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Year Three, Day 151: Who I Am

I could get used to this new schedule.  I think I have been quite sleep deprived. I have been just putting one foot in front of the other, hoping that I can get through.

My usual Monday - Friday schedule had been:

5:00 a.m. Wake up, check breaking news in bed to wake myself up. Drink water. Visit bathroom. Decide I am too sore and grumpy to get up yet.  Reset clock. Repeat this about every half hour, until:
 9:00 a.m.  Gasp.  Worry that I will not have time to hoop! Crawl out of bed. Grab hoop. Go outside and hoop myself awake.
9:50 a.m. Walk to church job. Make tea. Caffeinate.  Work three hours in the office. Take a short break at some point and make either grits or scrambled eggs in a mug along with some fruit.
1:00 p.m. Come home. Grab backpack full of music, books,  and gym clothes. Take bus to Starbucks. Re-caffeinate. Grab food somewhere.
3:00 p.m. until about 8:00 (or 9:00 p.m. on choir nights)Teach piano lessons, accompany choir one day a week. Grab a snack at some point.
8:00 p.m. (On non choir nights) Head to gym. Get a quick workout and/or soak in hot tub, shower. 9:00 p.m.  Hop on bus. Get home anywhere from 10:00 - 11 p.m.
Upon arriving home, collapse in bed.  On occasion watch news. Otherwise play a few games of Word with Friends until I pass out.

Repeat similar schedule each weekday.

Fridays I did not work in the church office, so I had time for the gym before piano teaching.

Saturdays I have breakfast with my mom at 8:30 and then teach 10 to 5, and sometimes have rehearsal with my chamber group friends 5:30 to 7:30.

Sundays I get up super early, catch the Max to Cascades Station, have a cup of something caffeinated and then head to Vancouver to spend time with daughter, son-in-law and baby!

So to not have to rush in the morning this morning was  bliss! I think I am going to love this new schedule!  As long as I can still pay my bills. Did you hear that daily Starbucks?

However, I was really tired today. I stayed in bed getting caught up on news, emails, and played a few rousing games of Words with Friends.  My plan was hoop, breakfast, piano practice, and gym before my students.

But my daughter called. She was coming to Portland with Baby Gracie for a lunch meeting with her friends at work. She is getting ready to go back to work next month.  Hence my quitting of office job! She asked if I could meet her and help her do laundry.

Of course, I changed my plans for the day.  Time with daughter and baby was always welcome!

But I managed to get some hooping in.

As I was hooping, I glanced over at the community garden. Something had caught my eye. It was a snow white little bunny!  I wondered if he was a wild bunny, or someone's pet.  Do wild bunnies come in such a pure white color?

He hopped through the pumpkins and into the shrubs on the other side.

Maybe he was an angel disguised as a white bunny. To tell me things are going to be ok. That I am on the right track prioritizing my family.

I really am not made out to be a secretary, church or elsewhere.  To drive this point home, I read the following in my Joyce Meyer book yesterday:

"The world is filled with dissatisfied, unfulfilled people, and I suspect it is due to them  not giving themselves to what they were meant to do. God has given each of us gifts and abilities, and we should nourish and develop them. Paul wrote to the Romans telling them to give themselves to whatever their gift was (see Romans 12:6-8). I am gifted as a public speaker, but I am not gifted as a musician. I tried in the earlier years of my life to learn to play guitar, but it was a waste of time. We cannot accomplish a thing merely because we want to do so. God only helps us do what He wants us to do. Find out what that is and give yourself to it." (The Mind Connection: how the Thoughts You Choose Affect Your Mood, Behavior, and Decisions, Joyce Meyer).

I feel that I am meant to teach and play piano.  I also feel like writing is one of my gifts. Some day I hope to transform parts of this blog (the interesting parts!) in to a book.

For now, I will just keep on blogging.  It is like my therapy.  I like to get things out, into written words so that I can better ponder them.

Pondering is one of my favorite activities!

But of all the things I have been called to do, grandmothering has been the most rewarding. Right up there with mothering. I used to tell my daughter jokingly that I did not know who I was (only I wasn't really joking).

But I know now.

I am a grandmother, a mother, a teacher, a pianist, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a great aunt, a friend and a child God.

I am Zita. Nice to meet you! :)

So changing my plans I did gladly today, to be able to help my daughter, and hold her precious bundle of joy.

It makes everything worth while to see this new little life.  And it warms my heart to see how much she is loved.

And on that note, I am heading to practice piano, my other purpose in life. And then on to choir practice. The choir I accompany is performing Bach's Magnificat in D this year. It is a heavenly work of music.  We will be accompanied by an orchestra and yours truly on organ!

I like being involved in something challenging, inspiring and greater than myself!

I hope you are having a happy Tuesday!

I will talk to you tomorrow!

Love,

Zita




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