Five days till go time.
We spent most of yesterday and today cleaning rugs and putting together our new bed frame (wahoo!) and petting the quilt that my mother-in-law made for us as a wedding gift. She's seriously about the cutest little old lady ever. Pictures of the quilt to follow.
It's still raining here in Boston and I just wish it would stop. I don't want to spend my last five days stateside sitting inside and swiffering out of boredom because that's just a sign of illness my friends, illness. That and I'm almost out of swiffers. I've tried training Sam to not shed but it just does NOT work. I think that dog can projectile shed, seriously.
This will be short as I'm tuckered out from housecleaning and World Cup watching. Tomorrow is the last day of the season at Trinity. We don't have rehearsal between services so I see a trip to the bakery happening, with a very large cup of tea in store. To the Spiehlers and the soon-to-be Broadheads, watch your mailboxes.....
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Eight days......
I have eight days to finish writing thank-you notes to all of my sponsors, memorize Act III of Rigoletto, and figure out what the heck I'm supposed to pack to spend a month in Italy. And even though my Eagle Scout husband can pack a suitcase to the density of a neutron star, I'm a little scared at what my gown would look like when I got to the other side of the ocean.
It's another cold and rainy day here in Boston - yeah, because we needed more rain, really we did - and I'm about to go to the dentist. I know it's ridiculous, but there's something in me that feels like a petulent child every time I have to go to the dentist. I know that I brush and floss at least twice a day (if not more) and that I don't do any of the stuff I'm not supposed to do (chewing ice, eating bagels) that aggravates my jaw, but I still feel a little sheepish when they say to me, "Well Emily, you've just got groovy teeth and we're gonna have to fill those cavities." Years and years of dental maintenance, sealants, listerine, cleanings every six months, how the heck did I manage to get cavities? *sigh* Maybe it's just an inadequacy thing. I have inferior teeth.
I'm supposed to rehearse with Roberto later today....I wonder if one can sing with a jaw that's all numbed up. Maybe it will be a transcendent experience as a singer - truly not being able to feel your mouth. Of course, my Italian might sound like pig Latin as a result, but either way, it's better than sitting at home on a gross day like this. At least Sam can curl up on his rug and sleep away the day. Oh, to be a chocolate lab.
Must go and pre-medicate. Miles to go before I sleep (again).
It's another cold and rainy day here in Boston - yeah, because we needed more rain, really we did - and I'm about to go to the dentist. I know it's ridiculous, but there's something in me that feels like a petulent child every time I have to go to the dentist. I know that I brush and floss at least twice a day (if not more) and that I don't do any of the stuff I'm not supposed to do (chewing ice, eating bagels) that aggravates my jaw, but I still feel a little sheepish when they say to me, "Well Emily, you've just got groovy teeth and we're gonna have to fill those cavities." Years and years of dental maintenance, sealants, listerine, cleanings every six months, how the heck did I manage to get cavities? *sigh* Maybe it's just an inadequacy thing. I have inferior teeth.
I'm supposed to rehearse with Roberto later today....I wonder if one can sing with a jaw that's all numbed up. Maybe it will be a transcendent experience as a singer - truly not being able to feel your mouth. Of course, my Italian might sound like pig Latin as a result, but either way, it's better than sitting at home on a gross day like this. At least Sam can curl up on his rug and sleep away the day. Oh, to be a chocolate lab.
Must go and pre-medicate. Miles to go before I sleep (again).
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
overheard in my living room
At the moment, the only thing I'm hearing is the moaning of my dog, Sam, who seems to think that his life, lounging in the middle of the floor on his rug, is difficult. Maybe he's just dreaming.
So far, this has been a fabulous week. I'm an auntie, because little Ace Spiehler decided that he was good and ready to get out (see my friend Stacey's blog for details) and dontcha know it, the little guy already has lots of hair. I figure that if one of my friends has a baby about every 18 months, then I can stave off the loud 'tick tock' for at least another few years. Either that, or we're going to have to get another dog.
After much deliberation, the husband and I have decided to go it alone in the house next year. The housemate and his new wife (and when I say 'new', I mean they got married a week ago) will be at Middlebury learning German until mid-August and then they will vamoose for their new apartment, leaving a conspicuous amount of space open in the front bedroom, which will be converted into a studio so we can teach out of the house. And what did we learn at our tax seminar last month kids? If you teach out of your house and devote that space to the sole purpose of your profession, you can deduct that portion of rent, heat, utilities, everything! Huzzah! Finally, it will pay off to teach at home!
And, the big happy dance event of the week. I have to preface this by saying that my mother always told me that there's no harm in asking for what you want. The worst thing that could happen is someone says no. I wouldn't say that this is a universally applicable principle, but sometimes miss jean is right. I appealed my merit award from the voice department back in February and got zilch. I appealed it again in May and they wrote me a letter telling me they were increasing it by a whopping $1100. Now I'm not one to sneeze at anyone increasing my scholarship and thereby decreasing the amount of debt I will accrue in order to become Dr. Hindrichs, but when they're handing out more scholarship to undergrad string players, I take issue. $1100 is a drop in the proverbial bucket when tuition is being raised to 29K next year. If you only admit eight doctoral students per year, you should fund them. PERIOD. They're working their asses off to become the next round of higher education and the sooner educators get treated like rock stars (or at least like college basketball players), the better the education scene will be in America. Stepping off the soapbox.
So long story made longer, after I received my piddly increase, I wrote yet another polite but aggressive email stating that, while I was grateful for the 3% increase in my scholarship, I did not feel that this appropriately reflected the contribution I was making to the image of the conservatory, especially in light of my upcoming engagements (singing Gilda with an Italian opera festival, singing with the International Bachakademie, and being hired to sing Norina with Opera Providence) and the publicity that NEC will thereby receive. And two days later, I received an email with yet another amended financial aid offer. And what did it state? It stated that your truly will be receiving full tuition starting this fall. That's right kids, they're fully funding a soprano at the New England Conservatory of Music, and all it took was a whole lot of asking. I told my mom I felt kind of bad for having harassed them as much as I did, but her point was this: if I wasn't worth it, they wouldn't have given it to me. And if I had not asked, they would not have had to consider how much of an asset I am to their institution. And we all come out better on the other end.
Time for the happy dance!
So far, this has been a fabulous week. I'm an auntie, because little Ace Spiehler decided that he was good and ready to get out (see my friend Stacey's blog for details) and dontcha know it, the little guy already has lots of hair. I figure that if one of my friends has a baby about every 18 months, then I can stave off the loud 'tick tock' for at least another few years. Either that, or we're going to have to get another dog.
After much deliberation, the husband and I have decided to go it alone in the house next year. The housemate and his new wife (and when I say 'new', I mean they got married a week ago) will be at Middlebury learning German until mid-August and then they will vamoose for their new apartment, leaving a conspicuous amount of space open in the front bedroom, which will be converted into a studio so we can teach out of the house. And what did we learn at our tax seminar last month kids? If you teach out of your house and devote that space to the sole purpose of your profession, you can deduct that portion of rent, heat, utilities, everything! Huzzah! Finally, it will pay off to teach at home!
And, the big happy dance event of the week. I have to preface this by saying that my mother always told me that there's no harm in asking for what you want. The worst thing that could happen is someone says no. I wouldn't say that this is a universally applicable principle, but sometimes miss jean is right. I appealed my merit award from the voice department back in February and got zilch. I appealed it again in May and they wrote me a letter telling me they were increasing it by a whopping $1100. Now I'm not one to sneeze at anyone increasing my scholarship and thereby decreasing the amount of debt I will accrue in order to become Dr. Hindrichs, but when they're handing out more scholarship to undergrad string players, I take issue. $1100 is a drop in the proverbial bucket when tuition is being raised to 29K next year. If you only admit eight doctoral students per year, you should fund them. PERIOD. They're working their asses off to become the next round of higher education and the sooner educators get treated like rock stars (or at least like college basketball players), the better the education scene will be in America. Stepping off the soapbox.
So long story made longer, after I received my piddly increase, I wrote yet another polite but aggressive email stating that, while I was grateful for the 3% increase in my scholarship, I did not feel that this appropriately reflected the contribution I was making to the image of the conservatory, especially in light of my upcoming engagements (singing Gilda with an Italian opera festival, singing with the International Bachakademie, and being hired to sing Norina with Opera Providence) and the publicity that NEC will thereby receive. And two days later, I received an email with yet another amended financial aid offer. And what did it state? It stated that your truly will be receiving full tuition starting this fall. That's right kids, they're fully funding a soprano at the New England Conservatory of Music, and all it took was a whole lot of asking. I told my mom I felt kind of bad for having harassed them as much as I did, but her point was this: if I wasn't worth it, they wouldn't have given it to me. And if I had not asked, they would not have had to consider how much of an asset I am to their institution. And we all come out better on the other end.
Time for the happy dance!
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