Life attack!

I feel as though all the activities and stresses of life spent several weeks in hiding and geared up over Thanksgiving break to ambush me this week.

We have 6 days of class remaining, mostly with no assignments (one quiz due earlier this week, another couple next week).

Finals are looming. They are Dec 14-18. Mostly cumulative/comprehensive. Need to study, but when do I have time??

Fortunately my grades are good enough in most of my classes (actually, all of my classes except toxicology) that if I don't get to study a whole lot for finals, I should still be just fine.

We have an extra cat in the house. She is a sweet, petite, stray little girl but is shaking up our routine. Several people interested in her but most of them are sketchy folks who saw her on Craigslist. Send responsible adopters my way!

I am trying to get registered for the next business class for the spring semester. The curriculum coordinator emailed us when we registered for classes and told us not to worry, we wouldn't be able to register for the undergrad business class just then because they needed to put in an override for us. She said she would email and let us know when we could register. She emailed a couple weeks later to say, "Just checking to see if you have been able to register yet?" None of us have. All the sections are full. Bleh.

Handbells is starting to consume my life. In the next 3 weeks, we have 5 concerts (2 in Cheyenne, 1 in Windsor, 1 in Fort Collins, 1 in Loveland) and 2 rehearsals (1 in Windsor, 1 in Cheyenne). Next Tuesday is our last pre-concert rehearsal. We need about another month of rehearsals! The director mistakenly thought we actually had 2 weeks left. He was running late this week so I led the first hour of our 90 minute rehearsal. I'm playing in 2 small ensembles that require extra rehearsal every week, and I'm accompanying on piano for a bell solo and a bell duet. Our first concert, Dec 11 in Cheyenne, is with several other musical groups including a winds ensemble and percussion ensemble. Our director composed a piece for us to play with them, and I saw the music for the first time two days ago. They didn't have an extra copy so I have nothing to look at before the next rehearsal ("dress rehearsal") unless I can borrow one from someone, and the piece is hard! I think I have the hardest part. I have to simultaneously thumb-damp G7 and A7 shelleyed in my right hand to simulate sleigh bells for most of the song, while playing G6 and A6 four-in-hand in my left hand as part of the melody. Occasional transitions to G flats and A flats. Arrrgghh.

Also trying to work out a conflict between handbells and pet hospice. The one mandatory hospice meeting of the year happens to coincide with the Thursday night when we are supposed to be having a handbell rehearsal up in Cheyenne. Still not sure how we're going to work that one out... have not been able to get the pet hospice person to respond.

I can look forward to several extra trips down to Denver in the next few weeks for CLH's choir concerts. One of them was last night, and again on Dec 16. Got to learn some new piano accompaniment before then.

Just realized I haven't put anything on my word blog for over a week.... good thing nobody is clamoring to get their daily word! I know how popular that one is. :-)

We are doing lots of new Advent & Christmas music at church, most of which I have not sung before, and I am missing most of the Thursday night rehearsals due to various other activities. Extra Christmas Eve service between Sunday services, plus an extra choir rehearsal that week since Christmas Eve is on a Thursday!

The Christmas tree is up with most of the lights on, but almost no ornaments and we haven't gotten any further in the Christmas decorations (although the boxes are sitting in the living room).

In-laws coming to visit and stay with us later this month. I would love to not have to clean the entire house on the day before we have company, but that may end up being when it gets done.

In the meantime, I get to try to not fail my classes and also try not to go crazy. I have memories of being a kid and thinking of May as the worst and busiest month of the year.... but I think December will win for the current academic year.