i got the nicest phone call this morning complimenting me on the web sites i've done for the school, and asking for my advice. and i was able to answer her questions. what a nice feeling - i'm an expert! :)
i had dinner with a friend last night. i made another batch of black bean soup. i keep forgetting it doesn't make much - i'm used to making soup that feeds 5,000...and eating it for weeks and weeks from the freezer. (i'm still working on a batch of split pea soup from late last fall!) too bad for nick - we finished it off. i promised him i'd make it again soon, though. i'd forgotten how easy it was :)
i'm hoping to get some photography stuff up soon. really i am. maybe tonight if things work out.
*laughs* nick didn't believe me that i hadn't played since my lesson on thursday when he heard me last night. he just didn't hear the beginning of my practice session when my ear was trying to remember what the rhythm of the notes were. :) peggy's been giving me a wider variety of things. this last week i got a piece to practice embellishments and a tune you hear a lot in jam sessions called 'liberty'. it's coming along rather well.
the one thing that i have a hard time with is when i'm listening to myself play, i can hear in my head something that would sound really neat as an embellishment, but then trying to pick out the notes *and* remember what i was thinking at the same time is really hard. if only i had perfect pitch when singing - i could maybe hum what i'm thinking, record it, and work it out that way. usually, it just gets garbled in my head and sounds rather lame when i finally give up. i'm guessing that this will come with time - i've only been playing about 5 months. i suppose i shouldn't be to hard on myself. :) i just need to see if i can find the piano or organ music for 'let all mortal flesh keep silent.' everytime i start to play that song, my brain remembers these rolling, grandiose, majestic notes and chords played on the organ from when we sing the hymn in church. *basks in the memory* i love that song.
i often wonder why we do this. i suppose it's to have a way to keep track of whether or not we're on the road to the place where we said we were going in the first place. (uh. yeah?) anyway, sometimes it seems rather silly when you've only been in a position for six months and don't have anything to compare your progress to. i did jot down some goals, and looking over them, i've done pretty well. still. justifying my existence? what a pain.
my apartment seems to be falling apart - well ok. so it's just not clean. but i only have so much time. if i work out and take some time for myself, it looks like a tornado hit it. if i spend time on the apartment, i don't seem to have time to work out and take time for myself. actually, i think i'm just whining. if i'd just do it, it probably won't take as long as i think it will. thank goodness nick is kind and helps out. :) one of the many reasons i love the man.
for some reason, whenever the world situation starts to get shaky and scary, it's music i turn to. one piece in particular - Spem in alium, a thomas tallis piece and a 40-part motet. yes. i did say forty - that's eight choirs of five parts each with eight person singing their own part. i don't know whether it's the thought of that many people singing in harmony (a representation of my hope for the world? all different, yet living in harmony?) or if it's the words:
(translated) I have never had hope in anyone but Thee, God of Israel,
Thou who grow angry and will hear prayer.
Thou eliminate all the sins of men in tribulation.
Lord God, Creator of heaven and earth, look down upon our humility.
not that those words may sound especially comforting at first, but it's a plea to go easy on us...not to wipe us from the face of the earth even though we do bad things as people. it harkens back to moses' talking to God: "if 50 are found to be righteous will you still destroy them? if 10? if 5? if 1?" God is merciful, praise Him. we do not get what we deserve, and that both scares and reassures me. i don't know how those who don't believe in God make it through their lives - He truly is my lifeline.
other things
otherwise, i got my valentines made. also went swing dancing and got roped into next sunday's swing dancing "superbowl" competition. fritz asked me, i didn't solicit it. should be interesting considering i haven't danced a whole lot in six months or so. maybe i'll get lucky and be doing bal in the jam circle - they certainly won't be tossing me around!
i had today off and got quite a bit done, even by my to do list. i cleaned out a bookshelf and put away four boxes of books (one of the bookshelves was falling apart), set aside one box of books and a few other miscellany to be given away, and put away the cds i had floating around. also switched out the few that i keep in my car. people that travel places with me were starting to complain about my lack of selection. ;) pitiful, huh?
yep, that's been my morning this morning. i have monday off, though, and am going out of town to a friend's house to scrapbook, make valentines, watch old movies, and other such girlie things. yay. :) out of college station. yay. :)
it's amazing how much i like the monotony (hah!) that my life has settled into. it's nice not having to go to class and stuff. :D or study. i have time to do things i want to do.
week two of working out, and i'm still going to the gym. it's not much, mind you. 45 minutes of cardio stuff 3 days a week and a couple of yoga classes the other nights, but i figure it's better than nothing. it has to be...
yes, virginia, texas does have cold weather
i had to laugh the other night. i was telling one of my out-of-state friends it was cold here. he asked, "how cold?" i answered 36, with a wind chill of 30. him: "wow. i didn't know it got that cold in texas." yes. it does. for the record, there's a low of 28 expected this thursday. *brrrr*
i made bread last night - kamut bread to be exact. it actually turned out really good, so i think i'm going to keep doing it. i guess, all in all, once i figured a few things out and threw out one batch of dough, it wasn't too hard. at least i've learned all my lessons this time and won't have to go through that again next time. :)
and feeling that feeling i always feel when i go away - why did i ever leave? :) well, it's really not that bad - at least everyone was off when i was so i don't have to catch up to everyone else, but still it's hard to figure out where i left off.
my african violets made it through break ok - in fact i think they're happier now in the special pots that nick gave me for christmas. it makes them look bigger anyway. or maybe that's because the leaves are not laying flat anymore 'cause the light i had over them was a bit too far away. whatever - they'll soon be laying flat again as i have them back on my desk at work.
off to a meeting! :) have a good day!