Last Sunday was the orchestra's children's concert. It was so well attended by little orchestra fans. Mindy Ratner was as kind and amazing as you'd think she'd be. I love it when radio people live up to how great they seem on air. She did a tremendous job as our host and introducing the pieces and, of course, narrating Peter and the Wolf.
The best moment of the concert came early. As soon as we finished the last note of the first piece we played, Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty, there was a big "yay!" from a small fan in the back row. Totally made the entire concert worth it - for that one "yay!"
I hope we do this again next year. I think it was a big success. And we need to find more ways to make orchestral music accessible to young (and old).
Friday, February 24, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
bittersweet symphony.
The running club certainly has helped with my winter depression. It has breathed new life into my running and commitment to my next marathon. Breathed new life into me in general. New people, all with the same crazy desire to run lots. The only problem is that I've been sore every day since I started. At some point, this is bound to stop. And for the first three weeks, it was a mark of the hard work I was doing. But now I'm a little sick of it.
Take last weekend. I woke up feeling great on Saturday morning, but then I did a speed workout around Lake Calhoun in the -14 windchill. And then ran 13 miles the next day. I felt ok again by Tuesday, but then did an 11 mile speed workout at the Dome. And ran 7 miles on Wednesday. I'm finally feeling like my quads and hamstrings aren't crabby at me and I'm headed to do repeats on the High Bridge (a half mile hill!) tomorrow morning. It's so much painful fun.
I feel immeasurably stronger already, but this might be too much for me. I'm going to give it a couple more weeks, and then I might have to cut back and pick and choose which runs I do. I'm too young to be groaning getting out of bed every morning.
Running club or not, I'm still tired and sad a lot, and had a complete breakdown earlier this week when, for two days, I thought I was turning 37 this year. Like I still have mini panic attacks thinking about my response - heart racing, shortness of breath, better get on the floor before I pass out kind of panic attacks. But luckily I was wrong and I'm only turning 36. Somehow immensely better. And made me feel pretty stupid for not taking the second and a half to actually do the math to correct this misconception.
Regardless of the mistake, my body makes me keenly and constantly aware that if I want to do the baby thing, my time is about up. And somehow 37 seemed like a death sentence in that area. Over the last six months or so I tried to figure out how to be able to do it financially on my own and just can't make the numbers work. Add to the fact that my dad talks about dying a lot lately (he's doing ok right now, though), and the pressure is overwhelming. The heartbreak I have over not having kids is hard to reconcile. I am thankful for the life I have built on my own, and know it is very good. There's just a piece or two missing.
And I have to laugh, because I can't really think of something that would make me less attractive than having my clock ticking. Which ain't gonna help me fix the issue. Oh the irony.
Take last weekend. I woke up feeling great on Saturday morning, but then I did a speed workout around Lake Calhoun in the -14 windchill. And then ran 13 miles the next day. I felt ok again by Tuesday, but then did an 11 mile speed workout at the Dome. And ran 7 miles on Wednesday. I'm finally feeling like my quads and hamstrings aren't crabby at me and I'm headed to do repeats on the High Bridge (a half mile hill!) tomorrow morning. It's so much painful fun.
I feel immeasurably stronger already, but this might be too much for me. I'm going to give it a couple more weeks, and then I might have to cut back and pick and choose which runs I do. I'm too young to be groaning getting out of bed every morning.
Running club or not, I'm still tired and sad a lot, and had a complete breakdown earlier this week when, for two days, I thought I was turning 37 this year. Like I still have mini panic attacks thinking about my response - heart racing, shortness of breath, better get on the floor before I pass out kind of panic attacks. But luckily I was wrong and I'm only turning 36. Somehow immensely better. And made me feel pretty stupid for not taking the second and a half to actually do the math to correct this misconception.
Regardless of the mistake, my body makes me keenly and constantly aware that if I want to do the baby thing, my time is about up. And somehow 37 seemed like a death sentence in that area. Over the last six months or so I tried to figure out how to be able to do it financially on my own and just can't make the numbers work. Add to the fact that my dad talks about dying a lot lately (he's doing ok right now, though), and the pressure is overwhelming. The heartbreak I have over not having kids is hard to reconcile. I am thankful for the life I have built on my own, and know it is very good. There's just a piece or two missing.
And I have to laugh, because I can't really think of something that would make me less attractive than having my clock ticking. Which ain't gonna help me fix the issue. Oh the irony.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
what doesn't kill you
I can't say there's much to report from my neck of the woods. Running, violin, reading, teaching. That's about it.
The running club has been such a fun experiment, though. I feel stronger after only two weeks, though I'm trying to be careful not to overdo it. We did 9 miles in intervals tonight, and I was able to hang with some folks I don't think I had any business running with. The coach has it in his head that I could, within the year, run a 3:30 marathon. That's some crazy talk. I am hoping for a 3:45 at Grandmas. And that is pretty ambitious given my TCM disappointment. But, the workout tonight boosted my confidence a little. Time will tell.
My class of 3 students for Young Adult Lit is dreadful. Could not be less excited for that tomorrow night. I changed things up in terms of the plan for how class will go, and fingers crossed it's a little better. I can't spend another 3.5 hours of crickets. Well, it wasn't all crickets. They did talk when they complained about how terrible all the books they read for class were. Cuz, you know, award winning YA books are crap, of course. I'm all for bringing a critical eye to a text, but come on people. You can't find anything redeeming?
On the bright side, aside from the student who called in sick from class because she had eaten too much pizza the night before and hadn't slept well, my Children's Lit class is wonderful. Engaged students and thoughtful discussions. My online class is going fine as well, and my student teachers give me faith in the future.
And as for my resolutions, I'm doing great with 2, 3, and 5. Only made it to the St. Kate's library once, and haven't gone on a date in 2012. Oh, and I'm not doing much writing yet either.
The running club has been such a fun experiment, though. I feel stronger after only two weeks, though I'm trying to be careful not to overdo it. We did 9 miles in intervals tonight, and I was able to hang with some folks I don't think I had any business running with. The coach has it in his head that I could, within the year, run a 3:30 marathon. That's some crazy talk. I am hoping for a 3:45 at Grandmas. And that is pretty ambitious given my TCM disappointment. But, the workout tonight boosted my confidence a little. Time will tell.
My class of 3 students for Young Adult Lit is dreadful. Could not be less excited for that tomorrow night. I changed things up in terms of the plan for how class will go, and fingers crossed it's a little better. I can't spend another 3.5 hours of crickets. Well, it wasn't all crickets. They did talk when they complained about how terrible all the books they read for class were. Cuz, you know, award winning YA books are crap, of course. I'm all for bringing a critical eye to a text, but come on people. You can't find anything redeeming?
On the bright side, aside from the student who called in sick from class because she had eaten too much pizza the night before and hadn't slept well, my Children's Lit class is wonderful. Engaged students and thoughtful discussions. My online class is going fine as well, and my student teachers give me faith in the future.
And as for my resolutions, I'm doing great with 2, 3, and 5. Only made it to the St. Kate's library once, and haven't gone on a date in 2012. Oh, and I'm not doing much writing yet either.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
