Happy Birthday, Madison!

Madison is 24 today! We have had the best, restful, weekend! I have the best husband in the world :-)
Happy Birthday, sweetie!

Rain, Rain, go away!

It has been raining for a LONG time now! It reminds me of home in Michigan. I can't believe I'm actually growing a little sick of the rain! I used to love storms and rain, no matter how much we got. I see lots of rainboots around town! It was really funny to see the Ole Miss girls in their dresses for the football game (yes, they wear dresses...) with rainboots when I picked Madison & Nate up.

Today I am working, we have a staff meeting in an hour, then I will know what I have to do this week. But for now, I don't know what the order of service is yet, and my boss usually arrives about 10, so I am able to breathe and take it easy this morning with my large Chai from Uptown. I already cleaned up from Sunday and such this morning. I haven't bought coffee (or chai) from a coffee shop in ages, but this morning was a large chai morning. I went to Bottletree Bakery, but forgot they were closed on Mondays! So I traveled down the street to uptown. Good choice...this chai is good. I think I'm getting sick, but I am ignoring that fact. I woke up like 10x last night...2 because our dog threw up 2x. Gross. I don't really sleep like a normal person. I wake up a lot for no good reason at all...especially when I need the sleep the most it seems! I went to bed early at 10:30 too!

Law school is going well for Madison. It definitely keeps him extremely busy! It's difficult to be married to a law student, but it's so worth it! I love having the support group of other girls married to law students to hang out with and commiserate once a month at our get-togethers. :) I am so happy Madison found his niche, something that he enjoys and is good at. That is enough to get me through being alone and having to hold back from speaking a lot while he's studying at night after I come home from work.

I'm finally getting used to living in a small town. Finally. It took long enough. Being without a mall and Target 5 minutes from home is SO weird! You have to drive 45 mins to go to a decent mall, and 50 minutes to a Target...Oxford should really get a Target. I hate Wal Mart. But...with that said, I have gotten used to having to plan on a future event to shop instead of sporadically shop. It does save me money I guess! Speaking of shopping, I am SO READY for it to get cold enough to wear my fall clothes! Being from the north, I have a very small amount of warm weather clothes still. I wish clothes weren't as expensive as they are...it's just too expensive to get what I need right now! I feel like I wear the same shirts every week, but I'm trying to learn that it's okay to do that. That is hard for me to do sometimes! I just need to learn how to be laid back and not selfish about it. Plus, I do have a very sweet mother-in-law that takes me shopping, so it's not like I have all cheap clothes either!

My mom used to take me shopping to a lot of nice places. I remember when she was sick, she was in Naperville, and shouldn't have been out and about. She came to school to take me to lunch and had bags of sweaters, pants, etc. from the outlet mall and from the Danada Square mall just because. It was no particular day, but she would take me shopping and get me more than I needed. I am so thankful that the stuff has lasted this long. It's starting to make me sad that the stuff that I have cared for for this long is starting to pill up and get worn. It's just a hard realization knowing that that last stuff she bought me is now old. I miss her so much! (obviously not just because she took me shopping!!!) :-) She was my very best friend and we had such a good time together.

I am determined that this is going to be a good week. I am sick of whining about the hours I am working, and sick of my house being a wreck. I am going to shape up and do what I need to do to have a pleasant environment to come home to. This IS going to be a good week, I am going to make it one!

18 days

I will work 18 days before a single day off by next Friday. Next Friday couldn't come soon enough. I am so pumped. It's Madison's birthday weekend, and we're going to the Taylors. I even get Sunday off! WOOHOO! That's a very rare instance. I am on the verge of tears at any given moment due to being overworked here lately. I am so run down and I just feel weak. I sit down at my desk at work and just want to burst into tears! It's really difficult not having a single day off for that long!!! I feel less patience inside for my students also. I try to still act patient, but it's hard juggling this much stuff right now. I will pull through and be fine, and at least I am making more money, but I am very tired. And again, our house suffers. Madison is in the throws of Moot Court stuff, and I get home between 4:30 & 9 depending on the night, so it has been interesting in the Taylor household here lately. We miss each other a lot but are getting along great still, even with the lack of seeing each other except just a few hours a day! He's home more during the day and then I am more available at night. He's able to let Lady out in the afternoons which is a huge help. Usually I can't leave work unless it's an errand for the boss. And the fact that we share a car doesn't allow me to go places much since Madison is the one with the non dayshift schedule.
Yesterday I ended up having to be at work on my day off (partially due to a broken organ), and then later I had to teach. Today I had to let a piano technician in at 8:30 in the morning and I set the church alarm off...then couldn't remember the code. Thank goodness I did and it turned out that the main alarm I was hearing was a false fire alarm coming from one of the daycare rooms! I did a little bit more work (finished prepping and marking Tom's big Sunday folder of music he uses with all the cues and such). I locked up and went home. Then I organized the music, ate a sandwich that Madison made me (it was VERY good!) and then had the trio over at 1 to rehearse for a bit. We left for Corinth around 3, got there 25 mins early (it was raining HARD so it took a long time!) then it was a short wedding, we drove through Arby's for dinner, then got here about 9.
Tomorrow I have to be at church at 7 to turn everything on and such. I am there about 8 hours on Sundays!

Lady is so sweet, we love her! She is so good. She has her normal puppy things like chewing socks and napkins, but other than that, she is housetrained, snuggly, jumps and whines at the door when she needs out, and her newest trick is she brings us her leash in her mouth when she wants to go for a walk! It's so cute! She taught herself! She is so smart! I'm amazed at what she has learned and such. She is going to be a blast to have around.

Well, I better get lady in the car! We are going to pick Madison up from the Ole Miss game!

Bad, bad blogger...

I am terrible at this! I am going to try to do better! I want to have a daily short post instead of these crazy, long ones that no sane person would get all the way through. ha. Life is crazy, as usual. I am really looking forward to Sept. 26, when my last gig until Christmas happens!!! It does mean less money, but now that I have my new job, my weekends are treasured and important to keep as free of a schedule as possible. I have now been working for 11 days straight without a day off. We had our retreat last weekend, so I had to work all day Friday until 9pm, then Saturday 6:45am-3:00pm. Then of course, my Sundays start at 7:00am at the church (which means 6ish here at home waking up and feeling like smashing my alarm clock).

I finally got my work computer, which feels awesome. I now can sit at my desk and not run to whoever wasn't at their computer at the moment. I definitely won't miss running up to my most frequently used computer on the humid, musty 3rd floor and sending stuff downstairs to the printer; running down the stairs, then often up and down 10 more times before the end of the day. I'm getting faster at my job. I'm still working more than I would like to, but it's getting better, slowly.

My work computer is a PC, but I'll live ;-) My mac is on its last leg and I fear for its life every time I use it. :( (and yes, I'm an OCD backer upper, so no fear there). It's not like we can just go buy a computer, so if it dies, that's it for now. Yikes! Poor MacBook.

Can I just say that my work, although incredibly stressful at times, is the best work environment right now for me? I have 3 motherly, sweet secretaries making sure I'm ok, 5 very nice pastors, and two very funny janitors. (we became friends quickly). I definitely feel like screaming half of each day with frustration, but I really am starting to get the hang of it. I am not incredibly type A, and only OCD about a few things, which makes my job difficult for me. My boss thinks like a type A person, and I act it out...which is a little difficult for a layed back, forgetful person like me! I try my best. Organization is not my strength...which is interesting when in charge of thousands of pieces of music...not to mention my list of 1,999,222,333 other things I have to do every week...mm hmm!

Let's see...this week, we (the law wives of "law spouses") are selling t-shirts. I am the president, so I have been busy organizing that. Tomorrow (at church) is crazy Wednesday to put it politely. Every Wednesday I feel like I won't make it through the end of the day. It's a lot to get done, and sometimes I cut it incredibly close. I'm getting faster though, as well as gaining a few volunteers to fill the choir folders. I am trying to force myself to take a break in the afternoon, but I don't know if that will happen. It hasn't been lately! I work straight from 8:30am-9pm with about a 10 minute lunch break and 20ish minute dinner at church.
Saturday my trio has a wedding in Corinth, so that will eat up my day...but it's ok...after the weekend after next when I have a sorority gig, I won't have any more tied up Saturdays until December! I will have most of Friday off at least. Sundays I am at the church for 8 hours!

I look forward to Fridays a lot...I teach for 2 hours and that's all. Fridays are my Saturdays. Teaching thrown into the mix makes for a lot of work, but I would never quit teaching my kids over this job and it also helps pay the bills which is obviously a plus!

I want to be able to have time to do fun things, like sew, watch tv, scrapbook, things I haven't been able to do once since my job, and especially since we moved and I haven't had time to unpack everything, especially non-essentials. I can't remember the last time I saw a movie or did anything for fun except very small things like cooking! I am going to try to make time for these things. I'm bound and determined to!

I want to try to make my life as pleasant as possible...this means I will have to work really hard while home on the front end and get this place squared away. I'm so worn out when I get home that I feel like collapsing instead of working on the stuff I need to work on at home, but I will get there. It's just a steep slope I am determined to conquer. It all takes time and I'm learning.

it's really only Monday?

I feel like I have been going constantly for ages...unable to sleep in, etc. I am getting run down for sure. I really need a day off...I am REALLY looking forward to labor day...it couldn't come soon enough. That and Friday when I get to sleep in!
I don't want to be down, I want to be happy and peppy but this schedule is really tiring and wears on me! Saturday, I was doing music - related stuff (recording for an album for someone, then going to an extra rehearsal at church that I ended up having to stay for) from 9am-8:30pm with one 30 minute time slot that I was home. I had to be at church at 7am the next morning until the 11:00 service was over (I did the slides for the 11:00), then had to be back at 5:15 for the kids choirs. I had Friday morning off except for teaching 2:45-4:30, but that's only one day!

I love my job, and I love what I do...mixed with teaching and gigs and all the other things I committed to prior to accepting this position, it's really putting a damper on any fun I may have time for..let alone our house...our house is so messy...it's so so bad!!! I do what I can, but I am so exhausted when I come home from work, and Mondays are the only days I get to come home at 4:45! I wish that I could close my eyes and everything would just magically be in place and clean just this once! Then maybe it would be easier to keep up. It's a daunting task when it piles up...I have no idea how I am ever going to get it looking how it's supposed to! What a mess...

I'm finally learning the ropes and really feeling a lot more comfortable with what I do at work. People are so encouraging, and there are a bunch of incredible people who go there. I'm impressed with the quality of the choir, and it has been a blast to sing again. There are 50 some regulars in choir! It has been too long since I've sang in choir. I thought I had lost my voice forever (I kind of damaged it being a 1st soprano in 2 choirs for 4 years in HS, hitting lots of ridiculous high notes without much training, and yelling way too much while cheerleading, etc.) but it's coming back...sort of! Tom does a lot of technique work in choir (he went to Julliard for opera!), which gives me a chance to relearn how to sing properly.

I love working in ministry. It's hard work, but it's worth it. It is so rewarding. The environment I work with is great, and I really like every one of the staff members. They are all so friendly and helpful. I definitely have to ask lots of questions a lot. Slowly, those questions are getting less frequent. My office is pretty much amazing and huge, and has large windows all along the side (which look down on the street and the playground full of daycare children playing). I definitely don't feel trapped in that office.

I guess my current state would be incredibly overwhelmed and frustrated at the lack of hours in each day. That pretty much sums it up to be completely honest. It will pass...I need to stop feeling like this, but it's difficult to make it go away! I also need to come up with lots of healthy slow cooker recipes...because there is only 1 night a week that I come home in time to make a good dinner, and a lot of times Madison is so busy with law school that he can only do a limited amount of grilling. Any ideas? (we ate sandwiches tonight for dinner...)

Getting used to this schedule is exhausting and leaves very little room for energy for the weekend...I am looking forward to the day my body catches up and gets used to this schedule.
Sunday, I'm at church at 7am-11:20am, and 5:30-7:15.
Monday, I'm at church from 8:30-4:30
Tuesday, I'm at church from 8:30-4, then I zoom over to a music store and teach from 4:30-5:30.
Wednesday, I'm at church from 8:30-8:30, if it is a good rehearsal. Sometimes later if not.
Thursday, I'm at church from 9:30-6:30
Friday I'm off of work for the church job and teach 3-4.

The first time in literally months I was able to sleep in was in Brookhaven a few weeks ago, and that was "only" until 9am because the dog needed to go out at that point. I have had something going on Saturday morning or early afternoons for a very long time! I am hoping that I can start sleeping in a little more on Fridays. Madison doesn't have class til 9:30 which is nice.

I am constantly exhausted and getting more addicted to caffeine...we have diet coke and coffee in the break room, and I definitely put it to good use. I haven't been sleeping very good lately either...2 days ago I went to bed at 11:30, woke up at 4am and didn't go back to sleep until 30 mins before my alarm went off! It's weird...drastic new schedules will mess with ya I guess.

The puppy is so sweet...I love her! She's sitting by me chewing on her duck right now. She's incredibly snuggly and sleeps all night. She sleeps with me and loves to get under the covers. I have always wanted a snuggly dog and she is definitely snuggly. She has to be touching one of us at all times when she's laying down or sitting. We take her on one long walk and a few short ones a day, which is good for us and her. That's enough to put her to sleep when we want her to go to bed.

One thing about switching to working 45ish hours a week from working 8 hours max, I wasted a lot of precious time...I don't have time to do things I enjoy anymore, because the weekends and Fridays are taken up by a very much needed nap and housework. I really covet those hours back that I had time to watch TV, sew, do things I enjoy. Such is life, and as I get used to everything, I will become more efficient at everything and be able to do things I enjoy in small doses, but for now, it's slightly depressing coming home, eating, and feeling so tired and ready for bed.

God is providing for us through this job, and I know it's in His plan and I will get adjusted. Ministry is where I fit in, and I really feel like it fits me well too. This job requires a lot of energy, and somehow I am able to do it all so far and will get better at it. My house is so disgusting right now, and I am quite overwhelmed in that area. I know Madison and I will be working hard at the house tonight and tomorrow when I'm not playing a gig and going to a band rehearsal at the church.

People have it worse than me. This is a sweet job in a sweet office. Doesn't pay extravagantly, but it's enough to pay the bills and I am able to use my gifts which is what I really want also. It's just a matter of getting used to an entirely different lifestyle. I can't believe how spoiled I was, getting to spend so much time at home last year! Now I know what it's really like to have a "real job". I feel all the rest of your "pain" now :)

It has been forever...

I'm a bad blogger. Here are some updates:

• us: Madison & I are doing well. We are getting used to a different lifestyle with me working 40-50 hrs a week and him going back to school starting Monday and working. Sharing a car can be frustrating at times, but it is still going to work at least until he may have to leave for the summer for an internship or job. We are enjoying having time to hang out most evenings. He's singing in the choir which makes my Wednesdays a lot happier.

• job: I love my job. It's tough and long and tiring, but rewarding. My boss has been very nice about giving me lots of grace while I learn a lot from my many mistakes. I am finally feeling like I am getting the hang of it! It is a wonderful environment with wonderful people. Teaching starts full force this week, so I am going to be incredibly busy. I definitely get tired on weekends like this where I have to work every day on the weekend, but I won't have weddings for 2 or 3 weeks now, which is great. A lot of people ask me what I do as Music Assistant. I attend staff meetings, I get the order of service nailed down, I proofread the bulletin, I schedule musicians and rehearsals, I get arrangements to every hymn and often transpose them in Finale for organ, piano, bass, drums, percussion, synth, guitar, Tom's lead sheet, and the choir. Then, almost every week, we have guest musicians (brass quintet, string quartet, sax, vocalists, etc.) I spend the bulk of my time getting music ready in finale and assembling peoples' folders. I order music and maintain our music library, take calls for my boss, attend and prepare for all rehearsals, etc., etc., etc. That's not all, but that gives you an idea.

• We got a puppy! After we got back from NC & MI which was extremely fun by the way; we got a puppy from a place in Pontotoc! Her name is Lady, and she is a 3 month old Boston Terrier. She's so sweet and easy! She has lots of energy, and keeps us very entertained. She also sleeps a lot though which is great. She sleeps through the night and doesn't cry or anything. I am always sad to leave her for work in the morning. Right now, she's about 7 lb. She will get to about 18 lb.

That's about it. We're in full swing starting Monday with Madison in school. Fun fun! I will try to be better about blogging.