one down, one to go...

Last week I got my RCM theory exam results back (I wrote that one in December). I got an 87%, not as high as I expected. The test was easy, exactly like the practice ones I'd done, and I finished it quickly.

The marks were mostly deducted on the part-writing questions, especially for "wrong" doubling. It seems you always have to break one rule in order to avoid other problems like incorrect voice leading. Anyway, it gets pretty subjective, and I think the mark kind of depends on whether the grader sees that you doubled wrong in order to resolve properly or whatever. The RCM version is harder than the "normal" assignments we'd get in school. (They sometimes give you just the bass or soprano notes, with no chord symbols underneath, so you have to make up chords and progressions, and it's impossible to keep every little rule. Basically we learn lots of rules just to be able to break them all later. :))

I did best on the analysis part of the test (chords and form), no huge surprise. ;) Anyway, the marker still wrote "very good!" at the top. Too bad I didn't break 90% to get into the higher bracket. Oh well, it really doesn't matter at all. The next theory and history exams are more important. I need to decide if I'm going to do the grade 3 History in May.

That night I had dreamed about getting my grade 10 supplemental results back, that I got a 16. We'll see if that one comes true. I hope so! :)

for those from Prairie...

I found out on Saturday that Gus Honecker died Friday morning. Prairie friends, I thought you'd like to know. He was the cute old man who'd been here for aaages, used to be in the meat-cutting department back in the day, and still volunteered in the kitchen all the time. I saw him lots when I worked at the O, and he was very sweet. He talked to me a few times. He was pretty deaf, very hunched over, rode a big tricycle around town, still lived on his own, and always had a harmonica which he'd pull out to play spontaneously for students. :)

God bless him for his faithful service all these years and for his friendliness to all the young students! He was a blessing to many.

a day in the work...

Lately I've been thinking that it'd be fun to post more specifically about what I do at my job. Of course I can't say details about clients or anything like that, but I'd like to give you an idea of what I do every week in a scheduled format. I work at a mentally disabled ladies' residence from 3-11 p.m. There are 5 ladies and I am mainly responsible for 3.

3:00-3:20 - read logs
3:20-3:45 - pick up clients (some days)
3:45-5:00 or later - work on supper (3 days a week) or work with someone on laundry (also 3 days a week), sometimes read to a client or do other random things like take someone to a haircut.
5:30-6 or 6:30 - supper and devotions (singing, praying, or reading)
6:15ish-7 or 7:30 - cleanup from supper, do various chores, make lunches for the next day, etc.
Evening - varies... continue laundry, read to a client, set up videos for them to watch, play games or do puzzles, do household chores, get a client ready for her bath, shop for groceries (Mondays), go out to a game or concert or coffee shop (sometimes), and then do meds and get people ready for bed.
10:00 - by this time I'm usually done with my 3 bedtime routines, though it sometimes goes till 10:30. Then I do chores (unload the dishwasher, clean, etc.) and log for my 3 clients. If it's been an easier night and I have extra time, I read up on clients or work on other paperwork.
11:00 - done!

I've been blessed to have this job, even though it's WAY different than what I planned to do when I came back! I would never have thought to work there, but it's fun and challenging and a ministry too. The agency is a Christian one, not government-run, so I have Christian co-workers (my boss is a great lady I already knew from church & MK functions (she grew up in India), plus she's our landlady!) and mostly Christian clients. Everyday I'm teaching (which is something I love to do!), teaching life skills & social skills: cooking, laundry, cleaning, being polite, growing spiritually, in one case how to do meds, etc. It's great prep for being a mom! :) But I also like getting to help people grow and learn everyday, and that I can still teach even though I'm not teaching only music like I'd originally hoped.

I'm always on display too in my words and actions, and able to witness in those ways. It's very rewarding to see them learn skills or seek to be like Christ, and very good for my own personal growth too. I'm learning to see past people's exteriors to their personalities, getting to know and love and serve them, and treat them as adults. This helps me in my relationships with others too, to treat them with more respect, ask questions rather than accuse, etc. But I need a lot of patience and love with some of them, let me tell you! Sometimes it's really hard to allow them to choose to do something differently than I want them to do it. But they're not my kids and I can't force them to do things!

I'd appreciate your prayers for me in this job & ministry. Two of my three are great and I love working with them, but the other one can be a pill. She really rubs me the wrong way sometimes but I need to learn to not take it personally, to love her as Jesus would, and to be patient!!

on the other side...

Well, if you forgot to pray for me till after 11am yesterday, you're in luck... because the exams were behind schedule so I actually only went in at 11:10. I had to laugh that after telling everyone it was specifically 10:55 that it ended up being later. :D We had gotten to the church 30 minutes early so killed 15 minutes before going in, and then I had to wait in there 30 minutes anyway since they were behind! Argh. Plus the waiting area was right near the room and you could hear everything! I hate that, sitting there and listening to those before me play the same studies I'm going to play, hearing their sloppy technique, etc. At least that part reassured me that I wouldn't be the only one fudging a bit! :) There were at least 4 of us there doing the same technique supplemental - odd, because I kind of expected to be the only one.

Anyway, so I feel the exam went well. I started with my favorite study, a piece by Scriabin, which I just love for its emotional intensity and crazy chromaticism. After I played it the adjudicator said, "Can I ask you a personal question? What were you thinking of when you played that?" So I think she liked it a lot, which made me happy. :D The next study, just a fast motoring piece, was fine too. I had a bit of a false start but the rest of it was fine, no memory lapses or interruptions to the speed. Yay. Thanks God.

By the time I was done those and waiting to start technique my heart was pounding so hard, but I kept breathing deeply and praying and trying to make it stop. :) I wasn't too nervous, thankfully. My first scale was super easy but for some reason I messed it up and had to start it over. That annoyed me, and the lady kinda laughed at me! Awkward. :/ Anyway, the other scales were good (not perfect), no huge mistakes anyway. Even my arpeggios were quite good, which made me happy because I worked a LOT on those things. Of course she had to ask some of the hardest ones though.

So overall, I know it was better than last time, so I should get a better mark. She also asked me for way more things than the last examiner had, so that means everything was worth fewer points and gave me a chance to show more stuff (i.e. if the first thing was bad the next ones were better). I'm extremely glad it's over - annoying how you work up to this for so long, pay a lot for the test, and then it's done SO fast! But oh well. Now I can forget piano practicing for a while and go back to voice. :))

Thanks everyone!

please pray!

Next Monday at 10:55 I have to do a supplemental piano exam in Calgary for the grade 10 RCM exam I did a year and a half ago. I passed it but not well enough to go on to the ARCT... by ONE point in the technique & studies section! Argh. So Monday I'm doing just that section again (thankfully not all of it!).

I would really appreciate a lot of prayer for it: that I'd remain focused and calm and confident, not forgetting any sections of my pieces, that my hands would cooperate together for the technique, and that everything would be as good as I know it can be when I practice! I need to get 14 out of 20 (I'd gotten 13 last time!) so I hope to do better than that - 16 or higher would be great. :) I think I'm more confident in things than last time, and not too nervous yet, so pray that I can play everything well on that day, under that pressure, with that different piano, and with that adjudicator!

Thanks! I'll let you know how it went.

Reveillon & New Year's Day

From Edmonton, I took the express bus to Calgary and spent the long weekend with my Brazilian friends. Originally the plan was to spend 3 nights with a different family than usual, but I ended up only staying there 1 night because of plans that made it easier to be in the same house as the people I was doing stuff with! I felt kinda bad....

Saturday night we had a pizza party, which was loud and fun. Sunday I went to church with the C family, and was asked if I was Jim's sister and later if I was another daughter! Yikes. We had fun with that one... now they want me to live with them and be their nanny. Right, my dream come true. :p I had the new experience of eating lunch at IKEA - hadn't tried that before, but it was yummy. For New Year's Eve, I went to the Calgary Zoo for their "Zoo Lights." It was basically a bunch of Christmas lights in different designs all over the place and then fireworks. I didn't get to see many of the lights because I went with a later group of guys who weren't really into that. ;) But we did see some ice sculpting (done with a chainsaw!) and about 10-15 min. of fireworks... at 8:30pm. We thought that was funny as in Brazil it would only be at midnight. :D I guess they want kids to be able to go.

By the time we left there, did a bunch of driving, and stopped at the C's to visit and eat some leftover turkey dinner (it's never a quick stop with these talkative boys! ;0)), it was just before midnight. So we saw in the New Year even though we didn't really plan to.

I spent the first day of 2007 getting up waaaay too early - 5:30 - to drive to Banff to go skiing! Now, understand that I had also not been skiing in about 12 years, so I was little, and more importantly, it was in Saskatchewan. So basically I was totally unprepared for the mountain slopes - even their green (easiest) runs were more than I wanted to start with. NOR did it help that we started on a super high run that was actually blue (harder) before it turned green. Let me tell you, it was the most ridiculous and frustrating 1.5-2 hrs that I've had in a loooong time. To start literally hitting the ground skiing was super scary, especially when I had to keep going because I couldn't turn back to an easier one. I was so out of my element! On those steep angles I felt like I was learning sooo slowly (shockingly enough!), and I felt really bad for the guy that was stuck behind with slow-moving, rookie me. It seriously took us foreeeever to get down. I fell constantly and every time I had to get back up it took forever to get all adjusted again. Even better, on one of my last falls my legs twisted weirdly and I heard my left knee pop! Aaaack. I was able to get up and keep going, and as I walked down the last slope (I was too frustrated to try it again) the other 3 I was with came out to meet me. I think they had been able to see me from the Lodge for quite a ways, because when I sat there later I could see pretty far. Awkward....

I rested my knee for an hour while the others did some more runs. Then we waited and watched for the adults that were supposed to be coming up to the Lodge with a lunch for us. They didn't show up so we finally bought super expensive food so we wouldn't waste too much time. We went out to do an easier run... even though I was frustrated I knew I couldn't leave it at that horrible experience (plus I had to get some of my money's worth!). It went quite a bit better, and the third time was definitely the best - fewer falls and more control over my speed! (Most of my falls were purposeful - to stop when I would get too fast and start to panic....)

From there we did meet up with the others and had a snack and break. The boys went to do some more and I ended up quitting there. I was sooooo tired. It's very exhausting to balance and control your speed and direction with your legs for so long, esp. when unused to it! Plus I wasn't having a huge blast doing it! :p

That night we were all exhausted as we drove back and ate supper. I wasn't too hungry but was still feeling dehydrated when I went to bed, even though I'd drunk tons of liquids during the day. It was a weird feeling. Once again I had to get up early to come back home the next morning... back to work on the 2nd! I was soooooo stiff, plus limping from my knee. Not so fun with stairs to go up & down all the time and sitting & standing often. Thankfully it only keeps improving, and the doctor I went to Wednesday said it looks like just a sprain. I even got X-rays. :) (This is so odd for me, because I never hurt myself like this! I was a bit scared it was worse, but praise God it's not! This is why I never do extreme things. I'm not really a risk-taking kind of person....)

Anyway, to sum it up, I don't know if I'll ever go skiing again or not. While some people try to start the New Year off on the right foot, I started it off on my left knee! :p

Christmas events

Time for some pictures from Christmas. Late on the 22nd, after work & an unexpected phone call, we had Christmas here as roomies. Jess made super yummy chocolate cheesecake with a brownie crust!


On the 23rd, I was able to go up to Edmonton to be with my sister, so that was fun. God even worked out a last-minute ride for me so I could save my bus ticket till later! :)

On the 24th I spent a LOT of time at West Ed while Julie worked. It just takes so long to get anywhere in that mall! It was ok though because I still needed to get presents for her. :p In the evening we had one of her co-workers over, with his wife.
They were excited to celebrate Christmas with Canadians, as it's their first time ever having Christmas! (It's not part of Chinese culture.) Anyway, we didn't have a traditional meal or anything, but they were fun to be with. They brought tons of Asian food with them too, including this Hello Kitty bucket filled with cookies & candy! Cute. :)


We slept in on the 25th - who wants to get up at the crack of dawn anyways? ;) Then we opened our presents together, talked with family members on the phone, and ate a late brunch.


In the afternoon we were invited out to the same house where we spent Thanksgiving. We had a fun time there with two other families (which included 4 cute boys adopted from Haiti!), a delicious turkey meal, and a time of games afterward. Julie & I were pretty tired by 10 though. :)



The 26th was different too as we went skating for the first time in like 12 years! Julie & I went downtown with our uncle and walked to an outdoor rink.
It was great weather for it, not too cold, and made me think of calendar or typical postcard pictures of Christmas/winter. It was cute. :) The place was pretty packed too. I skated for quite a while and actually enjoyed it after getting the hang of it again. I didn't go too fast but was happy that I did pretty well and didn't fall once! :))
Julie skated for a shorter time but did well too.
Thanks to our uncle for his patience in teaching us!

The rest of the time in Edmonton was spent shopping in different places - Whyte Ave. (love it!), thrift stores, malls - getting haircuts, hanging out with a friend of mine from school, and talking. I was blessed to have a week off to be able to spend with my sis, as last time I saw her (at Thanksgiving) it was so quick!