Ramblings - the last few days

The last few days have been exhausting, and none of it has anything to do with adoption!

Thursday I taught middle school boys. I alluded to this in my last post. This was nuts! We were absolutely crammed into a 4.5 x 4.5 foot room, 4 boys, one me, and a CD player that none of us could get to work. The song had both "but" (I know, not butt, except this was hilarious anyway for these dudes), and "breast" in it. Who writes a song for middle school with "breast" in it? I had to sing that part and I just played it down as best I could. I think I sang, "brea" instead one time. It was talking about a goose's breast, but again, these are middle schoolers. (To his credit, I had one ally, B who even as a 7th grader cooperated with me.)

Friday was a regular day of classes and Randy and I went for sushi for dinner! This is an indulgence that rarely happens when you are wanting to get pregnant, as eating it can cause damage to a developing fetus. Since it is possible I might never have to worry about feti (is this plural of fetus?? ;o), it was a celebration to go for sushi. My new favorite is onago!

Now for Saturday. (I look 100 years old today as a result, and my lipstick will not come off. This is creating a very eerie effect, and I look mildly ill.) Anyway, I took part in an all day choral festival in San Antonio. I am singing with the UT Austin Women's Chorus this semester. I got up at 5:15 so I could get to Wal Mart (this is not where the festival was held) at 6:30 as instructed the day before. So I arrive there at 6:35 thinking, "Shirley, they could not have left right at 6:30," because only two other people were there. One hour later at 7:30 we finally left the parking lot (!) Krispy Kreme donuts in hand, we set off for SA (get it? San Antonio?? A little IF joke.) We began singing at 9:30 and never stopped. We literally sang for 6 hours, for random breaks in between. We got home at 11:30.

The choral festival was amazing. Our director was Dr. Janet Galvan from Ithaca College in New York. She was absolutely inspirational and extremely talented. She also looked like my friend Karen so that was especially fun. I felt like I got to play with Karen all day! My two favorite pieces we did were a Brazilian piece called O Sapo, where our voices were used as percussion and we got to do the samba on the risers, and This is the Day, a gospel piece where we swayed and clapped, and called out "Amen" to our soloists who were interspersed throughout the piece. We got a standing ovation! What a thrill! It has been a long time since I have felt really engaged in performing something and have been rewarded by cheering fans. It made me want to sing choral music for the rest of my life. THAT was what singing in an ensemble was all about. I so wish I had a CD of the performance. I am really proud of our work. (I think I won't quit my day job, though.) And yes, I can still talk and sing. Wow!

I don't even have time to post about the awesome message from church this morning. I feel very blessed.

For my next trick, I will wrap up this post for today. We have been telling people about our adoption plans and absolutely everyone is enthusiastic about it. We continue to receive comments like, "Oh, I know someone who adopted through Buckner." Now, do we want to replace our carpet right before a spitting up baby or wait until s/he is 19?

See you! (People know about my noveletta, now! See, "Rae."

Psalm 30:11 "You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness."