Holiday Pops... and other updates

Time is flying by so fast; I have to hurry to write about the Holiday Pops before I jet off to Georgia for Christmas!

And yet, I'm so tired... Two months of working nights and weekends has really taken a toll. I've been slowly checking things off my list, but there are others that I'm about two months behind on addressing. Worst of all, the busier I get, the harder I have to try to produce the same quality work. I can normally dash off a well-written report fairly quickly, but now it feels like it takes me hours to write a comprehensible paragraph. Maybe it just feels that way because of all the demands on my time?? I really hope so...

It's also been tough because - guess what? - everyone plans social events around the holidays. This week alone, I went to one party to celebrate the promotion of another IEc associate and one gift swap during lunch. Both were fun, don't get me wrong! (Particularly the associates party, because the host had a dog and a 16-month-old, both of which were adorable and entertaining.) I also had a friend from college come over to hang out with my roommate and I. Unfortunately, I was the scrooge who went to bed early because I had stayed up late working the night before.

What a depressing post this is turning out to be! I'm doing fine, I swear! And really, it's a bit ironic that although I've been busier than ever the last two months, I've actually been loving my job more than ever, too. I feel like I know what I'm doing now, to the point of managing projects and teaching newcomers. I'm definitely happiest when I can take some leadership and when I am confident that I'm doing things correctly. Also, I have to put things in perspective: I spoke with one of my good friends a couple days ago, and she was completely worn out from a month of 60-80 hour workweeks. I have never worked 80 hours in a week in my life! She was also sending out Christmas cards, in all her free time.

So... what I actually meant to write about... the Holiday Pops was awesome!

Colin came up from New Haven on Tuesday afternoon, and I left work early so we could get dinner before the show. We met a couple work friends downtown at a Vietnamese and Thai restaurant, which proved to be extremely popular and delicious. Check out the straw on my Thai iced tea:

Do they have a dedicated straw-wrapper employee?! That's beautiful!

The restaurant also served HUGE portions that were extremely inexpensive, so Colin and I had to smuggle our leftovers into Symphony Hall in my purse.

Symphony Hall was a beautifully ornate building. Unfortunately, they put these rows of LED lights along the edge of the balconies that were, I imagine, supposed to introduce a little "atmosphere" and bring the symphony into the digital age.

Yes, that's a projector screen, and those white bars on the edge of the second balcony are LED lights.

Luckily, that was my only complaint! Otherwise, the show was fantastic. The first half was mostly traditional music, including the Waltz of the Flowers from the Nutcracker--one of my all-time favorites. The second half was more upbeat, with a reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas accompanied by the orchestra and an illustrated slideshow and a visit from Santa Claus. The orchestra was joined by the all-volunteer Tanglewood Festival Chorus for many songs, and the best of these was a rousing mash-up of popular songs with The 12 Days of Christmas. I, of course, can't remember any of the tunes they integrated, but I do remember that at one point, to represent three French hens, the orchestra triumphantly held up three French horns. The Pops also played Sleigh Ride, while the chorus bobbed and swayed to perfectly mimic the movements of the sleigh (think: crack! goes the whip; lurch! goes the chorus).

There was a soloist (not part of the volunteer chorus) who sang one song in that austere operatic style that makes me want to groan and make funny faces until the performer cracks. Thank goodness it was only one song! I'm sure he's very talented, but gosh I just enjoy music so much more when the performer shows some emotion. I thought he did a much better job with his second song, Mary Did You Know, which also happens to be a favorite of mine. I always get the shivers listening to that song because, really, how hard would it be to raise a child that would never truly be yours? It makes me wonder, how do you raise a child to be humble and compassionate when, from birth, he has been declared the savior of humanity? Did Mary ever wish that her life were easier, or more "normal" perhaps?

Finally, at the end of the concert, the Pops played a selection of carols for a sing-along. As the conductor put it, "Christmas is a time of miracles, and one of the greatest miracles of all is that people who would otherwise never open their mouths to sing, do so aloud and in public." Absolutely true. I can't carry a tune for a second, but if enough other people are singing, I'll happily belt out a Christmas carol.

Merry early Christmas, all! (And to all a good night.)