What's with things breaking

We have a cute little Mazda. I love our car. It's barely 5 years old and hasn't given us any trouble. Until now. A part broke. I don't really understand what it was, but it was the only piece of the engine that was made out of plastic. This particular piece was under a lot of literal pressure. So it broke. The only plastic part in the whole engine. Hmm. This part was only available at great expense from the dealer. Hmm.

We got it repaired for thousands less than the initial estimate, and the check engine light keeps coming on. We've gotten that fixed twice, now, but it keeps coming back. Figures. The car is almost paid for.

Not long ago, the handle to our dishwasher started falling off and being a real problem to open. We only latch it now when in use. The rest of the time, we hold it shut with a bungie cord. (Have I mentioned what an amazingly high class household we are?) My younger son, the Wookiee, looked into what part we need and where we could order it today. Guess what? It's back-ordered. Tells me that this part breaks a lot. Wouldn't surprise me if it was the only plastic part in the whole damned machine. I'm beginning to feel like we're all a part of some massive conspiracy on the part of manufacturers, plotting out which parts should fail first. I bet this part will only be available from the manufacturer, at great expense. When it comes in from back-order.

Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.

I've got a blog - now what do I do?

My husband has a blog, my daughter has a blog, why not me? You may think that I have nothing to say, and that may be true, but that doesn't mean I can't waste a lot of all of our times saying it.

Not long ago, I got back in touch with a friend from college. It was really cool. I think I'd have recognized her. And I've seen pictures of some people from college that I wouldn't recognize in the proverbial million years. I tried to get her caught up with the last 25 years of my life in 2 paragraphs, as you do on Facebook. (What I wrote) "The kids are almost grown up, out of 3 I still have one at home, but he's in college. I blew it the first time around, but the 2nd husband seems to be working out. We've been together for 21 years. I had an operatic career while we were in Germany. Now, I sing all over New Mexico, teach voice & piano, direct choirs, whatever pays the bills." She sent back that I'd had a busy and interesting life.

Actually, lately I've been feeling like my life was pretty boring and mundane. What have I really accomplished? What have I done? That kind of thing. And here comes this woman I haven't seen in a very long time, who thinks I must have an exciting life. Hmm. Let's see. Do we have money? Um, no. Are we happy? Yeah, I guess. Am I busy? Hoo boy. Like most working musicians, I work my posterior off, for very little cash. (I just wish I really was working my posterior off!) Is it exciting, interesting? Right now, I'm spending a lot of time working with high school kids, helping them to prepare for various competitions. This involves working on their Italian, pitch, timing, dynamics, and presentation. Some of them are really working and learning and audibly improving with each session. Yeah, I guess that is kind of exciting, even if I do get tired of the same songs over and over.

I'm helping to put on an opera in concert setting that has never been performed before. The music isn't grand opera, but has more of a celtic/folk feel to it. But it's good music, and we're going to be the first group to ever perform the work in its entirety. So, I guess that is pretty exciting, too.

Opera Unlimited is lining up performances for the school year. Hansel & Gretel goes back on the road in early Nov. (I'm the witch). We'll soon be back in the elementary schools all over the state, performing for the little kids, introducing them to opera. Some of those kids may go on to sing in a choir or a school show because they've seen us. Exciting.

Damn. Who knew?