It's no longer my birthday but there's still cake if anyone wants it.

my rather silly birthday cake, which tasted good because it was German chocolate cake with white buttercream frosting, which is my favorite

The birthday thing was nice. My parents threw a mid-sized bash and said we could invite anyone we wanted; if they ran out of food they would just order more pizza. I think it ended up that thirty three of Matthew's and my peers attended, plus miscellaneous relatives and pseudorelations.

I must issue a disclaimer of sorts about the cake. My friend Alyssa wants to get into the wedding cake business as a way to earn a few bucks, but she's never actually made a wedding cake. She didn't want to make a wedding cake for nothing, though she has been practicing with single layers. She came up with the brilliant idea of making, with her Aunt Stephanie's help, a wedding cake for Matthew's and my birthdy. I told her that twins having a wedding cake on their birthday was straight out of Deliverance, but there was no stopping her. For the record, Matthew and I did not stand before the guests and feed each other cake at our birthday party. While the two of us are not exactly overburdened with dignity, there are depths to which even we will not sink. The cake was pretty good primarily because I refused to tolerate any of that godawful fondant  and told her the cake would not be allowed inside my house without buttercream frosting covering it.

My parents got me snowboarding gear and apparrel,  which I cannot use during winter break this year because of my upcoming violin recital on February 1. The embargo is entirely self-imposed. I've worked too long and hard to be ready for this recital just to have it all blown on a broken arm incurred in a single outing of frivolity. I've sworn off gymnastics workouts for the same reason. Something as inconsequential as an injured finger or wrist could make playing some or all of my violin pieces virtually impossible.

Once the recital is history, I'll return to my former life with a vengeance. In fact, I'm skipping out of school to drive to Utah for nine days to go snowboarding, beginning the day after my recital. I'll have a light academic load, and I hope to have been accepted into a medical school long before any grades are posted in the event that the worst happens and I get a B in a class.

I received my A's officially for my accompanist/vocal coaching course and my instrumental/choral conducting class. My conducting practical exam went very well, and I was blessed to have very good musicians with whom to work in my accompaniment/coaching class.

I have to accompany for a French horn senior recital tomorrow night. The soloist had planned  it earlier, but he had a family emergency involving a car accident in which his younger brother was almost killed. I've been told that the boy is going to make a full recovery, but his outcome was uncertain for awhile. Usually a musician is out of luck when such a thing happens, and has to reschedule for the next quarter, but his circumstances were sufficiently compelling to allow him to reschedulelate in this quarter. His recital date is actually after the cut-off date for recitals for this quarter, but the department can do anything it wants when it really wants to, and in this particular case I'm glad they allowed him to re-schedule his recital this quarter. My mom didn't tell me this, but my piano professor told me that my mom was instrumental in going to bat with the department head on behalf of the French horn player. it makes me proud to be related to her.

I have three finals on Monday and one on Tuesday, after which I am FINISHED for the quarter. It would have been a great time to snowboard, but it would be foolish for me to do so. Because my family is spending christmas in Idaho and it wouldn't be too far out of the way, I'm going to do the New Year in Utah thing. I'm not certain what I will do with my time there since I can't snowboard, but I'll find something. Jared and my friend Alyssa will be there. Alyssa probably won't be able to ski or snowboard either because she had an injury (hairline fracture of the pelvis, of all things) in a soccer game that happened in a PE class at her college, and it's unlikely she will have clearance for any major physical activities. If I forget, remind me not to sign up for any soccer classes.

Have a nice week. Ciao.