Hits and Misses (February 1-7)

Here's my weekly look back at the week that was.....

HITS

• I was so blessed to attend all of the anointed revival at First Marion. The speakers were powerful. The music was pure worship and such a joy to be involved with. I came away with some challenges for my own personal walk with God and know without a doubt that I was in the very presence of the Most High. It's been a long time since I have felt so refreshed spiritually. For that, I am extremely thankful.
• Early in the week, I sat down and generated progress reports for my piano students at Bartlett Music Academy. Throughout my teaching, I have always struggled finding time to clearly communicate with parents about their student's musical development. In a moment of inspiration, I created a simple form that addressed six aspects of musicianship and provided comments about the student in each area. I have been very happy to see parents responding positively to the information and asking questions about how they can help the learning at home. The current plan is to provide updates for parents bi-monthly.
• It was also good to get back to work at Union University this week. Luckily, it was a calm return. I taught the first session of Class Piano IV to a packed house of 12 students and had a rehearsal with the singer whose recital is happening in less than a month. Other than that, it was just the first casual musical rehearsal for the Into the Woods cast. I don't expect this pace of life to last for long though.
• Alright, my fellow #Gladiators! This week's episode of Scandal made a lot more sense to me and now I'm pulled right back into the drama with Fitz and Olivia. This really is great, must-see television for me.
• I was thrilled to check in with the Diet Center late this week to learn that I am down another 3 pounds! That's a grand total of 9 pounds since starting the program just under a month ago. I'm ready for "normal" food, but I can push through the routine since I'm seeing results.
• It's always a great situation to be encouraged to express my creativity and to receive positive feedback for my efforts. I'm finding that I am thriving in my current environment and enjoying the hard work.

MISSES

• As much as I loved the revival, I have to admit that Sunday was an extremely long day. Morning worship, Sunday school class......then a mad dash to Germantown to teach a piano lesson that went longer than scheduled (because I got too excited about the progress the student was making). Straight back to the church for the afternoon session before heading home and collapsing on my bed from exhaustion. Phew! I haven't had that kind of weekend activity in a while.
• Wednesday night was a comedy of errors and one for the record books. It was the last night of revival and I had played Monday and Tuesday's services. The church uses Planning Center to schedule members of the music ministry. On Wednesday, I kept checking the website to make sure a request had not come through. So I finally convinced myself that the other pianist was scheduled for the evening. While driving home from Union, I decided it would be productive to head to the music store to pick up some music for my students before going to church. The evening's service was scheduled to begin at 6:30. Shortly after 5:30, I'm in Allegro Music talking with my friends when my phone rings. It's the music minister.....calling to ask if I am aware that I'm scheduled to play tonight's service! OMG! I've been in the position of music minister before and completely understand how miscommunication can happen during revival planning. So I jump in the car and head straight to First Marion. Understand, I need to be on stage in about 45 minutes or so......and it generally takes about 55 minutes to make the drive! I don't remember much about the next 45 minutes or so.....except that I did a lot of praying that cars would get out of my way so I could repent for the fast driving I was doing and serve the congregation I now attend with joy!  I made it to church with a few minutes to spare and the worship set went off without a hitch....but I don't want to have that experience again for quite a while. I'm getting too old for this kind of drama! :)
• In the past few days I've realized that there comes a time when you simply have to "pay the piper" for extended breaks. I took the entire break from Union to rest my hands and did very little playing. Now I'm finding myself frantically practicing in order to get ready for next month's recitals. That's the choice I made. I don't regret the decision at all....not yet, anyway!

 PROGRESS REPORTS

• Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned - p. 238 of 238. COMPLETE! (85 pages this week)
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon - p. 69 of 221 (69 pages this week)