After School Ended

I sort of thought that once I finished all my papers, my evenings would be spent relaxing at home, bundled up in front of a great movie, or socializing with my numerous friends who had been neglected all semester. Oddly enough, this was not the case last week. You see, on Friday, my office was having a Christmas party/talent show, and I was in three performances for that (a piano duet of Jingle Bells, a piano quartet of Joy to the World, and an interpretive dance with some of my Divine Comedy friends to Carol of the Bells). On Sunday, I was singing in the choir and playing the piano for a musical number with The Canadian and Former Home Teacher #2.

The piano pieces for the Christmas party were pretty fun. I learned my part at home, but then we got to practice together at work. I was perfectly happy to get paid to practice the piano. It was slightly nerve-racking, though, just because I didn't want to let any of the others down by my poor playing. Luckily, none of us played poorly, and the talent show was fun. I think people got a kick out of watching a two-piano, eight-hands number.

I had the idea to do an interpretive dance, because with three of us in the office connected to Divine Comedy, we had to take advantage of that. We got together one night to learn and practice, and I loved the story behind the dance. The Stage Manager (who also works in our office) was controlling everyone in the office with a remote control, but then one night he carelessly left it lying around... It was quite tiring to practice, but I'm glad we did it. Some people seem to think I'm too shy for things like that, but I hope I showed them that I am not.

The piece for Sunday came about because a week before, FHT#2 asked me if I'd play for him while he played his violin. Then he decided he wanted someone to sing, too, so he asked The Canadian to join us. I don't know who was most nervous about how they were going to do in this number, but it was certainly no picnic for me. I only had time to run through it a few times before the first time we practiced, and on the night we practiced, I was so tired that I wanted to put my head down and cry. But then I spent most of the day on Saturday working on it, so our next practice was much better and a lot more fun. By Sunday, I wasn't very nervous about it at all, and I think it went well.

So, even though it meant more staying up late, more work, and more stress, in the end, my weekend was fun, and I enjoyed the opportunity to get to use some of my talents.