Hits and Misses (August 23-29)

Here's a look back at the week that was......

HITS

• This week I visited First Baptist Church in Plainview. I thoroughly enjoyed the music and sermon. When I left, I was convinced that I had found my new church home.
• Life has a way of throwing kinks in your plans sometimes. I have been offered a paid position at a local church. I have already visited the church. I felt welcomed and liked what I saw, but there was just "something" missing. I've met the pastors personally of both churches I am considering joining and I am confident that I could blossom under both of their leaderships in different ways. Now I have a decision to make! The additional income from the church pianist position would come in very handy; I'm just not sure that I'm ready to accept that level of responsibility again. I'll continue to think and pray about it.
• It's been a very busy week, but I've been mostly pleased with how things have gone so far. Playing for the University's convocation was fine.....I wish I could have sat back and simply watched the proceedings, but it was not a big deal. Opera rehearsals have gotten started this week and I didn't butcher any of the rehearsals too badly. I will be learning the rest of Act I of the Mikado this week.
• On Friday morning, I traveled to Lubbock for the monthly meeting of the local chapter of the Music Teachers' National Association. They are an "interesting" group of women there with lots of things to talk about. The meeting certainly made an impression on me.
• To bring the week to a close, I enjoyed dinner with Deidre Redmond at Furr's. Deidre and I met during New Faculty Orientation this year and became fast friends. It was very funny when we realized that we live just across the street from each other. Now that the semester has taken off fast and furious for both of us, we knew we would have to set aside time to see each other. It was wonderful to get out of the office and enjoy conversation with another adult. We will definitely have to do that again very soon.
• It was hard to believe that this was the one year anniversary of Dad's triple bypass surgery. It has been a long year filled with lots of ups and downs, hopes and fears for the Freeman family. Through it all, God has been faithful and has shown His tremendous love and care for us in ways that we could never have imagined.

MISSES

• Since Richard was out of town for a performance this week, I covered his choir rehearsals. I didn't mind doing it at all and actually enjoyed getting to hear the students sing and working with another conductor. What I didn't enjoy, however, was sight reading open scores! I know they are useful and a fact of the musician's life, but I still hate them! Just give me a piano reduction already!
• It seems there has been a stomach bug going around this week. I didn't feel great at all on Wednesday, but nothing seemed to be "strange" either. That night, I thought I was going to be in trouble. I was nauseous and could not get any relief from the lump that was forming in my throat. (Sorry if that is too much information.) By the following evening, things were beginning to feel normal again, but I did not enjoy teaching my classes on Thursday -- or much else that I attempted to do. That's the first time in a very long time that I have felt down right sick.
• I know that there is an inevitable learning curve when beginning a new job. Still, I hate the feeling of never being able to make any real headway at the office. Currently, I feel like I'm just going from one day to the next and simply staying afloat. I know how to do the job....it's just a matter of getting my first year of lesson plans together in this new system.
• I had thought that I would have much more time for reading now that I am not driving all of the time. The truth is that I've not read nearly as much this month. New responsibilities -- like cooking and cleaning -- have taken my newly created free time. Besides, when I get home after a day in the office, the only thing I want to do is lie on the couch and watch a little television. But I'm still very thankful for my job that doesn't require me to drive all over the planet to make a living.

Posted with Blogsy