Conference Weekend

This was one of the two conference weekends in a year- we watched the five sessions at home.  Lots of good stuff, and lots of good notes!  Love conference weekend.

Cocoa and I stopped for a treat while we waited for the girls to finish their gym class Friday afternoon.

A festival I had spent months preparing for assigned me a slot during the Saturday evening session- that session is specifically for the Priesthood holders and J watched it at home while I went to compete.  It wasn't easy for him to watch with the kids running around and I appreciate it.

I played Bach's Invention No. 8, from memory.  First time I have memorized anything on the piano since I learned Praise to the Man in elementary school.  It's funny, I really need to put my pride in check when I go to these festivals.  My teacher wants me to go, so I sign up and enter myself in the adult amateur division.  I DO learn a lot, and performing like this is a great experience.  But... I am not exaggerating when I say that there are five-year-olds who play better than I do.  This isn't an "everyone come play!" Festival, it's a festival where you would find those little YouTube tykes who need stools for their feet and their fingers move in a blur.  Every division competes against itself, and within those divisions entrants are grouped by musical selection.  A sonata player would not compete against a concerto or a fugue.  So there is a lot of opportunity for awards, which makes the little child prodigies happy I am told :)

My award was literally for showing up- there were two adult amateurs playing that day and the other player was playing a fugue.  We both walked out with first place trophies.  But you know... We showed up.  No other adult students even entered, and I am still incredulous that we can make it work for me to be studying piano right now with three little kids at home and lots of stuff going on.

Sunday was a quiet day- at one point C fall askew in his dad's lap.  Such a sweet thing, J didn't want to move him.  I made a big batch of caramel corn as a treat- we took a long walk while it cooled.  There was so much caramel corn we made it into balls and dropped them off at a friends's house.

We finished the day with a very rare family board game (Wildcraft).  I normally just watch everyone else play board games, they aren't my favorite.