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Comics like this make me unreasonably happy.

there is nothing quite like karaoke in the afternoon

Had my "official" going-away party on Saturday. A last-minute family emergency for AZ (who was going to graciously host at her home), meant a location change from an open house/house party afternoon to karaoke at The Mint. I felt like I was walking into my own personal Cheers. Somehow, the occasional karaoke night morphed into more regular time spent there over the past 10 years, and the kj's and owner knew me. Go figure.

I am not one to spend daylight hours in a bar (usually), so once my eyes adjusted, I realized that we would not be the only party there at 3pm on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon. Who knew? Ultimately, it was a fun 5-hour party! I think, though, the highlight was when my music-world friends crashed the stage and serenaded me with the chorus of Hail Poetry from The Pirates of Penzance. That was quite a special moment.

Tomorrow is a day of running around like crazy. SO, I am headed off to bed!

toes on the edge

I'm standing on the edge of the great unknown. Friday (well, today) is my last day of work! I've worked in the same place for one week short of six years, and that is hard to believe.

I feel as if I've been handed a giant reset button. I mean - so much is a blank slate! I could reinvent myself completely! Erase my past and become a spy or something. Or not - I appreciate whence I've come too much to do that :) Besides, I have already changed so much as a result of happenings over the past couple, three years that I think that *that* process of reinvention started a looong time ago. Maybe it's because I'm an early thirty-something, along with those happenings, but I am way more comfortable in my own skin than I was when I was younger, and I really appreciate and enjoy that.

2011. Shall be a year of thriving, I believe. But first...one final "normal" day.

And a SH*T ton of boxes to pack.

I *must* be an opera singer

...because I got all teary-eyed when I had to say goodbye to my ENT/Allergist today.
Ear, Nose, Throat specialist = Singer's BFF.

Strange? Maybe. He really is the best doc I've ever had, and is such a wise, patient and knowledgeable guy. I am grateful to him for taking care of me for the past several years. Thanks, Dr. T!!!



(Also? I really like scarves.)

it depends on how one defines "productive"

This weekend, I:
. . . spent time with beloved friends
. . . had my first skype video chat
. . . I said some more goodbyes
. . . I spent time outside in God's creation, at Pinnacles National Monument, Crissy Field, Sonoma, and the Marin Headlands (like I said - "productive") soaking in the beauty and majesty, feeling His love and getting grounded. Some pics in the process of being posted on my hiking blog
. . . I spent time alone
. . . I spent time singing along to my car radio
. . . I stared at the empty moving boxes in my living room.
They are as yet un-filled.

Productive, indeed.

I wonder if it transfers newsprint?

shouldn't have had that last cup of chai

...because that stuff is caffeinated, and I always forget that little fact.
So I am up and awake and have been catching up on my email.

I have started to say my farewells. And it is so bittersweet. I hate saying goodbye to people, and in a lot cases, this isn't goodbye forever, but it's just a huge change. Not bad, but Hard. In particular, I emailed a particular group of singers whom I have had the honor of working with at least a dozen times over the past 5.5 years. I will miss them incredibly.

In their honor - and from a show I got to sing with said group - here's a song from the Noel Coward musical, Bittersweet.

I'll see you again, whenever Spring breaks through again.
Time may lie heavy between, but what has been is past forgetting.
This sweet memory across the years will come to me.
Though the world may go awry, in my heart will ever lie,
Just the echo of a sigh . . . Goodbye!
I'll see you again, whenever Spring breaks through again.
Time has lain heavy between, but what has been can leave me never.
Your dear memory throughout my life will come to me.
Though my world has gone awry, though the years my tears may dry, I shall love you 'til I die . . . Goodbye!

2011(!)(?)

I would like to start with a side note: I can't believe I've had this blog since 2004.
/end side note

It's 2011. There is a change in store for me. Many, in fact. And I am trying to "be cool" and not worry about too many details, since many of those changes are actually questions without an answer off the top of my head.

I am relocating to Denver - HOME! - over the course of the next several weeks.
No, I don't have a job. No, I don't have my own place yet. No, I don't have any firm plans as to how I'm getting from A to B.

I am headed to CO to be with my family, to help out with Mom & Dad, and generally get adjusted to this new normal of a family dynamic. After 2.5 months in the hospital, my mom is finally home and she needs a LOT of assistance. Though I am by no means going to be her 'nurse,' I'm glad to be nearer to her and to dad to help out where and when I can. As bittersweet as it will be to leave my home by the bay - where I've been for just shy of 10 years - I feel like it's (past) time for a big, physical upheaval. I don't want to be *stuck* here anymore - nor do I really want to plant any deeper roots than I already have. After three important weddings in 2010, I realized yet again that where your heart is, there is your home. And I didn't want my heart to be tied down to the East Coast, Texas or the Bay Area as are the hearts of three of my closest companions. Those are three lovely areas, but I want the freedom to go up to my beloved Rockies more often, spend time with the family, and travel *elsewhere* on my vacation time! Granted, my mother's health has not been the ideal catalyst for such a change, but it was the final push out of (back to?) the nest, as it were.

So. Vicissitudes aplenty!