The second half of my week — from Thursday afternoon to Monday morning — was full and mostly good.
I went to choir practice Thursday evening and worked hard on our upcoming Holy Week music, with a little Mahler thrown in for a May concert. I have been practicing my German for Bach’s St. Mark’s Passion chorales. (And my intervals; we find our first notes for the chorales with tuning forks that produce an A sound). A surprising amount of our recent repertoire has also been female composers writing in 7/8 time. This is an intriguing and, I am finding, appealing meter. Singing “alleluia” in 7/8 time gives the word an urgency as the last syllable is half the time of the others. It keeps the melody driving forward.
Speaking of 7/8ths…Friday I recorded 7 radio interviews about Before Breakfast (it was supposed to be 8, but one canceled). Thank you so much to everyone who listened, subscribed, reviewed, and rated this new podcast. We’ve been featured in the iTunes New & Notable section and hit the top 50 for all podcasts last week. This was very exciting! Last week’s topics including tracking time, making time to read, and planning weeks on Fridays. This week’s topics will include quitting the snooze button, setting a bedtime, spending less time on email, and more. For non-Apple folks, the podcast is now available on Stitcher (apologies for the lag on that).
I got a massage on Friday afternoon, and then my husband and I went out for dinner at Talula’s Daily downtown (highly recommended; we go there a lot). I was asleep by 10:45 and then I slept…
…until 8:45 a.m. I kid you not. There was a wake-up with the little guy (my husband turned on YouTube for him) and then one more wake-up when he yelled for a snack. I thought about getting up for good but then decided to lie back down for a little longer and it turned out to be a lot longer.
After a slow morning we loaded everyone in the car and drove to the Poconos to take in one of the last ski days of the season. I don’t ski, so I parked myself at the bottom of the hill and made encouraging noises as various kids ended their runs. Since it was 50 degrees and sunny, it was pleasant to just be sitting outside and people watching. I’d mentioned in my winter fun list hoping that the 4-year-old would learn to ski. I underestimated how much progress he made since Christmas Eve when I last saw him try. With my husband skiing next to him, he could make it down one of the slopes with a chair lift just fine. So I’m considering that one a success.
We had some family tension when the 7-year-old did NOT want to leave and all her siblings did. I mention this because no activity is ever fun for the entire family the entire time. So this 45 minutes of unhappiness (as the others waited for her) needs to be taken in context. My husband and I listened to episodes of Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me as we drove back toward Philly and then we all ate out at Uno’s Pizzeria and Grill. Now that the kids are getting older this was a reasonably enjoyable experience. I am a big fan of pizza and beer on Saturday nights.
Sunday I got up on time to go run for an hour with a friend. Then I took all the kids to church with me so my husband could do his long run (he’s training for the Broad Street 10-miler). I sang one of the 7/8 meter pieces, and another lovely one with flute accompaniment, and then we went home to get ready for our guests to come over for lunch. This is a neighbor family that has a kid in preschool with my little guy — and toddler twins. They were so so cute, and it was also a reminder of all the things I don’t think about anymore (like the step down between the kitchen and the living room — once a source of daily peril when we had kids that age).
The rest of the day featured a lot of playing outside (almost 60 degrees!) a trip to a batting cage for the 9-year-old, whose Little League season starts soon, another playdate, and then a lovely post-dinner walk for me and two of four children. Now that the weather is getting nicer this is something I want to do more often.
Now I have started the workweek with recording more Before Breakfast podcast episodes…in between bouts of one of our neighbors having tree work done that involves chain saws. These are the perils of working from home…
Photo: Snowboarding while the flowers are coming out
Love the new podcast. I listen while I make breakfast in the morning. It’s nice to start the day with one of your tips.
@Pamela – so glad you’re liking it and can build it into your morning routine!
I downloaded Stitcher only for your podcast 😉 Glad it works for non-iphoners now! I agree that the sound quality is a lot better than on BOBW. Would be great if BOBW could sound the same.
I enjoy the very condensed tips and it’s easy to get in the 5 minutes in the morning.
@Maggie – so glad you’re enjoying it! We have been cycling through various options with BOBW, but unfortunately unless Sarah and I are both going to rent professional studio space (and drive in) there’s a limit to how good you can get it with two people in different places. The fact that we can both record from our homes makes it possible to do this podcast. I am going to Miami at some point though and we’ll record more episodes in person!
I actually enjoy the more casual feel of BOBW – I like the unscripted conversation approach. I’ve been enjoying Before Breakfast too, but it definitely feels a bit more formal. And yes, thanks for the short-and-sweet format of BB.
I also listen to Wait, Wait on NPR during road trips! Catching up on podcasts is a great way to pass the time on road trips. It really shows on the Time Diary, as I can put activities into the training category, instead of just dead travel time. That said, down time during road trips is also good — watching the road can be very meditative!