if dickens ever had a weekend like mine...

it was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair...

i don't know about the french revolution, but charles dickens sure nailed my weekend. transporting my ragged psyche from the bowels of an internal mordor, ruled by the piercing cardinal eye of my conscience, to the bliss of a blossom-bedecked stroll with my beau ... no wonder i woke up on sunday with a fever!

the worst of times
my first opportunity to play with christian youth theater (i'm accompanying their production of willy wonka) was last friday - as the backup-emergency-sight-reading accompanist.

i can do sight reading. however, never having been in this position before, i only learned what questions to ask the children after my neglect to ask them resulted in disaster. (questions such as "are you starting halfway through the song?")

i feel terrible when i'm not able to help a child perform as well as i know they can, and though we had several good performances, there were several that ... i could have helped them more by asking better questions. and so, as the day drew to a close, i felt pretty bad.

... and then i looked at my phone, and saw that i had missed 5 calls, and realized that i had scheduled a photo gig for that afternoon with a friend and her whole dorm section, thinking that april 3rd was a saturday.

when i left auditions friday night, i felt awful for those i had let down, and knew that i had no one to blame but myself.

the best of times
forgiveness and understanding are the most healing gifts we can offer each other, aren't they?
my friend was forgiving and understanding (and so kind).

saturday started (for me) with more auditions. this time, no guessing at questions. the kids were great, the atmosphere fun, and this show is going to be a blast!

afterward, my dear husband took me miniature golfing (i got a hole in one!), out to happy hour at mccormick&schmicks (i accidentally dropped a piece of fish in my $7 drink), and for a long walk along the waterfront. we watched the river, the cherry trees, and the kid who jumped over the making out couple.