What a night!

Who would've thought that the day that started so badly would end on such a glorious note.
My stupid neighbour was up again at 6am, stomping around and slamming doors left, right and center. Having gone to bed at around 1am last night, I didn't take it so well. I guess screaming "You stupid asshole" didn't make much difference. I managed to get back to sleep for another two hours, only to wake up sneezing. And the sneezing never stopped until about 5pm. My nose was blocked, my throat was starting to hurt and I kept thinking... WHY TODAY? I've got a choir performance to get through tonight, why today???

Thankfully both the sneezing and the sore throat went away shortly before I left for the performance. Black shirt, black skirt is how they dress for concerts around here. I felt confident with all the pieces we were singing and I was looking forward to performing with my new choir and our new conductor.

I could go into details but there just isn't any point. We simply rocked! We were so VERY, VERY good, I couldn't help grinning throughout the entire first half. Diane, our conductor is such a joy to watch, too. She is smiling all the time and is so enthusiastic about it all, it makes it a million times more fun to sing!
The second part was even better due to the confidence we had gathered throughout the first part and everybody just clapped and clapped and clapped for what seemed like ages!

And for me personally, apart from the joy I got from singing my heart out, it was even better to have 4 people there to watch me perform. Hard to believe that after 4 years in Woking, nobody I had gotten to know from work ever came to see me perform. And here I am, 4 months into my US stint and 4 people from work show up. It was awesome to have them there. Singing TO somebody makes the whole experience so much nicer...

Off to bed now, I'm totally worn out - but happily so ;-)

P.S. One of the ladies I was standing/singing next to said something so incredible to me during the interval. She said "I really respect you - you really enjoy singing AND you take it seriously, too". Needless to say, that meant the world, even if coming from an almost stranger.

Can't stop grinning... can't stop grinning... can't stop grinning... :-D