Well, that was fun.

So I just got back from Banff.

I was there for the weekend due to Oran's annual retreat. We hired a clinician from Newfoundland to go over with what needed to be done for us to sound better.

Man, Oran's one great choral group, singing- and people-wise. Susan Quinn, our clinician, was raving over how little she had to do with us. The music we're doing is challenging, but nothing that I can't handle after enough practices. There's one piece that has a score that has to be seen to be believed. (There's no bars. It's all based on intervals. It's also sixteen parts.)

Even though we spent a LOT of time in the hall singing (about twelve hours of singing altogether), it was one rushed weekend. The time flew by, since there was singing to be done, and usually a lot of meals to eat and alcoholic beverages to be drunk. I kept on thinking to myself, "That was three hours of singing? Wow. That was a two hour break? Okay."

The people in the choir are a fun bunch, too. Over the course of a weekend, there's a lot of time to interact with others, and not just the hotelmates (especially since the only time we were actually in the hotel room was to shower and sleep). Some crazy connections in Oran. Some, I know from Mixed Chorus (and not just the ones I knew about). There's a sister of one of my MC friends. One girl went to Prairie Bible College and sang with my high school friend Shauna. Then there's Jaimie, who I DID go to school with, her awesome husband, and her sister, who I'm not really familiar with, but that could be because when I last saw Jaimie, Crystal would have been... eight? Maybe?

I also got a lot of exercise in Banff to counteract all the eating I did there. Some of us would walk the ten minute route to get to these restaurants, and a lot of stairs were involved. On Saturday alone, I probably did about an hour and a half of walking.

In all, it was a very fun, if hectic, time, and I'm really glad I joined Oran this year. It's going to be awesome!

* * *

So, I found out last week that I'm permanently (or as permanent as the Company gets) KGM's assistant manager.

I'm sorry that this throws a wrench into Mark's plans for a Vancouver vacation next week. And he knows if there was anything I could do about going back for the week, I'd do it.

Also, I worked ten days in a row until Friday. This is one of the reasons I was really looking forward to the Banff trip. After so many days of working, and having three 12+ hour days in that time, it's really nice to get a break.

And it gives Dev a chance to show off his "Jago Needs a New Job" shuffle dance.

* * *

Finished reading "Out of Sight" by Elmore Leonard. I haven't seen the movie in a while, so it's a big fuzzy memory. The book's decent, though, even if it ends very abruptly.

On to Christopher Moore's "The lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove." In the first few pages, I laughed my ass off at:

"On the radio, turned low, Reba sang of hard times with the full authority of a cross-eyed redheaded millionaire."

Next week, I'm hosting the book club where we're discussing Neil Gaiman's "American Gods."