Singing in Handel's Messiah

Last night I sang in a performance of Handel's Messiah, at St John's Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane with the Bach Choir. It was (again) such a lovely experience ... I didn't sing in it last year as I'd only just got back from overseas, and so missed most of the rehearsals. But this year, since I'd given up on my regular choir, I'd had it in my mind as my 'choir' experience for the year. And yes, sometimes it was hard to come home for an hour, and then drive back into the city to go to rehearsals. But it was so worth it!

I know pretty much all of the music now.The only chorus I still have a bit of a problem with is the final one - the Amen chorus. But I felt that I mostly had it! And it's so wonderful to come to the end of a chorus, and stop singing, then hear the sound echoing back to us from the cathedral's vaulted ceilings ... :)

Today my friend Helen came round and we practiced to the Mark Darby DVD. For various reasons, I hadn't been able to practice for 3 days, so it was really nice to get back onto the mat. I did a few poses that I'm not doing in class yet (ones that have been 'taken away' because of my meniscus injury and haven't come back yet). Some of them were quite good - others I could see I was a long way away from being able to do them again And in fact my knee felt a bit tender afterwards ... So I won't be pushing to get some of them back again yet!!

Back on track!

I'm feeling so much better now ... final course of antibiotics ends on Sunday - I don't really feel I need them but am taking them just in case! And I'm also taking Inner Health acidopholous to replace all the good bacteria killed off by said antibiotics. It really is so wonderful to be feeling healthy and with lots of energy again! You always appreciate your health so much more after a period of bad health!

And my yoga practice is all coming back too, after the extra restrictions of being ill and just unable physically to do much. I'm nearly back to my pre-Bali practice now. When I first went back to class (only last Saturday) I was put back on the restricted "post-illness or absence" practice that they make you do. But by yesterday evening I was given all my standing poses back, and just told to do the restricted practice to Navasana. Of course, even when I get all the pre-Bali practice back it will still be a practice restricted by knee meniscus issues, and I fully expect that to take up to a year to properly recover.

I just did a 35 minute lunchtime practice in the Uni pilates gym (my usual weekday practice location) and it felt really good! Still a bit wobbly in UHP (a fairly common issue for me anyway!), but I'm almost able to grab my toe in trikonasana, and my wrist in paschimottanasana. Feels very satisfying!

Some friends came over for brunch on Sunday. I'd originally invited them for lunch, but they suggested an earlier brunch. Turned out to be a really nice way to entertain friends, and still have time left after they've gone to do a few things in the garden, or wherever!!

And my only other news is I'm back singing with the Bach Choir, for their annual Handel's Messiah concert. When I gave up singing with my main choir at the beginning of the year due to lack of time (and a desire to give more of my precious time to yoga), I always said I'd try and do the 6 weeks rehearsal with the Bach choir to sing the Messiah. And I'm really enjoying it ... :)

much better now!

It took me till the middle of the week till I felt fully 'over' the previous few days, but now I'm feeling great again and have a much happier frame of mind!

Had a lovely practice at the shala yesterday. I was still a bit under-strength (having only managed 2.5 practices during the week <grin>) but it felt good. And I managed to bind in marichyasana B again (first time since I lost it after the whole lymphoma episode 3 years ago!) On one side only, but still great!

Today I've been doing things around the house/garden, including some cooking. Pretty pleased with myself as I made a good pastry case (for an onion tart). I never used to be able to make pastry - when I was living with Angela I always used to say - oh Angela is the pastry-maker. But that was a long time ago (10 years - can hardly believe it!) and I finally bestirred myself to learn from my Mum, who has always been the best pastry-maker I know!

I have lately become much more interested in cooking. Not that I wasn't interested before - I like food, so it follows! But for years I'd been in a real rut, just cooking the same few dishes. A year or two ago I started to get sick of it all, really wanted to cook/eat different types of food. Somehow it felt time to try different / new recipes - and by new, I don't just mean new to me. I mean recipes developed recently by new young chefs! (And no, I'm not talking Heston Blomenthal, or those mad chefs creating dishes in a test-tube!)

I did try buying a new cookery book or two, but somehow they didn't spark any great interest. Then in the past few months I've gotten sucked into a couple of cooking shows on TV - currently Master Chef. I remember when it was on last year for the first time, I never bothered. But because of rave reviews from people I respected, I started watching. And they have really caught my attention/inspired me!

Now of course, my Mum's onion tart is not a new recipe! It's one of the things she cooks that I have loved for many years!! But I've never even tried to make it before! And only started making pastry this year.  Now I've got quite a few cookery books on my wish list at the Book Depository (that wonderful place to order books online that doesn't charge any postage)! Just have to be careful what I'm spending money on, when I'll be going on a long overseas trip in just 5 months!!

And haven't even mentioned the Choir concert next weekend. Carmina Burana - I really love that music! I've sung it twice before, so I know it reasonably well. Just as well because I seem to have missed a lot of rehearsals this year. I think this will be the last QUMS (Queensland Uni Music Society) choir concert I'll be able to sing in this year. I'll be away (Bali and Europe - hooray!) for the 2nd Semester concert. I will try and see if I can sing in the Messiah concert at the end of November, but I'll have missed more than half the rehearsals, so it'll be up to the conductor to say yay or nay!

Here's a YouTube video (5 mins) of Carmina Burana 'highlights'! Have a listen - it's wonderful!!

Handel's Messiah in the Cathedral

Last weekend was the annual performance of The Messiah in St John's Cathedral. I love singing The Messiah - I join another choir just for this performance. St John's is a 'new' gothic cathedral - I've put it in quotes as it's been in the building process for around 100 years! But it is now complete and was full of lovely patchwork-like decorations. A few photos follow ...

A few photos

The front-door fish ... :)

Just got back from a day at choir camp - held in some boy scout camp up in the north of Brisbane. It started on Friday night but I usually only manage one day. It was fun, though by the end of the afternoon we were really stumbling through ... you should have heard us attempting to learn the final piece for the day! Not a pretty sound ... ! This (below) was the final rousing rendition of Laudate Nomen Domine (taken as a choral anthem by Australian uni choirs) - just a few of the choir in the photo.

I had to struggle at yoga yesterday afternoon. Was pretty tired after a long and tiring week I guess! But I am noticing that having decided to stop spacing out so much during practice I'm getting to the end of my practice quite easily in the time I have. Quite amazing to think that a few weeks ago I wasn't able to do all the poses because of time constraints!

And finally, here's a picture of sleepy-head Jedda ... :)

What I did on my Holidays!

Not a school essay - really what I wanted to blog about was a film I saw and a book (one of many!) I read!

The film I saw must have come out a year or more ago. But it happened to be having a return season at the cinema in Bowral when I rang up to see what was on. I'd wanted to see it when it came out but somehow hadn't. Mum had, and she had loved it, so we went! As it is in Heaven - that's the translation from the Swedish. Probably many people have seen it/heard about it. If you haven't, go and see it! Such a wonderful wonderful uplifting film - about a violinist/conductor who develops a life-threatening heart condition and returns to the village of his youth. He ends up conducting the local village choir, a mixed bunch (non-auditioned of course) of locals all with their own problems and issues.

There's a beautiful song that the woman with the husband who beats her (Gabriella) sings in their village hall concert. The words were just so inspiring that I had to search the internet to find them. Here they are (again, obviously translated from the Swedish!)

It is now that my life is mine
I’ve got this short time on earth
And my longing has brought me here
All I lacked and all I gained
And yet it’s the way that I chose
My trust was far beyond words
That has shown me a little bit
Of the heaven I’ve never found

All my living days I will live as I desire
I want to feel I’m alive
Knowing I was good enough
I have never lost who I was
I have only left it sleeping
Maybe I never had a choice
Just the will to stay alive

Being who I am
To be strong and to be free
To see day arise from night
I am here and my life is only mine
And the heaven I thought was there
I’ll discover it there somewhere
I want to feel that I’ve lived my life

It really struck a chord with me - probably it is better when you hear the music and see the lovely brave woman singing it out at the front of the choir stage, with her husband glowering in the back of the hall. But - yes, I too want to feel that I've lived my life!!

The final scene, of the choir on a big competition stage in Salzburg, with their conductor, probably dying from a heart attack, unable to get up the final flight of stairs to the stage to be with them, but still hearing them from below, was just utterly wonderful. I sat there with tears streaming down my face and a huge joyous smile plastered all over the same face!! As all the other (professional) choirs who were in the audience (and had previously been pretty snooty about this village group) slowly stood up to sing with them! Oh I'm nearly crying again writing about it ... :)

And the book that I read, which was perhaps in a similar vein, was Eat Pray Love. I know, I know, it's been out for a year or two, and I've finally got to it. (Although if I'd read that Julia Roberts was recommending it I'm not sure that I would! I don't know why publishers think that would make anyone buy a book!!!) But luckily I hadn't, and I really loved the book. It was so uplifting and - reminding me that there's so much more to life than I sometimes allow myself to remember! I know, I shouldn't need reminding. I do have that gift of Maharaji's knowledge. But I'm a very imperfect and easily distracted person and consequently am really grateful for all the reminders that come my way!!

My Plan to start yoga again!

I was looking through a drawer for some spare Christmas cards I'd bought and never sent last year (yes, I've suddenly realised it's that time of year, specially for overseas cards!) and I saw the old wall calendar I'd had last year. It had pictures from an ashtanga yoga class for each month - just regular people doing yoga. And it really made me want so much to be doing yoga again.

I've had a few setbacks with the cough etc. but do feel I'm getting on top of it again. (yes, I know, I've said this a few times before!) But anyway, I've decided to try doing some at lunchtime this week, specifically I'll try very cautiously doing 1-2 sun salutes, and see how downdog goes. If it doesn't get me coughing again, I'll increase the number slowly, and hope to be able to go back to class next Saturday. Now that is a plan I like the sound of!!

Actually, I had to go and have chest physio this week. Apparently I've damaged my lungs sometime ago by coughing too much, and that damage is never going to go away. So I'll be more liable to getting chest infections etc. Luckily the resulting bronchio-something (!) that I've got is in a very early stage, and should be able to be kept there if I look after myself.

It was quite amusing - the physiotherapist kept on repeating that this condition that results in the boring cough was never going to go away completely. In that, I'll be liable to get chest infections that will bring it back. After the 4th time I ended up saying to her - look, I've recently survived having cancer. I'm certainly not going to break my heart over a bit of a cough that comes every now and then!

Last night was the Bach Society Choir performance of The Messiah. It went pretty well, although there was a sticky moment in the 2nd half when one voice-part didn't come in when they should, which unfortunately resulted in us altos losing our place and not coming in either! Luckily the other 2 voice parts were still singing and we managed to pick it up again a few seconds later!! These things do tend to happen sometimes in performances! Anyway, I had a lovely time, and what's more, I didn't cough at all. I did come armed with Fisherman's Friends (very strong mint lozenges) which my Mum told me stopped her coughing fits, and whether it was them, or maybe the physio the day before, it was really nice not to be coughing my head off while I was supposed to be singing!

Good news at last!

Yes, I am definitely on the mend - I can't say how much of a relief that is after 9 weeks of coughing and wheezing, sinusitis etc! I've held off saying anything for a few days as there've been a few occasions in the last couple of months when I thought I was getting better, only for it to come back a day or two later! Anyway - posted a bit more about it on the lymphoma blog (even though what I had is nothing to do with lymphoma, that blog is about my health!)

I even feel like I can sing properly (or nearly!) again - which is good as I've got choir practice for The Messiah tonight, and the performance is next week!

I don't, however, feel confident to start my yoga practice again yet. I'm going to wait until I'm completely confident my airways are 100% back to normal. Hopefully that won't take more than another week or two ... :)

Choirs, family Sunday lunches, etc

Well, it's a case of same old same old, as far as my health (sinusitis / 'post viral cough') is concerned. I decided to stop blogging about it coz it's just too boring, and doesn't get you anywhere! I've been to the doctor 4 times now and can't say much is improved! I do have my 3-monthly appointment with my specialist next week and it would be wonderful if he had some magic solution that could fix everything! But I don't expect so ... I just think it's a matter of time. So, that's it - until I do really get rid of it, that is! Then I'll be shouting from the rafters!

Last night was the big choir concert. We did a Haydn Mass and Te Deum, and Britten's St Nicholas. My cousin and Aunt who are visiting from Africa and England, both came and really enjoyed it. Today they came over for a picnic lunch at my place, along with some other Brisbane relatives (who they are staying with). We had a lovely time - what a Sunday should be: relaxing with friends and relations, not being busy rushing out shopping or whatever.

Tomorrow night I am determined to go to the Bach choir rehearsal for the Messiah. I missed the first one last week, and you can only miss one if you want to sing it!

Apart from that, very unpleasant things are happening at my work. I don't think I'm going to blog about it all yet, but it will all come out sooner or later! (This post would be way too long if I started on about it all now!)

I feel better now!

No, I've still got the cold/flu/virus/whatever ... but I went to see the doctor at Uni today. And as soon as I walked in the door she said - you've got sinusitis haven't you! She could tell just by looking at me. Well, I had been feeling blocked up and swollen around my eyes ... Anyway, she checked me over, confirmed that the nosebleed was definitely a result of whatever it is that I've got, and nothing 'sinister'!

So I came away with a prescription for antibiotics and instructions to get cold/flu tablets, nasal spray, eucalyptus oil for inhalations and I don't know what else! When I got to the chemists I told them I was coming to buy up the shop!!

And - it's probably all in my mind, but I'm sure I'm feeling better already! However, I'm still going to be taking it very carefully. Still don't dare do anything like downward dog (yoga pose) yet!

Before all this I did manage to drag myself to choir practice last night, though I only stayed for the first half. I'll still have to do lots of practice at home to catch up after all the rehearsals I've missed. The concert is next month.

Trips and colds and ...

Went to Sydney last weekend for Jo and Emma's engagement party. He's off to Oxford University for a year - tomorrow actually, and it was really nice to see them before he goes, as well as be there for the (long-awaited by parents /grandparents of both!) celebration! Put some photos up on Flickr and Facebook ...

Since I got back I've unfortunately succumbed to one of the many colds/viruses that everyone around me had been getting all winter! And I had just started to pat myself on the back for not getting any ... oh well! At least it's giving my immune system a work-out. :)

Couldn't go to choir practice last night, and won't make it to the choir camp this weekend. Well, no voice to speak of, and the drive to where it's being held is just too much for me to contemplate feeling as I do! So far I've made it in to work one day this week, and I guess it depends how I feel tomorrow morning whether I'll make it 2 or not!

No yoga to speak of - everything has taken a hit from this ...

I do just manage to wander out and look at (admire!) my veggie garden beds - seeds are coming up, lettuce is almost ready to pick, as is rocket and spinach. Very satisfying!!

Why am I so busy?!

Had to make the decision last night not to be part of the choral recording that my choir is doing in a few days time. I just seem to be so busy at the moment and there's heaps of music that I either don't know, or else am very rusty on. I can't see when or how I can do enough rehearsal to be able to do it ... Ah well, there'll be another concert next semester that I'll be singing in.

Why am I so busy? Well, one of the reasons is I've been asked to update a website that I did years ago. It's one for an organisation I'm involved in ... shan't put the URL here as I'm not proud of the site anymore. For one thing it's laid out in tables (shock, horror!) instead of purely CSS. Anyway, it's taking a lot longer to fix up than I thought it would and there's pressure to do it asap. And this is of course all being done in the evenings, after I've been at work all day, then gone to the gym on the way home. Apart from that - I guess I've just been taking on a bit more than I had been and, particularly if I don't go to bed early enough (ie. by 10pm) I end up getting tired ... and grumpy with myself!

Anyway, I just needed to clear the decks a bit! This weekend (Sunday) I'm going to a mosaic-making get-together with some friends which should be great! I've always wanted to do some mosaic, and so I'm going to have fun! I'm either going to do a plant saucer/platter, or a large square pot rest. I'm restraining myself from launching into big complex projects before I've done anything! It's been hard, but ... :)

At yoga class last weekend it was wonderful to meet up with a woman who'd gone to live overseas last year, and had somehow heard about me getting ill and sent me some sweet emails at the time. She is back on holiday and I had no idea - so it was lovely to see her walking in! We had a nice little chat. She told me she followed my blog so she knows what I'm up to - hi there Daniele if you're reading this!

Handel concert

The (Handel) Judas Maccabaeus concert was on Saturday night at St Johns, the Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane. It went pretty well I think. The cathedral was nearly full and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. We had a great supper afterwards in the courtyard - and as well as Teresa coming, I was amazed to see Dion there too. I hadn't even asked him if he wanted to come, but at my party the choir people were telling everyone about it, and he decided to come! In fact he told me it was a choice between a friend's birthday party or the Handel concert, but Handel would always win that contest!! I shall have to put him on my list of people to invite to choir concerts. Turns out he sings in the Queensland Choir, so he's definitely into choral music.

I went to yoga class one evening during the week as I knew I wouldn't be able to go on the weekend - Iain was there, it was so nice to see him again. Just a few little directions/comments and it makes such a difference.

Flowers, books and yoga

I got into work on Thursday after spending the morning in a workshop on another campus, to find these flowers on my desk! I couldn't believe it - honestly I'm not the sort of person who gets flowers delivered, particularly at work! And OK, yes they're from my aunt and uncle in the UK, not some romantic interest (what's that?!) but I was quite overwhelmed, and somewhat embarrassed too! I share an office with 2 young guys, and - well, I don't like too much attention on me !! But they're gorgeous, and look great at home as you can see!

So, it's been a long weekend here - May Day etc. I've had a great time. On Saturday I went to Avid Books (wonderful bookshop in Brisbane) and 'spent' a book token someone had given me for my birthday. Such a great present! I got a really great Donna Hay recipe book (I've been wanting to get some new ones for ages), and also an impulse buy of Rupert Everett's autobiography! A long time ago I worked in theatre wardrobe at the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, and Rupert worked with us as a (very naughty!) dresser for a while in those days! Before his ignominious departure as described in the book. Without asking anyone (and he'd never have been allowed to) he 'borrowed' the lead actor's costume to go to a party and somehow the costume got left there! You can imagine the horror when it was discovered missing before the next performance!!!

Anyway, after that I rushed off to half an hour of choir practice, before carrying on to yoga class. Very busy there, with only one teacher this time. But just practicing in that sort of atmosphere really seems to lift my practice.

Then yesterday I went out with a friend to see this film 'Miss Pettigrew takes a Day'. Set in London just before the start of WW2. Very light but amusing! I think my mother would like it - she was living and working in London at that time. Met my Dad towards the end of the war ... :)

Today I've just been gardening and doing stuff around the house ... generally having a nice lazy day!

choir, health, yoga ...

Spent the weekend at a choir camp. Our choir QUMS (Queensland Uni Musical Society) is doing a big performance of Handel's Judas Maccabaeus in just over 10 days' time. And although we've been rehearsing it for months, it's still a biig piece and lots to learn/polish! We're performing it at St John's Cathedral in Brisbane (apparently the last Gothic cathedral to be built - in fact they're still building it!) and there are going to be 4 soloists and an orchestra. Should be amazing - I normally only sing in big things like that when it's the Messiah - also by Handel!

Apart from that I have been slowly recovering from all the excitement ... photos will come soon I promise! Yoga did get a bit left behind but I practiced today - and it was hard! Normally it's only like that the 2nd practice after a gap!

Nothing much else ... but? wait! I just remembered! I had a blood test and then saw my doctor last week! Nothing too much new to report. Although my blood levels were a bit down on the previous test, he thought that those (the previous test results) were probably still reflecting the booster injection I'd had. My new WBC levels are still 'trending up' (!) if you take out that one. He was happy with it all. I am due to have scans (PET and CT) at the end of June and will see him again the following month. Assuming all is well in those, he said he probably wouldn't schedule any more scans unless/until something showed up. Which hopefully will either not, or not for a very long time!!

So anyway - it's all good!

chaturanga - I need to take it carefully!

I've started a tentative yoga practice again - just at lunchtime at work at the moment, but will go back to class soon. I wanted to have the freedom to just do a few poses and not feel pushed (or caught up in the class energy) and do too much too soon.

And actually, last night and today I've been feeling it a bit. I had been reading this discussion on chaturanga on the Ashtanga discussion board and realised I've been doing it wrong all this time. My hands have been definitely under my shoulders, not further down my body. So was trying to do it more correctly, and of course it makes for a much deeper 'up-dog' section of the pose, which in turn stretches your abdomen more. So I think that's why I was feeling a few twinges and aches on the side of the missing ovary last night! I'll have to back off a bit on that pose for a while longer.

Perth trip is getting very close - in fact this time next week I'll be in the air! I'm not going to be blogging from there (well, it's only for 5 days, and I'm not even posting once a week, so ... :) ) but I will be taking lots of photos, so prepare to see some of them when I get back!

And rehearsals for The Messiah have started again - last night was the 2nd week of them. Performance is at the end of November in St Johns Cathedral in Brisbane. I do love singing this so much - but I've got a lot of work to do on it. I've got very rusty on a lot of what I did know, and there's still a few choruses that I've never got on top of - eg the Amen chorus! ! I'm going to take my iPod loaded up with the Alto part of the choruses with me, plus a photocopy of the music. I'll have to hope I don't start singing out loud on the plane while listening to it!

This and that!

Went to a big multi-choir rehearsal this morning (Sunday) for the Brisbane Sing for Water concert, which is next Sunday. It's wonderful to be singing with 450 or so other people - sounds great! There are about 50+ primary school children too, and they sound angelic!

And the 5-day event with Maharaji is flying towards us ... Just can't wait! T and L, friends from England are arriving in a couple of weeks (with my new eco yoga mat!) to stay for it, and then it's just a week after that. I've got a week and a half off.

In yoga, I've got 3 things I've been given to work on since I last went to class. Firstly in Marichyasana C - I can bind on the 2nd side, but the first side I'm a mile away. Richard was looking at me doing it last Monday and we agreed that I don't seem able to twist as much left to right. So I'm going to just keep working on that, do the first side twice. Then in Bhakasana (we get given that as a preparation to bhujapidasana) and which I still can't lift both feet off the ground in, Richard's got me just leaning further forward and lifting one foot off at a time, then the other. Hopefully if I keep doing that I'll get 'airborne' sometime this century :)

And finally, he saw me trying padmasana (I'd managed to do it OK one day the previous week so thought I could manage it, but ...!) anyway, I'm doing this sort of cross-legged thing with my feet half-way between hip and knee, and foot flexed. A hip-opener thing ...

If anyone was at all interested ... !

A Standing Ovation!

We sang the Messiah again on Saturday night at a little country town called Boonah (set it lovely rolling countryside with hills/mountains on 2-3 sides), and we got a standing ovation! It was a beautiful performance - the soloists were wonderful and I just loved it. (Even though I do still get lost in the Amen Chorus at the end!) Really, so much of it can be read as so relevant - I mean, "How Beautiful are the Feet of him that preaches the gospel of peace" - it's about Darshan!!

So, that's it - I've put my score away for another year ...

Yoga is going well, even though I haven't been practicing as much as I'd like ... Marichyasana A is getting easier and easier. B is nowhere near anything! And with C I'm definitely seeing that I can get there, hopefully within the next year.

I finish work for the year at the end of next week. Then I'm off down to my Mum's in New South Wales for Christmas, and back up here on Boxing Day for Woodford (the Woodford folk festival). Yeay - can't wait. That is such a fantastic 6-8 days. I should be able to blog from there - I seem to remember they have an internet cafe setup there ...

on my iPod: the John Butler Trio

India photos

Well, it's long past time I should be here again! (This blog I mean) Feel like I've been in a bit of a daze since I've been back. Constant running (driving) to rehearsals for The Messiah and consequent lack of sleep has no doubt contributed to this state! The first performance is tonight ... Having rehearsed in the cathedral a couple of nights this week I have to say I don't seem to know it as well as I thought I did!! The acoustics make it hard to hear what people around you (ie your voice part) are singing, and of course it's one thing to sing your part on your own, quite another to sing it against 3 other voice parts as part of a 40-50 person choir ... Still I do think it'll be wonderful.

Yoga has taken a definite back seat this week - haven't practiced at all! At least I know I'll be back in class on Monday night ...

Anyway - here are a few of my photos from India - enjoy!

Back in Oz

Here I am, back in sunny Australia (unlike India where I rarely saw the sun!). Got back on Friday night, and after a slight mix-up about being picked up, finally got home around 10.30pm. Mieke pussycat was very pleased to see me!! She tried to tell me she hadn't been fed for the whole 6 weeks I'd been away, but as she was pretty much her usually plump self, I didn't believe her!!!

India already seems a long way away although it's only 4 days ago that I was sitting in a taxi driving through Bangalore to the airport, thinking 'oh, I don't want to leave'!! There's something about India that I really love. But once I got to the airport and was in the departure lounge, it was 'on to the next thing', as it were.

I went to yoga class on Saturday afternoon and spent a lot of time reminiscing with Richard about the time we were there together. The rest of the weekend I lazed around. Did some washing, unpacked my case, but there is a big pile of clothes and stuff on the floor beside my bed that I haven't summoned up the energy to deal with yet!!

Today I've been at work, in a bit of a daze. Just reading emails and telling people about my holiday!! But tonight I absolutely have to drive in to Brisbane to go to a choir rehearsal for The Messiah. I've missed 3 rehearsals already, and really I came back at this time so I would be able to sing in The Messiah, so ... :)

I'll sort out some India pictures to upload soon ... and I'm also going to set up a Flickrs account to post more photos ... Later!

On my iPod: the Alto choruses for The Messiah of course!