After choir rehearsal....

....I came home to write! "The Maestro", the name I have chosen when referring to Robbie, our young director/accompanist, was full of high praise for our little choir tonight. We are rehearsing "In Christ Alone" which is the same anthem the First German choir is doing. Since they have choir practice on the same night, I like to imagine we are singing this hymn together, but 1200 miles separated. The Maestro puts us through vocal exercises each week, trying to get us to breathe better and have proper tone in our notes. In my case, it's a "silk purse from sow's ear" situation, but I try not to dig in my heels about it. In fact, he was attempting to get us to sing more from our diaphragms than our throats or noses, and when frustrated, I pouted, "I sing (play) it the way I want it!" These were Timmy's words to his piano teacher when she'd try to get him to do something. And now, his mom is pulling it!!

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I am so terribly proud of Robbie and what he's accomplished so far in his life. After all, he's "only" 21 and already he's conducting the finest choir we have at Good Shepherd this year! We have one soprano, one 2nd soprano, a handful of altos, and a tenor/bass. Once Emily comes back, she'll help with the soprano voice, but right now, it's only me! I love it that The Maestro will call me before setting the schedule to make sure I'll be in town. His mom, Carol, wasn't at choir tonight because her daddy had a bit of out-patient surgery so she was staying with him as he recovers.

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The Maestro (for those who don't know, this name is a "Seinfeld" reference again, a guy who's real name is Bob!) was helping us to enunciate our words, concentrate on what we are saying in the anthem, adding meaning to our message. Prior to choir beginning, I sat and read through our new Supplement, finding "Jerusalem, the Golden" with the new tune. I don't know why I do it to myself but read through the stanzas, hanging on every phrase, quietly mopping away the tears which fall without urging. So, when choir began and he asks us to do the same thing with "In Christ Alone", telling how he got goosebumps when he heard it performed in a church where the choir stood in front of stained glass, well, he got me again!

Wednesday is a busy one for me

I am sitting here listening to the post-mortem from the debate last night, and we are being encouraged to not throw in the towel just yet. At this particular moment I have Internet connection on my desk top computer where I listen to the radio. Twila is expected any moment, but, in the meantime, I'll write and listen.

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Earlier I worked on designing and printing some posters for the church bulletin board for the upcoming Oktoberfest celebration at the end of the month. I usually make some announcements for the Yard Sale which comes before then but I think someone else is taking charge of that. At first, the small group at Ladies' Group had voted to postpone the sale due to seeming lack of participation but there was a bit of uproar regarding that vote, so an "emergency" ladies group meeting was held after church the following Sunday and the vote was overturned. I hope and pray that young, able-bodied, people will turn out to help with the sale and not leave it to the old and infirm!

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Mom sent an e-mail this a.m. and asked me how I am weathering the financial storm. She is concerned about Lynn's retirement accounts and Thrivent, in which many of us Lutherans are invested. The truthful answer is "I don't know", and while that may sound foolish, as one of my knowledgeable neighbors said, "We can't know, it's too complex." If you knew Hugh, you could see the little thing he does with his hands which shows sort of the 'positive' side of resignation, accept the fact that we aren't savvy enough to understand.

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I appreciate greatly this feature my bank offers, and will love it more when I have constant Internet, that tells me when a deposit has been made or when my balance drops below a certain point. I used to make myself crazy, and those around me, by constantly checking and watching the account balances. Now, the machine does it for me! When speaking with the account manager guys last week and the week prior, both assured me I have good diversification which should help weather the storm. In two weeks I go see my lady, Diane, who manages accounts for me, as well, for our quarterly review. I love going to see her anyway, we share our faith in the Lord, and even talk some business. We may talk more to God than to each other this next time!!!

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Tonight I am having dinner with Justin at Koko's before heading to church for an Outreach meeting with Pastor. After that meeting I have choir rehearsal and then that's it. I have to check with Hugh, mentioned earlier, to see if I am responsible for tending Travis' and Jessica's cats. I am a sub for another cat sitter who possibly has a conflict. Jessica's cats require hands-on attention, petting and cuddling, where my cat is better off left alone. I hope the honeymooners are doing alright in Mexico with the hurricane brewing off the coast. They just can't get away from the tropical storms!!!

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Twila and I enjoyed our time scrapbooking together, but Caroline didn't make it today. It seems she had a fall in her kitchen, landing up against the handle on her oven door. She broke some ribs and has bruising on her chest, needing to lay low until she feels better. I hope she'll be able to come on Friday night when we have cropping at church.

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Of course, it rained all afternoon, as it does most days when we crop. She is working on her photos from our Alaska cruise last year while I am working on the trip just before that one to the Mediterranean. I expressed to her that I am not sure exactly where in my computer the photos from Alaska are located, because when Justin and I moved the data from one machine to the other, some things got rather bundled together, with each of us filing things in different places, you know. I told her it was like putting something in a closet and not being able to find the box they are in---like we did BEFORE we cropped!