It is…a lot of work. I’ve also been working hard on learning my Bach for the B-Minor mass. I’m happy to report that at rehearsal on Monday I knew my notes cold. I never got lost, even in those long runs of crazy 5 or 6 part harmony where I’m in the middle of everything (second soprano line). Now the goal is to mostly be able to look up and to really be able to listen to everyone else.

I am really enjoying the music, though. Hopefully the music will sound like magic, remembering the line that “all magic is just labor, hidden well.” I suppose that is true of the writing of this piece three centuries ago too!

In the meantime, I went to one band concert this week, and I have another kid band concert and choir concert to go to next week. Today I read at the preschool to celebrate the 4-year-old’s upcoming birthday. That happens over the holiday break, so we’re celebrating ahead of time. This weekend there is a choir concert and breakfast with Santa and an office holiday party. And hopefully a little downtime for puzzles.

In the meantime, some of this week’s content….Over at Vanderhacks (my Substack newsletter), I talked about “How to embrace the resolutions preseason” (that one’s behind the paywall). I also suggested that people “Find a micro-hobby” to celebrate their time confetti, and I wrote about how “Open space invites opportunity.” Please consider either a free or paid subscription!

Before Breakfast also had some holiday content, with a suggestion to “Give experiences,” and to “Remember to enjoy yourself.” (Worth noting this time of year!) I also interviewed the incredibly prolific romance and thriller novelist Sarina Bowen. She talked about how she gets ideas, keeps track of her ideas, and then executes on these ideas (to the tune of multiple bestselling books a year; her thriller The Five Year Lie recently hit #1 for thrillers on Audible). Please check that out too!

As I mentioned last week, I was having some real trouble figuring out what to buy the 12-year-old. I didn’t want to get him only video games.

I went to the “better” Target yesterday (slightly farther from the house, but more merchandise) thinking I would mostly round out what I’d gotten the 6-year-old. But, while there, I realized that the genius minds at toy and game and general consumer product companies don’t want to write off the 12-year-old boy market either. There were all kinds of options! I wound up getting a number of non-screen things I’m quite happy about and that I think he’ll love.

(Sorry for the vagueness for those looking for ideas…my kids sometimes read the blog!)

Anyway, it was a reminder to me of the trade-offs of in-person and online shopping. I love online shopping. That is how I will do most of my holiday purchasing. It is so efficient to choose presents while, say, nursing a toddler. Driving all the way to the not-closest Target took a fair amount of time. Even maneuvering the cart was kind of a challenge since little kid toys are often quite big (and big kid toys are small…go figure!) On the other hand, it feels harder, online, to discover things you didn’t know you were looking for. I think there is a similar trade off with reading news online vs. reading a “real” newspaper. I read the New York Times online and we get the Wall Street Journal delivered. I definitely read more random stuff in the WSJ. Then again, there are a great many days when I don’t read the WSJ because there was never a good time to sit down with the print newspaper. I almost always glance at the online headlines.

So it’s probably good to get a balance of both. But I will be trying not to go to physical stores on the Friday after Thanksgiving. That day always just seems crazy….

Photo: Many packages. Though I’m pretty sure this Amazon delivery is a pair of immediately-needed kid shoes, and not a Christmas present.