Busy, Busy, Busy

I've been busy the last couple weeks with all the little details of moving:

Peeling the vinyl off LMS's playroom and bedroom walls:

what it used to look like

what it looks like now

Packing lots of boxes:

there's even more in there now

Hauling said boxes out to storage to make the loading process as quick and painless as possible (this Friday!). I think I've got everything out that can go out at this point. I'll pack up the computer tomorrow night, and it, along with my dresser and cupboard and a box of toys and miscellaneous stuff will have to go downstairs Friday morning.

And I've been busy practicing my flute (not usually associated with moving, I know). Two weeks ago I received a call from our ward music coordinator, asking if I could play a flute solo this Sunday. It's our last Sunday, but I will still be here, so I said I'd have to practice a bit, since it's been quite awhile since I last played (I think at least a year, if not more, though I didn't tell her that). She responded that she was sure I'd do a good job. Such faith! Luckily, I used to be a fairly decent player, so if I practice a bit I can usually sound decent for whatever I've been asked to do (usually play a number with the choir).

As I've practiced, I've remembered why I was never a really good player: I find practicing the same thing, whether it's music, scales, or whatever, over and over quite tedious. I also have a real problem counting while playing. In band, I'd watch the band leader's down beats to make sure I was in the right place (and it drove me nuts when he wouldn't give a definite down beat), but I was a disaster when it came to marching band. I ran cross country in high school, and since it was at the same time as marching band, I couldn't participate (oh darn!). I did, however, have to do several marching band activities in junior high, and they were a mess: marching in time, in whatever constantly changing formation is required, while playing memorized music. Yeah, that so didn't happen. My brain just doesn't work that way. I'd end up faking that I was playing while trying to at least stay in step and in formation.