Merry Christmas to all!

My flight has been delayed from 6 am to 8:40 am, so I am sitting in the Boston airport right now, with my coffee, trying to kill time. I had brought a movie but accidently forgot to put my headphones in my laptop bag - they are currently in my already checked luggage - oh well.

Have been loving vacation so far. Even though I still worked a lot the past few days - taught, did Emmanuel, had a gig Saturday afternoon - I have enjoyed the past four days already to the fullest extent. I love this time RIGHT before Christmas - I have no school obligations, and the guilt for not practicing doesn't settle in till after Christmas. Till then, just blissfulness......

Oh, except I have a dentist appointment tomorrow morning. For the first time in two years. Ouch. Wish me luck.

Two Events

I've had a 14 hour day every day this entire week, and even though its only 10:30 pm, I'm going to bed in a few minutes. However, I'd like to share two things from my week that I think the blog readership will enjoy.

1. I have been teaching for Brookline Public Schools this semester in their after school, private lesson Extension Program for violin/viola. I have great students who are eager and try hard. One however, although he is cute as a button, is a little more of a challenge for me (doesn't help that his fingernails are very long and quite grimy - especially when I take his instrument from him to tune it), but he is earnest and dedicated. Yesterday afternoon, while he was playing another round of Banana Boat Song, something caught my eye - a small, brown spider was winding his way down, clearly attached at the elbow of this student. Not wanting to freak out the poor boy, I let him finish, went up and swiped subtly underneath his arm in the attempt to detach the spider from said child, then lightly squished the spider on the floor. A spider was apparently living on this kid.

2. I played the first part of Handel's Messiah tonight for a BU Choral Society concert. It was second on the program - the first piece was Britten's Ceremony of Carols, with a harpist, Michael, who is a friend of mine. During intermission, the orchestra went up to get ready to play, and I saw Michael's harp sitting quietly near the wall, clearly out of the way and not bothering anybody, in its blue Lyon and Healy padding. I started warming up, and suddenly (like how the Angel of the Lord came suddenly, although my news is not good tidings of great joy for anybody, least of all Michael), I see four BU Choral Society singers (these are non-music majors) trying to move the harp into the back hallway - and the harp is on the dolly backwards. And they are obviously struggling with this harp - its starting to tip a little. I rush over and tell them they have it on the dolly backwards. The response: "Oh." Sheepishly, they start to turn it around, struggling again. I demand to know where Michael is. They don't know. I advise that they leave it there or find Michael to move it himself. Apparently they were ordered to move it, and to do it quick. I say fine, and proceed to supervise, all the while thinking of Mary Keener and my vast experience in the days when I helped her move her harp.

Life is incredibly busy right now - busier than ever before - and I don't know how I'm going to accomplish everything in the next two weeks, but somehow, it will be done. I look forward to the future days when December, which is suppose to be a month of Christmas joy and holiday spirit, is filled with more of the professional kind of stress (ie just playing concerts and finishing up a semester of teaching) instead of the mad rush of presentations, papers, and juries. After this December 16th, only one more December in school to go, in 2010. I cannot wait.