Sorry folks, I've just been feeling a little...unbloggy...lately. I'm a little down in the dumps about work right now, and I just don't have a lot of interesting things to write about.

I thought this week was going to feel different, since I was back to MOB rehearsals and church. But it feels pretty much the same as summer, except that when Nick comes home from work, I leave and go to a rehearsal. I'm bored all day by myself at home, and then when I want to be home spending time with him, I have to leave. It sucks. Most of my friends are back to working day jobs, so I have nobody to hang out with during the day, and I can't hang out with them in the evenings either. Whine whine whine, I know.

You are probably thinking, here's a solution, get a day job. Well, here's the thing. I don't have to have a day job. Why in the world would I want to work at a horrible, low paying, zero satisfaction job that isn't in my field if I don't have to? And yet I can't continue my current schedule forever, nor do I want to. If I could think of ANY nine to five job that was fulfilling and enough money to make getting up early and spending forty hours a week doing it worth it, I'd be there. As of now, I can't think of anything. I've thought about going back for my teaching license, but I feel like that's selling myself out a little. I went for a Masters degree so that I could someday be a voice professor at a college. Unfortunately, these days you need either a doctorate or ten years of experience. So I'm going to have to wait on that one a little. I'm always on the lookout for a small adjunct voice position, but those are hard to come by around here.

So at the moment I'm just trying to get more students on the North Shore. And sort through the mess of possible auditions for this year. I did have a great coaching yesterday with my favorite Scot, Alan D, so that perked me up quite a bit. He gave me some really terrific audition advice and some new ways of practicing that I think are really going to help. It looks like I'm going to have an audition next week for Sarasota Opera young artist program, which would mean three months in Florida in the middle of winter. That sounds pretty freakin' awesome.

Oh, here's a bit of fun news: This week I was elected to the Yelp 2008 Elite Squad! I was thinking about applying after I reached fifty reviews, but I didn't even have to apply! The Yelp community manager emailed me this week that I had been chosen! Check out my nifty new Elite badge on my profile. So, yeah, I'm pretty much a guru on what's hip and happenin' in Chicago. :) The best part is, I am now eligible for Elite events, which often mean free food and booze! And I get a free Yelp hoodie. :)

So that's it from here. This weekend will be hardly a weekend, since I've got a rehearsal tonight, Nick's working tomorrow, and I've got church AND a rehearsal on Sunday. We're going to try to fit in a trip to the Windy City Wine Festival somewhere in there, and hopefully a good meal or two.

Cheers!