Wow, time flies.

It's been over a month since my last post... How did I let that happen? How in the world am I supposed to do what I set out to do -- keep my people updated -- if I never actually DO it?

Something must be done...



Today is a busy day, so bullets it is!

- My last day at Dress Barn was Wednesday. I never expected it to be as emotional as it was -- although, who am I kidding? I am an emotional creature. Eve Ensler had me pegged when she titled that collection of monologues... (Actually now that I write those words, I really should post the monologue I stole them from... Yeah. I'll do that. Next -- I'm on a different train of thought right now.)

- Our Elijah performance went... Relatively well. I'm not going to start getting into what sort of things went wrong, as it was a live performance, and if EVERYTHING goes off without a hitch... Then it really doesn't count. I felt good afterwoods, so I guess that's what counts. Plus, I met some new people from the orchestra -- God knows how much I enjoy new people :)

- One week after the Elijah, my vocal coach had a recital for all of her voice/piano students. I was set to sing 3 of the most demanding I've ever done: Sweet Chance (an art song from the late 19th Century,) O Mio Babbbino Caro (Puccini aria. Gulp.) and Show Me (from My Fair Lady.) All three in different styles; different characters. I had to be focused and prepared to make my voice switch in the ways it needed to -- So of course, I got sick the night before. If I still had my tonsils, they'd be infected. (Good thing I had them out when I did.) I restricted myself to limited talking (what?!) and gargantuan amounts of tea and honey. My performance went alright, I suppose. Adrenaline took away what amount of throat pain it could, but by the last song I was beat, trying to get through as quickly and gracefully as possible.

What really made my day, though, was when I was sitting in the pew, waiting for the recital to start -- focusing -- when I heard "Ahem." Standing above me was the last person I expected to see at this casual small-town recital: Nicole Matthews. She's an old friend -- a friend who has always been such a HUGE support of me with all of my musical endeavors. I hadn't seen her since my high school graduation, and suddenly here she was. She moved back to Portland from DC a couple months ago, but I wasn't expecting to see her until Summertime when my schedule slowed down. I couldn't believe she made the drive for 3 measly songs -- what an amazing friend. I shot up and we hugged for God knows how long, pulling away to say a few words, but never letting go. Such a great surprise.

- The school's Pirates of Penzance went very well -- I was so proud. I loved watching the kids in the audience. You could see every little boys' pirate dreams come to life in their eyes as they watched on the edge of their seats. Alan's niece, Ava, was so enamored with Karli, following her everywhere after the performance, trying to decide if she was actually real... Adorable.

- Jenna Ruth Hinkle made her way into the world on May 14th. I had literally stepped out the door after getting off work, when I got a text from Chris saying they were at the hospital -- and at 7 cm. I fully expected that baby to arrive before I did, but I got there just in time. I walked into the room and 15 minutes later, there she was: The 9 lb 2 oz butterball that completes the Hinkle family.

- Two very dear people, Alex and Riann at http://fromwhomallblessingsflow.blogspot.com/, left for Ethiopa on Sunday, and yesterday met Moses -- their newest precious addition -- for the very first time. I'm so very happy for them, and can't wait until they bring him back so I can hold that sweet boy (and yeah, probably cry. Go figure.)

- I'm still receiving mounds of paperwork from Cornish. I got a big packet of the different required non-artsy classes to choose from... Boring. So boring. I'm so glad that the majority of my classes will be... Not like these, ha. Who knows, they could turn out to be interesting????

-Karli's graduation is fast approaching, and I've volunteered myself to stuff, address, and mail her announcements, as she is crazy busy and doesn't need this dull task on top of everything else. I also really need to get a move on finishing her scrapbook -- which she doesn't know about. Here's to hoping she doesn't read this.