Playing along

Chris set the alarm for 7:30. He went back to sleep, but I got up to get ready for church. I warmed up my trombone, then packed it, the stand, and the music. I put everything in the car and drove to church. The plan was to go through the ladies restroom into the old nursery which is behind the sanctuary to get my trombone and music ready so that when the 10:45 choir walked in at the end of the 8am service, I would be ready to both sing and play. I did not realize the the nursery is open to the sanctuary. So I sat quietly until the sermon was over, then unpacked during the hymn. It occurred to me that if I started playing the hymn it would take them awhile to figure out where it was coming from :) I resisted. I sat in an adjoining room with a door into the main room. The choir director found me there and took my music in for me when the time was right. The choir sang, then the pastor said the words that come before the benediction, then I played along with the last hymn. After the postlude, I asked the organist to play notes so I could tune for the next service. I also asked her if she knew "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring". I have practiced my part of that for four months and was determined to play it, without accompaniment if necessary. But she knew it and could play it from my part. I made a copy for her, and then we tried it out. She said we could use it to replace the postlude of the second service. God must have wanted me to play it too. So then I got my sunday school stuff from the car and set up the craft table. I ran to get the proper paint from the craft closet. On the way back I sat in on the opening session. When the kids were dismissed, I preceded them into the old nursery/craft room. There were 5 girls. They easily created their 'storm in a bottle' craft. Linda, their shepherd, did the hotgluing for me. I had them make handprints with white paint on red fabric squares. When Linda learned about the quilt, she offered to find some fabric for a backing. I did not know she quilted and we will have to talk more about that later. When Sunday school was over, I took a bulletin off of the table and sat in church near my trombone. I was very nervous. Hymns are easy but they deplete my lip, and I needed all my stamina for the postlude. I wondered if I had gotten myself in a pickle. But the hymns went well. And the postlude started out terrifically. That was good since most people left before the end. But the end was sad. First the upper notes went, and then the midrange ones weren't too good either. But when I finished, out of breath, the people who were left gave me a standing ovation. They were very kind. Several came up to say nice things. I thanked the organist for being willing to ad lib on such short notice. She is substituting for our substitute organist. God bless her. Then I packed up everything and Chris helped me carry it all to the car. He went to the grocery store and I went home. I changed clothes and went barefoot out to the garden to pick tomatoes in celebration of 1) doing better that I thought I would, and 2) the performance was over. I danced around the back yard until I realized that the man next door was also out and he could see me. I went in to wash and eat my tomatoes. I checked my e-mail, and helped put groceries away when Chris came home. He cut up cabbage and other veggies and put them in the crock pot with a large frozen roast. I took a nap. When I came back, he had just started gaming with a group I don't know. I wasn't too happy about it because it meant that we would not be watching TV together, time that I highly value. Plus it makes three nights in a row. I raked leaves in the backyard and mowed the grass that got exposed. Then I spent some time in my sewing room deciding what borders to put on the baby quilt. I think I need to make the center larger. I could hear Chris having a great time gaming just above my head. So I asked him to go in the computer room in the back. That made it better for me. I was able to listen to audios on my laptop while crocheting. I am hoping to make 1 scarf a day for the shoebox project at church. Plus it keeps my hands busy so I don't go looking for snacks while the audios are playing. It is almost midnight now and he is still gaming. But I am going to bed.