Two Weddings and a Mass Service: The story of 6hrs singing marathon on October 25

The first time when our choir coordinator asked my opinion about receiving both or choose only one of two wedding assignments for October 25, I didn't hesitated at all. I said to accept both assignments. Why?

Firstly, there was enough time between two assignments, although the place where each wedding was held was different, but the distance also not so far

Another reason, in each wedding, our choir have a close connection in the past. In one couple, the bride was one of ours once. In the other, it's the sister of the groom who was our member. 

The trouble was, at the same day, our choir also had a routine service for Sunday afternoon Mass. But, still I thought our choir could handle it. There's barely any difficult new songs, either for the two weddings or the Mass. As a songs coordinator, I could choose and arrange so the songs were quite simple and not too many for the three functions altogether. So, it would be no big deal at all, except that it would need a big amount of practices and commitment.

When it was finally presented to all of choir members, there was no strong opposition. Yes, there was quite a big shock and unbelief, but they accepted it...I think....hehehe...! So, the tight practices schedule was arranged and conducted. At the beginning of our intensive rehearsal, I heard some cynical opinion about our audacity in taking such many tasks in one day, that we should take a closer look about the choir's capability before accepted those events. Still, when a friend asked me about that, I remained in my opinion: we could handle it, maybe not easily, but certainly it was within our reach. That we only needed a discipline and a big teamwork. So, our practices went on as scheduled......until two weeks before our big time.....

It was the time to confirm everything, the organ player(s), the time schedule...everything. The first big shock was that the first wedding ceremony was in fact an hour later than our received schedule. It provided us less time to move to the other church and perform our next assignment. Then came the next worry....turned out we only had one musician for the three events, instead of ideally two persons. It meant we had to time everything carefully, so our only one musician had enough time to be ready mentally and physically from first event to the second one. But, what can we do.....we had said yes! So, there was nothing else to do than forward....!

So, our big dreaded time, the October 25, was coming. It was started with quite a bang at 12 o'clock, as the song-books carrier came way too late than the time we'd agreed on and made our Conductor in a bad mood. Thank God, we the singers was quite offhanded about that...hehehe...we just did our best as far as we could. And more luck on us, the first wedding ceremony was quick enough..... At 01.30pm, we had been on the way to the next assignment, 10 minutes from the first church. The traffic was quite smooth, so we also had a time for a quick lunch and a short re-warming-up. Precisely at 2pm, our second wedding ceremony began. And it went on for an hour. By which time, several of us had felt so hot and thirsty, that all we thought was how refreshing is Es Teler...hahaha... So, after the ceremony was over, several of us decided to spend the remaining time enjoying the cold Indonesian drink at a close-by mall, then hurried back to the first church and got ready to perform the routine task for the afternoon Sunday Mass. And there we went...sang again....started on 5pm till 6.30pm. After the closing song finished, we applauded ourselves...hurray, finally we did it!!!

When I think about that day, I am really proud of my choir. Although we all were so tired and weary, we still could sing with all of our heart. The best moment for me is when we sang the Ave Maria by Giulio Caccini. We had sung this song several times in wedding ceremonies, but it was the first time we performed it for a Sunday Mass. For me, the performance that day was the best compared to the other times we sang it. I guess we were so tired, that we just followed every direction from our Conductor, no question, no objection....hahaha.... Furthermore, my personal ambition was 100% fulfilled that day.....the choir had performed the Ave Maria by Giulio Caccini, before the other choirs did the same and we did it very well, too....hahaha... It would be very difficult to get over us....hahaha....very confidence of me, aren't I? hahaha...

Bored to Death

For several days...no, weeks...to be more exact.....well, it had been unbearably very hot here at Surabaya, Indonesia. The heat had seeped my energy, that made me soooooooo lazy in working hours.

For more almost two weeks now, I've been totally alone in the office. I am usually working alone, but not all of the time. The Boss has sent all of my colleagues...the two of them hehehe....doing a field job, leaving me 100% in charge of the office.

Today, I really, really, really felt bored. I had forced myself to do a little work that is not so urgent. After lost all of my will and work spirit, I turned to the computer games. Only worked for an hour. Then, I decided to work on the Christmas choir preparation....translating a music sheet. It was quite complicated and made me so tired and sleepy. So after lunch, I decided to take a nap....yup, at the office....hehehe....it's empty after all! After an hour, I woke up in sweats. Yikes! Even the minimum temperature of Air Conditioning couldn't make the indoor weather much comfortable!

Once again, I forced myself to concentrate on the music sheet, and chatted with a friend and browsed the internet altogether. Thank God, the weather became a little cooler just now. And finally I could finish the music sheet.

Hmmm....there's a few minutes before the closing time. Aha! Rendezvous with Edward Cullen......I do miss him so much! Now.....sssshhhhh! I'm reading the Twilight again......hihihi...!

My End-of-the-Holidays Gloom

During these 13 years working for living, the company has only granted me one chance of long holiday every year. It's the week of Idul Fitri, the big Indonesian Moslem's holiday.

These last several years, I've been desperately trying to use the holiday to banish my boredom spirit, so I could report back on duty refresh and have a clear eyes. The way I used to during school days' holidays. I remember that I was always so eager to be back to school again after a week holiday, to meet my classmates.

This year, I thought I would be more successful than previous years in trying to lift up my working mood during this holiday. But no, sadly I found out that I was seeing the coming Monday in gloomy mood. And all because of the message I received from my colleague yesterday. It wasn't my friend's fault, of course. I'm sure she only did it with the best intention. But nevertheless it had reminded me so strongly about the task I would face no matter how I hate it, the routine, the same working space, the same problem years after years. In the end, I lost any fun I got from the holiday....and it left me feeling empty. Just the same like all of my holidays at the previous years.

Now, I just try to relax, grasp any activities to put any thought about the upcoming Monday behind me. Trying to exorcist my end-of-the-holidays gloom. For all of my friends who has so much luck and will certainly find the new breath in coming back on duty...I'm so happy for you, wish I could be on the same boat!

Favourite Pastime: Browsing Malls!!!

A good friend of mine once told me this story about her Malayan friend. This friend of hers couldn't understand why Indonesian people so love spending their weekend at the malls. The parking lots are always full of cars and motorcycles. The indoor is always so crowded with people everywhere. And below is the reason I gave to my friend for a possible explanation.

For many people in Indonesia, spending pastime at malls is considered as a low-budget attraction. One could see everything in one place, from books till gears, all in a beautiful arrangement. Or see other people with so many kind of appearances. When you're hungry or thirsty, you could buy food and beverages from any kind of fast-food stalls or even eat at the fancy and classy restaurants. Or you could just walk around whereas talking to your friend(s). And the best thing is - especially in a hot season like now - you don't have to feel any hot at all, thanks to the cool air-conditioner. Most of malls in Indonesia provide a complete entertainment for the whole family, from children till the old people. It's no wonder you could find a large group of obviously one family entering a mall, complete with the nannies and nurses for the children.

And for the workers like me, there's no other time than weekends to do some shopping in a leisure time. Most of us spend the workdays working till 6-7pm. There's so little energy left to do some shopping after work. Besides, it's too close to the closing time for most of stores. At weekends, we could have a whole day to browse and shop, and maybe chat with some acquaintances we meet on the way.

So, my friend, that's why we go to malls at weekends! Viva windowshopping!!

Homemaker isn't a good talent?

Last night, I took a quiz through my Facebook account. It's supposed to let us know what talent hidden inside each of us. Based on the questioners, my secret talent is a PERFECT HOMEMAKER. Wow, I thought, isn't it nice? Then I read the comment below my result that made me: "Huh?????"

The creator advised me to do the quiz all over again, because it seemed I wasn't interested in anything. I was advised to, for example, concentrate in my cooking skills, so I could be a famous chef and have my own TV program.

The comment above made me wonder whether I mistook the meaning of HOMEMAKER. So, I consulted my dictionary and wikipedia. And I was right. According to wikipedia, a homemaker works full-time to maintain the home environment. If the person is female and part of the family, then she's called HOUSEWIFE. So, the BIG question is: what's wrong in becoming a fully housewife? Isn't a housewife considered as a special talent? Is it wrong to choose working behind a screen, supporting the husband in his career, raising the children, creating a comfortable home for the family?

Yes, my big dream is becoming a fully housewife. I'm not interested in becoming a career woman, nor a working wife/mom. One thing I understand of myself is I couldn't concentrate in doing more than one task at a time. I value very high women who could building her career and still doing her shares at home altogether. Working full-time has drained me at the end of the day. I couldn't imagine how high my emotion would run if arriving at home, I still have to prepare dinner for the family, checking the children's homework and smile sweetly at my husband....hahaha... I think I would explode very easily each day....hahaha... not a good situation for my loved ones.

The BIG problem in realising my dream is that I'm also rather materialistic....hahaha....see how honest I am? So, what am I looking for? Hmmmm...a rich man who prefers a quiet life and doesn't mind that his wife isn't a model-look at all, that she loves to talk, discuss and sometimes debate, that she would go berserk if he go all day without send her a short message just to say hi, that she still learns how to cook properly, that sometimes she just want to escape and do window shopping for a day alone.....uh, better stop now...otherwise, it would be going and going and going.....hahaha...and no man alive could fulfill that requirements.....hahaha..

So, any man out there dare to take the challenge and apply for the post?