What a Great Weekend
Friday night found me at a lovely art opening reception for a work friend. It was so nice to be able to support her - her artwork is just amazing - organic, colorful and beautiful. Plus, there was great conversation and just mingling outside of work, which is nice once in a while. Then off to get Afghani food, which was delicious. Tommy and I went to Huntington and our separate ways - me to the Afghani place, him to grab a burger. I stepped into the restaurant, and it was like a little slice of the Middle East. Soft, ethnic music, brick walls and colorful cushions strewn around. It was quiet and peaceful, and it smelled faintly of curry. It was just...different. Not a pasta place, not a Mexican place, different. So we met up again on the street and then grabbed some Belgain fries. Crunchy and mealy with unique dipping sauces. It was an international food fest.

Then Saturday, I had my rehearsal for Last Five Years. I went to the theatre, expecting it to be empty, but there was a children's party and tons of people staring at me with my huge red cello case. Upon Chris' arrival, we instantly started oohing and ahhing over the numerous great moments in the show. Rich, the male lead showed up and whisked us off to Nick's house where we met Debbie to practice. It was just 2 cellos, piano and bass, but instantly I was lost in the music. Which sounds so cliched and cheesey, but true. We played it through once and then decided we needed food. Off to Houston's we went and ate ourselves silly. Rich worked there once, so we ate like kings and were well attended to. (I could easily eat a sashimi tuna salad every day - delicious) We went back to Nick's feeling full and happy and played the show again. Because I had already lived through the show once, I played with confidence and kicked butt on it and hence looked like a cello goddess. Then back to the theatre and our respective cars and home. The whole way home I felt like the day had been a daydream. Passing time doing what I love, eating good food and hanging out with fellow musicians. Not too shabby.

Sunday I was able to relax a bit since I didn't have rehearsal till 7pm. And it was a nice easy rehearsal - no drama, no big huge music, just good ole familiar Rodgers and Hammerstein. There was something comforting about being able to just read through it, being that I had previously played all the shows the songs were plucked from.

So a glorious music-filled weekend. I was actually able to answer with an emphatic "yes" when people asked if I had a good weekend, which was nice to do, rather than mumble something about the weekend just being too short.

I Can Do Better Than That
I went to the gym this morning - it felt good to be there and get incredibly sweaty. But listening to the random klatches of soccer moms made me wince. They talk about such inane things - class parties and bus routes. It made me wonder - this is their free time that supposedly belongs to them and they still talk about their children? It reminded me of the time that Kim invited us to watch Megan play soccer on the big field - I showed up and was promptly ignored so she could gab with her fellow class parents. Awful. Yes, I imagine you want to talk about your children all the time, but what about the things that made you you before you had children? I almost feel smug - that I have something that sets me apart - makes me special. I thank God all the time that I have my music to set me apart from everyone else. It's almost a secret too - no one would know unless I told them (or unless of course they knew me from the music community).