Indiana, not Louisiana, Paris France, NY or Rome...

This is late in coming.  Sorry peeps.  The general overview is it was a whirlwind weekend complete with a reunion of the "power of four" plus "the creator" and a 30th birthday on top of horrendous travel issues and an amazing audition.  Where to start?  At the beginning of course.

I hate re-living bad experiences so I'll keep it simple.  The day I left was the first day it really decided to snow in Syracuse so of course flights got delayed and lovely little layovers (woah alliteration!) were missed sending me to distant states and adding to my already long day.  Instead of flying into Indianapolis, IN and driving the hour to Bloomington with my rental car of $40, I flew into Cincinnati, OH 6 hours later, drove the 2 hours to Bloomington with my rental car of $500.  I'm not certain where to go to fight this but it will be fought.  Thus endeth the bad crap.

I get to Bloomington, see my girl Paula who along with her bf Clinton were so hospitable and wonderful to spend the weekend with.  Thanks again Paula!!  Saturday was the big day.  I was able to meet up with my pianist who so happened to be a friend of mine from Crane who's played not one, not two, but now three of my college auditions.  It's a nice little relationship we have going on.  He met with me early in the day to go over some of my music which was amazing because IU (Indiana University) was the only school that did not include a rehearsal with the accompanist before hand.  So we rocked out a bit, caught up a bit, then I went on my merry way and tried to keep it cool before getting ready for the actual audition. 

The actual audition (the outfit has been posted on FB and I'm pretty sure just about EVERYONE has seen it so I don't need to go into detail, but rest assured it is my new audition outfit.) was a wonderful experience.  I felt confident walking in, my mouth did not instantly go dry as it always has before when I feel nerves, I felt in control of my text, my musicality and my technique and though it was far from perfect (which I never strive for), it was good.  I left feeling like I sang well.  And that's really all I can do.  If the 19 people in the room (Yes, 19.  Big-Ass-Program.) liked me, that's up to them. 

I spent the rest of the evening having dinner with Jer (pianist friend), Paula and Clinton, then retired to the abode with a bottle of wine and a nice relaxing evening of chit chat with some fabulous people. 

The flight home included some delays, some Rossi parents (and uncle!) and an SU student and was otherwise uneventful. 

When I got home, it was on.  :) 

This past Monday, my dear sister Stanley Marie turned the dirty thirty.  Shannon came up from Florida, Kristy and Jaden came in from the Mills, and I came home from Indiana.  I got back to town on recovery day, but that's fine because I had been up since 5:30am and had traveled home which, for any frequent flyers, is never an invigorating day.  I also had a music rehearsal for Eleanor, the opera I did last year that we're reuniting for, so that was 2 1/2 hours of singing after the audition and travel and early mornings.  Yeah that was fun. 

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out, playing games, spending time with my amazingly cute and loving and heart-wrenchingly wonderful niece and nephews*, (minus the two nieces in FL... I can't have everything.) (frownie face) and celebrating Stan!  Then the semester started, I taught for two days and am now in Colorado for the 2nd audition of the cycle.  This flight came with its own slew of awesome.  I check in and the first thing the woman says at the counter:  "Your flight has been delayed and you're going to miss your connection." 

I almost cried.  I nearly did, if I'm being honest.  I was supposed to have a rehearsal in Boulder at 5:50pm and now I wasn't getting to Denver (30-40 mins away) until 5:00 and that doesn't include getting my bag or rental car.  I was understandably agitated.  At this point all formalities were gone.  No more Miss Nice Bridget.  Yeah, that's right, when I get mad, I... well I... I didn't politely smile at everyone working.  Yeah!  And then another worker guy asked if he could help me and I said (with daggers in my voice, I'm SURE) "nope."  Ooh the burn! 

As I interacted with airport employees farther and farther away from the first devil woman of flight ruining proportions, I became increasingly more pleasant and then enjoyed a really nice layover in Newark complete with Mexican lunch and a manicure, and an equally nice flight with a good book that is Twilight for 25-35 year olds.  Now I'm here, all checked into the hotel and awaiting the arrival of my delicious food. 

The time change is interesting, I'd like to think I can take advantage of it and get to bed early and be up early according to Mountain Time, but I'll probably adjust and be more screwy when I go back. 

Audition is tomorrow, I'll keep you all posted on how this one goes!




*An example of the heart-wrenchingly wonderfulness:
Jaden to me: How did you get back so fast?
Me:  I drove really really fast!
Jaden: Why?
Me:  So I could see you of course!
Jaden:  (pauses) Do you love me?
Me:  So very much.  :)
Jaden:  With your heart?
Me:  (melting on the inside) To the ends of the earth and back.

My heart grew three sizes that day.