Music Week Retrospective

A week ago, we'd be at the start of our Music Week adventure.  Let me write a recap.

We realized we could be in Columbia, SC at the church where my spouse's brother would be preaching.  And so, we made it happen.  We met my father-in-law and stepmom-in-law just before the service started (the GPS took us on a circuitous route), and we enjoyed an excellent worship at St. Andrews Lutheran Church.  Afterwards, we had lunch together and caught up.

Then we were off to Lutheridge.  We drove through rain that wasn't in the weather forecast, and we arrived safely.  We were expecting to have lodging at Thornberg, but we found out we were assigned to Bacot, which was being used for staff housing for the week.  Luckily, there was extra room, and the staff assigned to Bacot was generous in sharing their space.

Being in Bacot meant I had no internet access in the early morning.  In a way, that was good because I had time to read; Jennifer Egan's latest book is very good.  But in a way, it was bad.  I am home now, with work I need to do for my online classes.  And those of you who have been following along know that I have lots of other work to do to get ready for this week's move.

I took my laptop to the Faith Center, where I was able to access the internet, while the choir rehearsed.  Almost every Music Week participant sang in the choir, but I didn't feel like I was too odd for not singing.  I enjoyed working while the choir rehearsed, and I enjoyed the fellowship the rest of the week.  We had a great Bible study of Philippians, and every worship experience was wonderful.

My spouse had grumbled about not having time to participate, but he did end up singing with the choir and having a good experience.  We tried to get some moving related tasks done:  we brought up 2 cars' worth of belongings, which we unloaded.  We bought a mailbox and a post, and my spouse got that put up.  We started the process of bringing internet access to our house that has never had it.

I knew that the food would be different from camp food during the rest of the year.  Wow--it was different.  For example, one day at lunch we had corn dogs.  I haven't had a corn dog since childhood, and it's a food best left in childhood.  But we also had a picnic at the lake, which was picturesque.  Otherwise, meals were served family style, which meant lots of passing of platters and then the passing of dishes to the head of the table.  And the level of noise in the dining hall meant that we couldn't have meaningful conversations at meals.

We went to a hymn sing/festival at a church in downtown Asheville, which had much better music than I expected--and it was a beautiful setting.  I look forward to returning to Asheville to explore; it has changed a lot since I was last there.

In short, we had a great week, despite a few bumps along the way.  I'd do it again.  And now, back to the tasks of moving.

I am trying not to feel anxious about this week, but my brain is getting out ahead of me.  We have 2 moves scheduled with the condo building.  On Tuesday, College Hunks Moving Junk take the items we haven't been able to get to Good Will:  the piano, the monstrous floor lamp, and the sideboard.  On Thursday is the big move.  This morning I'm worried that the office thought I was canceling the Thursday elevator reservation for the Tuesday reservation, even though I did say at least once that I wanted both dates.  I'll doublecheck tomorrow.  

But let me focus on what's going well.  It's taken awhile to get information about seminary housing, but on Friday I got an e-mail that says I'll be in a 2 bedroom.  Hurrah!  I had begun to fret that maybe I'd get no housing, even though I've been told that I'd be in a 1 bedroom at the very least.  See how my brain works?  

I wish I could say that my brain will learn to be less fretful, and in some ways, I am a bit better at calming my anxieties.  So, let me focus on the tasks that must be done: getting stuff packed.  My brain will feel better with stuff packed.