*waves* Hi, everyone, I’m still here. I’ve just been hip-deep in rehearsals and performances ever since I got back from my mid-May trip. And there will be substantial bloggitude about that, no fear. But we just finished our two-night run of Bastien und Bastienne and Le 66 (aka “BB66”) and they went delightfully well and it was a ton of fun, but it’s been weeks of pressure and worry that are suddenly… gone, *poof*. So…

I did want to just do a quick recap of what an interesting year it’s been so far. Not in the ‘world affairs’ sense, which have also been interesting, to put it mildly, but in the “Eric’s blog is unabashedly solipsistic” sense. We had:

• Jury on a murder trial
• Unusually wintery winter
• Disney World
• Eye surgery
• Dad’s move to assisted living
• My brother-in-law passing
• Two concerts (performing)
• A lot of shows (attending)
• Two adorable little operas

That’s a lot, but much of that was refreshing or boundary-stretching or growth-inspiring, and I’ll take it, that’s what life is supposed to be.

Second half of the year has very few commitments so far, but I’m weighing options. I might be taking my dad on a trip in the fall, so that might be what determines most of the rest of the schedule.

But I’m looking forward to July 4th weekend just to get caught up and do things like take the winter coats to the dry cleaners. _{And I should probably write a post on my own thoughts about this particular Independence Day.}

OK, deep breaths. Here we go.