Bread!

Two posts in the same day, I know, but I wanted to post a picture of the Garlic-Rosemary Focaccia Bread I just made. :) Pretty good way to spend a day off, don't you think?

Audition #1

So, I was waiting to post this until I found out my second audition result on Wednesday, but it felt like too long to keep posting. 
Anyway, I'm not too happy about the audition I had last Saturday. We had our first rehearsal this past weekend, and I found out that I'm fourth chair second. Even though my stand partner is super talented, I feel like the seating was done unfairly. There were two younger kids there who hadn't auditioned yet, and they were just automatically placed in the first violins. One of my friends from school is also a first violin, and even though I know he's way better than me, I think my stand partner and the first chair second are a lot better. It just seems kind of weird to me how everything worked out. 
Enough orchestra talk? You probably didn't understand a word of that, but I needed to say it. 
Besides that, it's been a pretty good weekend. :) I nailed my chin stand yesterday, and I'm really close to being able to do a back bend! I still have a paper to write later, but I know it won't be graded, so I don't have any reason to try very hard or stress over it. I'm also really excited for CRUSY Kinnus next weekend!! 

Crazy Busy Week

Wow. After those few weeks I had virtually no homework for whatever reason, this week was positively exhausting. I had tests/quizzes in every subject, and we started 9th grade History Day, a research paper based on the National History Day competition. My topic is Richard Strauss. The research I've been doing is interesting, but I'm really dreading writing the paper because my teacher is a total "do it my way or it's wrong" kind of person, and the theme of each paragraph is very clearly laid out, even though the outline doesn't fit some of the topics (like mine) very well. I am, however, pleased that I have enough information, because several of the topics on the list did not have any information on the internet from reliable sources. 

To top all of that off, I have weight training in gym. The exercises aren't necessarily bad, but the soreness the next day that makes it impossible for me to carry my backpack is horrible. We did an ab workout on Tuesday, and I couldn't feel my legs at all yesterday!

I'm also working on two violin auditions this week. One is this weekend and just a placement, but there will probably be a lot of good people there, and I really don't want to be a second because the music is usually boring/unmusical. The other one is a week from tomorrow, and I'm nowhere close to ready. It's to get into the good orchestra at my school, and the audition is ridiculous- 60 second tuning (after my teacher turns all of the pegs), an excerpt, four scales, and sight reading. The worst part is that we have to play with however we tuned our instrument, which guarantees that everything else will be out of tune. Exactly how my teacher wants it, though. She'll have an easier time saying we didn't get in because we were out of tune than we didn't get in because she hates us. 

That post was longer than I thought! Enjoy!