And another semester begins! This semester my Monday starts later than usual, so I should have been doing all manner of wonderful and productive thing this morning…instead I spent a bit of time researching this and that on the internet and then I thought, oh, let’s type up a quick blog post to share with my “readers” before heading out to work. I did pack a lunch though, and dry my hair!

I teach at two different colleges and each semester I have a different number of students. Sometimes it is more students here, other times more students there. This time I’m only out at my Monday school for about 4 hours, but I have 7 hours at the other place (over two days). Last semester I was gone Monday for over 6 hours, but only had 5 at the other school. I have to just stop worrying and let each semester have its own character.

I’m excited that I managed to find a day for Louie and I to regularly have lunch again. Last semester I had a hour off that we could meet once a week (I teach near where he does for one school) and that was really fun. Even though workday lunches aren’t as relaxing as the end of the day dinners, it is still nice to meet up! We both have schedules that change each semester so we just have to take advantage of what we can do rather than worry about what comes next.

(my plan to use more candles in day-to-day life is working!)

Ugh, the “x” key on my computer is sticking. You’d think that wouldn’t be a big problem but the word next is evidently a word I use quite often!

This week isn’t too bad. I have a few new students, I start most of my college students, but otherwise it’s just teaching and practicing and such. I’m finishing up a few cross-stitch projects and reading a book in my free time, trying to exercise (another x!), and taking the car in for a checkup and visiting a dermatologist (nothing much, just being an adult). I’ve gotten a bit more into crafting the past few months and I find myself wanting to branch out more from cross-stitch and felting. I am also interested in making my own jam and considering learning how to do some light canning, but that might be a better summer project. Maybe this is a sign of aging, wanting to put my own mark on the world or something? Any canning advice? I had some delicious cranberry jam over Christmas and want to make my own with some leftover cranberries I have in the freezer. It seems a little scary but do-able.

(New random cat décor)

I am full of random thoughts! The beginning of the semester is always a good time for reflection, I suppose. I managed to stay fairly not overwhelmed last semester even with tons going on, so I’m hopeful about this one. Having a more relaxed start to my Monday will help!

We have some potential travel coming up this year. There are a few conferences Louie might be presenting at and I am hoping to join him (over the summer) and extend the trips. I had originally thought it might be a low-key year for traveling, but if these things happen, it won’t be!

I have been doing well with diet and exercise so far this year. I’m just trying to make good choices and be active as many days as I can. I am also trying to pursue more fun in my life and not work all the time, and have had some good activities with friends, worked on my hobbies (so many hobbies, ha!) and had time to read as well. I’m keeping up on the house, only a bit behind on practicing (I had a long rehearsal yesterday and my left index finger base joint has been hurting off and on so I’m taking the day off practicing despite really needing to work on a few pieces), and only have a few short things I need to do outside of teaching.

So that’s my random thoughts for a Monday morning! Are you prepared and ready to face the week ahead?

I had a recital for my private studios over the weekend. I always think of trying to have them twice a year, but mostly end up only managing once a year-it’s not easy to put together and get everybody to agree to attend! It’s always worth it though, to push the students to practice, to get them to hear other students and hopefully be encouraged, and to get the parents to see the progress that their kids (and perhaps compare them to the other kids in a healthy way) are making.

I got a lot of nice comments afterwards, and I had a few parents talk to me about their hopes and goals for their own kids’ violin playing. It’s good to hear, especially when those goals are reasonable and fit into the plan we already on, but it’s good for me to reevaluate how I’m encouraging each student and how I can be pushing them to do better. Every student learns in a different way, and one of the probably more underestimated challenges of teaching is figuring this out, and then continuing to teach in a way that helps each student the best. There is no one way, there is no one path, and what works for 5 students won’t work for the other 5. Sometimes I figure a student out quickly (this is obviously easiest when they learn and are inspired by similar to things to me) and other times it takes much longer. Sometimes I’ll really hit the nail on the head for awhile and then something changes-sometimes I’ll get a beginner who progresses really well for the first few years and then really stalls out, or other times a student will have a very slow difficult start and then really fly. Sometimes I get a transfer student (one who came from another teacher) and I’m very different than the previous teacher so it takes awhile to get adjusted. Or that transfer student will have a lot of technique difficulties that I have to address right away and the student feels like I’m nagging them too much and resists, and I have to figure out how to strike the right balance between letting them play and making them fix their posture.

I think I’d been feeling kind of negative the past few weeks, and I’m glad to have the recital behind me as well as a stressful quartet performance. I feel a great weight is lifted off, and I am hopeful that spring is (somewhat) near. I always worry about recitals, but then they end up going well and the parents seem happy.

Then I start thinking of how to improve the recital and when to set up the next one—it HAD been a year, though I’d planned one in November which I had to cancel. Maybe I’ll shoot for that again, something in late October or early November. I’ve been keeping information about this sort of thing in a “bullet journal” I’ve had for a few years now (I don’t write every day, obviously). I have a list of what to bring for recitals and a timeline of what I’ve done that works. I also brainstorm ideas for future events.

The most important thing I took away from the recital is that I’m doing okay with the students, and that I will keep encouraging and pushing the in the ways that I can do best.

And there’s a picture of the quartet from the other week. Action shot!

I definitely felt a bit grateful about my free time last week…I was down to only one full time job (sort of)! Of course, things were still crazy, and mostly I’ve been fighting through to-do lists. I have managed to work out a bit more than usual which has been fun, and I no longer feel like I’m drowning in work, but the work is still lapping at my chin as I struggle to keep my head above water. I think I’d thought October would feel freer than it is, but the fact that I have time to blog means it is indeed a bit freer.

We had a great quartet concert on Sunday at Second Presbyterian Church. The concert got a great crowd (this was part of an existing music series) and they were really welcoming.

Louie was gone for a conference until Saturday night so I mostly worked and hibernated. I did get to read a bit more for fun, and I stewed about how women are treated in the current government.  It’s not good, people, but I remind myself that it hasn’t been good for a long time, and that just because things are in the news doesn’t mean they haven’t been going on for a long time.

I had a question in the comments about the headphones I was wearing for the show the other week. I thought I’d explain here in case others were wondering. We were under the stage, and our sound was piped into the hall—nothing “live” was coming in or out, so the headphones were so we could hear things like the keyboard (the conductor also played keyboard, and without hearing that we would have been really lost) and the singers. I shared a mix with the violist and cellist, which meant we had to negotiate how much of each part we wanted to hear in our headphones. Some instruments, like the drums and brass players we could hear just fine live, and others like the guitar and bass were in the headphones. We could also have our own sound in the mix, which I find a little bit weird. It’s a little odd to wear them while playing but I found I got quite used to it. I do have to take earrings off and wear my hair up or the headphones will slide off.

Every show I play is a little different as far as how the sound works. Some shows I’ve worn headphones and gotten to choose my own mix, and with other shows there will just be monitors around so you can hear the keyboard/synthesizers. Since there are so few string players in any given show, and so few musicians generally, the keyboards really take up the slack. It’s a mixed bag; we are glad they use live musicians AT ALL, but honestly, a violin mixed with a violin synth sound just isn’t the same as a full violin section. But the audiences don’t seem to care, and musicians cost money. I’m happy to play when needed, and the fun thing about being the only violin means each time I play is a solo of sorts and the stakes are high (which I like).

Hope that helps! One reason I blog is to tell the world about my life as a freelance musician. As my career and work have grown these past few years, I’m often torn about whether to change my focus into something more helpful to younger musicians, or really try to monetize this blog, or close it down all together. But I think, if nothing else, it shows how a musician lives her life, for better or (sometimes) worse, and how I live MY life. You obviously enjoy reading it or you wouldn’t be here!

Okay, fun stuff now. CATS. These guys can be really destructive (they love scratching suitcases and furniture, tearing up paper, and of course knocking things over) but they are super cute. They groom each other and they also fight hard, with claws and teeth.

SO CUTE.

Though I still wish we had another dog. Well…the truth is mostly just that I miss Mackenzie. The students miss her too, sitting on the couch enjoying the violin lessons. We miss taking her out for walks and into the woods for hikes. And just having her presence in the house was nice, especially when I was home nights alone.

But I’m glad we took on this guy:

Today I had the morning off rather than our usual quartet rehearsal, so it feels very decadent. We meet every week to rehearse, and some days I am not super happy about it, but it is a fun and important commitment in my life. I do teach a long day today, 11 students, but this week is generally okay. We are attending a couple of concerts this weekend for a change, and I’m also playing a Prince Tribute Show at the Fox on Sunday.

Let me go into a little detail about my schedule: 11 students today. 6 1/2 hours total—a mix of 30 and 45 minute students, plus one hour. Tomorrow I am free until 3:30 but then I have 7 students. That means tomorrow is a great day to practice and run errands and maybe do a bit of housecleaning (we let our house keeper go a few months ago and haven’t found a new one yet). Thursday is one student at the college in the morning but not early, then 7 at home. This is also a nice day in that I have time to workout before the college student, and then time to practice and do any paperwork before teaching. Friday I normally have 3 college students, but it’s only 2, then I go home and teach 6 students before heading to the Sheldon for a Jazz Concert. Saturday I have the morning off, a short wedding in the afternoon followed by a performance at the Artica Festival with my band, Third Millennium World’s Fair or 3MWF for short. After that I hurry home and then we are going to the Symphony. Sunday I meet my students for the Arch Cup in the morning, and then to the Fox Theatre for rehearsal and the Prince Show.

Are you tired yet? The good news is that Monday is Fall Break at my Monday college, so that means I am free all day until the evening! And remember, this is a less busy week. Louie works a full time job and is working on getting a PhD so we are both workaholics right now in our lives, and we are just dealing with it. I tell myself after he gets the degree maybe I’ll start saying no to things more often (I say no, but it’s mostly because I’m already booked) but I like being in demand, honestly. And even though I sometimes dread the schedule of a given day, mostly once I start working I have a good time and enjoy playing or teaching or interacting with the students.

I do wish I had a little more time for friends, but I’m not making that a priority right now. I am managing to see people here and there and I definitely see plenty of people day in and day out, and have conversations and whatnot, and that’s enough for me now. Or I’m telling myself that . I’m done apologizing to myself about it I think, and I’m just going to embrace the busy-ness. I’m not busy for the sake of being busy, but because being a musician is hard work and there is always something more to do.

On that note, I’d better go deal with a few things and do a bit of violin practice before my teaching day starts. I got a ton of stuff checked off the to-do list earlier today, but a few more things have been added (never-ending!) so I might tackle some of those.