a tax year ...

It is strangely disquieting to realize that I strangely enjoyed gathering my receipts together this year. The reason is because it gives me an accounting of how amazing my life really is and how wonderful 2010 was.

In 2010 alone, I spent the month of February in Chicago putting up "Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, A Musical" with my writing partner Lindsay Baker and Chamber Opera Chicago. I wrote a mass called MASS for the LIVING, that received a grant from THRIVENT FINANCIAL for LUTHERANS to record it and it won an HONORABLE MENTION from the Foundation for the Sacred Arts. I wrote an SOS grant and was awarded money to take part of the NW Film Scoring Intensive in Seattle over the summer. I presented a paper at the Aspen Composer's Forum with my writing partner. I visited Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty. I wrote an opera, LILY, with my writing partner. We wrote a prize-winning children's play called 'ALL THE BUZZ', and won 1st prize in a play contest with "Personal Foul". I won an honorable mention in the Celebrating Grace contest for an arrangement of a new baptist hymn and FIRST PRIZE for "Peace, Be Still" in the Marin Lutheran Competition. In September, Lindsay and I spent a week in September putting our opera together with our friends in Chicago. Over the summer, I expanded the MASS for the LIVING into SATB setting with orchestra and THAT premiered in December.


Outside of my professional life,
I got married ... to the most wonderful man in the world. Re-decorated two rooms ... bought a piano ... my cat, Jewel, died (tear) and I miss her so much ... I continued the yoga program at PEACE CHURCH. Designed a FiT-2-SiT yoga for people with limited mobility ... I started my PhD in Educational Psychology with emphasis in the Arts and Music.

All these receipts tell me what an amazing year I had ... lots of laughter, lots of stress, lots of tears, lots of creativity, lots of love!!! ... IT WAS GREAT! So, if gathering receipts together is a lot of work, at least the payback is the reflection on how I spent my life and what was important to me ... Based on the evidence, I think it was a great year ... and I strangely look forward to the same task next year because of it!!!