Weekend with My Parents Part 1

This last weekend, my parents were in town.  It was so great to have them here.  We spent a lot of time Friday night and Saturday in the trailer.  It was raining much of that time.  In fact, it poured for a while.  Can't complain too much because we desperately need rain.  We're behind even for Southern California.

Anyway, time in the trailer means games, and we played lots of them, specifically Rummikub which is Mom's favorite game.  We also played a round of Phase 10 dice.

Sunday, choir was singing in church, and Mom and Dad came to hear me sing.  We sang three songs, and I thought it went well, especially for me, who didn't have a parts CD to learn from this time around.  It helps that I am a strong bass on both sides of me, so I can cue myself off of them.  Mom and Dad enjoyed it.

After church, we headed out to lunch with my friends Josh and Beth, so Mom and Dad finally got to meet them.  Then it was back to my condo where they got to meet one of my roommates.  Mom decimated us in Mexican Train Dominos.  We got in a walk after the rain and then watched The Amazing Race.

Plus we got some chocolate lava cakes from Trader Joe's to celebrate my birthday.

All in all, it was a very good weekend.

Christmas Concerts

This last weekend, I participated in my first Christmas concerts as a member of the choir at church.  This meant a busy weekend for me since I we did the concert both Saturday and Sunday nights.  But I loved the songs so much that it wasn't an issue for me.

It also meant Friday I had to sneak in a trip to Follow the Star.  One of the churches in the area puts this one very year.  They use members of their congregation to reenact scenes form Jesus' life, mostly His death and resurrection.  It's a drive/walk through attraction, so most scenes are on 15-30 second loops, but it's very powerful.  I love going every year.

Anyway, the concerts went well.  I struggled with two songs, the same two both nights.  I kept wanting to singing it too high.  I'm not sure what range I was even singing in half the time, but I knew it was wrong, so I'd drop out and mouth the words.

One highlight for me was the song where the guys played chimes while the women and children's choirs sang.  Most of the guys struggled with that song, but I felt right at home because of the years I spent in the handbell choir.  In fact, it made me wish we had a handbell choir for me to join again.

Another favorite song was "'Tis a Wonderful Thing."  It had a very jazzy feel and was a blast to perform.

But my favorite song of the concert wasn't one we did.  I was introduced to "Mystery" by Selah thanks to the people who did it as a duet.  Talk about powerful lyrics!  It marvels at God becoming man in the form of Jesus so He could die.  Nothing new, necessarily, but the way it is expressed just blows me away.

However, it was very bittersweet.  Back in September, they laid off our music minister due to budget cuts.  This was his last horrah at the church.  He was very pleased with how it went, which is good.  But there are lots of us who are really going to miss him.  He was very invested in all of us, so it is going to be a huge loss personally, plus his musical expertise is going to be missed.  Those will be hard shoes to fill.

Concentration - That Is Key

Tuesday, I said I hadn't been able to concentrate much.  Then, I was blaming a sugar hangover from the candy I ate Monday night.  Tonight, I have no excuse, yet here I am unable to concentrate on much of anything.  It's been that bad almost all week, and I'm not sure what is causing it.

It might be my lack of sleep that is making me jittery.  I've been going to bed late, even for me, almost all week.  Tuesday and Thursday, I got up and went for a run before work in spite of all that, too.

I definitely think it is partically adrenelin from waiting to hear if a new friend will sign up for Tough Mudder with me.  I so want to do that race with someone else.  And we're even thinking of trying to talk some members of a band we both like to join us.  That prospect is really making me jittery.  I am finding myself checking every few minutes to see if he's responded, even though his responses are pretty consistent and come in like clockwork once a day.  Yeah, a guy can hope, can't he?

And I've got the ROC race this weekend.  That's Ridiculous Obstacle Challenge.  The weather's supposed to barely hit 60, so it will be a little cooler than I want, but it looks like so much fun. I can't wait.

Plus I'm trying to decide what to cut from my TV list while still trying to watch everything I am recording.  I can't keep it up much longer.  I know that I've got a few weeks until some of my shows end for the season (they're only fall shows), but I don't know if I can wait that long to cut back.

This will be interesting tonight since I have choir.  Will I be able to concentrate for two hours.  Plus, to add to the nervousness, I think I am going to audition for one of the solos.  I've been praciting hard for the last couple of days for it.

Here's hoping I actually go to bed and feel more like myself tomorrow.  I have too much work I need to do to go on like this.

A Day at the Beach is, Well, a Day at the Beach

I finally made it to the beach this weekend.  I know, I know, the guy who used to go all the time in the summer seems to rarely go any more.  I at least partially blame mud runs since those are weekends I could be spending at the beach.

Anyway, the worship director at church sent out an e-mail sayings, "Let's meet up at the beach for some fellowship for music ministry folks."  We actually had a small turnout with maybe 8 or so families, but it was lots of fun.

Aaron and I played a Frisbee accuracy version of "horse" where the loser had to jump in the ocean.  And my lack of accuracy with Frisbee came back to haunt me as I lost.  But Aaron jumped in the ocean, too.  We were the only two to jump in, and I actually jumped back in a second time.  Keep in mind that the water was fairly cold where we went.

On the other hand, the weather was wonderful.  It was cool in the shade, but it was perfect in the sun. Much cooler than it's been here at home.  Unfortunately, I applied sun screen unevenly, so I have some weird shaped sun burns.

Anyway, some of us also played around with a volleyball for a while.  Other than that, I just talked with people or sat and enjoyed the sun.

I've got to get back to the beach again soon.  Unfortunately, I don't know when that could happen.  I'm just too busy for my own good.

Double Digit Run Territory

I did it.  Wednesday, I crossed into double digit territory.

I actually did soemthing different and drove to my starting point.  I wanted to leave from about a mile and a half from my condo and run a route I'd read about that took me in a loop along several roads in town.  Again, I was running on a path that is close to traffic almost the entire way, but I will take it since I had to run very little of my route twice.

Since the route was only 9 miles, I started by running an extra half mile in the opposite dirrection.  I knew if I saved that extra half mile until the end, I wouldn't get it done.

And boy was I right.  After about two or three miles, I was really struggling with the run.  It seemed that every step was a struggle.  I was actually welcoming my stops at traffic signals as a chance to rest.

But I did it.  I managed to complete all 10 miles.

Unfortunately, I didn't check the time when I left, but I think I ran these 10 miles in a slightly faster per mile time than I did the 9 miles last week.  And that might have been part of my problem.  I do have to say I was out of it by the end of the night Wednesday and had an extra hard time getting up Thursday morning.

Boy have my legs been bothering me since then, however.  They are better today than yesterday, but they are a little sore and jumpy right now.  Last night at choir I was fine while we were standing or while we were sitting, but transitioning between the two was hard.  I jumped in the pool after choir, which certainly helped some.  Hopefully I'll have a little time to do that tonight, although it isn't looking good.

Great Easter Weekend

I had a great Easter weekend, mainly because it was calm and restful.

After being in Palm Springs for over a week, my parents were here in town for the weekend.  I took Friday morning off work (had the afternoon off for Good Friday), and they came over.  We went for a walk so I could show them my 3 mile run route.

That night was the Good Friday service at church (obviously), and the choir was doing 4 songs.  I was fairly comfortable with one of them - the one where the Basses had the melody most of the time.  I managed to fake my way through the others without people knowing when I was singing and when I was faking it because I couldn't find my note.  This whole singing harmony is hard, especially if you aren't used to doing it.

Saturday we went down to Glendale Centre Theatre to see Big River.  Met up wtih Angelique down there.  This play is a musical version of Huckleberry Finn.  I'd seen it once before, but it had been a long time.  I really enjoyed it, once it got going.  I'm not sure Mom was super impressed with the play itself.  As always, they did a great job.  I love seeing plays there because it is so intimate - you feel like a part of the action.  Sadly, the matinee we went to was hardly full at all.  If the last couple of plays we'd seen there hadn't been packed, I'd be worried.  I think it was just the holiday weekend that kept people away.

Sunday was church and a great service.  My church is finishing up a series on Mark, and our pastor planned things out to naturally be in Mark 16 that morning.  Actually, the study we've been doing for the past few months on the trial and crucifixion made this last week much more meaningful to me.  After church, it was lunch at Souplantation and then games at home.  We even Skyped with my brother, sister-in-law, and niece.  Okay, so my niece was on the screen most of the time, but we talked to all three of them.

The Rest of Last Weekend

So, I talked about St. Pat's Hat, but I didn't really get into what else I did last weekend.

Friday night, I went to the play they were putting on here at work.  I'd never seen Over the River and Through the Woods, and I enjoyed it.  I thought the cast did a good job, especially since 2/3 of them were playing grandparents.  The first act was histerically funny, and I couldn't stop laughing.

Things got more serious in the second act, and I left barely holding back the tears.  In fact, it was half way home before I was beginning to feel remotely normal again.  And considering the mood I've been in all week, it didn't help.  The show seemed to present an either/or picture of extended family or job, and I felt like it was a false delima.  Or maybe I'm just trying to justify how I live.  The bittersweetness of the second act makes it likely that I won't see this play again, or I'll just leave at intermission.

And, as I've mentioned, choir sang in church on Sunday.  This was the first time they've sung since I joined.  It went...okay.  My voice wasn't in great shape for the first service.  It was better second and pretty good the third.  I think I wore it out playing ultimate Frisbee on Saturday.  I did pretty well with one of the songs we were singing, but I struggled with the other one.  I just couldn't seem to remember what the notes for the bass part were.  Fortunately, I seemed to cover it pretty well since the only feedback I've gotten, even from my fellow basses and our director, has been positive.

Worn Out

I'm just feeling worn out today.  Like a need a few days off by myself to recharge.

It's been a frustrating week in some ways.  With the heavy rain on Sunday came flooding.  My office flooded, as did lots of other places at work.  However, they didn't do anything toward drying my office out until yesterday.  Meanwhile, they were drying empty offices out.  Yeah, that makes sense.

And boy did my office stink.  My co-workers were complaining about it, but they didn't have to actually sit in it all day.  Really, itwas much worse sitting in it, trust me.

And my neighbors have been down in the garage under my bedroom smoking off and on for the last week and a half.  Comes right up in my bedroom when that happens.  So I can't get away from stink anywhere.

And I've been getting to bad late, which hasn't been helping at all.

This weekend isn't exactly going to be restful, either.  I'm playing in the St. Pat's Hat ultimate Frisbee tournament.  Because of the rain this week, it's been moved to the beach.  That will be fun even though it means it's further away.  As much as I love ultimate Frisbee, it can be agrivating when the people I'm playing it with make stupid calls.  Hopefully, I don't blow my top this weekend.  It's been known to happen.

Sunday is the first time choir is singing in church, too.  I'll have to be there at 7 AM.  Yeah, that's going to be easy.  Then from there I'll head out to day two of the tourney, wherever that winds up being.  And I'm stressing out about whether I can actually sing one of the songs.  I'm fine when singing along with only my part on the practice CD, but as soon as I start trying to sing with the other parts, I lose is.

Tonight, I'm going to see the play that the college is putting on.  Hopefully, that will help me relax some.  Add in a good night's sleep and it will set me up for a better weekend.  Either way, getting outside and running should help me get out of this funk I'm in.

Joining the Choir

So here's something I haven't blogged about yet.  I've joined my church's choir, at least for the next few months.

It's something I've thought about off and on for years, but I've never had the nerve to do.  Frankly, part of it is because the director at my last church scared me.  And partially because I really struggle to sing anything other than melody.  And as a guy, I will pretty much always sing harmony.

But my friend Joe is in the choir, and he was bugging me to join.  It seemed like a good way to meet some people in the church as well.

We rehearse every other week on Thursday night, so last night was our second rehearsal.  It's going about like I expected.  I've been practicing with a CD that has nothing but my part on it.  I feel fairly confident with it.  But as soon as I was trying to sing with the rest of the choir, I lost my notes and my confidence.  I was pretty frustrated and not sure how to go about learning my music so I can do this well.

To further complicate matters, we are supposed to be memorizing the songs.  I think I can do that, but again, I'm not that sure.

Our first time singing in church this spring is in two weeks.  I'm going to have to put a lot of work in between now and then if I even have a hope of doing it and doing it well.