I’ve just finished my second article for the next issue of the local journal and sent it off. Yay me. Yet again I am amazed at how much I know about a topic, and how superficial an examination must be in the space of 900 words.

Despite my cheerful optimism regarding orchestra last night, I had a really rough evening when I got there. It was a strings-only rehearsal, and we practiced every sequence that gave us trouble in the Haydn symphony for two hours. This means that we did a lot of work on the frustrating passages that are (naturally) challenging, and didn’t get the rewarding boost of playing the easier stuff in between. On top of that my fingers and my brain were not talking to one another last night and I just couldn’t get warm or count correctly, all of which conspired to make me play even worse than usual. I was so out of it by the end of the night that I missed every single entrance in the Handel bouree and couldn’t find a place to jump in before it was over. ADZO had shared an insightful chat earlier in the day with me regarding applying professional standards to everything one does, however, and that really went a long way towards me not feeling as despondent about rehearsal as I otherwise might have felt.

The boy had two shots this morning and got a bandage on each of them that the doctor then added little stickers to, a fire engine and a train to be precise. It was an excellent way to grab his attention and get him to stop the indignant crying. He also got a train sticker for his hand because he kept craning his head around to try to look at his upper arms, and he showed it to the five-month-old baby waiting his turn to see the doctor. He very helpfully took his medicare card from me and carried it into the office on his own for the nurse to check at the beginning of the appointment, too. He’s a good kid.

Tomorrow, the Friday plans which have been postponed twice will happen! But now, I have to try to get myself into a sleep-like headspace.