what's on my mind this weekend
1. Daniel and I had an appointment with a nutritionist on Friday to discuss his bizarre eating behavior. I won't go into more detail about how peculiar he is with food, but just trust me, it's somewhat outside the realm even of normal toddler behavior (hence our dr's suggestion to visit a nutritionist in the first place...). Anyway, the nutritionist was great, very reassuring, and had some good suggestions, which already seem to be working. She's also one of the only people to offer me advice who managed to do it without making me feel defensive and inadequate as a parent. We were astonished the other night when he picked up a corn cob and actually ate a few bites of corn off of it. We've got a ways to go before I can give up sneaking things into mini-muffins, but now we've got a plan, and that's a good thing.
2. We've had six times the normal rainfall this August. Usually, our part of the state gets about 3" in August, and so far we've gotten 18". If you pay attention to the news at all, you may have heard that some counties in Wisconsin have been declared federal disaster areas because of flooding and mudslides, and three people were electrocuted at a bus stop in Madison when a live power line was knocked over into a flooded street. We're lucky we don't live near a river or creek and that our house is well-sealed; we didn't even get water in the basement. We're also very lucky our livelihood doesn't come from agriculture. My few tomato plants in the front yard are drowned and rotting, but that doesn't compare with the guy at the farmers' market yesterday who said he's lost 75% of his tomato crop ($50-60K worth) in fields with 8 inches of standing water.
3. I've spent the last two Sunday afternoons going to chamber music concerts. Seeing as I'm a so-called "professional" musician, this shouldn't strike you as odd at all, but since Daniel was born, it's rare that I have the opportunity to see my peers perform. (There are just so many responsibilities at home, and it's not fair to dump everything on Stuart on evenings and weekends.) Last Sunday was one of the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival concerts. Not only did I get to see a dear friend perform (and he did so brilliantly), I was pleasantly surprised to see James Primosch there. He was one of the composers in residence at SongFest this June, and some of his music was featured at the concert. And I finally met John Harbison, who wrote that piece I premiered at SongFest; he runs the Token Creek festival and has lots of ties to Madison, so I knew he'd be there. The icing on the cake was that I finally got to spend some time with my friend Rob, who I hadn't seen in months. Kid-free social time with other adults is a precious, precious commodity, one of the few things I truly miss about my life before I became a mom.
Then today, a violinist friend presented her final DMA recital with my teacher as pianist/fortepianist on two of the pieces. Of course it was great, and they both played brilliantly. I need to get out and see concerts more often, to support other musicians and hear good music, and also for my own inspiration and morale.
...which brings me to #4: Next week Pam will be here for a whirlwind three days or so to record part of my dissertation project. I love working with her (and I'm not just saying that 'cause you're reading this, Pam!) and I'm excited about the music we're doing. But damn is one of the pieces kicking my ass. Sometimes I just stare at the page and whimper. Hearing other musicians perform good music well and being able to call them my "colleagues" is what makes me grit my teeth and convince myself that I really can do this.
5. 18 weeks from my due date and I'm wondering just how this doctorate is going to get done on time and just how big I'm going to get before it's all over and done with. I actually have a good friend here who is expecting a baby the exact same day (what are the odds?) and she doesn't look nearly as preg-preg as I do.
2. We've had six times the normal rainfall this August. Usually, our part of the state gets about 3" in August, and so far we've gotten 18". If you pay attention to the news at all, you may have heard that some counties in Wisconsin have been declared federal disaster areas because of flooding and mudslides, and three people were electrocuted at a bus stop in Madison when a live power line was knocked over into a flooded street. We're lucky we don't live near a river or creek and that our house is well-sealed; we didn't even get water in the basement. We're also very lucky our livelihood doesn't come from agriculture. My few tomato plants in the front yard are drowned and rotting, but that doesn't compare with the guy at the farmers' market yesterday who said he's lost 75% of his tomato crop ($50-60K worth) in fields with 8 inches of standing water.
3. I've spent the last two Sunday afternoons going to chamber music concerts. Seeing as I'm a so-called "professional" musician, this shouldn't strike you as odd at all, but since Daniel was born, it's rare that I have the opportunity to see my peers perform. (There are just so many responsibilities at home, and it's not fair to dump everything on Stuart on evenings and weekends.) Last Sunday was one of the Token Creek Chamber Music Festival concerts. Not only did I get to see a dear friend perform (and he did so brilliantly), I was pleasantly surprised to see James Primosch there. He was one of the composers in residence at SongFest this June, and some of his music was featured at the concert. And I finally met John Harbison, who wrote that piece I premiered at SongFest; he runs the Token Creek festival and has lots of ties to Madison, so I knew he'd be there. The icing on the cake was that I finally got to spend some time with my friend Rob, who I hadn't seen in months. Kid-free social time with other adults is a precious, precious commodity, one of the few things I truly miss about my life before I became a mom.
Then today, a violinist friend presented her final DMA recital with my teacher as pianist/fortepianist on two of the pieces. Of course it was great, and they both played brilliantly. I need to get out and see concerts more often, to support other musicians and hear good music, and also for my own inspiration and morale.
...which brings me to #4: Next week Pam will be here for a whirlwind three days or so to record part of my dissertation project. I love working with her (and I'm not just saying that 'cause you're reading this, Pam!) and I'm excited about the music we're doing. But damn is one of the pieces kicking my ass. Sometimes I just stare at the page and whimper. Hearing other musicians perform good music well and being able to call them my "colleagues" is what makes me grit my teeth and convince myself that I really can do this.
5. 18 weeks from my due date and I'm wondering just how this doctorate is going to get done on time and just how big I'm going to get before it's all over and done with. I actually have a good friend here who is expecting a baby the exact same day (what are the odds?) and she doesn't look nearly as preg-preg as I do.
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