Thanksgiving

Cliche, yes, but good for me none the less.  In keeping with the Jacqui Sheehan Happy List tradition, a special Thanksgiving Edition of Things That Make Me Happy:

• Violas!  While my violin and cello have made me happy all semester (and indeed, for as long asI 've known them), I must admit I'm quite excited to have a viola as well.  I should clarify, I suppose; yesterday Daryl agreed to play for the quartet for my recital, along with Clara and Micah.  I think it will be so much fun to rehearse with them next semester, and I'm quite excited to have people I love so much playing such a huge role in something that is so important to me.
• Though I imagine it will still change, I have music picked out for my recital and I like all of it.  The newest addition to my rep is the Handel bassoon concerto in c minor--which isn't french!  (It's the only thing I have picked right now that isn't.)  If you're as dedicated to my recital rep as I am, you can listen to decent chunks of it here, over on the left side.  It is, naturally, the concerto for bassoon--not harp, viola d'amore, or oboe.  
• I love teaching.  I'm not grouchy about going to school every morning, and that's wonderful.
• Despite not being able to go home, I do get to see a number of people I love this weekend.  I am quite excited to spend time with people who are so dear to my heart, even if we're not related.
• I'm very glad that Sarah's family is so wonderful and loving as to not only invite me over for thanksgiving but demand my presence.  They are delightful people and I am quite blessed to know them and have them looking out for me.
• I am eternally thankful for my "Houghton church."  Menno is wonderful and fantastic and filled with people I love who love God and each other like crazy.  And, they sing in harmony.  All the time!  And in different languages!  I know you shouldn't pick a church based on music, but as a musician it is pretty important to me and the worship at Menno is so honest and fulfilling that I think it's ok to say it's a pretty big factor in why I love Menno as much as I do.  It is community in a fantastic way and I love every minute of it.  My single greatest regret about college is having waited until I was a junior to start going to Menno.  I drive down--an hour and 15 minutes!--almost every weekend so I can go to church. I love it. LOVE!  
• I got to talk to Dana yesterday, which was wonderful and hadn't happened in far, far too long.  I love that girl and I'm very excited for all the fantastic things going on in her life.
• Looking ahead, I think I'll be able to visit a number of very dear friends over Christmas who I haven't been able to spend time with in a very long time--I haven't seen Jeannie since before college!  I'm very excited to hopefully spend time with her and a few others.

What are you happy about?

Twice in one week? What?! I know, you must be overjoyed.

This is the seventh weekend in a row that I've come down to Houghton. Every Wednesday, without fail, it makes me grouchy: "I'm paying rent for an apartment I'm never in!" I just want to stay home and sleep in and watch westerns. But then as the day goes on I warm up to the idea: "Tomorrow is Bagel Day and then it will be Friday and then I get to go to Houghton!" and for some reason being able to assign tasks to the days makes them go so much faster. And true, I'll be a little grouchy on the way down to Houghton, thinking about how gas is a WHOLE FRIGGING DOLLAR cheaper in Indy and how despite Speicher's gas sale on Sundays, driving the hour and fifteen minutes to Houghton and the hour and fifteen minutes back is still more expensive than staying home.
But, this is the seventh weekend in a row that I've been absolutely overjoyed to be at Houghton, at least once I got here. The first time--seven weeks ago--I told everyone quite plainly, "I won't be back for a month. I have too much to do." And then I came back the very next weekend because Bekah said she would drive. And there have been two Artist Series, and the fantastic Fall Festival, and a long weekend in between placements, and three weekends in a row of snuggling with the wonderful Laura Day (much to the frustration of Shane). There's something so wonderful about being at Houghton. I'm even happy to see the people I don't really like as much, because they're just as much a part of Houghton as the people I do like.
I just finished reading The Shack and while my feelings are mixed--I think it's maybe a little predictable and cliche, though I know it keeps getting rave reviews so I hesitate to admit it--I also admit that I tend to be very stingy with my praise and I have to admit that it did make me think and it did make me cry and I'm not sure what else I expect out of a book before I'll call it "good." Anyway, one of the themes is about God's love. The character of God keeps saying she is "especially fond" of different characters, which at one point prompts the main character to ask if there's anyone God isn't especially fond of. She replies of course not, that she is especially fond of all her children, and relates to Mack (the main character) that it's much the same as how he loves all of his children. As I finished up the book today, nestled into the overstuffed chair in the campus coffee shop with a pumpkin spice mocha, I couldn't help but look around at the other people in Java and think that I am especially fond of each of them. And as I wound my way through the music building, tucking notes into mailboxes and borrowing no less than three instruments for school, I couldn't help but think that I am especially fond of everyone in the music building--even those pesky singers who had taken over the recital hall in their funny dresses. I find that I am quite fond of just about everyone here, and it's so nice to have a place where you know you'll like everyone you bump into.

It upsets me that as soon as I've run out of things to complain about, I stop talking. It seems easier to say whiney things to the internet because no one has to deal with them, but I suppose you (whoever you are) may be interested in the nice things in my life.

I'm at my second placement now and it's FANTASTIC. I'm working with fourth and fifth grade beginning band students and they are adorable and so, so, SO well behaved! I get along a lot better with my teacher and I get to sleep in until 7 every morning and basically my life is wonderful. Isn't it disappointing to think of 7 as sleeping in? But it is and it's nice.

How are you?

For those of you who were concerned, never fear--I remedied the Eric Whitacre situation :D

I think I associate fall with music more than any other season.  In middle school I was always excited to get back to school and start playing again after the long summer of keeping my flute tucked under my bed or in the back of my closet.  Even now I admit I don't practice as much as I should over the summer, and by August (and even the end of June) my heart aches for new music.  And of course, in high school fall meant marching band!  Sure, it started in June but fall was when it mattered--the crisp air at football games, hearing Mr. Slightom over the PA announcing the show, long hours taking the same steps over and over again in the high school parking lot until they were perfect and permenant.  Having cheerleaders come up to me as drum major and say how much they appreciated all the work the band put into football games and tailgating parties, and how much more fun things were when we were there.  

And now I think of all the wonderful autumnal joy in the TFL--hand turkeys and pressed leaves and apple cider and that mischevious crock pot.  Playing with prospectives at Music Opportunities Weekend--and having all of them make hand turkeys, too!  Missing and reminiscing about student teachers who are missing and recent grads, and getting to know new grad students.  And last year, terrorizing each other with El Methods songs, welcoming songs for back-to-school and fall songs--halloween!  Yesterday Nicholette and I sang "A Famous Man" in celebration of Columbus day, and I hummed the Christopher Columbus song from the Y to myself, too.  I love hitting that point in the semester where there's still time to have coffee dates, that sweet lull right after a concert and right before Christmas music.  I love the beginning of Recital Season, singing the Doxology in the atrium with harmonies like there must be in heaven (of course, tuned to Chelsea Keane!), and the smell of flowers and candles and warm cookies rising over prayers of thanksgiving.  I love mingling after recitals instead of practicing or getting homework done or going to bed--and I love sitting in the hall right above the atrium and watching everyone else enjoy each others' company.

And of course, I love fall as a new (student) teacher.  I love the smell of freshly-sharpened pencils (remember the box in the TFL?) and the joy of sweaters and name tags and seating charts, the anticipation and a level of preparation that I won't have time or energy for again until next fall. I love browsing through J.W. Pepper and seeing what might be good for christmas or spring concerts, hearing drum lines from other schools practicing from my open window.  I love looking for school supplies, touching different notebooks to see how the paper would feel under note-taking, being absolutely obsessive over highlighter and pen colors.  I. love. fall.

And that, more or less, is what I think about when I hear "October."  I remember hearing it as a freshman when wind ensemble played it; I remember hearing it when Avon (I think?) used it in their marching band show--chilled fingers curled around chain-link fences, ears straining to hear from the wrong side of the field, breath visible in the dusk and caught by the beauty of the moment.  

October

It just occured to me that I've made it all the way to October 9th without listening to Eric Whitacre's "October." Something must be wrong with me!
I think I'll fix this over lunch today....

I neglected to mention a few other things I wanted to share that make me happy:

• Bekah pointed out a sweet Canadian jazz station to me on the radio.  (I spend a lot of time in my car.  It's not healthy.)  I spend most of my radio time going back and forth between it and the amazing classical station buffalo has, 94.5 WNED.  WNED keeps me pretty entertained--I love the morning anchor, with her somehow both chipper and soothing "good morning!"s, but sometimes you just can't handle any more harpsichord and for those times I've turned to 91 Jazz FM.  It's depressing sometimes, because they say the weather in celsius and that makes it sound SO MUCH COLDER--and trust me, it's already quite cold!  But I enjoy listening to the djs bicker back and forth, and their canadian accents entertain me more than they frustrate me, which is good (and quite different than my opinion on the buffalo accent).  Anyway, yes, I am lame enough that a radio station seemed blog worthy.
• The heat in my apartment is free.  Have I mentioned recently that it's cold outside?  Because it's really frigging cold.  Like, unseasonable-even-for-NY cold.  Not quite freezing but seriously....cold!  I'd had in my mind for a while that I should just wear a sweatshirt, and then today I remembered--we don't pay for heat!  I turned it on and cranked it up and now my apartment is nice and toasty. Mmmm.
• After much searching, I found a recording of the string/bassoon quartet I want to have on my recital.  I spent the better part of two days hunting for it online--there's only one CD of it!  I really didn't want to actually order it if I could get it online, and I found it Monday.  Our music store delivery guy came in last Friday while I was hunting for it, and because he's pretty much the nicest man in the world he asked me about it today.  I shared with him my jubilation over having found a recording, and offered to play a little of it for him.  We ended up agreeing to trade mix cds next friday, which is goofy but I'm excited.  Have I mentioned I spend A LOT OF TIME in my car?  I'm all about finding new music to listen to. 

So, after all my whining and complaining, the past week has been good.  Thursday night the boys apartment had us over for dinner and it was amazing!  I knew Jesse could cook after the Physics Pancakes, but I didn't know Chris could and I was way impressed by both of them.  We stuck around and watched the office and I learned that Chris and I are a lot more alike than I ever thought--he likes How I Met Your Mother!  I'm slowly winning over all the student teachers--Bekah is on to season two! :D  Friday Bekah and I went down to Houghton for the Rastrelli Cello Quartet artist series and it was amazing.  They only play music that was written for other instruments. They're fantastic! And, it's always nice to be at Houghton.  

Bekah and I spent the night, and then Saturday we hurried back after Bekah was done working to start working on dinner.  CMENC always buys a block of tickets to the BPO season opener, and this year it was Itzahk Perlman!  We invited everyone who was going over for dinner, and we got home with less than an hour to clean the house, cook, shower...cook!!  A lot of people couldn't come for dinner because of a Philharmonia rehearsal, so we invited the rest over for dessert after and we ended up having all but 2 of the Houghton folks over either before or after--that's 28!  It was crazy packed and SO HOT in our apartment, but it was so great to have company... and the leftovers are good, too :)

This week has been iffy at school, but today was a major accomplishment: my teacher has to start writing lesson plans!  Ridiculous that he doesn't, right?  Anyway, the principal finally, definitively got on him about it and now he has to write and submit them.  This means I get to know what I'm doing before I do it! Yesss!!!

How are you?