"Please don't nag yourself with thoughts of failure. Do not set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. Simply do what you can do, in the best way you know, and the Lord will accept of your effort."
--Gordon B. Hinckley, "Rise to the Stature of the Divine within You," Ensign, Nov. 1989, 94

Two videos that I enjoyed this morning...

This one is just fun: https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=686979186115&set=vb.7403793&type=2&theater

This one is neat and sad: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151337852540149

I have NO desire go through 20 years of Science Fair projects!  This is the first of many... yuck.

Here's the picture of our 2012 "Messiah" Choir and Orchestra!  Such a great group of musicians!

I had my Symphony concert on Thursday.  It went well, but it was super long and I didn't get home until after 11pm.  I have a new found love for Bluegrass music!  I was getting bored of the same old music and went searching through stations... and I have stayed on the Bluegrass station for at least a week now.  I don't think anyone could ever be in a bad mood listening to bluegrass, it's so upbeat and fun!  I know it's different, but I like the cool harmonies, fiddle parts, and banjo parts. 

Cameron had his all-region clinic on Friday... which he was late to.  Everytime I stop taking Fish Oil I start forgetting things, thus Cameron being late.  On Saturday, we dropped Cameron off at his region rehearsal and took the other kids to Mike's company Children's Christmas Party.  We waited in line for Santa over an hour... way too long.  Emma is our first child that wasn't afraid of Santa at her age.  She saw he was giving out candy canes and went right to sit on his lap.  When he asked her what she wanted for Christmas she said, "Candy canes," and began looking around for them.  Lol.  Then the kids used their tickets to play carnival like games that they enjoyed.  They enjoyed the games, prizes, and cotton candy and then we left. 

Later, we went to Cameron's All-Region concert.  We wanted good seats, so we sat through the String concert right before his Philharmonic concert.  Cameron's orchestra was very good.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised because it's an all-region group, but I kept thinking "Middle Schoool" and expecting it to be just ok.  They did a great job on all three pieces and Cameron really enjoyed playing with a full orchestra for the first time.  Cameron looked so cute in his little tuxedo... I'll have to post pics soon.

After Cameron's concert, we went to the Ward Christmas Party.  We had tacos and they were very good.  I've been to way too many bad pot lucks and dry turkey dinners, so it was nice to have something I actually like.  The ward provided the meat and everyone else brought toppings and sides.  The kids got to see Santa again and then Errolyn was in a little Christmas program with some of the other children.

On Sunday, I played a violin duet of "Silent Night" in church.  We both did a good job and we received many compliments.  I've been spending a lot of time getting my final project for my Communications class ready to turn in this week.  I've learned some cool animation techniques in Powerpoint, so the project will be really cool.

I also learned how to cook artichokes in the microwave this week!  Only 7 minutes and they were great.  No more 45 minutes- an hour on the stove anymore.  Last night, we FINALLY put up our Christmas tree.  We usually do it right after Thanksgiving, but Mike and I were so sick then.  Then, we got enveloped in the "Messiah" performances and still were feeling a little sick.  So, it is finally up.  We played the traditional Carpenter's Christmas album while we decorated the tree.  When the Nutcracker pieces came on my kids were so excited that they knew the pieces... but not from the Nutcracker, but from "Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Christmas."  Lol!  They will always think those pieces are from Tom and Jerry now... oh well.  When Emma pulled the stockings out, she was so excited to see the pink princess stocking and said, "Mine, Emmas," and hugged it.  I looked at Errolyn, because it's Errolyn's stocking, and Errolyn said she could have her stocking.  Emma was so happy to have a princess stocking.

I know... three posts in one day... wow.  I normally like The Piano Guys because they are funny and original, still with good music (my fav being "The Cello Song").  But, this subdued video was very touching to me.  Not only was the music beautiful and serene, but the video really brought in the true Christmas spirit.  A part at the end where the music was especially beautiful got me a little teary eyed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugV6QGcafEE

Man do I feel like this sometimes... lol.

So yesterday just before I picked up Logan from school, Emma told me she had put something in her nose and that it hurt.  I couldn't see anything, and thinking it was food I tried to squeeze her nose to crunch it up and then had her blow her nose.  Nothing came out and she seemed ok so I went to pick up Logan.  When we picked up Logan she said, "My nose still hurts."  Knowing that I don't have nose squeegees anymore in my house, I ran to CVS to buy one... they were out.  So, I ran to Walgreens... they were out.  So, I ran to HEB... they were out.  What is going on that all of the nose squeegees are sold out?!!  I finally went to Walmart and bought one and ran back to the car to help Emma.  I tried to squeegee her nose but she kept freaking out and nothing came out.  So, I went home but could keep hearing her sniff in through her nose like something was in it.  I tried to have her blow her nose really good at home and she stopped complaining.  I told Mike about the incident and then went to the dress rehearsal for my Symphony.  He said that right before he put Emma to bed, she told him her nose still hurt.  He got our otoscope out that we use for the kids' ears and tried to look up her nose but it was so congested he couldn't see anything.  Remembering that my doctor always would shoot Afrin in my nose before putting anything up it, he sprayed some Afrin in her nose and it opened right up.  (Normally we wouldn't give our 2 year old Afrin, but desperate times call for desperate measures.)  He could see what he thought was a bead so he got a q-tip and tried to fish it out.  It wouldn't come, so he got some tweezers and was able to grab it.  It was a small but really long lego piece that she had jammed up her nose and was stuck!  The poor girl!!  I am so glad my husband was able to get it out!  And so glad my 2 year is able to communicate with us when something is wrong!  After Mike got out the lego, she headed for bed and said, "Thank you Daddy."  Then she paused again and blew him a kiss and said thank you again.  You could tell she was so relieved to get that thing out.

On another note, now that I've conducted the Messiah for four years and know it so well, it is not as enjoyable to play the violin in someone else's Messiah performance.  I don't want to bag my Symphony, because the actual orchestra is really great!  But, my Messiah choir is SO much better than the choir we're playing with!  And although their paid soloists are good, my soloists are SO much better.  It's difficult taking tempos I don't agree with, but I just bite my tongue and follow.  Also, one of the soloists messed up a couple of times and I would start singing softly to myself what she was supposed to be singing... because I know every solo.  Anytime the violas or clarinets or another instrument was off... I could hear it, and so wanted to say something... but I was not in charge.  Lol.  

My Messiah people say that they enjoy watching me conduct, when they aren't playing, not just because they like the way I conduct, but because anytime any section plays or sings a wrong note I immediately glare in that direction.  I can't stop during a performance like I can during a rehearsal so I always stare until they fix what needs to be fixed.  Anyway, it's still fun to play the choruses with my Symphony because they have fun violin parts, but it makes me appreciate my Messiah volunteers so much more... because they are great!  And the performances are phenomenal!  Not only is the quality of music great, but they sing with the Spirit, and that makes such a big difference.  It's not just notes on a page, it is beautiful music.

I got a 100 on my final exam in my Mass Communications class and finished my film analysis for "Good Night and Good Luck."  My group was originally assigned an R-rated movie to evaluate, but I e-mailed the teacher and told him that I had never seen an R-rated movie before and could not now, so he gave us a different movie.  Although not a very adventurous movie, I found the whole McCarthy/ Communism/ Murrow storyline interesting.  I have a group Powerpoint Project due next week on the movie and a final in my Criminal Justice class to take and then I'm done... yea.

What a week!  The "Messiah" dress rehearsal went really, really well.  The youth were too soft on their portion and could barely be heard, so after racking my brain we decided to ask two adults to sit behind each section and belt out parts to give the youth the confidence to sing louder.  It worked and the "Youth Messiah" turned out well.  My favorite piece was the one I completely wrote myself, "Lord Now Lettest Thou Thy Servant Depart" from the Simeon scriptural account.  The youth soloist on that piece was SO good!  When I was writing the piece I was thinking about a friend of ours who has a great voice, but when I dreamed the piece I would dream a different voice I hadn't heard.  When this boy auditioned on the piece, I got teary eyed because it was his voice I had dreamed.  He was great!  Cameron had a small solo and did well; he has a nice, pure voice.  The actual "Messiah" performances were phenomenal!  The Saturday evening performance was the best one of all three.  The choir was SO good; so professional sounding!  The soloists were amazing, and the orchestra gets better each year.  I still cannot not fully put in words what a tremendous experience it is to be in the middle of such good music... to be the center of all of the sound, power, spirit, and beauty of the music.  It was amazing!  I had a difficult time controlling my emotions during several of the pieces.  We had a good turnout at the evening performances and there was even a whole row of nuns at the Friday evening performance.  I received a ton of compliments afterwards... I wish the performers could hear all of the kind words that people give since they are the ones who deserve the praise.

I was still pretty sick this week.  But, I am slowly getting better.  People always ask if my arms hurt from conducting so long... but they don't, only my calves hurt.  I tend to stand on the tips of my feet when I conduct so my calves get a long workout and kill me the next day.  Conducting is all about technique and if you do it correctly, it doesn't hurt your arms; it usually only hurts if you're doing it wrong.  I went to my Symphony again this week and enjoyed that the conductor took the  pieces a bit faster.  On Saturday, Logan had his last soccer game.  The other teams' coach was "way" into the game and quite rude.  At one point, one of the Dad's on the other team came on the field and started yelling at one of our 6 year olds... not cool.  The other coach quit the game... I think because we were about to score and he had never lost before, but such is life.

I guess I'm still a "kid" sometimes in that I like my parents to share in my accomplishments.  I was really hoping my parents would come hear the "Messiah" and I was glad they did.  Thankfully, they helped watch Emma and Logan during the Saturday afternoon performance and then brought Grandma to the evening performance, which was our best one.  Dad, mom, and Grandma really enjoyed it, but especially Dad.  He and I were both emotional at the end.  Carol came to the afternoon performance and stayed a little bit.  Carol also watched Logan and Emma during the evening performances which was a huge help.  Mike ran the sound again this year for the Messiah and did a great job.  He is getting so good at it, that I don't know if we'll be able to "trust" anyone else to do it.  We had a little debachle during the last performance with someone wanting to sing with the Youth Choir who had never rehearsed with us, but after a big worry it ended fine.

Here's the compilation of all of the "Messiah" clips on the Fox Morning Show this morning.    It shows some teasers of the choir, but they will show our whole Hellujah on their Christmas morning show on Christmas day... w00t!  The weatheman for Fox is in our Ward and on our Public Relations committee, so he totally hooked us up.  Anyway, enjoy!

http://youtu.be/o_GK9OqMHHA