This has been a hard month! So much work, so much stress. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s still a small light.

I did have time to go to Trader Joe’s today. Like this time every year, a pumpkin seems to have exploded in there. I did purchase some pumpkin biscotti to enjoy with coffee as well as many of my favorite’s. Tonight is going to be salmon with maybe asparagus. Or salad with burrata cheese on top. Maybe all of the above!

The broadway show I was playing is done—it finished on Sunday afternoon. I got to see my friend April that night for dinner but was too tired and stressed to really enjoy it. This concert Sunday (2 pm! Christ Church Cathedral! FREE!!!) has just become a huge stressor, hanging over my head. I’m looking forward to being done. I don’t regret that I chose to learn and perform an incredibly difficult Bach Sonata for it, but the timing hasn’t been great. The rest of the program hasn’t been neglected, exactly, but I’m not as happy with it. Oh well.

It should be a good performance nonetheless, and then I can focus on the next performances (LOTS of quartet stuff this fall and a piano trio concert in December as well). And focus on getting back to my own life, and maybe work on mental well-being and having friends too.

Mackenzie had an ear problem this past week, culminating with a small procedure yesterday. I’m worn out from all the pet problems we’ve had this year too, just absolutely emotionally drained. 2016 has been a hard year, losing two cats, one after a difficult illness, dealing with Mackenzie losing hair and it taking forever to get diagnosed…it’s just been a lot. Hopefully this ear thing isn’t ongoing, and hopefully she can just relax and enjoy having her hair back for awhile longer.

On the bright side (besides the salmon, I mentioned the salmon, correct?) I am playing another show at the Fox next year. It’s not for a year, and maybe something else will come up in the middle, but I’ll tell you: as stressful as getting all the other parts of life to work with the show, it was so much fun to play. And it was fun to see colleagues more often, and fun to perform at a high level and have a lot of fun doing it. I always love performing and want to do more. (Maybe less stressful stuff that a solo recital though.)

Time to get back to practicing! Today I don’t teach until early evening. (Every other Tuesday I teach at Wash U in the early afternoon, and this is the week off, small victory!) And coffee drinking. What would we do without coffee?