The Busiest Weekend Ever - Part Saturday

Yes, the weekend before going to Las Vegas was perhaps one of the busiest of my life. Everything just seemed to culminate in 2 short days. Crazy! So, let's start with Saturday, December 18th.

The morning of the 18th proved to be very cold and the ground was snowy and icy. I guess you could say this is 'ideal' weather for running a 10k (hope you sense the sarcasm there). But, I did it anyway.

My mom and I had signed up for a race at Hains Point. She was doing the 5k and I was doing the 10k. The course had a slight change at the last minute - instead of the 5k doing one circle and 10k doing 2, they had to do an up and back course. That meant that the 5k went up and back and the 10k was up and back two times. Ugh, not ideal, but whatever, nothing could be done to change it. But, the fact that it was icy on the ground made it even worse that I had to turn around 3 times during my run! Ah well!

I saw my mom during the race briefly. We ran past each other twice and gave thumbs up and clapped. Always good to have someone motivating you and vice versa. :) I almost slipped turning around, but I did stay on my feet. Phew! Crisis averted. I was sure that my time would be slower than my previous 10k, but to my pleasant surprise I ran it about 30 seconds faster! I finished in 52:14 minutes! I was very pleased expecially since I had to slow down to turn around and the running conditions were not the best. My mom was happy that she completed the race! So, a great start to the chilly morning!

Post race....starting to get cold :)

We drove home and I had to hurry and shower and leave for the choir practice. Originally, I was going to skip the practice since I knew the songs and go to a cookie exchange (since I had never been to one before), but that all changed when I got asked to play the glockenspiel! My friend who was supposed to play had to end up having surgery (she is ok!), so I got asked to play. Thus, I had to show up to the Saturday morning rehearsal to play with the choir and practice at least a few times before the performance!

The glockenspiel is kind of like a xylophone, but I think it sounds prettier. The first time through was rough because I was figuring out where the notes were. On a glockenspiel (at least the one I played) there are no flats written on the notes, just sharps. So, your mind has to think a little backwards when flats are involved.

It all worked out and the practice was good. 2 things checked off the list by noon!

After going home to have lunch, I immediately had to start getting ready for my piano recital. My friend, Mina, hosted it at her house (thank you again, Mina!). She lives a good 20 minutes away and I had to be early since I was the teacher, so it got a bit tricky. Not to mention, Tyson was at the church building helping with tithing settlement. So, I had to get the kids ready and loaded, get myself ready, bring the presents for my students, plus cookies I had made, and be there before 3:30 p.m.!

Thankfully, it all worked out. The program started a little late because people were caught in traffic (holiday traffic is horrible!), but it turned out great! I was so proud of my students! I guess I should have prepared something to play, but I just did not have the time to actually learn something new. Next time I will just have to play something I am already familiar with.

My students all did great! Even some of the shyer ones did a great job at introducing themselves and bowing when they finished. It was a great moment for me as a teacher!

My students and me

Luckily, that was the end of Saturday for me. We were able to go home, eat dinner, and prepare for Sunday, which ended up being more busy for me!