Can't Sleep...
So I'll update!!
Wow, SO much has been going on lately.
After a very intensive December (15 concerts total, though I think I used to do 20...), I got two days of vacation before school started up again. All my concerts went extremely well, which has become the norm for me (yay for that!), but I do wish I'd had a BIT more of a break. Recharging is a nice thing, but so are successful concerts. :-)
I'm almost finished applying for a new high school position. My old high school's choir position has opened up, and I'm very keen on getting it. It's a full-time job and only 2 blocks from my house (though I'd probably move if I get the job). This would mean making over 3.5 times more money for only a bit more work than I do now (since I already spend most of my days at my current school, trying to build the library, organize and run a musical, and take my kids to festival without a booster organization). It's also the "dream job" that helped motivate me through Westminster. I need to get my application done and delivered, but it's a very exciting prospect. Also, I think I'd be one of the top contenders for it.
Tomorrow (Today?) is callbacks for my school's musical "The Sound of Music". We're very excited by what we saw in auditions (though I missed the first day, being sick), so we're keen to get this thing cast and going. My production team is awesome (I had fun working with my co-director last year, but this year might be even better, since I have some clue what I'm doing now. lol), and it seems like this promises to be a good production.
The folks at my Starbucks love me, my piano playing continues to bring in the dough (as well as recommendations and requests!), and my singing at church is becoming more and more appreciated (people come up to me on the street to say how much my voice adds to the beauty of their worship--that means a lot). Professionally, things aren't a piece of cake, but the results seem to be well worth the stress. :-)
Personally, my life has been more up and down than ever. I recently befriended an amazing guy in Richmond. We click much like most of you and I get along, which is greatly appreciated down here! At times, he remind me of Kevin (faaaabulous!), other times Elle, other times Dayna. He's very much a Jersey boy (from Howell!)...I didn't realize how much I missed the New Jersey mentality at times. haha He seems to have gone through a lot of the same personal/emotional issues I have, and so in addition to being great company he's able to help me improve those quirks about me that drive away potential dating material. I'm sensing a definite improvement coming in my life thanks to knowing him. Don't know when, but I'm pretty sure it's coming.
Almost concurrently with meeting him, though, I learned that I had managed to ruin (though with his and some other friends' help, I'm realizing how little was actually my fault) 4 friendships since early December. Now I realize that only one was truly (or at least a majority) my fault, but they all hit me within a 3-day period, so I was pretty much an emotional cripple for a week. (one was a friend that I thought was going to be something good--much like you all, just down here in C'ville) I'm still working through some of the issues they raised (the first time I attempted sleeping tonight, thoughts of that one friend I missed kept me up), but between my Richmond friend's sage words and my own realizations (I guess I did learn something through all my therapy!) I'm getting over it much faster than I probably would've even 3 years ago.
At the same time as all of this (it's been a pretty intense past two weeks!), my mother, on one of her routine CT scans [for those of you who weren't in the know, my mother has been fighting breast cancer since 2000. Her first battle was taken care of rather quickly, and there is still no evidence of it returning. Her 2nd round proved metastatic, and therefore unlikely to ever truly be gone.] had a funny looking blob in her uterus, which they thought was a cyst. She soon developed intense cramping and it was believed the cyst had ruptured. Last Saturday, she went into surgery, and it was discovered that there was no cyst in her uterus, rather an ovarian cyst that had ruptured and had bled down into the uterus. When they went in to remove it, they realized that it looked cancerous. Battle #3: Ovarian Cancer. Now she has two oncologists to develop her treatment (thankfully, they've worked together in the past and seem to mesh very well). The surgery normally takes over 3 hours--hers took just over 2, since she is so otherwise healthy and the cancer was caught so early that it hadn't spread. Most patients take 4 days to recover and go home--my mom was ready to come home after 3 days (well, late morning of the 3rd day, so really only 2 and a smidge. lol). She's continuing to be recovering very well, but will be on house rest for the next 6 weeks. That will be the toughest part (haha)--she'll be going stir crazy from cabin fever. I'm sorta lucky that as she will get more difficult to be around (for me, that is...my father is totally capable of handling it :-) ), my schedule will be getting more and more intense, meaning that I won't be able to be at home as much anyway. Hey, you know me--always finding a silver lining somewhere. lol :-P
Okay...I'm still not sleepy, and it's an hour until I would normally be waking up. I think I've said the most important things I wanted to make sure were shared. I finished editing the music I wanted to get to my orchestra for tomorrow--just need to make sure I print it off before heading to school! I've been going to Tai Chi classes most Thursdays. It's doing wonders for my stress management abilities. I might be too sleepy from tonight, though, to go this week. We'll see.
I know I haven't been too great about updating this since returning to VA, but it is a comfort to know that so many of you who read this are such good and dear friends. During some of my most depressed periods in recent years, knowing that I wasn't totally alone--that I still had you all as friends--helped pull me through SO much! :-D
Well, can't exactly try for sleep, since I'm not tired and there's no time. But the early morning news is about to start, so maybe that can keep my attentions. Besides, the weatherman is kinda cute. hehe :-P
Wow, SO much has been going on lately.
After a very intensive December (15 concerts total, though I think I used to do 20...), I got two days of vacation before school started up again. All my concerts went extremely well, which has become the norm for me (yay for that!), but I do wish I'd had a BIT more of a break. Recharging is a nice thing, but so are successful concerts. :-)
I'm almost finished applying for a new high school position. My old high school's choir position has opened up, and I'm very keen on getting it. It's a full-time job and only 2 blocks from my house (though I'd probably move if I get the job). This would mean making over 3.5 times more money for only a bit more work than I do now (since I already spend most of my days at my current school, trying to build the library, organize and run a musical, and take my kids to festival without a booster organization). It's also the "dream job" that helped motivate me through Westminster. I need to get my application done and delivered, but it's a very exciting prospect. Also, I think I'd be one of the top contenders for it.
Tomorrow (Today?) is callbacks for my school's musical "The Sound of Music". We're very excited by what we saw in auditions (though I missed the first day, being sick), so we're keen to get this thing cast and going. My production team is awesome (I had fun working with my co-director last year, but this year might be even better, since I have some clue what I'm doing now. lol), and it seems like this promises to be a good production.
The folks at my Starbucks love me, my piano playing continues to bring in the dough (as well as recommendations and requests!), and my singing at church is becoming more and more appreciated (people come up to me on the street to say how much my voice adds to the beauty of their worship--that means a lot). Professionally, things aren't a piece of cake, but the results seem to be well worth the stress. :-)
Personally, my life has been more up and down than ever. I recently befriended an amazing guy in Richmond. We click much like most of you and I get along, which is greatly appreciated down here! At times, he remind me of Kevin (faaaabulous!), other times Elle, other times Dayna. He's very much a Jersey boy (from Howell!)...I didn't realize how much I missed the New Jersey mentality at times. haha He seems to have gone through a lot of the same personal/emotional issues I have, and so in addition to being great company he's able to help me improve those quirks about me that drive away potential dating material. I'm sensing a definite improvement coming in my life thanks to knowing him. Don't know when, but I'm pretty sure it's coming.
Almost concurrently with meeting him, though, I learned that I had managed to ruin (though with his and some other friends' help, I'm realizing how little was actually my fault) 4 friendships since early December. Now I realize that only one was truly (or at least a majority) my fault, but they all hit me within a 3-day period, so I was pretty much an emotional cripple for a week. (one was a friend that I thought was going to be something good--much like you all, just down here in C'ville) I'm still working through some of the issues they raised (the first time I attempted sleeping tonight, thoughts of that one friend I missed kept me up), but between my Richmond friend's sage words and my own realizations (I guess I did learn something through all my therapy!) I'm getting over it much faster than I probably would've even 3 years ago.
At the same time as all of this (it's been a pretty intense past two weeks!), my mother, on one of her routine CT scans [for those of you who weren't in the know, my mother has been fighting breast cancer since 2000. Her first battle was taken care of rather quickly, and there is still no evidence of it returning. Her 2nd round proved metastatic, and therefore unlikely to ever truly be gone.] had a funny looking blob in her uterus, which they thought was a cyst. She soon developed intense cramping and it was believed the cyst had ruptured. Last Saturday, she went into surgery, and it was discovered that there was no cyst in her uterus, rather an ovarian cyst that had ruptured and had bled down into the uterus. When they went in to remove it, they realized that it looked cancerous. Battle #3: Ovarian Cancer. Now she has two oncologists to develop her treatment (thankfully, they've worked together in the past and seem to mesh very well). The surgery normally takes over 3 hours--hers took just over 2, since she is so otherwise healthy and the cancer was caught so early that it hadn't spread. Most patients take 4 days to recover and go home--my mom was ready to come home after 3 days (well, late morning of the 3rd day, so really only 2 and a smidge. lol). She's continuing to be recovering very well, but will be on house rest for the next 6 weeks. That will be the toughest part (haha)--she'll be going stir crazy from cabin fever. I'm sorta lucky that as she will get more difficult to be around (for me, that is...my father is totally capable of handling it :-) ), my schedule will be getting more and more intense, meaning that I won't be able to be at home as much anyway. Hey, you know me--always finding a silver lining somewhere. lol :-P
Okay...I'm still not sleepy, and it's an hour until I would normally be waking up. I think I've said the most important things I wanted to make sure were shared. I finished editing the music I wanted to get to my orchestra for tomorrow--just need to make sure I print it off before heading to school! I've been going to Tai Chi classes most Thursdays. It's doing wonders for my stress management abilities. I might be too sleepy from tonight, though, to go this week. We'll see.
I know I haven't been too great about updating this since returning to VA, but it is a comfort to know that so many of you who read this are such good and dear friends. During some of my most depressed periods in recent years, knowing that I wasn't totally alone--that I still had you all as friends--helped pull me through SO much! :-D
Well, can't exactly try for sleep, since I'm not tired and there's no time. But the early morning news is about to start, so maybe that can keep my attentions. Besides, the weatherman is kinda cute. hehe :-P