Big Rest Coming On...

I am beginning to feel a big rest coming on, now that all the remaining craziness is over.

On Wednesday evening, I gave my last class of the semester to the girls at Salem Academy. They seemed in happy spirits, and we had fun wrapping up our impromptu chair/musical theater/jazzy/holiday dance. Though I look forward to working with the girls in the spring, I am ready to leave them for a while. I can use my time over the break to decide what I will do with them next semester, since I have not thought about that just yet.

Wednesday evening, I went over to the Yoga Gallery, intending to get in a much needed practice. Since Rob's surgery, I have not been to rehearse at the studio in the mornings, and am only getting the exercise I get from teaching. My body is restless and achy. Upon walking in the owner of the studio explains that she needed to make a long drive out of town that night, and asked if I would pick up her class, instead of participating in the practice. I did, and though I did not get to practice myself, I felt like the class was successful and satisfying. This class is one of just a few more classes I will teach in 2010. Come 2011, I won't be teaching any yoga classes. Robert and I are moving to Greensboro early in the new year, and with my growing commitment to High Point U., I can no longer keep up my commitment to teaching yoga. This is scary for me, as I have been steadily teaching for the past four years. I worry that I might loose my edge, but instead perhaps, this will be a time where I can return to focusing on my own practice and finding new inspirations. maybe I can even begin studying with Terry again, the teacher who I was certified through. Furthermore, with the increase of income I'll get soon with HPU, I might even be able to begin pursuing my 500 hour certification again, since I'll be wrapping up grad school within a year and the thought of paying to attend modules won't be quite so scary anymore. Who knows?

On Thursday, I had the most wonderful day with my dad! We had lunch, talked music, and I got to take him to HPU, to see my students give their final exam performance. I was so proud, to see them up on the stage after all of their hard work this semester! And I could tell my dad enjoyed it, too. The president even sat in on the performance for a while! What's more, we had the biggest audience we have ever had for an end-of-semester showing. I got some new faces interested in taking dance, and surely there will now be increased interest for when we stage HPU's first formal dance concert next year! I felt really good about Thursday, and I was glad to see that my colleagues and students did, too.

Today, I am at Laura's, in Charleston. We are working on our final packets for grad school this semester. It will feel so good to push the "send" button. Last night, we watched November's presentation of "Common Threads," performed by the NC State U dancers on DVD, and talked shop. What worked? What needed attention? How will this inform the larger work? All good conversation, and we're excited to be moving forward with the material, slowly but surely. Today we work on scoring a song I wrote. I am working out the harmonies, and trying to decide on how the song should be presented in terms of rhythmic drive and intensity. All in all, a happy feeling with the recent work and activity surrounding my art!

This month, I have eight whole days where I have nothing to do. I plan to take those days to do just that. My thought is that if I can just make it through the eight days doing nothing (very hard for me to do!), I will be so bored that I will be jumping for joy to be good and busy again, just the way I like! Not to mention, those eight days will give me a chance to spend some time lost over the past few months of busyness with my husband. I can't wait. I've missed him so!