Cheburashka!

How sweet it is to wake up late, to not have to get up early for testing, rehearsals or other commitments. How glorious it is to finally see the sunshine, to have a taste of winter, to walk around Kolomenskoye, which just may be my favorite place in Moscow, watching the kiddies go sledding. How wonderful it is to think that in just twelve days I will be flying home to spend a month in good ol' MA.

I am very happy to say that my concerts this week went very well, in particular last night's concert. It was great to see some support as well. Props to Judey and Ilona for your raucous applause from the balcony! :) Lovely to see you last night! We tenors again took a bow after singing Jingle Bells, and to our delight (some might say chagrin, LOL) we sang it as an encore. As promised, I came in at the right time during the 8th movement of Vivaldi (Sicut locutus est) after confusing the hell out of the tenors, and likely everybody else, by failing to notice the TWO BEAT rest prior to coming in. Oops. Better early than late, right? Hahaha. Anyway, I am still on a high after last night's concert, which was just a lot of fun, despite singing back to back to back John Rutter arrangments, which I rather like, if I"m honest. I"m mostly elated that I shall never have to sing Deck the Hall again. That piece has overstayed its welcome in the Christmas repertoire, as far I am concerned, hee hee.

Tomorrow shall be my marathon day of singing. You think I"m kidding? Haha, how wrong you are. 8:15 wake up. 9:15 leave for church. 10:00 rehearsal for Mass no. 1. 11:00 Mass. 12:30ish rehearsal for Lessons and Carols. 2:00 rehearsal for Mass no. 2. 3:00 Mass. 4:00 rehearsal again for Lessons and Carols. 6:30 Lessons and Carols service (all of this naturally takes place at St. Andrew's, therefore I am not exaggerating when I say that it has become like a second home to me, cause I"m always there, LOL). I'm expecting a few friends but hope to see more. There'll be some Scripture reading foretelling the coming of Christ, plus some awesome Christmas Carols (our favorite David Wilcocks arrangements plus one of Gustav Holst, but he's mediocre so we'll just overlook that, hahahaha) and a solo by YOURS TRULY. Moreover, it's free, so why don't you just put aside whatever you're doing and come to church tomorrow evening and listen to God's word. Agreed? Agreed. Great. :)

I'll probably be taking a break from blogging once I'm home. Or maybe not. We shall see. In any case, I'll still be relating my end of semester adventures until a couple of days before I make my triumphant return to the Throp. I am really really reallly REAAAAAALLLLLLYYYYY looking forward to coming home! Just a little excited, can you tell? ;) For the moment I'm going to keep on keeping on and just enjoying the last week and half (!!!) in Moscow. O how I love Christmastime! Lots of great music to listen to and movies to watch! I'll surely find something to make the days go by now that choir is done for the season and I have just a couple of days of class left before exams.

Must stay focused...must stay optimistic...must stay in Christmas mode...:))) 12 more days!!! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Later everyone! :)