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Week 13 Recap — The Six-Month Project

The Six-Month Project · Week 13 Recap

Life is a Rollercoaster…have I mentioned I don't like Rollercoasters?

Week of August 24 4 Verses Song Done ✅ Last Summer Concert ✅ …and then out of nowhere…!

The highs were so high: the song was finally done, the last summer concert felt unexpectedly meaningful, and then grief, car trouble, exhaustion, and the need to stop all arrived in quick succession. Life. 🙄

Verse One

The song is finally DONE 🎉

I've been talking about my song "Another Morning" for a bit now, and I'm guessing that from the outside, it can seem ridiculous that one song takes so long to come together. It's not always that way. Sometimes a song organically dictates what it needs. We listen. We serve the song. It comes together.

Here's the funny thing: I have always loved performing this song. Since the day I wrote it, it has felt like a moment in the story coming to life through song. Ironically, sometimes this type of song can be the trickiest to decipher in the studio. When it's just me and the piano, the way I sing it and the dynamics I infuse it with all help bring the song to life.

In the studio, everything can feel so permanent. I wanted the song to feel authentic without sounding like I was trying too hard. So…we took our time. We listened and tweaked. We subtracted and added. And then, like an exhale after holding your breath underwater, it was ready.

Gianni added so much to the finished track. It wasn't easy, either. His first draft of the horns was "sweet," but not what I had envisioned. I know he was annoyed with me—and that's okay. I was ready to just say, "Let's be done with it"…until he came back with parts that blew me away. I tweaked some guitar parts. He mixed and mastered. Like an elegant dance, we got it done. 😮‍💨

And for a moment, I let myself enjoy the win. The song was finished. Something I had carried, questioned, and carefully shaped had finally made it to the other side.

In the studio, finish line REACHED!

Verse Two

I took a chance during the last livestream concert of the summer

That little creative victory carried me into the last livestream concert of the summer, which already felt bittersweet. This summer has been a blur. My mother-in-law's fall was definitely the focus, as it should be, but yikes…how could it be the last concert of the summer already? I had put together a pretty meaty, request-fueled setlist and was already feeling a little melancholy when I got word that music legend Dolly Parton had passed.

I went live with no real intention of speaking about her because I wasn't sure the news had gotten around just yet. I played all the requests. I was feeling surprisingly good, even after performing a piano version of "Smoke on the Water" in tribute to Deep Purple's lead singer Ian Gillan…but also my former "boss," Ritchie Blackmore, whom I toured with for two years.

I had recently burst into tears when I saw that Ritchie had joined Purple for the first time in 33 years at Jones Beach Theater. So the tribute had a lot more meaning to it than the original requester had intended.

I'm not sure what possessed me, but I felt a calling to dig even deeper. I went on to share about the loss of our beloved Dolly and, on a whim, pulled out one of her most famous songs, "I'll Always Love You." I cried. I'm amazed I was able to get through it, but I did.

The song was done. The concert was ending. And suddenly, all that joy and momentum opened the door to grief. That's the strange thing about music: it can hold celebration and loss in the same breath. As always, I finished out the concert feeling cleansed, from my soul to my entire body. It felt like the perfect way to end the summer concert series—and a reminder that sometimes the only way through a feeling is to sing it.

Can you pick me out? Throwback from when I toured with Blackmore's Night!

Verse Three

Wha, wha…adulting is no fun 😕

After the creative high and the emotional release of the concert, life returned with a much less poetic soundtrack.

My dear, sweet, considerate, knows-me-so-well husband waited until after I finished my livestream to let me know that my car was making a sound…and didn't think it was a good one. Awesome. We were set to leave for a road trip in a few days, and I JUST BROUGHT IT IN to the shop for an all-points safety inspection. Ugh. 😩

I did the grown-up thing and instantly made an appointment to bring it back in the next day. Long story short, they charge a $250 "diagnostic fee," which they'll apply to any repairs…and they found…nothing wrong other than my heat shield had some rust and was probably rattling while we drove.

OH, but my tires needed to be replaced. Like whaaaaaat???? I played the video I received from the technician LAST week when I had it in the shop saying the tires and brakes were FINE, and I PAID TO HAVE THEM ROTATE MY TIRES!!! 😖 (Can you tell I was annoyed???)

I did my best to be kind, but when I was quoted nearly $1200 for new tires and rotation, and an additional $2800 to replace the heat shield, I was done. All my happy went right out the window.

And then I reminded myself, "I am safe. I will be okay. My car will be fine…" I researched and discovered that Costco had my tires in stock, that they would cost $800 as opposed to $1200, and that the heat shield wasn't a safety issue. So…yeah…that was going to have to wait.

I got a 5:45 p.m. appointment at Costco, picked my car up from the dealer, and the customer service rep did the right thing by not charging me the diagnostic fee. By 6:30 p.m., I was driving home.

New tires. Out $800 I didn't have. But safe… After the grief and the frustration, safety was the thing I could hold on to. It wasn't the happy ending I wanted, but it was enough for the moment.

Cars. In my car. I love my car...or do I?

Verse Four

I need to stop…

By then, I think my brain and body had simply had enough.

I had plans for the rest of the week, but my brain and body decided otherwise. I could feel it: the level of mental and physical exhaustion that feels like you're dragging a thousand-pound weight behind you. I have been here before. I have ignored the signals and then paid for it with some odd, undefinable illness or a dip into depression.

This time, I listened.

I decided "vacation" was going to start a few days sooner…and, of course, that meant laundry and packing, but still…🤣

It's still so uncomfortable for me to Just Be at times. I knew there were things I wanted to get done before we started our end-of-summer adventure. Mostly, I knew we needed the downtime. We had both been pushing for months on end with no respite. Between caregiving, music, grief, logistics, and all the ordinary life stuff that refuses to take a day off, we were depleted.

It was time to breathe…for real.

Rest didn't erase the song, the concert, the loss, or the car trouble. It didn't magically make the week simple. But it gave me somewhere to put it all. Sometimes the next right thing isn't another task, another solution, or another attempt to push through. Sometimes it's stopping before your body forces you to.

I'm going to fill you in on our exploits in next week's recap. For now, I will leave this week with some sage wisdom: sometimes doing nothing is more productive than doing all the things poorly. There, I said it. Let's see if I remember…

Stopping before the body forces you to

"Maybe I am starting to get the hang of this life thing after all?"

— Week 13, The Six-Month Project

Also this week…

Me at a Bridal Shower…in a dress!

I'll admit it, I was mildly intimidated. I'm not really good at the "girl things," but this was for our bestie's daughter. I showed up early, helped decorate, and even got mistaken for the bride's mother! 🤣 Sometimes being part of someone else's joy is its own kind of reset.

Sun is still my Savior

The morning after the car debacle, as soon as I felt my chest clenching and my breath shallow, I went straight outside with my tea and allowed the sun to heal me…and it did. It didn't fix the bill or the frustration, but it helped me come back to myself. That counts.

My nearly 102-year-old Northstar

I also received a much-needed jolt of happy from my cousin Steven. He sent photos of my Great Aunt getting ready for her recital. Yep. She's still singing. Remembers the lyrics and melodies better than I do. And she'll be turning 102 in a few weeks!!!! There was something about seeing her get ready to sing that brought the whole week back around.

Where the week went

Admin (Content, editing, Friday Vibes, posting) 20%

Music (Livestreams, rehearsals) 25%

Life (Care team calls, bills, life stuff) 35%

Self-care (Gym, walking, sleep, meditation, journaling) 20%

Week 14 — On the Horizon

One word. Okay, three words.

VACATION
VACATION
Okay, you get it. I'm going to be on VACATION next week! 🥳🥳🥳

#SixMonthProject Count-down!