Looking Ahead to 2008

1. Will you be looking for a new job?
Yes! Ideally, I think I'd prefer to work with older students, even though I'm certified K-12. I'm not so sure what I desire location-wise, but I do know that I want to be no more than 45 minutes from a city. GradSchoolTown is nice, but I'd like to have more than a giant-size discount store in town.

2. Will you be looking for a new relationship?
I don't know if I'll really be looking, but I'd be more interested in meeting someone once I leave this grad school limbo stage.

3. New house?
Some form of new living quarters near new job would be helpful.

4. What will you do differently in '08?
I'm hopeful that my training and coaching in grad school will pay off and that I'll be better at what I love to do!

5. New Year's resolution?
None yet ... and I don't know that I will decide to officially choose something. I do want to be more consistent in my prayer and Scripture-reading. I've done very poorly lately.

6. What will you not be doing in '08?
I do not intend to consider any fluke opportunities for further education before I get a real job. On-the-job experience in my field is what I really need next.

7. Any trips planned?
Yes! New England for a conference, a visit to BestFriend's hometown a few thousand miles away over Spring Break, a brief choir tour to CoolCity (home to AlmaMater), possibly to a large midwest state on a tour with a different choir, and Europe on yet another choir tour. This does not include tomorrow's trip to BestFriend's home state!

8. Wedding plans?
Not for me ... but wedding bells will be ringing for about 5 couples I know.

9. Major thing on your calendar?
The trips, definitely ... beyond that? Not anything I can think of at the moment.

10. What can’t you wait for?
Like Katie, I want to see where I'll go this year. Where will I get a job? Where will I live? What other surprises will come my way?

11. What would you like to see happen differently?
I don't have a good answer for this one.

12. What about yourself will you be changing?
I will be unable to maintain my current sleep schedule. Oh well. :-) Getting up at 7 or 8 in the morning won't work so well if I have to report to work before 7am.

13. What happened in '07 that you didn’t think would ever happen?
I actually went on a Spring Break trip - to Italy- with BestFriend! An article of mine was published in a major national magazine in my field. A few months later, I traveled in Europe by myself before and after my studies abroad. I never dreamed I'd actually have those opportunities, and I'm still amazed when I realize that they actually happened.

14. Will you be nicer to the people you care about?
I'll try.

15. Will you dress differently this year than you did in '07?
As a GA, I'm usually dressed more formally than most of the professors at GradSchool. I plan to maintain my conservative and professional (and still flattering!) style when I'm teaching.

16. Will you start or quit drinking?
I don't drink often, but I don't plan to give it up. Margaritas and red wine are too good.

17. Will you better your relationship with your family?
Always striving for that.

18. Will you do charity work?
I'd like to, yes.

19. Will you go to bars?
It's possible, but the bar is not really my type of place because it strains my voice (too loud, sometimes smoky). I'm much more of the coffeeshop type.

20. Will you be nice to people you don’t know?
I hope so. I've already adjusted my driving talk- instead of yelling, "You idiot! Don't you know what a freakin' turn signal is for?!" I say, with all the saccharine sweetness I can muster, "Sweetheart, there's a little lever next to your steering wheel that's called a turn signal. Good manners recommend your use of the device!" BestFriend loves driving with me because this cracks her up.

21. Do you expect '08 to be a good year for you?
I can't expect that 2008 will be able to "top" 2007, but I am hopeful that it too will be a great year!

22. How much did you change from this time last year till now?
I'd love to say that I've grown up and matured more. Maybe I have in different ways ... but in other ways, I feel less so than this time last year. *shrugs*

23. Do you plan on having a child?
Not this year!!! Maybe sometime in the next decade.

24. Will you still be friends with the same people you are friends with now?
Some of the same, yes. I'm in touch with fewer people from AlmaMater than I'd expected, and even my closest friend from high school and I have rarely spoken. I think that most of my new friendships at GradSchool will not last beyond my time there.

25. Major lifestyle changes?
Leaving behind life as a student and moving out into the Real World!

26. Will you be moving?
Yup. My lease is up in May.

27. What will you make sure doesn’t happen in '08 that happened in '07?
I won't accept a new job (such as my current church job) without thinking about it first. I'm not satisfied or happy in my position, but I don't want to hurt those to whom I've committed my time.

28. What are your New Year's Eve plans?
BestFriend's party!

29. Will you have someone to kiss at midnight?
No, but I've never had someone to kiss at midnight on New Year's. However, I bought Hershey's kisses with the plan to share them with everyone at midnight!

30. One wish for '08?
To quote from "My Grown-Up Christmas List" (lyrics by Amy Grant, maybe?):
"No more lives torn apart, that wars would never start, that time would heal all hearts,
Every one would have a friend, that right would always win, that love would never end"

In summary: Peace. Love. Acceptance. Justice. Compassion. Understanding. Faith. Hope. And Love again, because it is the root of all of the others.

Post-Christmas Plans

Now that Christmas is over, I've got to get work done! On my list of things to do:
*Freelance transcription work (just finished this evening but wanted to include anyway!)
*Freelance arranging work (must be completed in the next week! Aack!)
*Portfolio compilation -- If I want a job after graduation, I better update this thing ... which hasn't been touched in 2 years. Ugh. Maybe I should make a pretty e-portfolio instead.
*Resume tweaking -- Need to add grad school information ... and ... contact professors from AlmaMater for feedback (I trust their guidance more in this area than GradSchool)

Also on my list:
*Traveling! 2 days of whirlwind fun with BestFriend & friends!
*Teaching- possibly visiting a nearby school to teach some music classes!
*Get applications from all local school districts!
*Fill out online applications for main teaching websites

*Spend time with family and friends

*Practice, study scores, etc.

*Sleep!

Merry Christmas!

A lovely Christmas at home! Received some practical gifts (a pretty calendar and a gift card for the one grocery store in GradSchool town), some tasty gifts (tea sampler, cookies), and a pretty gift (a mirror decorated with flowers)! :-)

Some of my ornaments on the tree:

Santa, perched on a basket:

One of the many beautiful poinsettias!

May you also be blessed during this holiday season! :-)

New CDs soon-to-be in my music library

I was with family members who purchased these in advance (with my input) ... and I believe I'll be seeing them again under the Christmas tree or from Santa :-)


*Manhattan Transfer Greatest Hits

*New York Voices (don't remember the title) -- I had a masterclass with one of the singers in this group a few years ago ... looking forward to more vocal jazz exposure

*Rutter's Requiem and Magnificat

*Frank Sinatra (don't remember the title -- but a 4-CD compilation of his pieces *sigh* which were purchased for $8 at Walmart! Seriously $8! The clerk saw that they'd been mislabeled as Beyonce when it rang up, but he looked at us, smiled, and shrugged. Sweet!)

*Anuna (actually 2 CDs of this Celtic choral group ... gorgeous sound)

My five hour drive back to school won't be long enough! :-)

A Christmas tradition

The Christmas tree is now decorated with our mismatched but meaningful ornaments. It has been a family tradition for each of us to receive a new ornament every year. When I was younger, my ornaments were usually animals or fairies; more recently, the ornaments have all reflected my interest in music. Eighth notes, a singer, a treble clef with a bell at the bottom ...

One of my favorite things to do at Christmastime is to snuggle up on the armchair in the corner of the room behind the Christmas tree. When I'm there, I am obscured from view and am somehow magically transported from the hustle and bustle of the household into my own serene cocoon. It's my ideal place for reading ... and I remember writing the opening lyrics to one of my songs while cozily sitting there. The sacred ambience is enhanced in the evening when the room is lit only the gentle glow of the Christmas tree and the moonlight from the window. *sigh* It's lovely.

A particularly witty IM conversation

Also known as an attempted ode to customization of one's personal computer

Estrella: oh how i love folders
CollegeFriend: yeah, exactly
Estrella: you too? i'm, like, in love with them. Making new folders to contain my files thrills me.
Estrella: I feel like I can really be organized
Estrella: when I'm really not so much

Four days until Christmas? Really?

Today's to-do list involves:

1) Mailing out my Christmas cards (which won't reach my cross-country or international friends in time, but it's the thought that counts, right?)

2) Mailing out my mother's Christmas letters (I don't ever remember meeting the people on the list who aren't biologically related to me, but they'll get to read all about my college graduation ("Summa!"- as my mother loves to tell everyone), publication, travels and grad school adventures. Lucky them!)

3) Running errands

4) Making some more Christmas gifts (including a scrapbook for my former piano teacher of all the composer/music-related pictures I took in Vienna)

5) Decorating the Christmas tree

6) Getting rid of the cough that's been nagging me since Sunday (slowly improving... at least I can talk now)

7) Wrapping gifts

8) Finishing some extra income work which I've been putting off

9) Hanging out with the family :-)


UPDATED in the evening:
1, 2, 3, 4 (not started), 5, 6 (still hacking), 7 (not started), 8 (a 5-minute attempt but couldn't force myself to work more), 9 ... and I finished my fourth book of the holiday break instead. No. Fifth. In ... 5 days. Easy reading though. :-)