Weeeee it's almost summer!

Hey y'all. I'm at work at 9:30 am (have been here since 8 am) and so naturally have time to blog. Or at least I will until Dean Hillner gets out of the committee meeting in a bit and I'll need to run decision letters for him. But anyway, I thought this would be as good of a time as any, since I'll be heading off to Blue Lake in a little over 3 weeks, and will then (as many of you already know) have no time to do anything! OK...so let's see what's new in my life since I last posted: I am pretty much finished with everything viola! I had two recitals this year--one at the end of November and the second one a little over a week ago on May 6. Phew, let me tell you, giving two recitals in one year sucks sucks SUCKS! Plus I was playing for a girl who lives in my building on May 3--she had to give a chamber recital because she's a pianist and so I played the Brahms E-flat sonata with her (um, tons of work..but luckily I played it @ my fall recital) and the Mozart viola, clarinet, and piano trio. It was a fun program but I worked super hard to rehearse with her like at least once a week if not more since before this quarter started, and all she gave me after her recital were two crumbly brownies. Seriously. I mean I totally get not having money as a grad student, obvi I have no money either, but really? I had to pay my collaborative for both my recitals $150--for my spring recital, that only included 2 rehearsals, one lesson, my recital, and my board (10 min). I spent WAY more time with the chamber recital than that, and all I got is 2 brownies. WTF man. I played the Walton viola concerto (ew) and Bach cello suite 3 for my spring recital. It took me FOREVER to learn the Walton because A. it's like the hardest piece on viola ever and B. I HATE IT. seriously. i don't mind listening to someone else play it, but i just hate playing it. It's weird, super high, and yeah. Ew. I wasn't inviting my friends to this last recital because I knew it was gonna be poo, but apparently it wasn't that bad. My teacher seemed to think I did OK so that's all that mattered to me. So then 2 days later I had to play boards, which is just like juries except that at CCM you only have to play one board per year, and if you're an MM student like me, you only have to play them for one year. So that's pretty awesome and one of the very few advantages to having a MAMMOTH viola studio/string program. Another advantage to having such a huge string program is that when we do recital hearings (2 weeks before, like our juries at DPU), you only have to play like 10 minutes of your music since they have so many people to listen to! It's awesome. I remember having to play the entire program at DePauw (which is actually kind of ridiculous, if you think about it) and that sucked the big one. But now I only have like one more lesson (we still have 3 weeks of school left plus finals since we're on stupid quarters) so I'm just basically playing some stuff I played at DePauw next week and then I am DONE WITH VIOLA FOREVER!!! ok not really--i do wanna have private students and play in like amateur orchestras and stuff, but I never really wanna take another lesson in my life. seriously. i am OVER. IT. I bet in like 2 years after I've had a nice long break I'll really miss music school, but I just can't feel that way right now. Too burned out. Ok so that all was really boring, sorry about that... Also, my parents got a new FARM! Yeah! It's not actually really a farm at all, it's just basically a cute little house with tons of land around it. They have 4 adult hens (they've had those for a while) and my mom got a big order of baby chicks in the middle of April (26 of them, to be precise!!) and so now they're like ugly adolescent chickens, but they're so ugly they're cute, you know how that goes. They also are gonna get goats, as I've said before. There is a little barn thing on the property and they acquired a little barn cat named Andy. He is so cute! But he hardly ever comes out because he's like king of the forest (they also have a bunch of woods outside of the fence) and he's afraid of my parents dogs. We went to visit this past weekend because I took last Friday off and it was so fun! We took our two doggies and they basically were in heaven. They fight a lot but they didn't at all the farm because it was huge and outside and distracting. So it was great for them. They did NOT wanna leave to come back to our tiny apt in Cincinnati :( I meant to upload some pics but I forgot, so I'll put them on my facebook later and you guys can look. I already posted vids on there of my dogs running around with my mom and dad's dog Lucy as well as a vid of the chickies! They are so cute. My parents love it and are so happy there. My dad got a used john deere tractor so he is super happy, because that has been his dream like his whole life (!!!!!) haha. What else... So I am looking for a job. It sucks. But everybody knows that looking for a job sucks, right? It's like, there is no such thing as a "fun" or "rewarding" job hunt. Every single part of it is a piece of poo. But I have a couple of possibilities out there, so we'll see. I am trying to get hired in Admissions, because now I have experience thanks to my GA at CCM. So, I phone interviewed at DePauw a little over 3 weeks ago because they have two open positions--but they are being really slow because they have to hire another position first so I won't hear from them for a while, however I did find out that I'm still being considered. So that's hopeful. I've had two interviews at the Art Institute of Ohio-Cincinnati. I actually think that would be a cool place to work, but I am now confused because they've kinda dropped off the face of the planet. I obv can't start work until after Blue LAke, so that is like throwing people off. The first lady I interviewed with there said it was no problem, the second lady was like "We're looking to bring in this new set of hires on May 29" and I was like ummm nope can't do that, and I haven't heard from her since. Kind of annoying. My number 1 possibility though is staying in the office here at CCM. My supervisor is retiring sometime in the next year (she says October but we're not sure) and she recommended me for her job. She was out on vacation for a a week around 3 weeks ago and I basically came in for like 30 hours that week to cover for her, and so that was really good. It just so happens that now she's out with the shingles, so I am covering for her again. It's been a really good opportunity for my boss boss, the Dean of Admissions--to see that I'd be good for this job. I'm pretty sure that I'm gonna wait around for that job, because I know they'd want me and hire me and I LOVE the office at CCM. As crazy as it is sometimes, the people are amazing and I work with a lot of my friends (other student workers--a few of them will be around next year because they're staying for another degree program), so it is an ideal job. So yeah, that's what I'm currently hoping for! Patrick and the dogs are doing well. We have our wedding party at the end of this month, and I'm worried that it might be a bust. I only received a few RSVPs out of the like 90 invitations we sent, for a total of about 40 people (mostly family). That's ok, I mean obviously all of you guys have TOTALLY legit excuses (esp since 23 of you are out of the country!!! haha) and rachel and tiffy obvi you guys are working like all the time and it costs a billion dollars to fly across the country for just one day. so don't worry, i'm not upset with you guys or anything, esp since you all RSVPed or had legit reasons. But like, it just makes me sad that other people didn't even feel the need to let me know that they aren't coming--it hurts a little because we didn't have a "real" wedding, and although our wedding was awesome (and i had an AMAZING time with rach--i will never forget how awesome you guys were as bridesmaids), i can't help but think maybe people would take it a little more seriously if we weren't already married and it was a real wedding. anyway, it's stupid, but yeah. ok i really think this blog entry is WAY too long. i mean i cannot believe that some of you are still reading right now if you actually are. wow. that is impressive. course, i read all of your blog wachter and it was a novel too, but it was so fun to read! haha mine is not nearly as fun/interesting. also there aren't any pictures of me fake pooping on a toilet. lol. BUT here is a little pic to leave you with, it's one of our dogs (sadie) at my parents farm! wee! i love you guys and miss you all! keep it real, friends and neighbors.