Somehow today schools were not canceled.  Though a few students told me they fell on the ice on their way to school.  I was a bit disappointed I actually had to work today, but seriously, there was just a touch of ice. 

I know, I just dove right in there, didn’t I?  Hello, and welcome to tonight’s blog entry.  I taught tons of students today.  I taught two violin classes, one orchestra class, and 7 private students.  I’m very brain dead right now. 

I decided today was a good day to really work with my orchestra on following the conductor.  Up until this point in the year, I’ve been doing quite a bit of piano playing with them rather than conducting.  I do think it’s important to use ears AND eyes in orchestra, so we did scales trying to follow me.  They did pretty well!

I’ve been a bit concerned recently over my right wrist.  I’ve been having pain in it, particularly in the morning, but really whenever I’m bending it.  I think I should probably sleep with my brace on for a few nights, and probably cut out all non-essential wrist activities.  I am actually not blaming the violin at this point, though my wrist is prone to injury due to the violin.  I’ll blame push-ups and other gym activities. 

So, I failed at bread-making last night.

I put the ingredients in and then just let the machine do its thing.  Oops.  I failed to notice I hadn’t properly put the pan in, thusly the little paddle that is supposed to mix the dough didn’t QUITE mix it properly.  So it baked like this.

Not QUITE what I wanted.  However, I did try a few bites and it seemed like a promising recipe.  I just need to make sure it mixes properly before letting it rise/bake.  Does this still count as a  new recipe for the month?

Today we are getting a bit more snow.  After my spinning class I decided to skip the “Yoga for Runners” workshops I had signed up for…it would have meant driving out to Chesterfield and I had already driven past too many cars off the highway (in the ditch!).  Spinning class was all hills today and was seriously tough.  I’m hoping by next week I can figure out how to adjust the darned bike myself instead of needing help each time…it’s harder than it seems, for someone (such as myself) with very little spatial awareness.

Since I was home today instead of yoga-ing, I thought I’d see what baking I could do.  I settled on using my bread machine to make “True 100% Whole Wheat Bread” (page 20 of the manual).  The only ingredients are water, salt, honey, whole wheat flour, vital wheat gluten (whatever that is?), and yeast.  The bread machine is working hard right now, and I’m eager to taste the bread later (three hours or so from now).

A few pictures of my bread machine.  I am pretty happy with it, though I don’t use it nearly often enough (as evidenced by the fact that I had to clean dust and cat hair off of it before using it today.)

I also am basically all caught up on my phone calls and busy work from my trip.  I would say I spent about 2 1/2 hours since getting home on paperwork, which isn’t bad.  I told myself I just had to sit down and DO it.  I am such a procrastinator with some things, and build them up bigger in my mind (or more time-consuming) than they actually are.  Don’t get me wrong, the business aspect of all of this does take time, but I mustn’t let it overwhelm me.

I am entertaining my summer institute plans…(if any) and am considering returning to Ottawa, KS for a Suzuki Teacher workshop.  Susan Kempter (my excellent teacher from last summer) is teaching Book Five—which I’ve already had BUT would gain new perspective.  Or there’s a Kreisler class with Alice Joy Lewis, who is supposed to be a brilliant teacher as well.  Not that I currently have any students doing Kreisler, but hopefully someday.  My other thought has been to attend the Mimi Zweig Indiana University Retreat, for a different perspective.  I know any choices I make will be good ones, as I believe all the options are great.

Okay, time to make dinner, watch a tv show and check out more of the Parents as Partners videos online.  Watching a few videos yesterday is what made me think of the summer institutes.  One big thing to remember:  Listen to the recordings!  Listen to the recordings!  Listen to the recordings!

Tomorrow I’m back to work for real—a busy week ahead!