Running

Ready to Race!

I made it.  I finished my last training run.  (And survived another Thursday!)

Now all I have to do is finish packing, fly to Phoenix, and then run the darn race. 

On an unrelated note:  I spent about 40 minutes today on teaching busywork.  After thinking about my post from this morning, I think I ought to just spend 30 minutes each weekday on the work, and try to keep it at that. 

I am more than halfway done with War and Peace.  I’m doing pretty well keeping up with all the characters.  Prince Andrew is my favorite right now…I keep wanting more of that storyline (right after Natasha spurns him) and instead it takes me into a boring part about Napoleon and Alexander the Great.  Less “War”, more “Peace” please, Tolstoy!

 

hamflavor

Running, Teaching

So Cold!

I guess it’s a good thing I’m going to Phoenix, Arizona tomorrow!

Friday in St. Louis:  High of 34, Low of 27 (all temps Fahrenheit)

Friday in Phoenix: High of 73, Low of 46.  MUCH BETTER!!

So I’ve got my “spring” clothes packed, and I can’t wait.  I haven’t been out to AZ in about two years, so this trip is long overdue.  And after my little race on Sunday, I’ll have four days to relax and celebrate, before returning to the cold.

Race day weather:  Partly Cloudy, High of 73, Low of 52.  I think that’s actually hotter throughout than the Lewis and Clark Half in October…I hope it’s not too hot for me to run decently!  I am planning to run in black capri leggings, a purple tank top, and start with a light jacket.  I’ve got a special “13.1” Sweaty Band for the occasion as well. 

Can you tell I’m excited?

 

I do have some teaching to do beforehand, and one last training run to squeeze in.  I’ve got 8 students at the school followed by 9 students at home.  I just hope some of them have practiced since last week—I think I gave out some darned good practice assignments last week, and there shouldn’t be any excuses—after all, most of the kids had a snow day, perfect for extra practice, right?  *sighs*

I do have to finalize the Solo and Ensemble stuff before I leave, but I’m also taking my laptop with me so I don’t get too behind on “business” stuff.  I need to streamline the paperwork/email/phone calls process.  I  spend way too much time doing that sort of thing each week without actually getting everything done. Maybe I need to dedicate a certain block of time on a few days to working on that stuff (and nothing else)?

What is generally involved?

  • Inputting payments into my computer program
  • Invoices and receipts
  • Dealing with special events such as concerts/contests—planning, emailing parents, memos
  • Rescheduling lessons
  • Resending invoices for parents who haven’t paid
  • Returning phone calls from potential and current students
  • Returning phone calls from potential and current clients (wedding business)
  • Returning emails from the same
  • Putting together wedding contracts
  • Signing checks
  • Taking checks to the bank
  • Planning classes
  • Making practice charts
  • Keeping up on repertoire ideas for the groups and orchestra
  • Xeroxing of important handouts for the students who continually lose them
  • Keeping travel bag clean and up to date (some music I use on the go and at home, I have to make sure it gets back into the bag afterwards)
  • Directions to gigs
  • Organizing gig music if needed (for instance, getting trio music or quartet music out, making sure I have the correct songs for the event)

If I have a week with regular teaching and a wedding or too, that is all the stuff I might have to get done!  Obviously the phone calls and emails vary, the invoices are primarily a end of month thing…but many of those things have to be done at the end of each teaching day or by the next morning for  sure.  I often feel overwhelmed by the paperwork (computer work, what have you.)  I am thinking I should just dedicate, say, 1 hour, three days a week to this stuff and then stop.  Does anyone else deal with this stuff in a better way?  (Other than having a personal assistant…)  When I get back I may try that—scheduling a few hours a week to dedicate to the about list as needed, and then not go past that time.  Maybe an hour Tuesday, an hour Wednesday and an hour Friday?  And if I don’t need that time, great.  If I need more time, I’ll just have to carry the work over till the next day. Then again, emails I generally want to respond to quickly.  But I could do that once or twice a day rather than all the time?  Help??

(I’m actually writing this on Wednesday night, and I’m exhausted, but I want to read a bit of War and Peace before bed, so I apologize for any incoherentness.)  Have a fabulous Thursday!

Random thoughts

Answers to a few questions

I’ve gotten a couple of questions recently that I thought I would answer here:

How can I leave in the middle of January to go to Phoenix, run a race, and visit my sister and friends? 

Well, firstly, since I work a variety of part time jobs, I can (within reason) set my own schedule.  But it worked out since Monday (MLK day) is already a holiday, so I was already missing half the students that week (Monday is quite busy).  So now I’m missing all the students that week.  I don’t get paid when I miss, but I don’t think it’s fair of any of my jobs to expect me to fully commit my time to them without full time pay!  I also don’t get paid sick leave or paid benefits.  All of that is out of pocket. 

What are these various groups I play with?

1.  Chamber Project St. Louis:  I am lucky to play with these guys (well, women, actually).  They do primarily concerts.  They play a variety of styles and ensembles—and they play all over town.  I’ve played with them in the past at the Chapel and the Contemporary Art Museum.  Most recently I was on Fox2 News with them.

2.  Frantillo Strings:  This is my group.  We play paid jobs for weddings, ensembles, etc. 

3.  Serenade Music:  My friend Ranya runs this group.  I play a TON of weddings for her.  It is also known as Serenade Strings.

4.  Winter Opera St. Louis:  Small start up opera company.  I am concertmaster of the orchestra.  It used to be called New Opera St. Louis. 

5.  Elegant Ensembles:  I have played a few jobs for this group, and I am currently rehearsing for a chamber music concert coming up (Brahms and Mendelssohn), so it’s both concerts and weddings/other events.

Are you a professional musician or do you do this for fun?

Yes.  To both.  But it sounds much better since I am a professional.  (That’s also why I charge more than college students.  I also have taxes to pay!)

Why did you initially begin blogging, and how has the experience changed for you since you began?

Actually, this is my third or fourth blog.  I initially began blogging because I thought it was an interesting thing to do, but I didn’t really want anyone to read it.  Then I had a blog on which I posted my travels plus funny things that happened to me.  This blog I thought would be initially professional in nature, but the thing is…the personal and professional blurs so much in my life (a musician’s work is never done…and we must bring our personal feelings into our music) that it seems natural to have moved into a more personal nature.  I also actively court readers now, as I feel my blog is finally worth sharing with people.  I try to keep a nice variety of topics, and I also generally try to keep a positive feel—it’s pretty indicative of who I am. I enjoy writing it for now, so there we are.

If you have any more questions for me, let me know!

Random thoughts

Snow Day? Part 2

3 Comments

Since today is a “snow day”, I’m taking advantage of the time to get ready for my upcoming trip.  I’ve got a big pile of clothes and such on my bed, and as soon as the laundry is done, will probably finish packing the clothes portion of the suitcase.  I am a little early but the next two days will be quite hectic.   I’ve also got a bunch of paperwork/bookkeeping stuff to get done (private teaching creates quite a bit of record-keeping!)

We were going to have a rehearsal for the upcoming Elegant Ensembles concert this afternoon but decided to postpone it until tomorrow afternoon, which makes tomorrow very hectic.  Oh well!  It’s so hard to tell with weather.  On the one hand, I always feel like a giant wuss when I want to just stay at home and not drive around, as there are ALWAYS people who will go out in whatever weather.  On the other hand, my brain says, why?  After all, (I know I said this before, but I really mean it) whatever I am doing is hardly worth risking my life, or, more practically, risking my car insurance deductible.  Sure, I could probably get to Chesterfield tonight.  But my chances of a minor accident are significantly higher than usual, as well as my chances of slipping in the parking lot.  I also find that parents of young children (who I was going to meet in Chesterfield) are usually very hesitant to take the kids out and about in bad weather, so that works out well.  I don’t blame them—one adult is one thing (not withstanding the fender bender risk) but imagine a small accident with two small children…potentially waiting for an hour or more in the cold by the side of the road…and for what?  A violin lesson?  That could be made up another time?  (It’s not as if we get snow all the time, like in Cleveland!)

Maybe it’s my southern roots, or maybe it’s due to a couple of accidents (and really bizarre things like my car sliding down a driveway and hitting a garage door), or a couple of near accidents (doing a 360 on the highway and ending up facing into oncoming traffic)…but the older I get, the more hesitant I am to risk driving in bad weather.  Call me chicken, I’m okay with it.

*steps off of soapbox*

Honestly I just love surprise days off.  Whether they come in the form of a snow day or a sick day, I still love it (yes, even when I am barely alive, lying on the couch covered in kleenex, the day off part still pleases me).  Though I still feel guilty…did I make the right decision?  Should I have gone in?  Maybe pink eye isn’t that contagious?  Maybe the sheet of ice on my road isn’t a widespread thing?  (Then again, I generally feel guilty…it comes with the territory for being fairly high-strung.)

Readers:  How do you feel about snow and sick days?  Are you a “go into work/normal activities at any cost” sort of person or more of an “eh, let’s take it easy, nobody’s going to die if I stay home” person?

Random thoughts

Snow day?

How do you stay entertained when you are snowed in?

(Today’s postaday suggestion).

Today we were supposed to be getting 6 or so inches of snow, starting around noon.  Then 2:00.  Then 3:00.  Then I drove home after orchestra rehearsal at 4:30…and it finally started snowing.  Then it stopped. 

I am trying to remember the last time I was really snowed in.  I think it may have been Easter weekend in Cleveland in 2007 (or 2008? I don’t know).  I recall it snowed from Thursday through Sunday.  Maybe that’s incorrect, I don’t know.  Memory is a funny thing.

Most of my snow memories are from panicking over how to get to various concerts that SHOULD have been canceled, but weren’t, or were, but not until after you already tried to get there on the ice or in the blizzard.  Sometimes I hate being a musician—the powers-that-be are very hesitant to cancel concerts since they would lose a ton of money…but if you get in a fender bender on the way there the deductible alone would more than negate the payment for the gig, so it’s always a big moral dilemma.  Do you try to go or just stay home?  Some people mock those of us who like to stay home when the weather is bad, but seriously, why?  Why go out in the snow if you don’t have to?  What is so important that you can’t just stay home for an evening or for a day?  (I know some things, i.e. medical emergencies are important.  I’m not talking about that.  I am talking about the idiots at the mall.)

That brings us to the question in bold at the top.  How do you stay entertained when you are snowed in?  The same way I always entertain myself…my home is a place of relaxation, comfort, and entertainment.  I’m never bored at home.  I have the boy, the cat, tons of books, movies, a television…plus there’s a kitchen for cooking or baking…the computer for blogging or the internet…the possibilities are endless. 

Unrelated note:  Today in class a student asked me what “xeroxing” meant.  And she was serious.  I feel old.

Related note:  I am starting to question the snow forecast.  Then again, maybe the worst is yet to come…perhaps I’ll wake up tomorrow to a foot of snow!  Thank goodness the fridge is full of groceries that include milk and bread.

Random thoughts

Happy Birthday to Chris!

Happy Monday morning, readers! 

They are predicting 6 or more inches of snow later today.  Let’s hope I can get through my teaching day with no problems.  I wish I could take the day off to celebrate Chris’s birthday with him, but alas…

I am just pushing through the week until Friday when I take off for Phoenix.  Things are busy busy!

The weekend was great. 

Friday  night:

Chris and I had a fantastic dinner at 1111 Mississippi to celebrate his birthday.  We split the stuffed artichokes.  I had a watercress salad and the seafood alfredo and he had the bacon-wrapped pork.  We finished with the cheesecake.  It was all fantastic, plus I got to take pasta home for later.  Many of my friends insisted we would love 1111 and they were absolutely correct.  It was a great dinner! 

Saturday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtube_gdata_player&v=uB1wIfMCphc

Saturday started very early with an appearance on the Fox2 Morning Show as a guest with Chamber Project St. Louis.  If you missed my entry about that, go here.

In the afternoon I ran 8 miles…on the treadmill.  It was just so cold outside.  I had wanted to do another 10 mile run (did that last week) as it is the last weekend before my race, but I was just too exhausted.  Oh well.

Saturday night I played background music for a private dinner at the Wine Room in the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton as part of the Serenade Strings.

Sunday:

Sunday morning I had my first spinning class at the Center of Clayton.  It was great!  I can’t wait till my next one, unfortunately two weeks from now, but still.  The teacher was really energized and the other class members were very friendly.  I was dripping sweat and worked really hard.

In the afternoon I played again with Chamber Project St. Louis.  They had a short concert at the Siteman Cancer Center.  It was a nice crowd and a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

By Sunday night I really just wanted to rest, but I couldn’t pass up free tickets to Circus Flora and SLSO’s partnership show, “The Floating Palace.”  The orchestra played music of Bizet, Copland, Ibert, and more, and the circus juggled, tumbled, hula hooped, climbed ropes, and as a finale, the “Flying Wallendas” did a spectacular tight-rope routine.  Wow!  I hope they continue to work together in the future.  There is nothing like live music for a show like that!

Upcoming week’s highlights:

Chris’s Birthday

Trip to Phoenix, visit Leslie and Sarah, run Rock n Roll Half Marathon

Keep reading War and Peace. (should make EXCELLENT headway during travels).

Let’s see how today’s weather goes!  Lots of teaching to do before dinner tonight.

thoughts about violin, teaching, running, life.