Schubert, Skiing, Chess and Carnegie Hall

Here we are at the last week of January 2023.  It seems impossible for time to fly any faster than it has in years past- yet somehow it still does. I am not quite sure how we are here in our new year already.  Well, actually it's quite clear how we got here:  5 Schubert performances, one trip to NYC, ski patrol trainings and shifts, and the continuous motion of daily life running underneath it all. 

We finished up our Cleveland Schubert run on January 14th, with each concert more fun than the last.  Such a pleasant peice of music to sing, and so well received by our hometown audience.

Celebrating with the chorus crew after our concert.  Singing is such a joy in my life already--  and friends like these ladies (smart, funny, irreverent, talented humans that they are) are just the icing on the cake.

You know what else is icing on the cake right now? This hot tub.  Ivy is a fan and hot tubbing has been added to the ranks of activities she and I can do together.  The chemical maintenance is still a learning process for us, but so far I have no regrets about this purchase. 

Just a photo of a cat and a rabbit, hanging out by a cardboard box.

And a kitten in a window.

The wet and warm start to the year has not boded well for skiing, with only Boston Mills running at full capacity and Alpine Valley closed for Nat and my first two scheduled shifts. But we did get a sublime afternoon of family ski time on my blessed Sunday off from singing. 

Here's a photo of Sunny the noodle cat in one of her preferred positions.

We have successfully made a terrible mess of the kitchen and bathroom at our new tiny house.   Next up:  Cleaning, flooring and painting.  And asking the universe to provide affordable cabinetry, appliances, a few nice exterior doors, and a corner shower stall... and maybe a little more time to work on it (something that has been in exceedingly short supply for pretty much the entire time we have owned the place). 

But who has time to renovate a house when they have to run off to NYC?

Here's my view at 3pm on Tuesday (this is what sub plans for two days away look like)...

... and here's the view of Midtown Manhattan from the Starchild bar on Tuesday night. 

... and the view on our walk to the Stardust Diner for breakfast the next morning.. 

What a hoot that place was!  Definitely the most "party" atmosphere I've every experienced at 8am! 

The waitstaff serenade you the entire time you are there, and the atmosphere is joyful.

It was fun to chat with some folks who are brand new to me- and to see the faces of some of my section-mates for the first time!  Here are Katie and I, being twins. 

And here is Carnegie Hall!  View from rehearsal...

After rehearsal we went to the Chelsea Market to meet up with Mika's family.

I love the Chelsea Market, it turns out.  I kind of want to live there.  We had a wonderful lunch in the little heated picnic arbors.

Vegan mock-duck noodles!

Then walked the high line together.

A 55 degree sunshiny afternoon in the city? Thank you very much, NY.

Then, time to change and sing to a sold-out crowd! It was a phenomenal show, even if the stage was hot as blazes.  We poured our hearts out for NY and they poured on the applause (and the lovely reviews the next day).  It was just such a supreme honor to be a small part of this amazing event. 

Late-night dinner at the Carnegie Diner after the show...

And coffee with one of my oldest and dearest friends in the morning. 

Could I have handled a few more days in the city?  Of course.  It would have been grand to take in a Broadway show, and to walk in Central Park and pop into shops in Soho. But I've had that NYtime in the past, and will again. It was a gift to have even this little bit of time away from it all, to immerse myself in performance and time with my friends. 

And it always feels good to come home.  

Here on the home front the newest fad is chess. This board has moved in on our dining room table and Jack, in that way of his, has become both obsessed and startlingly proficient already.

 

A gorgeous snowfall on Sunday encouraged a day of hibernation.  Sledding and cocoa with friends, then an afternoon spent making soup and muffins.

Looking foward to keeping this winter wonderland around for a while, fingers crossed. 

 

Balancing Act

We are 11 days into this new year and I am tired already.  I think 2023 heard me waxing poetic about the old year and got offended or something, because it's not going easy on me so far. 

We are all fine, and busy transitioning back into our routines after a primarily restful break.  That alone is always a thing for this family.  We do, after all, vacation hard (and not just in the summer). 

This year the return to reality is being compounded by an extended health crisis for Gram and an extensive rehearsal and performanse schedule for COC.  Plus the start of ski season, with patrol shifts and training shifts to schedule around rehearsals and broadway series shows and swim meets and swim practices.  

That "balance" thing may have to wait a minute or two.  We're working on survival right at this moment, y'all.

Our 2023 life so far:

These furbabies make life more complicated... but also so much better.  Winnie girl was away for a week being bred to Patti and Jim's Sammy-- here's hoping for a litter of puppies in March!

An inordinate amount of time so far this year has been spent roaming the parking garages and winding corridors of University Hospitals to locate and vist Gram (she was in the ER for 4 days for a major UTI, then in two different buildings after that for IV antibiotic treatment).  

And my home for this week is the stage at Severance, with 4 rehearsals and 3 performances of the Schubert Mass in G, all in a row.  Good thing I really love this singing thing- and that this is such a sublime piece of music to sing- and that I adore my Chorus friends- or I might resent this schedule.  As it is, I'm having a lovely time each evening, and just a bit more exhausted that normal...

Look!  Our official COC photo!

We did manage to get Christmas decorations down on Ephiphany.  Now the house has it's annual January look:  desolate and barren and disorganized.  There's been no real time to clean up or redecorate so we are just going with that look.  It's in keeping with the whole vibe of the year so far, I guess. 

We are in the height of HS swim season, and this kid is doing awesome.  Coming off of a week of 4-hour practices over break, he's bulked up and is beating his own times left and right. Current PR for the 100 Breast is a 1:08.  He's hoping for a 1:03... we will see.  I love seeing him so motivated to work hard. And watching him dominate in his events is pretty fun too. 

Kitten. 

Doggo.

We got another night of skiing in, despite the week of rainy weather we've had.  Conditions were awful but the company was great. 

And we had a hot tub to soak in afterwards and this hot tub may in fact be the best part of 2023 so far. 

Also got a bit of demo work in at the Lucknow house.  The girls were absolutely thrilled to be in charge of taking out this random wall in the bathroom. They are beasts with a sledgehammer.  We've got a dumpster in place this week and a bit more to remove.. then we get the excitement of deciding on the layouts and materials we want for the new kitchen and bathroom.  It IS exciting.  It is also so very overwhelming.  I wish I had unlimited time and money so I could really have FUN with this project.  But doing it on a shoestring, ourselves, in our total of 4 free hours a week, will at least be an interesting challenge.  Who wants a boring life anyways.

 

Tonight is our first Schubert performance.  Rehearsals have been going well and I am looking forward to the concert.  Gram is out of the hospital and doing a few weeks of rehab at the Gardens.  We are all settling into school routines.  We are surviving.  And maybe even a little more than that.  Here's hoping for a little more balance to come in this new year....