I am a big fan of making plans. I’m almost as good at following through on plans, and less good at changing plans without getting grumpy.

I was thinking about this as I’m on the computer planning a few things, some fun, some work-related. I feel like I am constantly researching and making new plans in my line of work, and it’s absolutely necessary if I want to keep playing concerts and being a good violin teacher.

More fun, however, is planning vacations. Louie and I realized that we are (most likely) in the same lucky position we were in last summer where we are able to take a longer vacation, if we keep it cheap. We have more time than money in the summer, so we are (again!) looking at a multi-week road trip. I’ve started the planning, because camping in National Parks can require plenty of advance notice. Since we are visiting Phoenix/Sedona/Grand Canyon in May, we are looking at Colorado/Utah/New Mexico in August. I’m already completely thrilled and diving into itinerary planning. I’ve learned a few things from planning last summer’s trip, and mostly it went really well, which tells me that I need to do much the same with a few tweaks.

Of course I worry about the pets while we travel. Though I’ve gotten a little better…things are ok-ish right now, status quo, nothing new to report.

I’m sleepy today. The weather is nice and warm, though lots of rain is in the forecast (fingers crossed for the St Pat’s Race on Saturday). The weekend was busy as I warned you all, but went well. The symphony concert on Saturday night was wonderful (heard a new piece by Tchaikovsky, Overture to Hamlet, and realized that Autumn Leaves must have been inspired by it) and we hung out with friends before and after. We’re trying to decide whether to buy a subscription for next season or just go a la carte on tickets. Random thoughts, I know.

In between starting and finishing this blog post I might have found a used keyboard to purchase. I haven’t owned a piano or keyboard of my own, and it would be lovely to be able to accompany my students in order to prepare them for recitals and things. I’m going to look at it tomorrow and fingers crossed it looks good. I used to be a decent pianist though I haven’t really played in a few years now, since my school closed. I don’t have very good technique and avoid the pedal like mad, but I can hit the notes and play well enough, especially if the music is easy. Maybe I’ll practice and get better!

So those are my random Tuesday thoughts. How is your week going so far?