Oh what wonderful things can happen...

Quick blog post, I've been really bad about keeping this updated, but I'm a busy person, so I guess it's ok. I write in a personal journal at night anyway.
I spent this weekend in NYC, and it was amazing. Pictures to come.
But the main reason I decided to write today was because on Monday, the day I got back from the 18+ hour bus ride to NYC, I auditioned for a Concerto Competition at 9:15 PM. :o I know, late, and probably one of the hardest things I've ever done in music. No sleep on a bus ride, unpacking at home, being sore and tired and emotionally exhausted from being on the drama department bus, then showering, getting all dressed up, and performing my heart out. I went in there telling myself to just do my best, and whatever happens, happens. I wasn't expecting anything more than maybe honorable mention. And if I got higher, you know, that's cool, but I wasn't expecting much. Lots of competition, ya know. I played really well, however, I am my own worst critic and can't say much more than that.

Apparently, the judges think much differently than I do.

I got a letter today from the Symphony and I knew it would have the results of the concerto competition. My mom excitedly handed it to me and I opened it (note, I am the worst letter opener there is... takes me like, 60 full seconds to open a stinking envelope), and as i was opening it I was saying "I'm expecting the worst, expecting the worst" and thinking whatever's in there is in there, I'm ok with how I did, this is just one competition out of many....
Finally, I got it open, and the first word I saw was "Congratulations!" And my jaw dropped, leaving my mom hanging, and scared to read the next few words, I read them anyway,


I got first place!!!!! Woo hoo I'm so excited! As a prize I get $200 (!) and I get to perform my piece with either the Symphony or the Youth Symphony. Either way, lots of people go to those concerto performance concerts, and I'm SOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!! I was SOOOOO not expecting 1st place!!!!! Holy cow. Here's a link to what m piece sounds like with orchestra. I don't play it quite that fast, but you get the idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Rvv6T8LaeE
Wooo I'm happy and exhausted and my throat has been hurting all day. Now I must go and help with chores. :)
Life moves on. :) And it's a happy, though cold and icky snowing, wonderful day. :D

Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!

Seussical the Musical will be presented at Dubuque Senior High on Friday and Saturday March 13th and 14th at 7:30 and Sunday March 15th in the Auditorium. And the songs for this musical will be stuck in my head for the rest of my life.

We ripped up carpet upstairs, sanded down the original 100 year old wood and we are now in the process of staining it. A nice rich dark brown. It's beautiful.

I'm going to NYC at the end of this month for a school music trip. I am SO excited, I'm beyond excited, I'm nuts. We'll be doing a music competition, followed by a tour of the city (Ground 0, Top of the Empire State building, Time Square, Wall Street, etc). And then the grand finale. March 28th, Saturday Night, I will be in NYC on Broadway watching The Lion King. I am so stinking excited, it makes me tired. Then, the next morning we have cheap tickets to see Hair and/or Stomp. I'm definitely going to see Stomp. That will be soooooooooooooooooooo cool. I am so excited, only a slight taste of my excitement can be expressed on the internet. Seriously. Even these ! don't do enough.

Of course, this whole thing is surrounded by BUSY-NESS. I am so busy, if you ever want to hang out, I can probably book you for sometime in, oh... April, maybe May. August is your best shot, though. :P I have the musical pit orchestra rehearsal all next week, this weekend I have conference calls and babysitting plus pit rehearsal. Once the musical's done, I have a concert, a college audition, the talent show. Then the NEXT week I have ANOTHER concert and then we leave for the trip to NYC. The day I come back I'm competing in a Concerto Competition, playing a part of a concerto by Saint Seans. Here's a recording: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib9s5LunvFI&feature=related. If I win and get to perform it, it'll be with an orchestra instead of piano.

I must go to bed.

---
next day.
In April, there is the Tri-II Festival. And State Solo and Ensemble Competition. And that's also the month I need to complete my online history class if I want to graduate on May 31st with the rest of my class. :o I can do it, though. It's a pretty easy class. In May... *sigh* I have to hope and pray for a miracle that I might get asked to prom by somebody who would be worth going to prom with. I certainly don't know who to ask when the time comes, and I don't have any money coming in soon, either. Plus, I did the asking to both homecoming AND prom last year. I already have a dress... a gorgeous beautiful dress that I would just love to wear to prom. Buuut I don't have anybody to wear it with. :\ Maybe I'll get lucky.
And maybe a stampede of wild African Elephants will come running down my street.

On top of all of this, I'm having some issues with what is probably my crohn's disease. It's very painful in one certain spot and is causing some complications. Possibly more information will come, if and when it comes. Hopefully no information will have to come and it will just be healed with medication and a miracle. Which is all completely possible. :)

Cinderella...

I am a day dreamer. And a crazy night dreamer. Haha. I can't wait until I reach the age where my day dreams come true... hmmm. That'll be some years from now. In the mean time, I have a suiting song with my own comments added.

A dream is a wish your heart makes (and boy do I have a lot)
When you're fast asleep (or wide awake going throughout your average day...)
In dreams you lose your heartaches (but when you're out of the dream they come right back)
Whatever you wish for, you keep (secret? ha, this is where I say screw Cinderella, I'm telling a close friend about it! We always share them. xD)
Have faith in your dreams and someday
Your rainbow will come smiling thru (*sigh* this is what I dream about.... not literally though)
No matter how your heart is grieving (oh boy)
If you keep on believing (I'm a very logical person... gah!)
the dream that you wish will come true. (not soon enough)

:P

Symphony, Pictures, and Talent Show

Last night and this afternoon the Dubuque Youth Symphony Orchestra had the oppertunity to play side by side with the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra. I have to say it was one of the most fun experiences of my cello life so far. I had sooo much fun! Since I'm principle cellist in the youth symphony, I got to be standpartners with the principle cellist in the symphony, and he is so much fun to be with. He'll be my private cello teacher this fall when I start school at Clarke College and I'm really looking forward to it.
But anyway, the Youth Symphony only played one song with them, but it was FANTASTIC. We played Sibelius's Finlandia and it was astonishingly beauitful. I had so much fun playing in the very front and center of a proffesional symphony playing one of classical music's most astounding pieces that actually did change the lives of thousands of people in Euroupe.

I especially for some reason LOVE the part around 4:56 .. it was so perfect when we played it. Along with places like 5:05. Same with 6:11 and of course the familiar melody line in the middle that everybody knows. Cellos and Violins carried the melody.. it was absolutely gorgeous. And of course the whole end is just goosebump causing to listen to and play..

I apologize that the first minute of the video I have is of the conductor talking, you can just skip through it to hear the song, unless you'd like to hear what he has to say about the piece, which is always nice, too. :) And if you're local, a new episode Gary Olsen's Maestro and Me will soon be playing on Channel 19 sporatically throughout the day. Sally was interviewed on it.
Anway, I've definitely decided that playing in the Symphony is something I will be doing sometime in the future. No doubt about it. Not only do I thourougly enjoy playing symphonic music, I love that I can love and enjoy playing it and that others can love and enjoy listening to it. That's what was really different about this concert, people left with smiles on their faces saying how much they enjoyed it, people I don't even know giving me hugs and thanking me and I was so glad because I enjoyed it as much as they did. :) I'm SO excited that the youth symphony might do this again next year. Next year is my last year with the Youth Symphony (freshman in one of the local colleges is the highest school level you can be in to join, unless otherwise requested by the conductor.)
Also, I got my senior portraits taken last week and I will get the proofs sometime this week and the final products possibly this week or next week. I also was accepted into the school talent show on the piano. I'll have somebody in the audience record it with my camera and I'll put it up here afterwards in March. :)

If it ain't one thing...

If it ain't one thing, it's another.

Good grief, this has been a crazy week. You can read the last 2 posts for one huge story (which, update, she's doing much better and is up walking and talking and in a good mood). Then for the last few weeks I've been having some lower left side stomach pain (possibly my crohn's), and now it's spread from being lower left to the entire left side of the abdomen. It's very uncomfortable and makes me bend over to help relieve the pain. On top of it I've developed a really bad sinus infection over a period of 3 days. I can't go to the doctor yet because they don't give me stuff this soon into it.. but we know from experience that this can last for weeks at a time if not taken care of right away.
So I'm very blehhh from that, and on top of all of that, this evening I started breaking out in the hives. And they're baaaad. They're all over my arms, underarms and legs, knees, and they're horrible on the bottom of my feet, my neck, jawline and cheeks are breaking out in them, too. I hope they don't get in my ears. Or any where else for that matter! This is all in a period of like, 2 hours. I have no idea what is giving me this. It could be change in medication. But I have no idea.
Gosh my feet hurt soooooooooo bad. >_<

Good News

My parents came back from the hospital around 11:00 last night. The doctors say that my mom had a huge ovarian cyst and it had burst and she lost a lot of blood at once which is what made her pass out. There was so much blood and fluids they couldn't even see the ovary on the ultra sound. They gave her morphine for the pain and fluids through an IV and she went back to the doctor this morning for another ultra sound to check to see if she had stopped bleeding, which she did. Now she's at home and is resting and will go back for another ultra sound in 2 weeks. They found inflammation in the fallopian tubes, which they say is abnormal after this kind of thing. So we'll be keeping an eye on that.
So summed up, it was a major version of a minor problem with major pain. Over all, compared to what it could have been, it's a minor problem. Just on the heavy end of minor. I'm so glad it's nothing worse, though. Soooo very glad.

Prayers

My mom is very ill at the moment and is at the hospital getting tests done. My dad is with her. She left church early today because she wasn't feeling well. Then she collapsed while climbing up the stairs and blacked out for about 5 seconds this evening. Fortunately my dad was there to catch her. She says she doesn't remember climbing up the stairs or falling down. Please don't be too anxious, I know everything will be ok, she's recieved a blessing (Keith William and Kevin were over), but prayers would be great. Oliver is very upset, the site of my mom was rather scary, she was very pale and couldn't walk well or support herself. He's been crying on and off all evening. Grace is quietly frightened I can tell, she's sad. Sally.. is emotional enough as it is being a 14 year old girl, but this on top certainly doens't help at all. Molly and I are trying to be strong so that our younger siblings don't see that we're nervous as well, and it's very physically and emotionally tiring.
So far what I've heard is that she's had a CAT scan and an Ultra Sound. It'll be a while before they get results.
We'll be fine, if my parents end up needing to stay at the hospital all night, Molly and I are perfectly capable of getting the kids to and from school, along with ourselves (plus, we have excellent neighbors who are always willing to help in emergencies-we've done the same for them). All we really need are prayers. Please.

It's going to be a bugger getting to sleep tonight... :\
I'll put updates up as I get them.