A music-filled week

My studio recital last Saturday marked the start of this week's music-filled events, specifically Elise's Choral Union concert on Thursday and my St. Louis Civic Orchestra concert on Friday.  Because my dress rehearsal conflicted with Elise's concert, Steve and I (and the dogs) drove to Columbia on Wednesday to hear her dress rehearsal that evening.  But, of course because we were going to be in Columbia, I packed the day with a visit to the Amish stores and a cello lesson.  It was supposed to be two cello lessons but we didn't leave as soon as we had hoped and city traffic made our departure even slower so I had to cancel Roberta's lesson and just meet her and her husband at the Sturgeon exit to show them the Amish stores we loved.  They had never been and they ended up loving the stores, too.  We also squeezed in dinner at El Oso with Steven and Tamara and a short visit with Melanie to see her new apartment (and to leave the dogs in their kennel while we did our evening activities).  Elise's rehearsal was very good - dress rehearsals are as close to a performance as possible - and I am SO glad we got to attend.  I am also realizing that I just don't have the energy to do as many things in a day as I used to do so, going forward, I will really think seriously about what activities I plan when going to Columbia...AND if leaving the dogs at a doggie daycare in St. Louis is also a possibility.  Happily, they LOVE to go on road trips but they are just one additional concern whenever we do take them.  Here is a photo of the Choral Union and MU Jazz Band on the stage of the Missouri Theater (you can't see Elise but she is embedded somewhere on the right )

The St. Louis Civic Orchestra had their board meeting Monday night, their usual rehearsal on Tuesday and their dress rehearsal on Thursday and the concert on Friday.  That is a lot of Civic Orchestra time. Then, there was the additional time with the orchestra's printed program.  I thought I had sent it to the printers in plenty of time (the middle of last week) but evidently, I didn't because the final proof was not available for approval until two days before the concert!  And, I had to do that on a borrowed laptop in Columbia!  Ugh.  Going forward into next year, I will continue to do the programs and I will definitely build in additional time for the back-and-forth communications with the printer.  One thing I will NOT be doing next year is the administrator role.  That hand-off was approved at the Monday board meeting.  I am so relieved.  I will be glad to have only one email account to deal with and to not have to carry so much responsibility.  Continuing with the programs (and practicing) will be enough duties.  

Below are some rehearsal and concert photos.  The kid wearing the mask playing the violin is the soloist who performed with us.  He was the second place winner of the Frager Competition that is sponsored by the civic orchestra and is open to young people every year

On Tuesday, while at the temple, we saw Will and Melinda Kimlinger and invited them to our house afterwards for lunch and a visit.  It was nice to catch up with them.  And, today, we are in Indiana visiting Julina and Alex.  We usually like to drive over on Friday but couldn't leave this time until Saturday morning.  Our tentative plan was to help with yardwork Saturday afternoon but we had a cold front blow in Thursday night so temperatures have been quite chilly and windy, making yardwork very unpleasant.  Instead, Juli and I went to get dinner from Costco and Steve hung out with Alex.  

We managed to finish watching The Adam Project Monday night and, in spite of the potty language, it had a very good ending.  And Steve and I watched the final episode of Picard last night and I just loved it.  Steve had some issues.