Back to the Grind

Well, my friends, Christmas is over (sort of). I'm back to work on my studying for my music history predictive exam, which will be on January the 14th (I think). It's a great big test. I counted 280 items that I have to explain and date and name the nationality for (composers, forms, terms, publications, compositions). It's kind of like getting ready to pass the bar. I've just been studying for about 90 minutes, and I got 10 flashcards prepared. I haven't really STUDIED concepts, just gathered some information so I can study it eventually. I have about 85/280 flashcards now. It's slow going. I took about 3 days off for Christmas, but I have to get back to work now!

Scott and I watched "Julie and Julia" again last night. I was inspired. Julia Child inspires me to just keep on working toward my goal of being the best that I can be. I loved Julie's story, as well, reaching out toward people who might have a common interest by way of her little blog. Is anyone out there? I wonder if anyone reads this.

Kevin is home for another week, and everyone (but me) goes back to school in a week. It's kind of a tricky thing to balance my time over the break, because everyone is home on vacation, but this really can't be a vacation for me. I need to keep working toward passing this exam, and I should be practicing, as well. I've been working on learning Granados' "El Pelele." Do you know it? Youtube it. It's a very happy and DIFFICULT piece. I'm working hard, and making a tiny bit of progress at a time - just like Julie and Julia.