Tis the season to be stressed out! I can't believe it, but I've got 40 students somehow, and trying to schedule them all in next semester is going to be insane! Oh well, could be worse - they're good kids, rather more than I expected are pretty talented, and the little guy who broke BOTH ARMS two days after his first lesson has not only caught up to, but surpassed the other 3rd graders. Cool. The one real annoyance is that my violin students outnumber the viola ones by almost 3 to 1, but there are a few interested in switching and there's no WAY I'm taking any more violins, so that'll change.

As for playing, duos and trios are the way of the world right now, at least my world - it turns out Piston wrote something else decent besides the viola concerto, and that's a viola/cello duo, Kate Marsch and I are tackling it at the moment and it ROCKS! I took a quick weekend dash back to ol' Rochester (WAY too soon, may I add!) for Janeen Ceparano's master's recital and a little Harry Potter 2, and of course ran into the wonderful (hah!) "inch of slush accumulation". Yuck. Don't miss THAT one bit!

Can I complain about the price of gas, too? Man, the heating bill sucks! I've never had to pay for heat before, this is a new one - thank goodness I have several blankets, a heating pad, and, of course, two furry, purring, snuggly kitties to help stay warm! Not to mention I seem to have developed a serious addiction to Ovaltine. There are worse things. Like, say, having no idea what to buy for most people on my shopping list. So if you're on it, send ideas!

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