Think about the Monday after (and Thursday miscellany)

I know a great many people will be on vacation next week for spring break. Closing all the open loops before taking a week off work is always challenging.

But if you’re already having to think about five days…why not think about six? I have been attempting to do that this past week, as it’s not that much more extra work, and aiming to get most of the following Monday squared away (for anything that can be done ahead of time) can make re-entry a lot smoother.

It won’t be easy, of course, because stuff will come up over the week that will need to be dealt with. But at least the load will be a little lighter!

Speaking of which…I’ll likely be away from the blog for the next week or so. Tomorrow features dentist appointments for five kids (and my husband) which should be an interesting experience. Today features an epic Best of Both Worlds recording session. At least my speaking voice is mostly back. My singing voice, not so much. I tried practicing my music yesterday and couldn’t sing anything toward the top of the staff!

The cherry blossoms have peaked in DC. I didn’t make it down this year, but I’ve enjoyed looking at pictures from past years on my phone. I’m hoping that the cold weather we are having tonight and tomorrow won’t damage the buds on our trees here a few hours north. Theoretically, anything that blossoms in March should have strong anti-freeze properties, but it doesn’t always work. A few years ago, some high temperatures in February, coupled with a deep freeze in March (like into the low teens) meant none of the magnolias blossomed. It was sad!

I’ve been continuing to listen to my Bach every day. I created the listening calendar through to the end of April. Since January, every day has featured a church cantata (vocal + instruments) and some solo organ pieces. In late April I will finally be through all the organ music, and will start on the piano/harpsichord pieces. There are something like 200 of these, but a lot of them are very short. I am not 100 percent sure if my pace of listening is right, but one third of the way through the year (as in April 30) I will have listened to 403 of the 1080 works so that is a little ahead of schedule. (I might listen to some of the extra ones that are unsure…although it turns out a few of the canonical 1080 aren’t actually Bach either – people just thought they were when the BWV system was created.)

Another puzzle of the day: What wine would pair with fried chicken? I am sure the internet will have answers. It has all the works of Bach and that. Amazing.

In other news: This week’s Vanderhacks featured an essay on why you should “Say yes when you can” and why you should “Look for the garbage cans” when deciding whether something is real or not. The post behind the paywall is on “How I keep the plates spinning” — a write-up of my weekly planning process. Please check those out!