Wedding gigs, traveling with the baby

So, I had a wedding gig that involved 1.5 hours of travel each way. When I accepted this gig I was pregnant, and so, obviously, didn't have the baby yet and didn't get how much that would impact our daily routine and things like work, and gigging, etc. Once I started to think about the gig in light of our new addition, plans changed. We decided that 3 hours travel in the car in one day was just too much, and so we took the opportunity to make it a weekend away.

Bottom line: it was fun, and I'm glad we went.

BUT.......... there were challenges.

Transcription on the fly:

In the group with which I accepted the gig, we use repertoire in which my part is often in treble clef, up quite high. In order to make it work on the cello, I'm usually dropping down an octave or sometimes two as I read the music. When I do this, it puts the actual note that I'm playing one note away from how the note would read if it were in tenor clef, as would be likely if the part were written for cello. That is insanely confusing to deal with on the spot. For those of you who don't read music or who have no idea what I'm talking about imagine the following: you're reading off a series of numbers for an audience, and as you do so, someone is shouting numbers in your ear that are one different from those on the page. Try it, just try it, I dare you! :-) Anyway, not wanting to screw up royally at a gig, I decided to write out some of the music in the proper register and clef. A good idea, but this takes a LONG TIME. And since I now have a child whom I'm feeding a good chunk of the day, I just don't have the time I used to for getting tasks like that done. So, Saturday was spent frantically trying to get all that transcription done, at the B&B, at the restaurant for lunch, etc. And why was I doing this instead of using Finale, the program designed to make all that work easier and faster? Because I am feeling intimidated by the software and haven't touched it though it's been loaded on my machine for over a year. *blush*

The Preciousness of Modern American Weddings:

Well, what can I say? Ted and I are not traditionalists. We had a friend MC, but married ourselves to each other without someone saying we could (at our wedding - obviously, we had a judge say we could a few months earlier at court). We had ourselves as well as our wonderful friends and family contribute time and energy and creativity and love to make the space happen, make the music, speak the words of the ceremony, and even clean up afterwards. (To any of you who might be reading this, thank you again, from the bottom of my heart!! We absolutely loved our community-produced wedding!)

In my experience, that was quite unusual. Having played many wedding gigs, (and I am now down to playing very few because they're usually more hassle than they're worth, imo) they often seem formulaic to me, despite varying trappings and settings. This is not to diss the feelings of all involved; I know how moving they are for people who are there to get married and their friends and family. From the point of view of a musician playing at the wedding, however, it's a different experience. Bringing my baby, my cello, and myself through a very large space outside, over two quite narrow wooden bridges was just the start of it. Then there was the wind, that kept blowing our music away from and off of our stands, despite clothes pins. And the bugs in our eyes. And the foetid smell of the pond in front of us. And the loudness of the fountain in said pond. And the bright sun and our professional black clothing. And the miscommunications about timing, and the fact that we couldn't see when anyone was starting "down the aisle" (around twisty/turning paths, through trees) which was to be our cue.... whee. Needless to say, my vacation didn't start till Saturday evening some time later. (This is a photo of the place; we were tucked behind the trees to the right, just to the side of one of the ponds).

Sleeping away from home, and My Princess-On-The-Pea self:

I have huge trouble sleeping. It's hard enough at home, but worse on vacation, where I often lie for hours on hard mattresses, tossing and turning. I really sleep best alone, but a king size mattress works pretty well. Ted has a sleeping talent the equal of which I have never seen, but does a lot better with more space too. At the B&B we had a queen bed, we had a baby, and the first night I got about an hour of sleep. The second night we slept separately, and then, yippee skippy, I slept. We have learned our lesson; as much as we don't want to be pampered little princesses, when we go away we have to get a room with a king bed. Otherwise, we're sleep-deprived, snappy, and not having that much fun. We don't want to wreck Hazel's childhood vacations that way, so we'll just have to celebrate our inner princesses and go with it.

On the Plus Side:

We happened into fun street fair in Langley. We drove over Deception Pass Bridge at sunset twice, and it is so incredibly beautiful! We got sunshine one day, and then a nice cool day to wander and meander through the fair the next. We had time together, wonderful meals, fun with the baby, who smiles all the time. We each love watching the other with the baby. We are giddy with love and cuteness, and enjoying that in each other. It's good.