I Feel Graduation at my Back, Breathing down my Neck

May 29, 20241 Comment

Alright friends, we are gearing up for the true craziness of graduation and end-of-school season. I’m a little jealous of my Utah friends who are already done with their kids’ school year, just as I’m only really beginning to get going with the end of ours. At least all the work is comprised of good things, right? It’s busy, and busy isn’t a bad thing.

Cooking

This week’s meal plan:

Monday: Memorial Day BBQ
Tuesday: Orange Chicken bowls
Wednesday: Pork burritos
Thursday: Leftovers/Something easy
Friday: BBQ Chicken
Saturday: BBQ, etc.
Sunday: Warm Goat Cheese and Chicken Salad

Clothing

Just keep trying to get on top of the laundry
Tailor Rachel’s new church dresses, if I can find the time
Go through bag of boy clothes that I found in closet and see if they’ll fit Nathaniel
Rotate out cold weather wardrobes, if I can find the time
Make sure everyone has clothes for graduation
Check fit of Ren’s recital dress, make plans for tailoring if needed

Cleaning

Clean oven
Clean pantry
Clean toaster (Let’s be honest, this is the only one that has a shot at being completed this week!)

Caring

Try to do more drives with Emily, but the schedule is super tight this week
Caring will be accomplished simply by making sure everyone is fed and showing up to things on-time this week

Creativity

I’d like to be 25% done with Renaissance’s graduation quilt by the end of the week.
I need to start working on the bunting for her grad party decorations
I’m learning how to make graduation leis as well, and would like to finish three of them to hand out at graduation next week.

Gardening

Goodness, am I glad we did all that work over the weekend. Good job, Memorial Day Weekend Brooke Family!
Need to plant the berries in containers
Need to plant corn and beans. I might throw pumpkins into the same patch to test out the whole “Three Sisters” idea. Kids are onboard to find out if it truly works.
Need to play front porch containers.
Lawn feeding

Celebrating

Renaissance will get a lot of opportunities to wear her graduation cap and gown throughout the next week. I didn’t realize how many different things she was going to be doing in that getup. I’ll have to stay on top of steaming/ironing the gown so it doesn’t look wrinkly.
I need to do a lot of ordering of supplies for the grad party.
Get creative work done now so I can free up time to work on food later.
Taskify food preparation
Submit rental orders
Respond to people who have offered to lend supplies
Get recital program squared away

Community

I’m about to have another calling in the next week or two, whenever they officially call me, and I’ll need to organize that. I’m going to ease into that calling rather slowly because I am monstrously busy right now. I should have told them I could launch into the calling following Ren’s grad party and to hold off until that date, but I wasn’t thinking at that moment. Sigh.
I need to get June’s hymns squared away and posted
I have new ministering sisters and assignments and I need to make contact and figure all that out
Band Boosters follow-ups
Check on available water bottles for graduation

Top priorities this week:

Graduation & recital clothing
Graduation quilt progress
Party decorations & ordering progress
Planting last of plants in garden
June’s hymns

Alright, off I go to do all the things! I wish you a productive week as well.

Summer is just around the corner…

May 20, 2024May 21, 2024Leave a comment

Hello and happy new week to you! I’ve got a rather normal week ahead of me, which is a very nice thing after all the stress of prom dress sewing, and I’m hoping to just get chores and laundry caught up. There’s a few end-of-school-year events sprinkled throughout, but they mostly just require me to show up and watch; not a lot of work required on my part.

Cooking

This week’s meal plan:

Monday: Thai Spicy Chicken Enchiladas, Peas, Lemony Quinoa
Tuesday: Meatloaf, Lemon-roasted potatoes w/ oregano, Green Bean Salad w/ Mustard seeds, Herbs & Baby Chard
Wednesday: Spaghetti, Caesar, French bread/garlic bread
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Baked Potato Bar, Broccoli Slaw
Saturday: Warm Goat Cheese & Chicken Salad,
Sunday: Chicken Satay, Stir Fry Veggies, Rice

Clothing

Get the laundry under control, yet again.
Wardrobe rotation

Cleaning

I think I’m going to change my daily routine and put cleaning first thing because it’s not getting done very consistently when it’s scheduled later in my day.

Caring

The girls need haircuts before graduation. I wonder if I’m up for cutting their hair myself? It worked fine when they were younger…
Driving lessons

Creativity

Need to start working on Renaissance’s graduation quilt
Need to start working on a few decoration items for Ren’s graduation party

Gardening

Behind on planting seeds, so need to catch up on that
Need to assemble hanging baskets
Weeding, as always
Transfer tomato and pepper seedlings into larger pots because they’re not quite ready to go out yet, but they’re outgrowing the starting trays

Celebrating

Take down the last Christmas tree this weekend. It’s a two-person job and Michael and I have not been home and well at the same time on a single weekend since before Christmas to do it. This is, by far, the longest I’ve ever had a tree up and it’s driving me insane.
Finish up addressing and sending out Ren’s graduation party invitations

Community

Nathaniel’s last Cross Country meet is this week
Renaissance’s last band concert is this week

Top priorities this week:

Get grad party invitations out
Get Christmas tree down
Garden
Cleaning
Laundry

Alright, forward we go! I should be able to accomplish a lot this week, given that the forecast is pretty rainy and I’ll be forced to work inside the house most days.

The Eye of the Senior Year Storm

May 13, 2024May 13, 2024Leave a comment

It’s been a couple of weeks since I wrote up a beginning of the week homemaking post! The amount of time that is needed to make ballgowns is surprising, even to me. With that being said, home management fell by the wayside in order to free up time to sew, so I’ll be swinging the scales back towards cleanliness and order for the next couple of weeks, and then it will be time to start prepping for Renaissance’s high school graduation festivities!

Cooking

This week’s meal plan:

Monday: Tacos
Tuesday: CP Picadillo Tostadas, Lemony Quinoa Salad with Radishes, Avocado & Basil, Veggie Slaw
Wednesday: Rhubarb-glazed Pork, Crushed Red Potatoes, Spring Beans, Peas & Zucchini Ribbons, Rice Pilaf
Thursday: IP BBQ Shredded Chicken Burgers, Broccoli Slaw, Lemon-roasted potatoes with oregano
Friday: Spaghetti, Normandy Vegetables, Caesar Salad, French Bread
Saturday: Barbecue
Sunday: Thai Spicy Chicken Enchiladas, Peas, Green Bean Salad with Mustard Seeds, Herbs & Baby Chard

Clothing

Laundry will be a priority this week, along with folding and putting away everything (It’s pretty bad in here)
Wardrobe rotation from cold weather clothes to warm weather clothes
Wash Rachel’s choir dress
Nathaniel needs new clothes, especially for church

Cleaning

*silent screaming* There’s so much to do that I can’t even pick a place to start. I might just work on whatever the Tody app tells me is the most overdue and work forward from there. Oh! I do want to spend some time cleaning up the prom dress sewing leftovers, just for the sake of closure. Feels like that’d be a nice thing to do.

Caring

Get Nathaniel signed up for summer school so he can free up space in his regular school year schedule
Driving practice with Emily & Rachel
Help the girls start looking for summer jobs
Replace batteries in smoke detectors
Make checkup appointments for everyone
Create FHE schedule
The girls need haircuts
Decide if Nathaniel is going to YM camp

Creativity

I will be taking a break for at least a week, if not two. The craft room definitely needs a good cleaning and decluttering, but that might have to wait until after graduation festivities.

Gardening

Direct sow 4th Week of April seeds:
- Cosmos
- Sunflower: Autumn Beauty
- Impatiens
- Zinnia
- Cucumber
- Summer Squash
- Viola
Direct sow 1st Week of May seeds:
- Alyssum
- Marigolds
- Sunflower: Jua Maya
- Cabbage
- Green Beans (Bush)
- Lettuce
Direct sow 2nd Week of May seeds:
- Zucchini
- Sunflower: Sunshine
- Melons
- Carrots
Plant petunias
Assemble hanging baskets
Research lawn feeding and weed killing and make a plan
WEEDING
Ramp up slug killing endeavors because the little demons are eating everything

Celebrating

Breathe a sigh of relief that prom season is over, clean up the mess, and engage in some well-deserved recovery activities
Clean up the errant Christmas items that I’ve noticed but told myself to ignore while working on the prom dresses
Do a wrapping paper/gift bag bin purge
Renaissance’s Graduation Party:
- Address & mail out invitations
- Check that everyone has appropriate clothing
- Decide decorations
- Decide menu
- Decide activities
- Decide party favors
- Purchase serving items

Community

Church:
- Check in with this week’s upcoming special musical number
- Check sacrament meeting topics for June and pick hymns
- Enter hymns into Gospel Library app
- Set up/confirm special musical numbers for June
- Check in with newly-assigned ministering companions
- Reach out to newly-assigned ministering sisters
- Taskify ministering reminders
Band Parent Committee:
- Prepare agenda for meeting, print
- Print mailing list signup flyers
- Parade logistics

Top priorities this week:

Summer School Registration
Garden
Laundry
Cleaning
Graduation party planning

Hopefully I’ll get the blog posts written for each of the prom dresses, too. The weather is going to be really great this week, so I’m looking forward to spending time outdoors after so many weeks toiling away in the craft room. Happy homemaking to you all!

Well, That Was Unfortunate Timing

April 15, 2024April 15, 2024Leave a comment

Nathaniel was sick for the entirety of Spring Break, and on Saturday I woke up feeling…off. Michael took Ren to the school for Daffodil Parades so I could get my energy up and meet them at one of the later parades, but within a few hours it was very clear that I had caught Nathaniel’s bug and was out of the running for anything beyond laying on the couch and watching television through bleary eyes. And so it went for the remainder of last week. And this last weekend. And today. I am having a heck of a time with this illness.

I’m hoping the exhaustion and relentless coughing starts to fade this week because I was supposed to finish Ren’s prom dress last week and this was the week to start working on Rachel’s dress. Stress levels are high.

Cooking

This week’s meal plan:

Saturday: Chicken Shawarma
Sunday: Cheesy Ham and Potatoes for Nathaniel’s birthday
Monday: Dino Nuggets, French Fries, Mixed Vegetables
Tuesday: Crockpot Chili & Baked Potatoes
Wednesday: Cheeseburgers, Spiced Braised Rhubarb
Thursday: Crockpot Honey Chicken
Friday: Salad Bar

Clothing

Catching up after missing all of last week’s laundry.

Cleaning

Catch up, basic upkeep.

Caring

Renaissance passed her driver’s license test last week! There’s still a lot of paperwork to get her driving legally on her own, and it is a high priority this week. I am really looking forward to this development.
Rachel is taking her driver’s license knowledge test later this week, so helping her study for that.
Emily, possibly spurred on by the success of her younger sisters in the driver’s license department, has finally renewed her driving permit and is now legal to start practicing for her own driver’s license, so I imagine I need to start making time for her practicing, too.
Need to figure out a way to get the bridal shower and wedding gifts to the young woman who got married last week. I was too sick to go and she and her husband have headed back to school already.
We need to sit down with Renaissance and figure out her post-high school plans. She’s received news of the various scholarships she’s been awarded, the FAFSA is taking forever to process, and we just need to sit down and crunch numbers. Her high school is having their Decision Day soon where they celebrate kids’ post-high school plans, so it’d be good if she knew what she was doing by that date.

Creativity

Prom Dresses: I haven’t touched either of them since I got sick. So much work needs to be done this week. The extra yard of silk for Ren’s sleeves arrived safely last week, so we’re good to go there. I have two weeks’ less time to get Ren’s dress done because last night she got a text to look outside:

How cute is that?!?! Why weren’t Promposals a thing when we were young? He had good timing; we were just getting ready to have Nathaniel’s birthday cake, so he walked away from the incident with a prom date and birthday cake. On a frenzied prom dress-sewing note, though…the high school prom is two weeks before the church Spring Formal, so…I really need to sew faster.

Van Crafting Sessions™: I think I have a full schedule of music lessons this week and I have no idea what I’m going to do while I’m at them.

Gardening

The rhubarb is growing fast! Gotta start using it.
I didn’t do any planting last week, so I need to do both last week’s and this week’s planting and seed starting. We’re getting into the thick of planting season!

Celebrating

Nathaniel had his 14th birthday yesterday! I can’t believe my youngest child is starting high school next year. Where have the years gone?!?! Renaissance made him a Sherman Tank cake this year, in homage to his interest in World War 2.
Upcoming celebrations include:
- Mother’s Day, which I don’t have to do anything for
- My birthday, which I generally don’t have to do anything for
- Memorial Day, which just means grilling some hot dogs and doing yardwork
- Ren’s graduation, which is going to take a ton of work
- Father’s Day, which I will also have to do work for.

I’m going to wait a bit before I get going on anything so I can focus on prom dresses.

Community

Band Parent meeting this week, with all the requisite paperwork and follow-up that goes with it.
There’s a Ward Potluck on the calendar from the email that the bishop sent out at the beginning of the year, but I’ve not heard anything else about it since, so I’m thinking it never materialized.
There’s a Relief Society activity this week about simplifying our lives, but it’s happening at the same time as a music lesson, so I probably won’t go.
Band performance for the seniors.

Alright, a big week with a lot of catch-up and I’m not feeling that great to begin with. Wish me luck! And look at this great photo of Renaissance in the Daffodil Parade, taken by a friend of a friend:

Spring Break Plans

April 3, 2024Leave a comment

Woo hoo, it’s April! Smooth sailing ahead as winter releases its hold and we get to head into the lovely weather part of the year! Yay! This week is spring break for my kids, so we’re chilling at home with no plans to do much of anything, which is good because Nathaniel woke up on Monday morning with a 103 degree fever and he’s been camped out on the coach ever since, hacking out his lungs. This poor kid gets sick on every single school break. Sigh.

I’m late in publishing my plans for the week because Easter Sunday is a very busy day, Monday had me feeling rather poorly, and yesterday was our last good weather day in the forecast for this week so I spent it outside working on the yard. (Oh my goodness, that felt nice!)

We got all the trellises put up, planted some more veggies and flowers, and got the lawn weed-whacked and mowed so we could set up the badminton net. There’s still so much to do out there, but this big burst of work took care of the most pressing tasks. Whew!

But the weather is supposed to take a turn for the wet today, so I’m back inside focusing on the prom dresses, which sums up my plans for the rest of the week: SEW THE DRESSES.

So please excuse me for the shortness of this planning post, but I need to use my time on these dresses. I wish you all a lovely week!

I Dream of Muslin

March 25, 2024Leave a comment

It really is unfortunate that prom dress sewing lines up with getting the garden started. I’m still trying to figure out how to make both of them work together, with preference leaning towards the dresses because I can always come in a little late on the garden. This week will see that preference leaning towards creating the muslin for Ren’s dress, and hopefully more than that.

Cooking

This week’s meal plan:

Saturday: Beef Stew
Sunday: Cheeseburgers & Fries
Monday: Spaghetti
Tuesday: TBD
Wednesday: TBD
Thursday: TBD
Friday: TBD

Clothing

Stay on top of the laundry. I was looking at Nathaniel during church yesterday and I think he needs a new wardrobe because he grew again. I had to buy him a new pair of running shoes, two sizes larger than the last pair I bought him in JANUARY. I don’t know how he is not in constant pain with the rate at which he is growing right now. Also, he’s now wearing the same size shoes as Michael does. Maybe one of my children will actually end up taller than me.

Cleaning

Basic upkeep because of the prom dresses.

Caring

I need to buy a wedding gift and a bridal shower gift for one of Emily’s friends who is getting married in the next few weeks. It’s incredibly weird that my kids’ friends are starting to get married. Wasn’t ready for that.
Need to figure out what Emily’s plans for the next school year are so she can apply for things at the right times.
Driving practice for all three girls so maybe they can take their driver’s license tests over spring break.
Might meet a friend for lunch.
Parent Teacher Conferences this week. I don’t know if I should even bother going, especially after hearing what quite a few teachers had to say about parent teacher conferences while I was doing my student teaching—the parents whose kids are doing fine are the ones who show up and there’s little to say to them, and the parents whose kid are not doing well and who really need to talk to the teachers don’t show up at all. Conflicted.

Creativity

At Home:
- Renaissance’s Prom Dress: As I write this, I have just finished altering the pattern and cutting the first (and hopefully, only) muslin for Renaissance’s dress. That is the hardest part of the entire process, so I’m feeling good about things today. I taskified the dresses last week and, according to the schedule I have planned out, I’ll be on-track to finish on-time if I’m able to finish sewing up the bodice completely this week, which is totally doable if things go as they should. I didn’t know what to do about preparing the silks for sewing, and the internet had very conflicting information on that subject, so I just gave Silk Baron a phone call and had a lovely, candid chat with whomever answered the phone that just made my day. They convinced me to not prewash and just stick with dry cleaning the silk, and to also really consider using dress shields, so I think I’ll follow their advice on that.
- Rachel’s Prom Dress: I think we have everything we need, materials-wise, for the dress. We picked up the oh-so-pretty fabric on Saturday and had a lovely girls’ morning together. I love that bonus of sewing for the girls—we have to hang out together to do it right, and it inevitably leads to more hanging out. I have also preemptively ordered some crinolines for her so I can see ahead of time if they’ll be complimentary to the gown as I’m making it up.
Van Crafting Sessions™: Not really feeling the wedding shawls at this time. I have more time this week for van crafting, so we’ll see how I feel about stuff at the end of the week. I did feel a pull to start working on the Smitten EPP quilt in the past few days, though—I might head that direction.

Gardening

I do not have time for this! Usually I can pop in and out of the house and plant this and weed that, but with most of my time being spent on the prom dresses I’m worried about getting dirt on my hands that could potentially transfer to the dress materials. Maybe I can work to get ahead on the dresses this week and use any free time to go get stuff done in the garden.

Celebrating

Renaissance received her acceptance letters from both Pacific University and Linfield College! Now to wait for scholarship decisions. The late FAFSA has been such a headache.
Easter’s this Sunday, and I have no plans whatsoever. I don’t even know if I’ll get to the point of making plans. We have a ham and we’ll cook it. Maybe I’ll put Easter treats on the girls’ radars and they’ll take care of it.

Community

Band Festival
Choir Contest
Engagement Party for a lady at church that conflicts with something else that I hope ends up being cancelled so I can go to the party instead. Why is there always something responsible that you’re signed up to do when a party comes along? However, having been on the receiving end of RSVP back-outs because something better came along for the invited guest, I stand firmly on the hill—nay, am willing to die upon said hill—of honoring your previous appointment commitments despite how enticing a later invitation may be because it’s really rude not to.
Church Easter Brunch: I’ve signed up to bring fruit. Michael wants to sign up to bring biscuits and gravy, but I am going to leave that entire project to him, rather than commit in my name and have it potentially fall through and embarrass me.

Top priorities this week:

Prom Dresses!
Garden
Easter
Girls’ driving practicing

March(ing) Along

March 18, 2024March 19, 2024Leave a comment

Halfway through this banger of a month! This week technically has quite a few things going on, but as I look at the calendar I don’t feel overwhelmed by any of them.

Cooking

This week’s meal plan:

Saturday: Potstickers, stir fry veggies, rice
Sunday: Corned Beef, potatoes, cabbage
Monday: Tacos, taco veggies, rice, tortillas
Tuesday: Honey Garlic Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner, carrots & broccoli, rice
Wednesday: Taco Pasta, creamy green salad
Thursday: Thai Chicken Stiry Fry, stir fry veggies, rice
Friday: Irish Beef & Root Vegetable Stew, rolls

Clothing

It’s all about the prom dresses, baby

Cleaning

I repeat: It’s all about the prom dresses, baby

Caring

Rachel needs help with rehearsing for her choir concert this week. She’s singing the mezzo line in a very difficult song and it’s hard to sing the middle part on anything, let alone this whopper. Time has been scheduled to work with her.
I feel like I need to find some time to spend with Nathaniel. But Cross Country starts up next week and I’ll be spending a lot of time at his meets for the next many weeks, so maybe I can just allow it to happen then?
A lot of office stuff needs to happen. We’ve just been really busy and it’s been hard to find the time to do that.

Creativity

At Home:
- Fat Quarter Shop upcoming quilt: It’s called the “Layer Cake Latte” quilt, and it’s coming along. All the blocks are completed and I am in the midst of joining them. All that’s left is adding the skinny border around it and then the top will be done. I had hoped to get it completely quilted before the due date, but that’s not going to happen because I FORGOT ABOUT THE PROM DRESSES and need to sew like the wind on those.
- Prom Dresses: Yeah, they’re all I can think about at the moment. Ren’s fabric is here and it’s gorgeous. The pattern for her dress was only available as a PDF (boo!) and it’s printed but not yet taped together. Not looking forward to the taping. Once the Layer Cake Latte quilt is assembled I’ll hop right on over to sewing up Ren’s muslin. Rachel has picked out a dress pattern that I crazy, crazy love and cannot wait to tell you about because it’s so cool—it almost shouldn’t even exist—but I have to focus on Ren’s dress first because she’s a senior and that’s how that works.
Van Crafting Sessions™: I’ll keep chipping away at designing wedding shawls for my girls. A lot of the kids’ music lessons are cancelled this week, so I might not have a whole lot of van crafting time.

Gardening

Set up trellises for peas, reattach trellis netting on France for eventual sweet pea climbers
Something with the Delphiniums
Sow pansies, violas
Put plant markers in by sown seeds
Start marigold seeds

Celebrating

Easter’s on the horizon, but I don’t think we’re doing anything in particular for it.
Nathaniel’s birthday is next month, so I’ll start slowly getting organized for that. Time to pull up the “gift ideas” note to myself that I add to throughout the year and start watching for sales.

Community

Choir concert
Need to do things for Ward Music
Help Ren with her intention to volunteer for the craft show
Band is doing their monthly performance at the local assisted living home

Top priorities this week:

Finish the Latte Layer Cake quilt, photograph it, and write up the various posts
PROM DRESSES
Rachel choir stuff
Garden
Office/Ward Music/Band Parents

I Forgot about the Prom Dresses

March 12, 2024March 19, 2024Leave a comment

I was so proud of myself last week for how well I had cleared my schedule so things could be manageable, and then over the course of one day so many projects came to rest on my plate. At least they’re all projects I’m excited about!

Happy Daylight Savings Time to those of you who are mandated to go through it. I’m feeling it! Hopefully the sluggishness wears off quickly.

Cooking:

This week’s meal plan:

Monday: Orange Chicken, Stir Fry veggies, Rice
Tuesday: CP Soup
Wednesday: Taco Pasta
Thursday: CP something, pie for Pi Day
Friday: Michael’s birthday dinner, which he has not decided upon yet. I’m going to guess it’ll be steak, baked potatoes, Caesar salad and herbed rye rolls.
Saturday: Pasta/Emily’s choice
Sunday: CP Corned Beef, boiled potatoes, cabbage, maybe some Irish soda bread

Clothing:

Maybe this will be the week that I finally conquer the folding pile.
Keep thinking about and making plans for Easter, spring and Rachel’s travel outfits.
Materials and supplies are going to begin arriving for making prom dresses for Renaissance and Rachel.

Cleaning:

I don’t have a definitive plan set, which I would like to create. Basic upkeep for the next few weeks.

Caring:

I’m really struggling to remember what I’d like to do here. I blame the sleep deprivation from Daylight Savings Time. Um, I need to care for my poor sleep-deprived brain by adjusting my sleeping ASAP. I’ve learned over the decades that sleep is #1. You mess with the sleep, you mess with everything.

Creativity:

At Home:
- Prom dress prep—Dates were announced last week and I realized I had no plan whatsoever for making their dresses. We strategized over the weekend, and I think it’s doable. Ohhhh, the girls have picked some lovely designs and fabric. I’m really excited about these dresses!! Hopefully my “adventurous beginner/beginning intermediate” garment construction skills are up for the task…eek!
- Sewing on the Fat Quarter Shop upcoming quilt—Sneak peek this Friday!
Van Crafting Sessions™: Planning out personalized wedding shawls because I’m a person who gets things done years ahead of time

Gardening:

Peas, trellises, etc.
Seed check
Rhubarb watching
Plant delphinium
Use up the herb jungle
Direct sow alyssum, cabbage, pansies, poppies, viola

Celebrating:

Michael’s birthday is this week! I hounded the kids to get him gifts, so that’s an improvement over last year. Problem is, I gave them all my ideas for gifts and now I don’t have any other ideas and no gift to him from myself. Sigh.
After a quick text conversation with my people last week, I don’t think we’re going to be doing anything for Easter, but I’ll follow-up this week just to make sure.
The potentially brewing project I mentioned at the end of last week is dying a slow death. I thought it was dead for sure, but a spark of life was breathed into at the last second. I will follow-up today to find out what is going on.

Community:

I am nagging Renaissance about the WREF scholarship that’s due on March 17th. I do not get the feeling that it’s accomplishing anything.
Band Parent meeting this week—Many of my concerns from last week are resolving.
I was sustained in a new calling for church on Sunday: Ward Music Coordinator. It basically just means I make sure we have music during sacrament meeting. I pick the hymns, make sure the music makers know what the hymns are, and I set up and support the special musical numbers. We have Stake Conference this week, so no pressure for me this week. If I went ahead and taskified this calling, it would make my life a whole lot easier over the next few months as I settle into it. I should also resurrect my own music practice times since I know that I will inevitably have to pinch hit some musical numbers on the fly when scheduled performers cancel at the last minute.

Top priorities this week, aside from sleep health: