The plan...

Greeting blog followers!

*Insert standard apology about how I'm sorry I haven't written for ages because I've been really busy etc. etc*

I've been up to a fair bit lately, and have actually kept you in mind with photos of the odd activity here and there, but these photos/stories never seem to get themselves onto my blog

*Insert standard excuse about how I'm too busy to write blog entries because my job is taking over my life etc. etc*

I'm just loading the photos onto my computer now, and I was thinking I'd write a mammoth entry about all the things I've been doing etc. etc. , but I think we all know that if I do that, the entry will be 13 pages long, and most of you won't have time to read it all. I'll also be unlikely to post again for another month or so... so instead, I think I'll write a few separate posts, and put them on time release, so they publish a couple of days apart for the next week or so. How's that?! I like the plan because it means I'll get more comments than if I just post once :D

But to give you a couple of tidbits now (because I know you'll all be going crazy with suspense waiting for the next posts.

(Which I should actually warn you aren't going to be THAT exciting... I mean, I haven't won an international trip or had dinner with the Queen or anything...)

I have been released from my Stake Young Women's calling, which was a little sad (I've really enjoyed it), but I've been called as the 1st counselor in our ward YW presidency - which is really exciting. It's going to be busier (ward callings always are!) but it'll be really nice to work directly with the girls for once - it's much more hands on, and I'm really excited to be working with Brodi (our president) and Sulla (our second counselor), so I'm sure there will be more stories to follow on that front.

I should also warn you that I've been signing up for choirs left right and centre at the moment, and I just realized that I'm likely not to have more than 1-2 nights a week at home over the next 3 weeks! I hadn't quite made that connection as I was signing up for them! But it should be fun anyway, if I don't die of exhaustion (I have a habit of biting off more than I can realistically chew, unfortunately)... I haven't done any real singing in a long time, so hopefully this will help renew my vocal chords a little :)

HANDEL'S MESSIAH
I've signed up to join the QLD Choir for a short stint for a concert of Handel's Messiah on Saturday 21st of November. They like to swell to a 200 voice choir for this concert, so they let people join, and I figured I could handel (get it, 'Handel'), I figured I could 'handle' a 3 week stint. I did it last year, and they perform in City Hall with a Baroque orchestra and 4 fabulous soloists, so I'm looking forward to it. I'm also doing it with a work colleague who was keen to sing with a choir, and so I'm singing alto to keep her company. Rehearsals will be Monday and Thursday nights until the concert. The only down side is that I won't actually be able to make the concert itself, because:

ELDER COOK YSA FIRESIDE
The apostle, Elder Cook is coming out to Brisbane over the weekend of the 21st and 22nd of November, and on the 21st (Saturday night), he's having a fireside just with the YSA (finally, an upside to being a YSA!). Anyway, I'm playing the piano for the YSA choir that will be singing at the EMP chapel. Quite excited about that - haven't played the piano for a choir for a long time! Rehearsals are Wednesday nights for the next three weeks.

GENERAL AUTHORITY STAKE CONFERENCE
And then, either Elder Cook or Elder Gonzalas will be speaking at a special stake conference for my stake on Sunday the 22nd of November. So I'm signing with the Stake Choir for that fireside. Rehearsals are Sunday nights until then.

CHRISTMAS FIRESIDE
My stake is having a Christmas musical fireside on Sunday December 20th, and the Stake Choir will also be singing for that, so after the stake conference, we'll continue rehearsing Sunday nights until then. Except for fast Sundays and Sunday the 22nd of November, when there's a stake youth fireside about using technology, and I'm giving (and need to prepare actually!) a workshop about social media and how to and to NOT use it...

YOUTH NIGHTS FOR YOUNG WOMEN
Are every Tuesday night, so those are blocked out in the calendar now... forever :) I went to the first one last week, and it was really fun. We were doing a night about first aid (to follow up on the Sunday lesson 'Health Care in the Home' and mum came in and took the workshop (she used to be a nurse, so she knows this stuff really well!). And of course, mum did a great job :) My favourite was when she put talcum powder all over her hands and then shook hands and touched people left right and centre to demonstrate how germs spread. We were all covered in powder and not a little freaked out about ever letting people near us ever again!

SO, that leaves Friday and Saturday nights free :) There's a few Youth Stake dances, Ward YSA activities and family things sprinkled through there (Abby's baby shower is coming up soon...), but otherwise people will just have to catch me in December :)

It should be a fun month - I really love Christmas :)

Okay - so your worst fears were confirmed, and I wrote a 13 page blog entry anyway. I'm afraid it wasn't very exciting... just another logistical information blog!

*Heavy sigh... did you really expect anything different?!*

But if it makes you all feel better, I think I've used the blog to organize my head a little better, and I'm now feeling better organized... so there's your silver lining!

Okay, I will take my leave to go and write other entries to post on timed release....

*If they don't appear, it means I never actually wrote them, because this entry has been going for AGES... but check back in a day or two anyway... *

xo Tammy :)