So yeah, I find myself really limited on free time. And I'm trying to exercise more often, too, which has been mostly pretty successful.
But once again, I am feeling very stressed out. At least, I have been so far this week. I hate when things get so busy that I don't have time to prepare myself for my students, to prepare my mind for them. They deserve to have met be at my very best (and that's what they'r paying for), so when I'm not, I feel that I'm letting them down. None of them have ever told me that...I'm putting that pressure on myself. Perhaps I shouldn't so that I'm not so stressed...but it's just how I operate. I have to do my best in music all the time. Plus, I feel that sets a good example for my students.
It's been a lot of fun working with my students, though. We just wrapped up All-Northwest auditions for my high school students, and are now shifting gears to start our solos for Solo & Ensemble. The brass ensembles are as large as they've ever been, and we're preparing a really fun program of music for our Halloween concert in about 3 weeks. Don't worry, I'll tell you about that later...heh, I'm quite proud of my programming on this one.
But as far as the stress thing goes, don't worry, I'll figure it out. My next 3 days look promising, in terms of having time to work.
Take care and value music.