What a Difference 2 Weeks Makes

Lots of exciting things are happening lately. Our church has just called a new full-time minister (the vote, unanimous with 1 abstention, just happened this afternoon)! Our ministerial candidate, Colin Bossen, has spent a week with us, preaching 2 Sundays and sharing potlucks, sitting in on committee meetings, etc. so we could get to know each other. Our search committee has spent two years of hard work to get to the point of selecting him, and I can't imagine anybody else being a better fit for our congregation. So happy it worked out.

It certainly didn't hurt that it was a beautiful, sunny, 78-degree day. I was able to wear some summery clothes and I painted my toenails for the first time since last September. For most of the year, my feet get so cold I wear two pairs of socks everywhere except to shower and sleep, so why bother doing my toenails--even I don't get to see them anyway! It's a mood lifter and a ritual to welcome the warm part of the year.

My biggest news: Tomorrow I drive to Pittsburgh for the week to accompany at the Regional Dance America National Festival. 2,000 or so youth ballet company members from small towns across America, 12 pianists, 5 adjudicators and 24 instructors will be converging for days jam-packed with master classes and performances. I will be playing for 21 classes over 5 days (Tues-Sat). There will be a 3-hour performance every night (I won't be playing, just have the option of attending) in the historic theater district. We're staying in the hotel connected to the Convention Center, which happens to include an 8,000-square-foot gym and a pool. Lodging, meals, mileage/plane fare, and tickets to all performances are included in addition to our pay. I'm actually going to come out ahead financially!

I looked at the hotel web site, and evidently, my room will have a fridge. So today I went to Target and bought some snax for my stay, including a 2-liter bottle of Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper, my current favorite soft drink. We're getting a flat reimbursement for breakfasts and incidental snacks, so why not try gaming the system a little and save some money up front?

I won't have internet access the entire time I'm there, unless I'm willing to pony up 30 cents a minute in the 24-hour business center. I may do that once or twice, but mainly just to check email and clean out my spam box. I'll have my cell phone with me, and it will be on 24/7 the whole time, as that is the only way anyone, including Festival staff, will be able to get in touch with me. I'll fill you in on the deets when I get back.

Just When They Thought It Was Safe To Bloom...

Merry Easter, everyone. Greetings from the freakishly Frozen North, where the temperature dropped 50 degrees in 24 hours last Wednesday and hasn't climbed out of the 20's since. The calendar may say it's April, but it looks a lot more like January out there. We're under a lake-effect snow warning. We tried to drive out to go dancing tonight, only to turn around because of blizzard-like conditions and the scariness of sliding around while going only 25 mph on the freeway. Three more inches have fallen just in the 2 hours since we got back.

I think we've entered a wormhole in the time-space continuum and emerged somewhere in the thick of winter. Eight inches of snow on the ground and more falling every hour--check. Wearing sweaters, down parka and waterproof boots to go outside and the formation of snotcicles when walking for more than 5 minutes--check. A nasty gust of wind that snapped our front storm door open so violently that it yanked several screws out of the wood on the door jamb--check.

But taking a closer look, something's not quite right. Our mostly bare magnolia tree is sporting shriveled blackened husks that were fragrant blossoms only 4 days ago. Shrubs that were bursting with tender baby leaves or yellow blossoms are now freeze-dried. Daffodils that were popping open like popcorn at the end of March are now bowed down all the way to the ground in defeat. The cherry, apple and peach blossoms were just starting (a good two weeks early) and are now ruined for the year.

Easter is supposed to be a time of resurrection of new life and new hope, but I'm just not feelin' it this year. It feels like we're Charlie Brown and Mother Nature is Lucy holding the football. When it hit 79 degrees on Tuesday, I considered risking taking my down parka to the drycleaners, and then she swoops in, cackling evilly, "Haha, you thought it was spring! Suckers!"