug in my warm house.

I do have to go to the airport today to pick up Louie (Miles will be thrilled, he has been moping around the house all week) and then do a pick up of some baked goods at Union Loafers, but otherwise I plan to spend the day inside. I have two students this morning and then I am DONE teaching for the year, woo hoo!

It’s been a good week, but still quite busy. I finished up teaching at my schools and got my grades submitted. I only have Christmas Eve gigs left. I baked some cookies, enjoyed my own holiday decor, had lunch with a friend, read a bunch, wrapped some presents to take down to South Carolina, and messed around the house.

I keep thinking how next winter we will be in our new house! And much sooner than that, of course, but that the next time I decorate for Christmas it will be in the new house, and there will be more room for decorations and who knows what I will come up with! We are still sorting out the specifics of the move, such as when, but I have the painter booked (painting inside, we may also do some), haven’t chosen colors yet, that will be a first thing in the new year thing. We are trying to figure out what to do with the floors, if we do anything (wood floors). And then it’ll be couch shopping time, as we want two new couches. I hope that after Christmas is a good time to shop for couches. If you have any specific places to recommend, please do!

I didn’t do as much baking as I sometimes do, for all the reasons I’ve been doing less this year, but I decided to bake butter thumbprint cookies to fill with my homemade marmalade. I got into canning the other year and canned way too much jam for one year, so we are still working our way through it.

I got a couple of gifts from students that aren’t for the cats, so I had to put them up on a high shelf, which is the only place in the house where we can display things but Muriel can’t get to them. One student made a frog and she said after she made it, she realized she should give it to me. She’s the one who painted my 3d printed frog. (The violin bow has a “frog” and I often hold up frogs to remind my students to get all the way back to the frog on long bows.) I also received a lovely poinsettia plant, which are not good for cats. I read recently that poinsettias are NOT toxic to cats, don’t worry! They only cause vomiting and diarrhea. So, still good to avoid it (and yes, Muriel will definitely eat the plant if she can) but perhaps you don’t need to take your cat to the vet, just let it run its course? Not taking any chances either way.

We are still a multi-cultural household, so I like to light our electric menorah in the front to show that not everybody in our neighborhood is Christian (Louie is of Jewish descent and celebrates many holidays). He’s been visiting family in California (jealous, so much warmer I’m sure!) while I’ve been finishing up work here and holding down the fort in terms of weird new house things that have to be taken care of. The weather joke is on him though as he’ll be returning to single digit temperatures if not lower. HAHA!

Oh, and I joined mastodon, follow me there if you like. I’m definitely still finding my way around so don’t ask any questions 🙂

@hannahviolin@mastodon.sdf.org

It’s been a minute since I’ve posted, so I wanted to pop in. Thanksgiving Break was fantastic, but I’ll tell you about that another time. Things since we got back have been go-go-go with students, performances, rehearsals and concerts!

We played a concert of piano quartets at Washington University.

Part of getting older is saying, hmm, wasn’t it just Christmas already? I couldn’t bear the idea of packing up the tree again, so I figured I’d skip it this year. Next year maybe I’ll have two trees, haha!

Sometimes I am struck by how impossibly soft and adorable Miles is. And a little bite-y as well.

Okay, so random photo dump, random thoughts…Christmas will be here soon and then after that we close on the house, and I need to PACK. That’s the plan for after Christmas, get packed and get ready to move. We still have to decide when, but it’s over a month till closing and we aren’t in a huge rush so it’ll be fine. (it’s be fine is my mantra, we will see how it goes!)

I am excited about some stuff coming up this month, and I’ve already done some fun stuff. I have been having quite the fall of playing with some well-known popular artists such as the Who and this past weekend played with Harry Connick, Jr. It was a lot of fun!

It’s not always my preferred genre of music, but it is always fun to play with famous artists, regardless! And Harry is very nice and it is just plain cool to be so CLOSE to people like that. Practice your violin, students!

I’ll tell you about Thanksgiving and New Orleans another time. I am tired, and dealing with some annoying work things right now as I’m trying to blog, so maybe I’ll drink more coffee, exercise, and then try to teach this afternoon and play an evening rehearsal…it’s a busy week in a busy month, and I am NOT doing a good job practicing self care. 🙂