Jan 28, 2010

Holy Shit, It's Been A While...

I am so bad.
Every time I have something to blog about, I don't have time to blog.
I say to myself, "Self, I will blog about this later!"

When later arrives, I have a curiously empty head.
Go figure.

So, quick update on what's going on:
  • I sing in two choirs right now - a SATB choir at one church and a women's choir at my home church. I was getting paid at the SATB choir but not the women's choir. I got an offer in mid-December for the section leader job in the women's choir but only if I also took a section leader job with my home church's SATB choir. The big kicker to that, though, is that I'd have to give up my other SATB choir job. They were willing to let me finish out my contract though and join them next year.

    I love the people I sing with at my SATB job. They are wonderful people. I enjoy the choir director and really appreciate how he took a chance on a singer with very, very little professional experience. I also love the director of my women's choir - she's a great director and actually helped me get my SATB job. I wrestled and wrestled with the decision.

    Well, two or three days after I got the offer, the director at my SATB job called to say that the way the church budget was looking, they might be eliminating all the section leader jobs. They'd know in February probably. I still wrestled with it but, essentially, that information made the decision for me and I let him know December 23rd that I wouldn't be back next year.

    So, as of next year, I'll be professionally singing in two choirs in my home church. This will cut out one night of rehearsal, which my husband appreciates greatly, and mean that I won't wind up with conflicts between choir obligations. I will miss my SATB job people a lot though.
  • My middle child had ear tubes put in last May to correct a hearing problem caused by a lot of excess fluid that just wouldn't drain. She's hearing perfectly now but her speech hasn't caught up. She's being evaluated tomorrow by the Birth-to-3 people for possible speech therapy.
  • The youngest, now 4 months, is a hefty 17 pounds 14 ounces. He's a little chunkalunk and looks like one of those garden gnomes - too freakin' cute. He's eating mush now and teething. There is much wailing and gnashing of soon-to-be teeth going on in this household.
  • I get to see one of my college friends (Harriet the Spy) who I haven't seen since I got married nearly 13 years ago a week from Friday when she comes into town for a musicology conference! I am beside myself with excitement. (me) (me) (see?)
  • I have committed to losing 100 pounds. I am done doing fertility drugs and having children - got my tubes felchie-clipped while they were in there taking Matthew out - I have no more excuses. So, as of January 4th, I started The Big Diet. So far, I've lost 10.7 pounds.

    I'm using sparkpeople.com to keep track of what I eat and I get a $10-15 reward for every 10 pounds. (For any who might be wondering, my first reward was Rebecca Luker's Greenwich Time album - what a stunning voice she has!)

    I'm doing Zumba twice a week to help boost the weight loss. Ok, one observation: if you are lithe and coordinated enough to do Zumba, you don't need to Zumba. Another observation, you've never seen flobblyness jiggle quite so much as mine does whilst I do Zumba. I look like the three-tiered jello mold from the feast scene in the animated version of The Grinch. Seriously, I do. I am, needless to say, doing this from home. Why "needless to say"? Trust me, you'd've heard the screams no matter where you live had I ventured to do this in public.
I had a lovely solo at Christmas that I'd hoped to get posted by now. I still haven't even downloaded Audacity on my new laptop yet. I'll get it up eventually, much to everyone's chagrin, no doubt!

Alrighty, I must go buy my sister a swivel sweeper for her birthday. I know, I know! It's what she asked for though... what can I say? She's weird but I love her anyway!! Hopefully, next time, I'll post sooner.

7 comments:

LJ said...

It's been a while indeed!
You sound well. I'm sure middle child will catch up right quick in a family of very bright and smart people! (From someone who knows a little about speech etc, all you have to do is speak to her a lot and ask questions a lot.) Good luck with the speech therapy. It will be fun!
Little A weighed 17 lbs at 14 months! Lol! You've got a roly poly boy there. :)
How exciting to sing for two choirs!

Greta Adams said...

good luck on the weight loss...i am back on it as well...sucks..but whatcha gonna do? i am to lazy to excersize too...did i say that out loud... yeah way lazy....i need something to get me motivated...prolly if i stop smoking i will have energy...ya think?

when melana was born her hearing test was good then all of a sudden it wasn't and i didn't know until about 10 months when it occured to me this child doesn't babble talk or nothing..i thought all along she was ignoring me....low and behold she was deaf...literally...tubes are great and it took her a while to start talking...now she doesn't stop.... :) she still has speech issues but they are not concerned right now ..maybe i should get a second opinion...she has gotten better over the years...her s's and t's give her some trouble...

**mwuah!**

h. said...

Oh, I get that jiggily, wiggly, wobbly stuff. I started doing Taekwon Do in October. If I'd thought about it more the whole "arial martial arts" thing would have keyed me in to all the jumping you have to do. My teacher (a size zero, abs of steel, 5'7" bundle of constant energy) keeps telling me I need to stand in front of the mirror to do my jumping kicks to better my technique. I haven't worked up the nerve to point out that watching my jiggily wiggiliness is counter productive. Instead, I slowly move out of mirror shot once her attention is on someone else. I mean really, my thighs are the size they are, and I really don't need to watch them do the wave as I move.

Best of luck on the weight loss and the exercise. I would say though, mirrors be damned, that once you get used to your Zumba go out and join an in-person class. The friendship and personal interaction really does make exercise pay off more quickly!

It is good to have you back blogging!

PeppyPilotGirl said...

@LJ - He is a little roly poly! But he's cute. :) I'll have to post his garden gnome picture. Or find it on my FB page!

@Greta - Did Melana wind up having speech therapy? The doctor thought Evie was ignoring us!

@h - Thanks! And we'll see on the Zumba class... shudder. And why are all the fitness instructors always a size 0?? I mean there must be some large fit people somewhere, mustn't there?? I am totally with you on not wanting to watch my thighs do the wave (that's so totally what they do too - great description).

Jade said...

Classes are fun - there's a great sense of "we're all in this together" with your classmates. And there are fitness instructors out there larger than 0... my first yoga teacher, I would equate her to Bette Midler in "Beaches" shape - (bold personality to match - not exactly the zen yoga teachers they show on TV) Fantastic teacher, I learned an amazing amount from her.

h. said...

PPG,
We had our first tournament yesterday, and I have now experienced something more terrifying than the mirror or practicing in public... photography. Oh yes. It is true that there is no ripple effect in still photos, but there is still size and girth in unflattering, white, shapeless uniforms. It is enough to make a girl want to give up exercise and crawl back into bed with some chocolate.

PeppyPilotGirl said...

H - I'm not sure which would be better... to be photographed in a ghi, which I would have to agree is pretty shapeless and distinctly unflattering or in zumbawear - all that stretchy, cling to every lump, bump, and crease between the folds sort of gear. Thank the Lord I am not likely to be photographed in either!! (Or the entire East coast would be out of chocolate within a day.)