What a difference a week makes...

First, a plug. On May 15th, I had the privilege of singing the soprano solo part in Handel's Messiah with the Cathedral Choir, in Albany, NY.
(See http://web.me.com/woodybynum/The_Cathedral_Choir/Welcome.html)
The concert was part of a series of fundraisers to send this very deserving choir on a tour of Italy. If you are in Albany sometime, please consider stopping by the church and offering a donation. Or, visit the church's website to see if there are upcoming concerts to benefit this magnificent choir.

Messiah is long. It gets longer, if you don't have a savvy conductor moving things along. Woody Bynum (the Cathedral's choir director) is a master- being a singer himself, he understands the plight of those Handel-ian mellismas, and brings his sensitivity to the instrumental interpretation. I was also shocked to find out that the boys had NEVER PERFORMED Messiah before this May!! They began learning the piece in the Fall, and by the 15th of May, sounded like old pros.

Now, it may seem a strange idea, performing Messiah in Spring time, but during the service (while I was not singing) I found myself meditating upon those texts. Too often during the Christmas season, we singers find ourselves with numerous Messiahs to perform. It's sometimes less about the holiday and more about the work; and speaking for myself, the stress of the season/fighting off the winter flu/extreme cold/too many tourists in NY- disrupts the holiness of Christmas time. That, and usually choirs only offer the Christmas portion of Messiah, doing a disservice to the rest of the work. Even non-Christians can glean some comfort from that biblical question "O death, where is thy sting?".
Maya Angelou is quoted as saying "I answer the heroic question "Death, where is they sting?" with "It is here in my heart and mind and memories." and then of course Shakespeare's sonnets are fraught with references to this descriptive text, specifically #146
"So shall thou feed on Death, that feeds on men,
And Death once dead, there's no more dying then"

Sadly, mere days after performing this profound work, my Aunt passed away after a long struggle with cancer. I can't help but think that the unusual timing of this Messiah wasn't arbitrary at all. My friend Nate sang a glorious "The Trumpet shall sound" accompanied by an outstanding baroque trumpet and, to paraphrase Corinthians, I was 'changed'. I had no idea how dire my Aunt's situation had become, at those moments during the performance, but she was first and foremost in my thoughts throughout.

I have to respect that my Aunt was a private person, suffice it to say- she lived on her own terms, and passed on when she was good and ready. I'm grateful to have visited with her before the end, and am honored to have known such a woman.

Allow me to impart some things I've learned this week:

1. Friends are wonderful.
2. Even if your loved one didn't want a 'big deal' made of it, family and friends appreciate the opportunity to get together in tragedy, and lend comfort to each other.
3. When selecting music for the service, consider the resources on hand, not how you'd like your favorite song sung. Opt for instrumental version whenever possible
4. Make sure your choice of reading is NOT the selected gospel reading. Don't leave it up to the priest to double check for you. Even though it's their job.
5. Watch out for your food intake. I discovered this week that I'd rather eat than feel sad. Now that the funeral is done, the initial sadness lingers coupled with anger, now that I'm fatter. :)

Me as "Cover MOM"

Yesterday being Mother's Day reminded me of my weekend stint "covering" for my friend, who took her first vacation away, since giving birth the first time, 3 years ago.

The assignment: an insanely smart, active and funny 3 year old, and an adorable non-fussy 6 month old. My duties over the weekend included schlepping the girls to a ballet class (for the 3 year old) then to a library class, and "Auntie Jen's choice" depending on how the weather/how tired I was, and a 3 year old's birthday party the next day. After being prepped and armed with a complete schedule of feedings, sleep times, directions to each off-site location, and general rules of the house, my friend and her husband took off and I began mommy-ing.

I got to the home at around 5:45 the first night and took the hand-off from the nanny. This was the easy night. The girls were already fed, in the jammies, and winding down for an 8pm bedtime. Ahhh. Being a mommy is easy! They both slept thru the night without incident (well, the 6 month old slept until 6:30, when I then changed and fed her- and went back to snoozing) and once morning came around, both girls have that morning-docile quality that makes you want to eat them up. This haze lasted maybe an hour, before I realized "Mommy-time" runs about 20 minutes late.

Now, I consider myself a great multitasker, with a pretty good handle of time management, but when I left myself 45 minutes for a 20 minute car ride, I still managed to get to the 10:30 ballet class at around 10:40. MOMS out there- just getting yourself out of the house with kids in tow, is a feat worth recognizing. If you manage to get yourselves to appointments on time- Gold Medal worthy.

The one drag all weekend? The rainy Sunday. UGH. I love to be outside, and the day before was so gorgeous: walked to the park, played in the sand, and my 3 year old even comforted an older girl on the playground when she got a splinter "It's going to be ok..." she said. Love that girl. But when it rains, your mommy-options are limited. We ended up painting ceramics at "Claytime" (www.claytime.com) which ate up several hours and my cell phone. Lesson learned that day: never potty train a toddler with a phone hanging out of your pocket. It's sure to fall into the toilet. Once I had both girls good and exhausted, we headed home, had our bath and into jammies. THEN- the thunder and lightening started. Oh no. I thought this would be a disaster for the girls, being at home without mommy to comfort them. I went in and checked on my 3 year old and all she says to me is "Auntie Jen I heard a noise". I was so grateful for her lack of fear! I gave her a big hug and kiss and said I'd check on her in 5 minutes. When I went back- she was OUT.

So dear readers, here are some new mommy tricks of the trade, that I found out about LATER. Could have been useful to know, before my weekend was up.

1. Don't drop your cell phone in the toilet. (repeat, I know- but important)
2. Don't play "airplane" with a 6 month old after they've eaten.
3. Dress your toddler in the morning while she's on the potty. This way she can't bolt- running around the living room pants-less
4. A 'jumpy seat' is a 6 month old's best friend.
5. Always use the burp-cloth, even if you think you don't have to.
6. Being in the car is a pleasure. Once you get everyone in the car.
7. Never give a 3 year old a full glass of ANYTHING. It may end up on the floor.