December to Remember

December flew by in such a hurry that I think I had high blood pressure the entire month. I often find myself wondering why every company, church, and assorted other groups insist on holding their party/get-together/concert in December. I admit that a certain amount of holiday festivities are quite enjoyable, but I must be more easily overwhelmed than most. I happily avoided hosting any Primary party and pushed my piano recital to February.

Much of my month was spent at the piano bench. I may not have mentioned that soon after my dust-up with the director of the men's choir that I played for I was completely vindicated- the error perceived to be on my part was actually an error on the part of the bass section. After all the build-up though, to be so easily proven right was a little anti-climactic. My three concerts with the men went off without too many hitches, and the check cleared the bank, so I think all parties were satisfied in the end. I was also satisfied that it was...the end.

My attentions were then turned to my mom's high school choir concert. I was unable to devote the amount of time necessary for 100% accuracy, so when the piano at the concert was a severely out-of-tune Yamaha, I was pleased. Because it was a Yamaha, the touch felt somewhat similar to my piano at home, which was great for my level of comfort, and because it was out of tune, my "clunkers" weren't so very obvious. It was the answer to my (slacker's) prayers.

My last musical hurdle was "The Hallelujah Chorus" mere hours before we were due to leave town. I'll be honest- I have played it better than I played it in church that Sunday, but only in the privacy of my home, so maybe that doesn't count. But, I think people liked it, and the choir sounded good. I selfishly prayed for perfect performances throughout the month, and never really achieved one, yet people praised nonetheless. I think sometimes answers to prayers come through the back door- instead of making me perfect, He softened the hearts of those on the receiving end of the performances so they thought what they were getting was perfect. And that's okay, too.

The day before we left, we celebrated Christmas with my mom and Grandma.

The whole family was there. It had been a while since all five of us kids were together, and it felt really good.

I do have a few more pics of Phoenix to post, but those will have to be separate.