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Disney Adventure, Work Begins
Monday was a quiet day.
Jameson worked, I worked on court reporting stuff and did get help from my teacher...via a live Zoom class which was incredibly embarrassing because in front of 15-ish people she was able to fix the problem quickly, and once again I felt like an idiot. Though, there WAS actually a problem, so at least I wasn't just completely inept. I had my microphone plugged into a USB hub, and you can't do that, but in addition my computer wasn't recognizing the mic when it should have and that needed fixing.
Anyway, after that I ran some small errands including the store for an ID card holder and to Michaels for a standing desk. I am tired of my work-from-home options being either shoulder pain and headaches from typing all day at the too-high dining room table, or back pain from being hunched over the guest bedroom bureau drawer as a "desk" while sitting in a folding chair that's crammed between the drawers and the bed. It's just stupid and not healthy, especially if I'm stuck doing this every summer.
I did a bunch of research last year (when I thought I'd get to enjoy a transcription job) and had picked THIS DESK because A) no assembly required, B) you can raise and lower it manually, and C) it's the only one I could find that you could fold flat and store. You can buy it at Michaels or Wayfair but not on Amazon. It was a 20-minute drive to the nearest Michaels but they had it. There was indeed no setup required, just removed the packing materials, unfolded it, locked the parts in place, and that was that.
It's still in a cramped little corner of the guest bedroom, but at least I'm standing and can stretch and look out the window. If I want to sit all I have to do is slide it to the right about a foot and then there's room for the folding chair. I think it'll do well.
After lunch Jameson went to the gym and I gathered some things for my Disney Day tomorrow. Sunscreen, snacks, headphones, charger, practice mute, stuff like that. Someone pointed out to me today that the Main Street Philharmonic has never had female members. Female substitute musicians, sure, but not members. I'm not a member either so not breaking any ground here, but it was a reminder that I'll be walking into a room full of men, who have held this gig for years, and who will be hearing me play their music for the first time. Naturally, no matter what anyone's intentions are, that's just plain intimidating. I am nervous, but will do my best and will just have to hope that it is enough.
Then I practiced through the music, playing each song twice. It is not perfect, but in my defense I've only had the music for 48 hours. There is not supposed to be any pressure yet; tomorrow is just for costume fitting, for seeing the workplace and meeting the people I'd be working with, for shadowing on the job, and for personal practice between sets. Nothing has to be perfect or memorized yet. I gotta remember that. Deep breaths.
For dinner we had Greek and watched the last two Fallout episodes. What a cool, well done show. Excited for the next part (no spoilers!)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DISNEY ADVENTURE
Tuesday I was awake early after hardly sleeping. Breakfast and checked that I had everything I needed, then off to DC4, which is Disney's Costuming offices.
I signed in and was taken back to the fitting rooms almost immediately. Along the way we walked through hallways lined with all sorts of fabulous costume pieces: headdresses from The Lion King; character outfits for Daisy Duck; princess gowns; clothing for warriors and pirates. I caught glimpses of these incredible pieces as we passed, a blur of colors and sequins.
At the end of a hallway a huge white sewing machine (or some kind of FABRICator) plugged away noisily at a bolt of fabric. We turned left into an absolutely massive warehouse full of sewing tables, mannequins, half-worked costumes, towers of shoes, shelves and shelves of buttons, and an entire eye-catching wall just packed floor to ceiling with huge spools of multi-colored thread. We are never allowed to take pictures backstage, and these are the best pictures I could find of what I saw today:
This is definitely the room I was in, but the angle only shows a small part of it.
(photo courtesy Orlando Sentinel)
Here you can see part of the Wall Of Colorful Threads (it was most definitely taller and more filled out than this when I saw it today):
(photo courtesy Business Insider)
Around another corner and I was in a fitting room stocked with several sets of Main Street Philharmonic costumes. I had sent my measurements in advance, so everything they had laid out for me was pretty close! But it had all been made for someone else, a man at that, so every single item would need to be taken in. I tried on three sets of pants, shirts, and vests, and was also fitted for shoes. In addition to having existing costumes altered to fit me, I'll have two made specially for me. We will also be given lots of accessories like socks, sweat-wicking underclothes, epaulettes for our vests, a hat, and a plume. There's some winter wear as well but for obvious reasons we didn't focus on that. They did have me try on a jacket, but it was gigantic and it was decided that I should have one made for me from scratch.
Each time I tried something on, my wardrobe hosts stepped outside to let me change in privacy. I could hear as they swapped gossip outside, though, and learned that there are four female substitute musicians this year, and 24 substitutes overall! That's so many!!
I'd been told there'd be a 3D body scan but the seamstresses decided to cancel it in the interest of getting me to the band's first set on time. There will be several more costume fittings and plenty of time for that (however this does mean that I shaved my legs for nothing! LOL)
I got back to my car and drove to the Magic Kingdom employee lot, parked and loaded onto the employee bus. It was hard not to stare at all of the costumed folks around me...some clearly headed to Epcot in German, African, or French garb; some going to work retail in specific parts of the park (for example the Casey's Corner castmembers all had baseball uniforms on.) As we got off the bus driver asked where I was headed, saying he'd never seen someone bring an instrument onto the bus before. I told him I was a sub for the MSP and he cheerily wished me a great first day :)
My boss, Mike, was waiting at the entrance to the Utilidor (Disney's secret employee tunnel system.) Taking a tour of the Utilidor is supposed to be part of Disney's Traditions onboarding training, but sometimes that experience is cut to save time. I didn't get to see it during training, so this was my first time in the super-secret tunnels beneath the Magic Kingdom.
(photo courtesy ClickOrlando)
As soon as we entered the tunnels, I felt like I was on the "I-95" or the "M1"--slang for the main service corridor/deck on a cruise ship. These tunnels feel exactly like the service corridor on the Ruby Princess, where I worked in 2019. Very industrial, mainly a transit area for getting quickly from one end of the ship (ahem, park) to the other, and with some important employee spaces scattered throughout. As we walked I saw food and beverages being shuttled back and forth; princesses walking around chatting in their poofy gowns; lots of service workers clocking in and out or taking breaks; people visiting a physical therapy room. Mike showed me where to clock in, and the big castmember cafe which had several chain restaurants and lots of vending and prepared foods, as well as online ordering so a castmember can order and pick up meals on the way back from a shift! I saw the warmup room for dancers and costume characters to stretch and practice dance steps, and big locker rooms for castmembers to store their belongings. There was a Castmember Services office, and First Aid, and a smaller wardrobe office where Mike said I'll have my final costume fitting in a few weeks.
There were many other things but this place was HUGE, and my little walnut brain could only retain so much.
Here is a map to give you an idea of how extensive the Utilidor is (remember you can click-enlarge this photo in a new window if you want to read the labels):
And this map is for employees (I saw one just like this on the wall) to show where things are:
The fat yellow squished-bug-looking thing in the middle is Cinderella's Castle. The band's dressing room is directly under the castle.
Mike showed me the dressing room and warm-up room (which was also basically a second dressing room.) Most of the band was warming up, making a huge racket (drums + tiny room.) I was introduced and shyly said hello to everyone, and was relieved to recognize several people including Matt (trumpet whom I've played several gigs with) Will (fellow trombonist that I've known for a while but Candlelight was our first gig together) and Sara (trumpet, we've been facebook friends for while.) Everyone was very kind and welcoming.
I got set up in a corner of the room and warmed up a little myself, shaky because I'm still not feeling great and also haven't played the small trombone since using the BIG trombone for My Fair Lady! Whatever, today was thankfully not about my playing ability. Soon it was time for the first set, so I followed the band through the tunnel and out to a backstage area. From there we waited just a few minutes, then the band's "handler," Donna, announced "Two minutes!" The band lined up in marching order, and two minutes later, walked through the backstage gate into the Magic Kingdom. As instructed, I hung back several yards and then followed.
The band regularly plays in front of Cinderella's Castle (some footage HERE) The weather was gorgeous, mid-70s and lower-than-usual humidity for Florida. I hid my ID badge under my shirt so that I wouldn't be stopped for directions or something like that, then got to work watching the band play and recording their choreography with my phone (yes, there are a few small choreo steps to learn.)
(photo courtesy mikebillick, Flickr)
There were three sets like this, and most of the time I focused on/took footage of the trombone section and what they were doing so I can reference it later on. When they move up or back; when they have choreography; when they interact with the audience, etc.
(I'll usually be filling in for the middle guy, his name is Keith.)
In between them I worked on memorizing the first number on my set list, the Star Spangled Banner, in the warm up room. These are NOT the standard arrangements so it IS learning new material, even though so many songs are familiar! For example, When You Wish Upon a Star is sort of a samba-version, and Be Our Guest is a jazzy ballroom swing arrangement. I'm still intimidated haha. But Mike reassured me that I can take my time, it'll be a while before costumes are ready anyway, and the goal is to have me ready to do a set by the end of May (I like having a goal date.)
He also switched me to learning the lead trombone book, not because I play particularly well but because most of the trombonists know the 2nd Trombone book but only one currently knows the 1st book. Logically, you want people who can fill in on multiple parts. So I got all-new music today as well.
Somewhere in there I ate my packed lunch. In the afternoon we had the parade through Main Street USA. Walking to the parade start spot (backstage) was about 2/3 of a mile (0.96km)! That's going to suck in the heat of a Florida summer!
But the parade was my favorite set of the day. Hundreds of people came out to see the Main Street Philharmonic. I followed "handler" Donna, who walked ahead of the band, and held my phone over my shoulder to record. I felt very self-conscious in front of hundreds of people in my street clothes, recording over my shoulder, but did get some fantastic footage and was able to practice keeping in step with the band as well.
Some still shots. I'm not posting any of my videos mainly because I haven't had time to edit them down. I loved getting shots with Cinderella's Castle in the background.
The band sounded amazing, and walking ahead of them, I felt both exhilarated and intimidated. Am I good enough to be anywhere near these guys? Can I memorize this music in time? Will I be a good fit? I want to do my best...I want my best to be good enough for them, and to be qualified to be here. I will have to work hard, and only time will tell if I really deserve to be a part of this band.
After the parade the band queued up in front of an adorable petite woman with an icee pop cart, who was waiting for them backstage. This seemed to be a routine post-parade ritual. I found it adorable, watching grown men in marching band uniforms lining up to get an icee pop from a cute old lady :) They all insisted I enjoy one as well, even though I hadn't done any work!
The last event of the day was the Retreat, which is the band joining the Dapper Dans in the Main Street USA plaza and performing for a ceremonial lowering of the flag.
It was pretty straightforward, I'll just have to work on remembering how I enter and exit the plaza (trombone 1 is mostly in a middle position so I should be able to follow others.)
After three 20-minute sets, one 20-30 minute parade, and the retreat, and after shadowing the band all day, I had walked about five miles and felt pretty exhausted! And I wasn't even playing! Hydration is going to be key this summer!
I shook hands with everyone and thanked them for their help and the warm welcome today. Several people had given me notes or practice tools throughout the day, or just come up to introduce themselves further and chat to get to know one another. I felt less intimidated by the people I'll be working with, than by the memorization that awaits me at home. Goodness. I rode the bus back to the MK employee lot and drove home to Jameson, scarfing down leftovers and telling him all about my day. He felt nostalgia for HIS first day at Disney, all those many years ago :) And I'm sure it hurt a little, to realize how long ago that was, for him. But, life gives us flowers in our own seasons. He got to experience being a Disney castmember as a teen. I had to wait until the ripe age of 40 for it. Either of us could complain about the timing...but getting to do it AT ALL, is such an incredible thing that I doubt I'll ever complain.
A drum head that was hanging in the MSP warm-up room.
(I'm technically not supposed to post this so do me a favor and PLEASE don't reshare, thank you.)
After dinner I spent a lot of time reorganizing my music on my iPad, now that I'm learning the lead book instead of Trombone 2. Got everything set up for memorization, stat. I'll work on organizing my videos later.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday I woke up anxious with what felt like a LOT to do. After breakfast Jameson went to physical therapy, and I worked on this blog post and had my first day back with TSOLife (nursing home data entry.) All of my stuff and accounts are just as I left them so it was like riding a bike: get back in there and relearn it. I did that for about two hours, then lunch, then Jameson and I went grocery shopping. I'll make us a HelloFresh meatloaf with potatoes and broccoli tomorrow (did you know, most HelloFresh recipes are free online and you can make them without using their delivery service?)
Back home I spent a good hour working on MSP music memorization, and for all my effort only memorized two pieces, of which I'll certainly forget some tomorrow. But that's how memorization goes: it's time + repetition + muscle memory, and eventually it's just there in your head. About that time Mike (MSP manager) texted to ask if I could do my next costume fitting and rehearsal next Wednesday. Of course I said yes. So we can look forward to another Disney adventure next week :)
For dinner we had Target sushi, Jameson watched baseball and I did a little more work before switching to anime to wind down.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tomorrow more TSOLife, memorization, some small errands, making dinner.
Nothing really lined up for the weekend except workworkwork, hopefully some exercise, memorization...and setting the court reporting aside because I'm not smart enough to memorize 20 pieces of music AND 100+ legal terms at the same time, sorry. This is why I'm poor haha.
I am still under the weather and don't know what this is...it feels like someone put a towel in my lungs, it feels hard to breathe but there's not a lot of mucus, more like tissue in my throat and lungs is swollen or irritated. I feel tired all the time too. Maybe it really IS covid, but I don't have any urge to cough and no headaches any more. Meh. Since I don't have health care I'll have to wait and hope that it goes away.
Jameson worked, I worked on court reporting stuff and did get help from my teacher...via a live Zoom class which was incredibly embarrassing because in front of 15-ish people she was able to fix the problem quickly, and once again I felt like an idiot. Though, there WAS actually a problem, so at least I wasn't just completely inept. I had my microphone plugged into a USB hub, and you can't do that, but in addition my computer wasn't recognizing the mic when it should have and that needed fixing.
Anyway, after that I ran some small errands including the store for an ID card holder and to Michaels for a standing desk. I am tired of my work-from-home options being either shoulder pain and headaches from typing all day at the too-high dining room table, or back pain from being hunched over the guest bedroom bureau drawer as a "desk" while sitting in a folding chair that's crammed between the drawers and the bed. It's just stupid and not healthy, especially if I'm stuck doing this every summer.
I did a bunch of research last year (when I thought I'd get to enjoy a transcription job) and had picked THIS DESK because A) no assembly required, B) you can raise and lower it manually, and C) it's the only one I could find that you could fold flat and store. You can buy it at Michaels or Wayfair but not on Amazon. It was a 20-minute drive to the nearest Michaels but they had it. There was indeed no setup required, just removed the packing materials, unfolded it, locked the parts in place, and that was that.
It's still in a cramped little corner of the guest bedroom, but at least I'm standing and can stretch and look out the window. If I want to sit all I have to do is slide it to the right about a foot and then there's room for the folding chair. I think it'll do well.
After lunch Jameson went to the gym and I gathered some things for my Disney Day tomorrow. Sunscreen, snacks, headphones, charger, practice mute, stuff like that. Someone pointed out to me today that the Main Street Philharmonic has never had female members. Female substitute musicians, sure, but not members. I'm not a member either so not breaking any ground here, but it was a reminder that I'll be walking into a room full of men, who have held this gig for years, and who will be hearing me play their music for the first time. Naturally, no matter what anyone's intentions are, that's just plain intimidating. I am nervous, but will do my best and will just have to hope that it is enough.
Then I practiced through the music, playing each song twice. It is not perfect, but in my defense I've only had the music for 48 hours. There is not supposed to be any pressure yet; tomorrow is just for costume fitting, for seeing the workplace and meeting the people I'd be working with, for shadowing on the job, and for personal practice between sets. Nothing has to be perfect or memorized yet. I gotta remember that. Deep breaths.
For dinner we had Greek and watched the last two Fallout episodes. What a cool, well done show. Excited for the next part (no spoilers!)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DISNEY ADVENTURE
Tuesday I was awake early after hardly sleeping. Breakfast and checked that I had everything I needed, then off to DC4, which is Disney's Costuming offices.
I signed in and was taken back to the fitting rooms almost immediately. Along the way we walked through hallways lined with all sorts of fabulous costume pieces: headdresses from The Lion King; character outfits for Daisy Duck; princess gowns; clothing for warriors and pirates. I caught glimpses of these incredible pieces as we passed, a blur of colors and sequins.
At the end of a hallway a huge white sewing machine (or some kind of FABRICator) plugged away noisily at a bolt of fabric. We turned left into an absolutely massive warehouse full of sewing tables, mannequins, half-worked costumes, towers of shoes, shelves and shelves of buttons, and an entire eye-catching wall just packed floor to ceiling with huge spools of multi-colored thread. We are never allowed to take pictures backstage, and these are the best pictures I could find of what I saw today:
This is definitely the room I was in, but the angle only shows a small part of it.
(photo courtesy Orlando Sentinel)
Here you can see part of the Wall Of Colorful Threads (it was most definitely taller and more filled out than this when I saw it today):
(photo courtesy Business Insider)
Around another corner and I was in a fitting room stocked with several sets of Main Street Philharmonic costumes. I had sent my measurements in advance, so everything they had laid out for me was pretty close! But it had all been made for someone else, a man at that, so every single item would need to be taken in. I tried on three sets of pants, shirts, and vests, and was also fitted for shoes. In addition to having existing costumes altered to fit me, I'll have two made specially for me. We will also be given lots of accessories like socks, sweat-wicking underclothes, epaulettes for our vests, a hat, and a plume. There's some winter wear as well but for obvious reasons we didn't focus on that. They did have me try on a jacket, but it was gigantic and it was decided that I should have one made for me from scratch.
Each time I tried something on, my wardrobe hosts stepped outside to let me change in privacy. I could hear as they swapped gossip outside, though, and learned that there are four female substitute musicians this year, and 24 substitutes overall! That's so many!!
I'd been told there'd be a 3D body scan but the seamstresses decided to cancel it in the interest of getting me to the band's first set on time. There will be several more costume fittings and plenty of time for that (however this does mean that I shaved my legs for nothing! LOL)
I got back to my car and drove to the Magic Kingdom employee lot, parked and loaded onto the employee bus. It was hard not to stare at all of the costumed folks around me...some clearly headed to Epcot in German, African, or French garb; some going to work retail in specific parts of the park (for example the Casey's Corner castmembers all had baseball uniforms on.) As we got off the bus driver asked where I was headed, saying he'd never seen someone bring an instrument onto the bus before. I told him I was a sub for the MSP and he cheerily wished me a great first day :)
My boss, Mike, was waiting at the entrance to the Utilidor (Disney's secret employee tunnel system.) Taking a tour of the Utilidor is supposed to be part of Disney's Traditions onboarding training, but sometimes that experience is cut to save time. I didn't get to see it during training, so this was my first time in the super-secret tunnels beneath the Magic Kingdom.
(photo courtesy ClickOrlando)
As soon as we entered the tunnels, I felt like I was on the "I-95" or the "M1"--slang for the main service corridor/deck on a cruise ship. These tunnels feel exactly like the service corridor on the Ruby Princess, where I worked in 2019. Very industrial, mainly a transit area for getting quickly from one end of the ship (ahem, park) to the other, and with some important employee spaces scattered throughout. As we walked I saw food and beverages being shuttled back and forth; princesses walking around chatting in their poofy gowns; lots of service workers clocking in and out or taking breaks; people visiting a physical therapy room. Mike showed me where to clock in, and the big castmember cafe which had several chain restaurants and lots of vending and prepared foods, as well as online ordering so a castmember can order and pick up meals on the way back from a shift! I saw the warmup room for dancers and costume characters to stretch and practice dance steps, and big locker rooms for castmembers to store their belongings. There was a Castmember Services office, and First Aid, and a smaller wardrobe office where Mike said I'll have my final costume fitting in a few weeks.
There were many other things but this place was HUGE, and my little walnut brain could only retain so much.
Here is a map to give you an idea of how extensive the Utilidor is (remember you can click-enlarge this photo in a new window if you want to read the labels):
And this map is for employees (I saw one just like this on the wall) to show where things are:
The fat yellow squished-bug-looking thing in the middle is Cinderella's Castle. The band's dressing room is directly under the castle.
Mike showed me the dressing room and warm-up room (which was also basically a second dressing room.) Most of the band was warming up, making a huge racket (drums + tiny room.) I was introduced and shyly said hello to everyone, and was relieved to recognize several people including Matt (trumpet whom I've played several gigs with) Will (fellow trombonist that I've known for a while but Candlelight was our first gig together) and Sara (trumpet, we've been facebook friends for while.) Everyone was very kind and welcoming.
I got set up in a corner of the room and warmed up a little myself, shaky because I'm still not feeling great and also haven't played the small trombone since using the BIG trombone for My Fair Lady! Whatever, today was thankfully not about my playing ability. Soon it was time for the first set, so I followed the band through the tunnel and out to a backstage area. From there we waited just a few minutes, then the band's "handler," Donna, announced "Two minutes!" The band lined up in marching order, and two minutes later, walked through the backstage gate into the Magic Kingdom. As instructed, I hung back several yards and then followed.
The band regularly plays in front of Cinderella's Castle (some footage HERE) The weather was gorgeous, mid-70s and lower-than-usual humidity for Florida. I hid my ID badge under my shirt so that I wouldn't be stopped for directions or something like that, then got to work watching the band play and recording their choreography with my phone (yes, there are a few small choreo steps to learn.)
(photo courtesy mikebillick, Flickr)
There were three sets like this, and most of the time I focused on/took footage of the trombone section and what they were doing so I can reference it later on. When they move up or back; when they have choreography; when they interact with the audience, etc.
(I'll usually be filling in for the middle guy, his name is Keith.)
In between them I worked on memorizing the first number on my set list, the Star Spangled Banner, in the warm up room. These are NOT the standard arrangements so it IS learning new material, even though so many songs are familiar! For example, When You Wish Upon a Star is sort of a samba-version, and Be Our Guest is a jazzy ballroom swing arrangement. I'm still intimidated haha. But Mike reassured me that I can take my time, it'll be a while before costumes are ready anyway, and the goal is to have me ready to do a set by the end of May (I like having a goal date.)
He also switched me to learning the lead trombone book, not because I play particularly well but because most of the trombonists know the 2nd Trombone book but only one currently knows the 1st book. Logically, you want people who can fill in on multiple parts. So I got all-new music today as well.
Somewhere in there I ate my packed lunch. In the afternoon we had the parade through Main Street USA. Walking to the parade start spot (backstage) was about 2/3 of a mile (0.96km)! That's going to suck in the heat of a Florida summer!
But the parade was my favorite set of the day. Hundreds of people came out to see the Main Street Philharmonic. I followed "handler" Donna, who walked ahead of the band, and held my phone over my shoulder to record. I felt very self-conscious in front of hundreds of people in my street clothes, recording over my shoulder, but did get some fantastic footage and was able to practice keeping in step with the band as well.
Some still shots. I'm not posting any of my videos mainly because I haven't had time to edit them down. I loved getting shots with Cinderella's Castle in the background.
The band sounded amazing, and walking ahead of them, I felt both exhilarated and intimidated. Am I good enough to be anywhere near these guys? Can I memorize this music in time? Will I be a good fit? I want to do my best...I want my best to be good enough for them, and to be qualified to be here. I will have to work hard, and only time will tell if I really deserve to be a part of this band.
After the parade the band queued up in front of an adorable petite woman with an icee pop cart, who was waiting for them backstage. This seemed to be a routine post-parade ritual. I found it adorable, watching grown men in marching band uniforms lining up to get an icee pop from a cute old lady :) They all insisted I enjoy one as well, even though I hadn't done any work!
The last event of the day was the Retreat, which is the band joining the Dapper Dans in the Main Street USA plaza and performing for a ceremonial lowering of the flag.
It was pretty straightforward, I'll just have to work on remembering how I enter and exit the plaza (trombone 1 is mostly in a middle position so I should be able to follow others.)
After three 20-minute sets, one 20-30 minute parade, and the retreat, and after shadowing the band all day, I had walked about five miles and felt pretty exhausted! And I wasn't even playing! Hydration is going to be key this summer!
I shook hands with everyone and thanked them for their help and the warm welcome today. Several people had given me notes or practice tools throughout the day, or just come up to introduce themselves further and chat to get to know one another. I felt less intimidated by the people I'll be working with, than by the memorization that awaits me at home. Goodness. I rode the bus back to the MK employee lot and drove home to Jameson, scarfing down leftovers and telling him all about my day. He felt nostalgia for HIS first day at Disney, all those many years ago :) And I'm sure it hurt a little, to realize how long ago that was, for him. But, life gives us flowers in our own seasons. He got to experience being a Disney castmember as a teen. I had to wait until the ripe age of 40 for it. Either of us could complain about the timing...but getting to do it AT ALL, is such an incredible thing that I doubt I'll ever complain.
A drum head that was hanging in the MSP warm-up room.
(I'm technically not supposed to post this so do me a favor and PLEASE don't reshare, thank you.)
After dinner I spent a lot of time reorganizing my music on my iPad, now that I'm learning the lead book instead of Trombone 2. Got everything set up for memorization, stat. I'll work on organizing my videos later.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday I woke up anxious with what felt like a LOT to do. After breakfast Jameson went to physical therapy, and I worked on this blog post and had my first day back with TSOLife (nursing home data entry.) All of my stuff and accounts are just as I left them so it was like riding a bike: get back in there and relearn it. I did that for about two hours, then lunch, then Jameson and I went grocery shopping. I'll make us a HelloFresh meatloaf with potatoes and broccoli tomorrow (did you know, most HelloFresh recipes are free online and you can make them without using their delivery service?)
Back home I spent a good hour working on MSP music memorization, and for all my effort only memorized two pieces, of which I'll certainly forget some tomorrow. But that's how memorization goes: it's time + repetition + muscle memory, and eventually it's just there in your head. About that time Mike (MSP manager) texted to ask if I could do my next costume fitting and rehearsal next Wednesday. Of course I said yes. So we can look forward to another Disney adventure next week :)
For dinner we had Target sushi, Jameson watched baseball and I did a little more work before switching to anime to wind down.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tomorrow more TSOLife, memorization, some small errands, making dinner.
Nothing really lined up for the weekend except workworkwork, hopefully some exercise, memorization...and setting the court reporting aside because I'm not smart enough to memorize 20 pieces of music AND 100+ legal terms at the same time, sorry. This is why I'm poor haha.
I am still under the weather and don't know what this is...it feels like someone put a towel in my lungs, it feels hard to breathe but there's not a lot of mucus, more like tissue in my throat and lungs is swollen or irritated. I feel tired all the time too. Maybe it really IS covid, but I don't have any urge to cough and no headaches any more. Meh. Since I don't have health care I'll have to wait and hope that it goes away.