December 15

      I woke up laughing this morning. How often does that happen? Some lady on the radio was talking about this experiment these people were doing that proved that you look better when you get a proper amount of sleep. She goes,
           "They took pictures of people who got a full night's rest and then of people who hadn't slept in 36 hours  (or something), and the results showed that the people who slept less looked worse. What kind of experiment is that? Isn't it obvious? Oh, was that mean?"
       Hilarious! It was at this point that I realized my alarm had been going off for nearly 40 minutes and I should get up. I had a million things running through my head about the massive work load I feel that I have these next couple of days, and I was already ovewhelmed. So, I started my day with some Bible reading and focused prayer. The really strange thing is, I still found time to relax today. I think I'm mentally making my life more difficult than it has to be. There is only so much I can do, and I'm not gonna beat myself up with schoolwork this time around. Surprisingly, I have become way better at letting go of things and worrying less in the past couple months. I take things in smaller doses, one step at a time. I give God the glory for this more frequent peace because I know it doesn't come naturally to me. Keep it comin', God!
       I decided that doing my Shakespeare homework this morning was going to be a waste of my time, so I didn't do it. And guess what? Class was cancelled! The professor was sick, so he just handed back our papers and let us go. Here's another reason to "Jesus brag" - I got an A on my paper. Technically, it's a 4 on a 20-point scale but a number of people told me that was really good. I don't remember really stressing over writing that paper (even though it was a nightmare to print and turn in. I think I wrote about that in an earlier blog), so thanks God : ) There's one success story. Now I'm hoping for a bunch more in my other classes!
       During the time I would usually be in class, I went grocery shopping and then started to work on songs for my gig tomorrow. I kind of wish I had more time to prepare, but I've got enough songs in my back pocket and hopefully a couple new ones. The nap bug suddenly bit me in the middle of my jam session, and I gave in. Of course, I overslept again. As I was waking up, I was all disoriented for some reason and asking myself if I was in Vienna or London. Well, I quickly figured it out. Soon enough, I headed to rehearse with the choir for our performance tonight. It's been cool singing with the choir and singers ensemble, but I never really hopped totally on board emotionally. I still feel like an outsider, like I have everyone fooled into thinking I am one of them but I'm really not. I'm just passing through on exchange. The concert was alright. Things never go exactly according to plan. I made a small biff in one of the choir numbers, and I would probably give myself a C+ or B- on my solo. My voice was tired by then and I was nervous. (I hadn't been nervous until right before I started singing. Usually I would be nervous through the whole concert. I guess that makes the situation better than usual in a way.) It wasn't atrocious or anything, but I could have done it better. Still, it was a great opportunity, and I'm glad I went through with it. For the record, I prefer to have an instrument as a comfort blanket ;) That's for tomorrow night's gig.
       After the concert, I went back to my room, played a few songs on my guitar, had some tea, and realized that there wasn't much schoolwork that I could do at that hour of the night when the library was closed. Kind of a bummer because I'm ready to start moving out from under this dark cloud or work that is hanging over my head. Oh well. I'll work hard tomorrow. Bedtime now.

Prayer Request of the Day: That I would do well in my performance (just a small one for class - I'm doing "Danny Boy") and aural musicianship tests (that I'm definately NOT feeling prepared for)  tomorrow. Ugh.