Looks like we’re really having winter. 19 degrees farenheit right now, and possibly sinking.

So… the New Year. We had a quiet NYE at home. We spent the two weeks after Xmas continuing with the Christmas movies. (I gave up and started keeping a spreadsheet. This is also handy because I got the new Deck the Hallmark book of Hallmark movie reviews and I’m adding good ones in as I go through the book.) But now we’re catching up on actual movies: Encanto, Don’t Look Up and Being the Ricardos so far. Also have started a new TV series, “Virgin River”, we’ll see if it sticks.

We remain COVID-free… I think. I had an on-the-street test on Tuesdsay and still haven’t gotten results back a week later, they’re really backed up. But that was just a ‘hey, they’re doing tests and there’s no line’ impulse test, not because I felt sick. Although I did have the weirdest coughing fit yesterday. I think everyone has a cough now, not sure why.

My big issue is that, ostensibly, we have a chamber music concert in less than two weeks and I have just two rehearsals to get a brass choir into shape. I’m not that worried about the timeline, have no problem with dropping a piece or two if we don’t have enough time to get it into shape. No, far more likely is that the concert itself isn’t going to happen, more COVID fallout, but until a call is made on that, I have to keep planning and working on the assumption we’re good to go. It’s been very unsettled and unsettling and I very much would like it to resolve… but it should do that very soon.

And then after that concert (???), we go into rehearsals for Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, which I’ve never played. Except who knows whether we will or not? Frankly, at this point, I’d be fine with putting the horn away and picking up the piano practice again. (Except it would be a shame to stop playing when my new horn case is due to arrive any day now.)

Workwise, I had an end-of-year review (and a raise) that went as well as it possibly could. So… now I feel like I know what I’m doing and what’s going on and have enough solidity that I can push back when I think things are being turned in the wrong direction. In other words, I’m ‘back to normal’ and boy, is that a nice feeling.

What else? I was like, “I have to blog”, but there’s not really a lot going on. Once we finish deChristmassing, time to start the annual winter “go through the closets, clean up the home office” process. And get my taxes together and that sort of thing. And I did rescue my ice skates, really need to carve out time every Sunday to get out on (outdoor) ice.

Yep, OK, more as it develops.