The Quiet

Phew.  Huge performance weekend over.

...and it went really well!  I was so pleased that I conquered my nerves and really enjoyed the weekend.  If you saw my last post and prayed for me, you should know that your prayers were answered!  I could write a long time with all my thoughts about musical performance right now, and what worked for me conquering those nerves, and perhaps I will someday soon.  But not tonight.

One of the big reasons I was able to really focus on performing well was that my mom and dad graciously took the girls to their house for the entire weekend.  This eliminated all the stress of transporting them to child care and/or feeling guilty for dragging them along with us.  I owe them a lot for that.  The girls had a fabulous time.

And because there was a gigantic snowstorm predicted to begin Saturday morning and not end until Sunday evening, M booked us a last-minute deal on a hotel in Boston so we wouldn't have to worry about traveling back and forth.  We just parked our car under the Common for 48 hours and walked to all of our "gigs" in the city.

Of course I had to spend a lot of the time working... a bummer, but also a relief that I was able to get way more done on the weekend than I had originally planned.  I'm not so horribly behind as I thought I would be this week, because the girls weren't around and we took full advantage of the wireless access in our hotel room.  Plus we saved a lot of travel time by just staying in the city.

But I took a break Saturday afternoon from working and enjoyed some quiet, just being with my love.

A chilly six-mile run on the Charles River Esplanade just as the snow was starting to fall (and it was about 18 degrees-- comfortable while we were running but once we stopped it got cold fast).

The idea of walking very far for dinner out was not at all appealing in the cold and wind and snow, so we just went to the Thai place across the street, and man am I glad we did.

Curried coconut chicken, fresh vegetable rolls, and pad thai (the best I've ever had, I think).  We cleaned our plates after the long run.  Our waiter said, "You really enjoyed it!" as he took the empty plates away.

It was an great little date night/day.  Such a welcome reprieve in the midst of busy schedules.

My husband is wonderful.  It's hard to put into words the positivity he infuses.  Just knowing he was there listening and silently cheering me on as I sang my solos gave me a lot of strength.  And being able to spend some quality time with him to boot was like icing on the cake.

And now we're back at our house, I went to get the girls Monday morning, and all the singing/playing/conducting is done for the season.  We returned home to this:

(This is C in mid-sentence saying "I so want to"... which is how she says "I don't want to"... as in, smile for a picture.  We're approaching the ripe old age of two here, folks.)

 About a foot of snow had fallen with the weekend storm, and we got another 7-8 inches on Tuesday. It's hard to tell in the picture above, but the snow is about up to C's chest.

And it's not just snowy, but COLD.  When I got in the car to take L to preschool Tuesday morning, our dashboard thermometer read 5 degrees (what is this, January?)  Later on around noon, as C and I finished our errands and were ready to go pick her up, it had warmed up to a balmy 11.

I guess we just skipped right over fall and went straight to winter.  We still have a layer of leaves in our backyard underneath the foot and a half of snow.

But this week, with my most stressful performing engagements and busy times behind me, I'm just enjoying the quiet.

Sure, we're hustling and bustling doing last-minute Christmas shopping and crafting and wrapping, and remembering to bring peppermints to school for the gingerbread-house-decorating, and securing teacher gifts, and planning Christmas meals, and writing Christmas cards, and remembering an unwrapped toy for the preschool toy drive for needy children, and donating presents to the elementary school giving tree.  But I'm enjoying that kind of hustle and bustle.  It doesn't feel stressful to me like the performing did this year.

(My online class also ended yesterday for the semester, and now I have a three-week break, so that helps.)

Sunday night when we got home at 9:45 PM from our last singing engagement of the weekend, and we stepped out of our car to the silence of the fallen snow and our empty house and the brightness of the moon, I remembered suddenly (as I do every year... how do we always forget so quickly?) how very quiet and still the world is in the winter.  The cold clears the brain and quiets the heart, and it was a welcome contrast after the busyness of our weekend.

Time to snuggle in and enjoy some quiet.  I hope that you and yours are too.