First of all, SHOUT OUT to my birthday girl Helen! Twenty-six is the end of the road, I'm afraid... :)

Things aren't going bad here. I went to Student Health Wednesday, and it turns out that I actually do have a sinus infection. They put me on Cipro, and told me to take Claritin and something for the fever I didn't know I had. (Possibly because it was 100 degrees out! Too damn hot...)

I was having a bit of drama about my dance class--as you know, I am not the most graceful or coordinated person in my family (including my brother, who fell on his head quite a bit as a child), and everyone in the class is an 18-year-old dance major who's taken ballet for ten years. I do like the class, and I think it's good for me, but I was a little worried about the grading. (Wouldn't want to mess up my 4.0!) I don't have the option of auditing or pass-failing the class, but a friend of mine reminded me that undergraduate classes don't count toward our GPA. So if I stay in the class (I still have the option of dropping it until October 10) it can't hurt my average too much.

Speaking of grades, we just had our first quiz in Vocal Pedagogy this morning. He really stumped me on the abdominal stuff. And I confused the floating ribs with the false ribs. Couldn't I have just used the rib numbers? Anyway, it wasn't my best work, but I think I did okay.

I had my first coaching with Dr. H----- Wednesday. Right after my doctor's appointment, actually--I was rather worried about it, since I knew I wasn't sounding my best. But it went well, and I was happy. He is the coolest person, I swear. Well, except for Mark. And you all, too, I guess... :)

And today I had my first piano lesson. Scary! It turns out that I won't have a jury or anything--I just take half-hour lessons and get graded on my progress. ("An E for Effort," we like to say.) So now I get to play C-major and G-major scales, and play a few little exercises and this short little Mozart minuet. I'm really starting with baby steps. It's a refreshing change from the Wagner and Strauss I've been working on vocally.

Weekend news: well, after I practice my scales and go home to clean the house (my week), Mark will be coming! Tomorrow we'll probably visit a friend of his the next town over, then Sunday after church we're going to Boone! All I know is that it's really pretty up there. We'll go to Grandfather Mountain and Blowing Rock, and we may get to Linville Caverns if we have the time. The best part is, I have been doing the planning this time. Usually Mark does just about everything, but this was my baby from the beginning. (Granted, it just hatched two days ago, but whatever.) I booked the hotel and everything--and most of them were full or way too expensive, but I was able to find something reasonable. And maybe that means it'll be sketchy, but it's right by the university so I'm not worried about the neighborhood or anything. And isn't that part of the adventure? It'll be a surprise, either way. And I think people get too picky about hotel rooms, anyway--as long as it's clean and comfortable, who cares whether they've got HBO? We're not going there to spend time in the hotel...

Anyway, I'd better get cracking.