I made it back from my trip yesterday, which was an all around great experience. The ride there was a little cramped, (I thought my back might go out from being in the same position for so long), and unfortunately someone decided to take off their shoes so the van didn't smell too appetizing. But the rest of the time was great. There were a whole bunch of speakers, videos, bands, etc, so now I can finally say that I've been to a concert (yeah it's sad but before this I'd never been to one.) It was loud I'll give you that. I mean 10,000 teenagers screaming their heads off plus all the musical vibrations can't be too good for your ears....It was a great time though and I really learned a lot from it all. =] Unfortunately now I have to get back to the everyday drudgery of school. It's not that I don't like what I'm learning. It's just that I'm getting really really tired and summer sounds really good right now....ehehe
That's it for now.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Busy and Zonked
A small (or not so small) run-down on my week so far....
Most of the day yesterday and this morning I got to babysit two girls in our church (they're on spring break). Take a wild guess who's not on spring break at the moment and who probably never will be....Anyways, even though it would mean working a little later in the day to get school done, I decided to do the job anyways seeing as how 1: those girls are quite entertaining and 2: money was involved (hehehe). Wednesday went fine, but this morning I had myself a little panic attack. You see, one of the girls offered me one of those Hershey's chocolate stuffed with caramel sticks. I didn't really like caramel too much, but I hadn't had it in a while so I decided to try it anyways. Ichecked the ingredients to make sure there were no cashews or tree nuts (I'm pretty allergic to thoes things), and after seeing that there were none I started munching away.
A few minutes later I started feeling kind of funny. My mouth almost felt twitchy for a second, and one side of my lip felt slightly swollen. I tried to calm down and think rationally. After all, I was pretty darn sure I wasn't allergic to carmel, plus I could be imagining all these symptoms due to the fact that I get kind of freaked out whenever I eat a new sweet I haven't had before (I'm always slightly afraid I'll have a reaction to it.) I tried to distract myself by talking to the girls, but my lip continued to feel funny and pretty soon my throat did too. By this time I was in ful panic attack mode, but I managed not to show it and excused myself to go the restroom. I ran in there like a guided missle and proceeded to take some allergy medicine with a spoon that could have possibly been used before by my brother...At the moment, however, I was too panicky to care. The last thing I needed was to have a big allergy attack while babysitting. I mean how stupid would that make me look? Plus I really didn't want to pass out or die or anything like that, so I drank it right down and continued to examine my face in the mirror. To tell you the truth I couldn't really tell if it was really swollen or not, but I was so freaked out that I figured I'd better take the medicine anyway.
When I finally finished all this, the girls suggested we watch a movie. (I readily agreed to this suggestion hoping it would take my mind off my "symptoms"). It partly did, and partly didn't. My stomach soon started to ache (probably panic) and my hands got all clammy. To top it all off their little (and I mean really really little)dog kept jumping up on me trying to lick my face. It was cute and all, but when I'm having an allergy attack I really don't want to deal with little dogs that might make my allergies even worse. By the time their mom finally walked in the door, most of my symptoms had subsided except my stomach was still killing me. I was never more glad to see anyone in my life....Okay maybe I'm exaggerating, but you get the picture. As to the question of whether I survived or not, yes I did. And no I did not have to go to the emergency room like last April. I'm not even sure I had a real allergic reaction. It could have been just a panic attack seeing as how nothing too bad happened to me. That would really be a bummer if it was, because it means I almost knocked myself out with that allergy medicine for nothing (trust me that stuff really makes you feel out of it).I'm over the effects now, but unfortunately it hit me right in the middle of my piano lesson that afternoon. I think I still did okay though (which is rather surprising). Anyways, I am taking one thing from this experience: I am never ever ever touching those stupid caramel sticks again.....
Tomorrow I'm going to a youth retreat with my homeschool group (we'll be getting back Sunday), so hopefully that will go well and I won't have any freaky attacks again. Let's just say I'm avoiding candy on this excursion.....Later everyone.
Most of the day yesterday and this morning I got to babysit two girls in our church (they're on spring break). Take a wild guess who's not on spring break at the moment and who probably never will be....Anyways, even though it would mean working a little later in the day to get school done, I decided to do the job anyways seeing as how 1: those girls are quite entertaining and 2: money was involved (hehehe). Wednesday went fine, but this morning I had myself a little panic attack. You see, one of the girls offered me one of those Hershey's chocolate stuffed with caramel sticks. I didn't really like caramel too much, but I hadn't had it in a while so I decided to try it anyways. Ichecked the ingredients to make sure there were no cashews or tree nuts (I'm pretty allergic to thoes things), and after seeing that there were none I started munching away.
A few minutes later I started feeling kind of funny. My mouth almost felt twitchy for a second, and one side of my lip felt slightly swollen. I tried to calm down and think rationally. After all, I was pretty darn sure I wasn't allergic to carmel, plus I could be imagining all these symptoms due to the fact that I get kind of freaked out whenever I eat a new sweet I haven't had before (I'm always slightly afraid I'll have a reaction to it.) I tried to distract myself by talking to the girls, but my lip continued to feel funny and pretty soon my throat did too. By this time I was in ful panic attack mode, but I managed not to show it and excused myself to go the restroom. I ran in there like a guided missle and proceeded to take some allergy medicine with a spoon that could have possibly been used before by my brother...At the moment, however, I was too panicky to care. The last thing I needed was to have a big allergy attack while babysitting. I mean how stupid would that make me look? Plus I really didn't want to pass out or die or anything like that, so I drank it right down and continued to examine my face in the mirror. To tell you the truth I couldn't really tell if it was really swollen or not, but I was so freaked out that I figured I'd better take the medicine anyway.
When I finally finished all this, the girls suggested we watch a movie. (I readily agreed to this suggestion hoping it would take my mind off my "symptoms"). It partly did, and partly didn't. My stomach soon started to ache (probably panic) and my hands got all clammy. To top it all off their little (and I mean really really little)dog kept jumping up on me trying to lick my face. It was cute and all, but when I'm having an allergy attack I really don't want to deal with little dogs that might make my allergies even worse. By the time their mom finally walked in the door, most of my symptoms had subsided except my stomach was still killing me. I was never more glad to see anyone in my life....Okay maybe I'm exaggerating, but you get the picture. As to the question of whether I survived or not, yes I did. And no I did not have to go to the emergency room like last April. I'm not even sure I had a real allergic reaction. It could have been just a panic attack seeing as how nothing too bad happened to me. That would really be a bummer if it was, because it means I almost knocked myself out with that allergy medicine for nothing (trust me that stuff really makes you feel out of it).I'm over the effects now, but unfortunately it hit me right in the middle of my piano lesson that afternoon. I think I still did okay though (which is rather surprising). Anyways, I am taking one thing from this experience: I am never ever ever touching those stupid caramel sticks again.....
Tomorrow I'm going to a youth retreat with my homeschool group (we'll be getting back Sunday), so hopefully that will go well and I won't have any freaky attacks again. Let's just say I'm avoiding candy on this excursion.....Later everyone.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Easter
Hope everyone had a great Easter last Sunday. Mine went well, excepting the fact that I had to get up at 6:30 AM to go sing at our 7:00 AM sunrise service. The service itself was fine, but I could hardly focus as I thought I might collapse from exhaustion. Also, it was absolutely freezing. I for some reason forgot to bring gloves (typical) so my fingers swelled up to the size of balloons. It seriously took them several hours to get back to normal. On top of all of this, we all had to hold candles while we were singing (so we could see our music in the almost darkness). Try turning pages with a candle in your hand. Definitely not fun as I kept envisioning my cande igniting one of the pages, thus starting a roaring fire that would demolish everything in sight....I would probably get kicked out of the choir for that one.
Anyways, the rest of the day was very relaxing and enjoyable (nice to get a break from all the evening activities). Later everyone.
Anyways, the rest of the day was very relaxing and enjoyable (nice to get a break from all the evening activities). Later everyone.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
The Swimming Lessons
Two summers ago (that would have made it '06 I believe) my parents decided that it was finally time for my brothers and I to take swimming lessons. Oh believe me, this was the absolute last thing I wanted to do...I liked getting in the water just for fun of course, but when it came to getting my head underwater or going in deep water of any kind, I was out. Plus the thought of taking lessons with a bunch of littler kids wasn't exactly too appealing. But there was no backing out so on the first day we headed out (hopefully not to my doom).
The first day wasn't so bad because our real teacher couldn't make it that day. So we had two guys who didn't make you do anything you didn't want to do and were pretty darn laid back. I knew that was too good to last....
The next day our real teacher showed up, and with it the beginning of everything I'd been dreading. Not only did he tell you to get your head wet, but if you didn't do it he'd throw you in the pool himself. Luckily I managed to avoid that by putting about half my face in the water and then splashing the rest of it that didn't go under when he wasn't looking. (Okay okay so I'm a cheater. =]). The rest of the day wasn't too bad, except for the end when we had to jump in the five feet section. I wasn't quite five feet at this time, so I was utterly terrified by the time it was my turn to jump in. (The guy probably thought I was hydrophobic or something). After a few seconds I absolutely had to do it because there was no way I was getting outdone by a bunch of little kids. Let me just tell you it was absolutely horrible. I started sinking like a stone so I started flailing and kicking around as hard as I could till I finally made it to the top. At this point I felt like giving my teacher a good old slug in the mouth. (I managed to refrain myself).
There were two other main things that got me about these lessons. The first was going into the 12 feet section. Sure we got to have some of those floaty things, but there was no way I was trusting something like that to transport me across the deep end without killing me. Soo first I tried staying as close as possible to the edge, but my teacher soon caught on to my plan and jerked me out right in the middle of the pool. By this time I was sure I was going to be sick, so I scrunched my eyes up and tried not to think about the fact that if I accidentally fell off this thing I would sink right down to the depths of what seemed like a bottomless pool....(no I didn't have too much faith in my teacher apparently. ehe).
After surviving this section, we had to do what I had most been dreading. Jump in the deep end. Now there was absolutely no way, under any circumstances, no matter if the rest of the kids were doing it, that I was going to jump in that thing. I might be okay swimming some in it (I actually could swim some now) but I repeat I was not (no way hose) jumping in. The teacher tried everything to convince me. He even tried to pull me in at one point but I managed to elude him at just the right moment (I was immune at this point to all his "tricks"). At this point my stomach started to cringe a little bit, so I decided to hope that that meant I had a stomach bug or something. I certainly couldn't jump in a pool if I was feeling sick could I? =] After milking up my symptoms a little bit (I'd do about anything to get out of jumping in) he finally agreed to just make me swim from the deep end to about the middle of the pool. I realized I couldn't be a chicken forever, so I hurriedly stuck my foot in and pushed off. I was so scared I hardly noticed I was scared (if that made any sense). By the time I had finished thrashing halfway across the pool (I'm sure it looked pretty comical) I was about to collapse and thought I was really going to be sick this time from having my face exposed to water so much. (Luckily that didn't happen).
Now (about 1 1/2 years later) I can actually swim pretty well I suppose. However, 1: You still will never see me hanging around in the deep end; 2: You won't see me going underwater or dunking myself or something; 3: If you ever see me jump in the deep end of a pool, you might as well look for the end of the world too....
The first day wasn't so bad because our real teacher couldn't make it that day. So we had two guys who didn't make you do anything you didn't want to do and were pretty darn laid back. I knew that was too good to last....
The next day our real teacher showed up, and with it the beginning of everything I'd been dreading. Not only did he tell you to get your head wet, but if you didn't do it he'd throw you in the pool himself. Luckily I managed to avoid that by putting about half my face in the water and then splashing the rest of it that didn't go under when he wasn't looking. (Okay okay so I'm a cheater. =]). The rest of the day wasn't too bad, except for the end when we had to jump in the five feet section. I wasn't quite five feet at this time, so I was utterly terrified by the time it was my turn to jump in. (The guy probably thought I was hydrophobic or something). After a few seconds I absolutely had to do it because there was no way I was getting outdone by a bunch of little kids. Let me just tell you it was absolutely horrible. I started sinking like a stone so I started flailing and kicking around as hard as I could till I finally made it to the top. At this point I felt like giving my teacher a good old slug in the mouth. (I managed to refrain myself).
There were two other main things that got me about these lessons. The first was going into the 12 feet section. Sure we got to have some of those floaty things, but there was no way I was trusting something like that to transport me across the deep end without killing me. Soo first I tried staying as close as possible to the edge, but my teacher soon caught on to my plan and jerked me out right in the middle of the pool. By this time I was sure I was going to be sick, so I scrunched my eyes up and tried not to think about the fact that if I accidentally fell off this thing I would sink right down to the depths of what seemed like a bottomless pool....(no I didn't have too much faith in my teacher apparently. ehe).
After surviving this section, we had to do what I had most been dreading. Jump in the deep end. Now there was absolutely no way, under any circumstances, no matter if the rest of the kids were doing it, that I was going to jump in that thing. I might be okay swimming some in it (I actually could swim some now) but I repeat I was not (no way hose) jumping in. The teacher tried everything to convince me. He even tried to pull me in at one point but I managed to elude him at just the right moment (I was immune at this point to all his "tricks"). At this point my stomach started to cringe a little bit, so I decided to hope that that meant I had a stomach bug or something. I certainly couldn't jump in a pool if I was feeling sick could I? =] After milking up my symptoms a little bit (I'd do about anything to get out of jumping in) he finally agreed to just make me swim from the deep end to about the middle of the pool. I realized I couldn't be a chicken forever, so I hurriedly stuck my foot in and pushed off. I was so scared I hardly noticed I was scared (if that made any sense). By the time I had finished thrashing halfway across the pool (I'm sure it looked pretty comical) I was about to collapse and thought I was really going to be sick this time from having my face exposed to water so much. (Luckily that didn't happen).
Now (about 1 1/2 years later) I can actually swim pretty well I suppose. However, 1: You still will never see me hanging around in the deep end; 2: You won't see me going underwater or dunking myself or something; 3: If you ever see me jump in the deep end of a pool, you might as well look for the end of the world too....
Monday, March 17, 2008
Annoyances
A few things that absolutely irritate me to no end...
*Not being able to fall asleep at night and as a result spending the following day dog tired. Luckily I haven't had this problem this week, but last week no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't go to sleep. I tried relaxing every muscle in my body (that is a total scam) and even attempted to count to 1,000 in my head (that got really dull after a while). By the time Friday rolled around I was so zonked that at about 8:00 I did something I never do; I attempted to take a nap. The problem was my brother was watching a basketball game on my computer ( we couldn't get it on TV) sooo every few minutes I'd hear a loud shriek of dismay or of joy (even though I strictly told him to be quiet). Ahh well. I'm feeling much better this week so that's a plus....
*Unloading the dishwasher. I know I know it's better than washing the dishes by hand, but every morning when I stumble downstairs (normally starving) I get to feast my eyes on a completely stuffed, clean dishwasher that yours truly gets to unload. The problem is this cycle will never end as I long as I live in this house.....*sigh*
*My obnoxious computer. To get to certain sites (like this blog for example) I have to reload the browser at least five times. Plus I have to deal with about a million popups everyday ranging from things such as movie tickets to used cars. I want to throttle it at least once a day.....=]
Well I guess I'll stop ranting now. ;) Later everyone
*Not being able to fall asleep at night and as a result spending the following day dog tired. Luckily I haven't had this problem this week, but last week no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't go to sleep. I tried relaxing every muscle in my body (that is a total scam) and even attempted to count to 1,000 in my head (that got really dull after a while). By the time Friday rolled around I was so zonked that at about 8:00 I did something I never do; I attempted to take a nap. The problem was my brother was watching a basketball game on my computer ( we couldn't get it on TV) sooo every few minutes I'd hear a loud shriek of dismay or of joy (even though I strictly told him to be quiet). Ahh well. I'm feeling much better this week so that's a plus....
*Unloading the dishwasher. I know I know it's better than washing the dishes by hand, but every morning when I stumble downstairs (normally starving) I get to feast my eyes on a completely stuffed, clean dishwasher that yours truly gets to unload. The problem is this cycle will never end as I long as I live in this house.....*sigh*
*My obnoxious computer. To get to certain sites (like this blog for example) I have to reload the browser at least five times. Plus I have to deal with about a million popups everyday ranging from things such as movie tickets to used cars. I want to throttle it at least once a day.....=]
Well I guess I'll stop ranting now. ;) Later everyone
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Update
Just a quick update on my dad. We heard from our local university hospital today, and they basically said that we should keep going with the chemotherapy and then get an MRI next month to see how it's helping. Soo basically it's the best kind of cancer he could possibly have (not that any type of cancer is good to have though) and treatment wise we're doing the right thing. So we'll just have to wait till next month to see how it's helping. Thanks so much for your prayers, and I'll be sure to keep you updated. =]
Nothing really much else going on. School wise, both of the literature books I'm reading are dark novels set in Communist Russia. The first is about a former Communist imprisoned by his own party, while the second is about a man in a Communist prison camp in Siberia. No not the most encouraging books, but still pretty fascinating. For biology I get to dissect a crayfish tomorrow. I think my mom is dreading it more than me......haha
Nothing really much else going on. School wise, both of the literature books I'm reading are dark novels set in Communist Russia. The first is about a former Communist imprisoned by his own party, while the second is about a man in a Communist prison camp in Siberia. No not the most encouraging books, but still pretty fascinating. For biology I get to dissect a crayfish tomorrow. I think my mom is dreading it more than me......haha
Friday, March 7, 2008
Storm of the Century
All right so my title is exaggerating a bit. =]
Last Tuesday night my dad had to run to church to look for a book he had misplaced, so he suggested that I drive him there since I haven't had a chance to drive much lately. Of course I readily agreed. I do enjoy driving with my dad even though he gets on you for the tiniest things (like stopping a tad too abruptly or not rounding the corner smoothly enough). Oh well. Anyways, on our way there it was a tad bit drizzly, but nothing that would make me nervous enough to veer off the road or anything.
We made it to the church without any incident, and after searching for several minutes my dad still couldn't find the book he was looking for. So after several more minutes of fruitless searching we decided to head on back. As we stepped outside the wind was blowing very hard (making everything very creepy as my dad and I were the only ones anywhere near the vicinity) and occasionally lightning streaked across the sky. My dad decided to take this time to teach me about the windshield wipers. He had been trying to show me on the way there, but I absolutely cannot under any circumstances attempt to learn something new while I'm in the process of driving. Both of my hands have to be clenched on the steering wheel and I can't even dream of being distracted. hehe. By this time it had started to rain a bit harder, but my dad was sure I'd be fine so I pulled out of the parking lot and started back home.
About a few seconds later the bottom dropped out. It started to pour (and I mean pour) and I could hardly see the road in front of me (even with the windshield wipers going double time). Since I really didn't want to be stuck on the highway at night with heavy rain and winds after not having driven for a while, I decided I had better pull over and let my dad drive. (He thoroughly agreed).
Several minutes down the road my mom called. (Let's just say she wasn't very happy). Firstly she certainly didn't want me to be driving in that weather, and secondly my dad wasn't officially supposed to be driving in the first place (he was supposed to wait two weeks after his last doctor's appointment because of his seizures, and it lacked about 3 days till two weeks. ). Soo after some very slow driving on the part of my dad (it would have been a very bad time to have a wreck) we finally made it home. A few minutes afterwards, hiding in his office, my dad found that missing book. So basically we risked out lives out in that awful storm to look for a book that was sitting safely in our home...*sigh* So goes life I suppose.
Later everyone
Last Tuesday night my dad had to run to church to look for a book he had misplaced, so he suggested that I drive him there since I haven't had a chance to drive much lately. Of course I readily agreed. I do enjoy driving with my dad even though he gets on you for the tiniest things (like stopping a tad too abruptly or not rounding the corner smoothly enough). Oh well. Anyways, on our way there it was a tad bit drizzly, but nothing that would make me nervous enough to veer off the road or anything.
We made it to the church without any incident, and after searching for several minutes my dad still couldn't find the book he was looking for. So after several more minutes of fruitless searching we decided to head on back. As we stepped outside the wind was blowing very hard (making everything very creepy as my dad and I were the only ones anywhere near the vicinity) and occasionally lightning streaked across the sky. My dad decided to take this time to teach me about the windshield wipers. He had been trying to show me on the way there, but I absolutely cannot under any circumstances attempt to learn something new while I'm in the process of driving. Both of my hands have to be clenched on the steering wheel and I can't even dream of being distracted. hehe. By this time it had started to rain a bit harder, but my dad was sure I'd be fine so I pulled out of the parking lot and started back home.
About a few seconds later the bottom dropped out. It started to pour (and I mean pour) and I could hardly see the road in front of me (even with the windshield wipers going double time). Since I really didn't want to be stuck on the highway at night with heavy rain and winds after not having driven for a while, I decided I had better pull over and let my dad drive. (He thoroughly agreed).
Several minutes down the road my mom called. (Let's just say she wasn't very happy). Firstly she certainly didn't want me to be driving in that weather, and secondly my dad wasn't officially supposed to be driving in the first place (he was supposed to wait two weeks after his last doctor's appointment because of his seizures, and it lacked about 3 days till two weeks. ). Soo after some very slow driving on the part of my dad (it would have been a very bad time to have a wreck) we finally made it home. A few minutes afterwards, hiding in his office, my dad found that missing book. So basically we risked out lives out in that awful storm to look for a book that was sitting safely in our home...*sigh* So goes life I suppose.
Later everyone
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Hannah and the Piano Recital
The past few piano lessons I've had my piano teacher mentioned that she'd like me to be in our community wide music recital again. Hearing her mention that brought back a few memories from the last time I did one (and not all of them are good). It all happened like this....
It was March 2006 and before the actual recital (which wasn't until April) I was going to do a piano workshop where I played my pieces in front of another piano teacher in the area. I had memorized two pieces; one jazzy slow piece (not so hard to remember) and a classical, fast moving piece (very hard to remember). I had practiced endlessly on it though and I was sure I had it. That is until I arrived at the workshop. The piano teacher was very brisk and didn't even crack a smile as she called me up on the stage. I had a small hope that maybe she would let me use my book on the classical piece, but as soon as I made it up on the stage she said, "I'll have that," and grabbed my book. I felt like I was walking to my doom.
When I first started the classical piece I thought I was going to be absolutely fine. Then all of a sudden in about the 5th measure everything I ever knew about this song suddenly left me. My heart started hammering and it certainly didn't help matters that the lady was sitting just a few feet away from me scribbling away on a piece of paper with a very stern look on her face. To top it all off there was my poor piano teacher sitting in the front row probably thinking that I was about the stupidest student she had ever had. I managed to croak out after a few seconds of very akward silence, "Um I kind of forgot the next measure..." I had the strange urge to disappear into the floor. The lady, the stern, terrifying expression never leaving her face, gave me the next few notes. I gulped rather loudly, and finally managed to remember thanks to her prompting. Throughout this whole ordeal I was thoroughly grateful that there was no audience allowed at a workshop.
When I finally finished that ordeal (I will never never be able to play that song again for all my days) I made up for my forgetfullness by playing the jazzy, slow song completely from memory. As soon as she finished scribbling down notes and handed me my book back I was off the stage and prepared to blow past anyone who got in the way of me and the exit.
All to quickly the dreaded piano recital finally arrived. I was absolutlely positive I was about to hypervenilate (I hate performing) and it didn't help matters that I had to wait backstage with a bunch of kids I didn't know who I was sure were fixedly staring at me the whole time. However I almost cried with joy when I found out that for the recital you were only allowed to play one piece. Guess which piece I picked? I was still extremely nervous, however, and feared that my luck at the piano workshop would repeat itself here.Finally my turn came. As I walked out on the stage I could feel a whole bunch of beady little eyes boring into my head. As I sat down on the bench and the audience applauded, I wondered if they would be that quick to applaud after I was done...A few minutes later it was over. I had managed to remember every single note and I was so relieved that I almost fainted right there from pure relief. Well I made it off stage, but of course it wasn't quite the end of my ordeal.
While the other kids were performing I suddenly got one of those tickles right in the back of my throat. You know. The kind that starts this horrible choking cough that you can't cover up and that you definitely don't want to have backstage at a big piano recital. I immediately started to panic. What if they threw me out for causing a ruckus? I wouldn't put it past some of these ladies....I tried to stop it, but to no avail. The cough was probably heard around the world and back. I hurriedly got up and headed out into the hallway. It took me a full five minutes to stop coughing. Gee I sure have all the luck at these things.....
So after these fond (or rather not so fond) memories of two years ago, I am desparately hoping that this year will be much better. However, this year I found out I'll probably have to do a solo piece and play a duet with another student. Knowing my luck with these things I'm sure I'll find some awful way to mess everything up and prompt me to change my name and move to the North Pole.
Later everyone.
It was March 2006 and before the actual recital (which wasn't until April) I was going to do a piano workshop where I played my pieces in front of another piano teacher in the area. I had memorized two pieces; one jazzy slow piece (not so hard to remember) and a classical, fast moving piece (very hard to remember). I had practiced endlessly on it though and I was sure I had it. That is until I arrived at the workshop. The piano teacher was very brisk and didn't even crack a smile as she called me up on the stage. I had a small hope that maybe she would let me use my book on the classical piece, but as soon as I made it up on the stage she said, "I'll have that," and grabbed my book. I felt like I was walking to my doom.
When I first started the classical piece I thought I was going to be absolutely fine. Then all of a sudden in about the 5th measure everything I ever knew about this song suddenly left me. My heart started hammering and it certainly didn't help matters that the lady was sitting just a few feet away from me scribbling away on a piece of paper with a very stern look on her face. To top it all off there was my poor piano teacher sitting in the front row probably thinking that I was about the stupidest student she had ever had. I managed to croak out after a few seconds of very akward silence, "Um I kind of forgot the next measure..." I had the strange urge to disappear into the floor. The lady, the stern, terrifying expression never leaving her face, gave me the next few notes. I gulped rather loudly, and finally managed to remember thanks to her prompting. Throughout this whole ordeal I was thoroughly grateful that there was no audience allowed at a workshop.
When I finally finished that ordeal (I will never never be able to play that song again for all my days) I made up for my forgetfullness by playing the jazzy, slow song completely from memory. As soon as she finished scribbling down notes and handed me my book back I was off the stage and prepared to blow past anyone who got in the way of me and the exit.
All to quickly the dreaded piano recital finally arrived. I was absolutlely positive I was about to hypervenilate (I hate performing) and it didn't help matters that I had to wait backstage with a bunch of kids I didn't know who I was sure were fixedly staring at me the whole time. However I almost cried with joy when I found out that for the recital you were only allowed to play one piece. Guess which piece I picked? I was still extremely nervous, however, and feared that my luck at the piano workshop would repeat itself here.Finally my turn came. As I walked out on the stage I could feel a whole bunch of beady little eyes boring into my head. As I sat down on the bench and the audience applauded, I wondered if they would be that quick to applaud after I was done...A few minutes later it was over. I had managed to remember every single note and I was so relieved that I almost fainted right there from pure relief. Well I made it off stage, but of course it wasn't quite the end of my ordeal.
While the other kids were performing I suddenly got one of those tickles right in the back of my throat. You know. The kind that starts this horrible choking cough that you can't cover up and that you definitely don't want to have backstage at a big piano recital. I immediately started to panic. What if they threw me out for causing a ruckus? I wouldn't put it past some of these ladies....I tried to stop it, but to no avail. The cough was probably heard around the world and back. I hurriedly got up and headed out into the hallway. It took me a full five minutes to stop coughing. Gee I sure have all the luck at these things.....
So after these fond (or rather not so fond) memories of two years ago, I am desparately hoping that this year will be much better. However, this year I found out I'll probably have to do a solo piece and play a duet with another student. Knowing my luck with these things I'm sure I'll find some awful way to mess everything up and prompt me to change my name and move to the North Pole.
Later everyone.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Story of the Bell Festival
Well I made it back from the bell festival yesterday, so I'm officially zonked. Here's a little bit about what went on.
We left Friday afternoon in our ever crowded church van. I attempted to read on the way, but the bumps and curves unsettled my stomach a bit so I figured I had better stop to avert disaster. We ate dinner at Fudrucker's, (a place I hadn't been since my former home) which was actually quite tasty. One thing about Fudrucker's is (if you didn't know) you take your order at the front counter and then they call out your name when your order's ready. Soo when I got to the counter I fully expected that they would ask me my name. Instead the lady asked me, "What's your favorite celebrity or cartoon character?" I was so caught off guard that I couldn't think of a single celebrity, not one. Since I really didn't want to stand there forever and look incredibly stupid, I finally said the first thing that came into my head, (which happened to be Mickey Mouse). It was only after that that I realized that they called the name of your celebrity instead of your real name, so a few minutes later a voice rang out, "Mickey Mouse your order is ready." *sigh* I guess not as embarrassing as saying Brittany Spears or something like that. Anyways, moving on.....
Friday night we played bells for three straight hours (yes you heard right). At first it all started out fine and dandy, but after several hours of playing the same few measures again and again, staring at the director, and having my wrists ache I had just about had enough. Not to mention I was absolutely freezing (someone had left the back door of the conference center open) and all I could think about was crawling into a nice warm bed and immersing myself in a novel that had absolutely no connection whatsoever to handbells. Well it finally all ended at 10:00 PM and let me just say that my friend and I were literally the first ones out the door.
The next day we had more rehearsals (surprise) that luckily weren't as long as the evening one. Then at lunch break (I was so hungry by this book my head was starting to spin) our director announced that we were all headed to the mall. If you haven't heard I absolutely detest malls with all my being. Not to mention it would be even more packed since it was Saturday lunch rush. But of course there was nothing I could do about it so that's where I ended up. I ate at Subway which was quite tasty, but first there was an interminably long line (I think the woman in front of me ordered about the whole menu) and then an attempt to find a table that was at least a tiny bit sanitary. But hey I haven't come down with a super virus yet so hopefully it will stay that way. =]
After I managed to survive the loud, crowded, claustrophobia inducing mall experience, we headed back to the conference center for the actual performance (which about 10 people show up for seeing as how all the bell choirs take up about the whole room). The actual performance went great, and for all my earlier complaining I'm still very glad I went. =] I do have to say though that I don't want to see another handbell for as long as I live (or until our next rehearsal anyways....)
We left Friday afternoon in our ever crowded church van. I attempted to read on the way, but the bumps and curves unsettled my stomach a bit so I figured I had better stop to avert disaster. We ate dinner at Fudrucker's, (a place I hadn't been since my former home) which was actually quite tasty. One thing about Fudrucker's is (if you didn't know) you take your order at the front counter and then they call out your name when your order's ready. Soo when I got to the counter I fully expected that they would ask me my name. Instead the lady asked me, "What's your favorite celebrity or cartoon character?" I was so caught off guard that I couldn't think of a single celebrity, not one. Since I really didn't want to stand there forever and look incredibly stupid, I finally said the first thing that came into my head, (which happened to be Mickey Mouse). It was only after that that I realized that they called the name of your celebrity instead of your real name, so a few minutes later a voice rang out, "Mickey Mouse your order is ready." *sigh* I guess not as embarrassing as saying Brittany Spears or something like that. Anyways, moving on.....
Friday night we played bells for three straight hours (yes you heard right). At first it all started out fine and dandy, but after several hours of playing the same few measures again and again, staring at the director, and having my wrists ache I had just about had enough. Not to mention I was absolutely freezing (someone had left the back door of the conference center open) and all I could think about was crawling into a nice warm bed and immersing myself in a novel that had absolutely no connection whatsoever to handbells. Well it finally all ended at 10:00 PM and let me just say that my friend and I were literally the first ones out the door.
The next day we had more rehearsals (surprise) that luckily weren't as long as the evening one. Then at lunch break (I was so hungry by this book my head was starting to spin) our director announced that we were all headed to the mall. If you haven't heard I absolutely detest malls with all my being. Not to mention it would be even more packed since it was Saturday lunch rush. But of course there was nothing I could do about it so that's where I ended up. I ate at Subway which was quite tasty, but first there was an interminably long line (I think the woman in front of me ordered about the whole menu) and then an attempt to find a table that was at least a tiny bit sanitary. But hey I haven't come down with a super virus yet so hopefully it will stay that way. =]
After I managed to survive the loud, crowded, claustrophobia inducing mall experience, we headed back to the conference center for the actual performance (which about 10 people show up for seeing as how all the bell choirs take up about the whole room). The actual performance went great, and for all my earlier complaining I'm still very glad I went. =] I do have to say though that I don't want to see another handbell for as long as I live (or until our next rehearsal anyways....)
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