Nashville - Day 9

Today was a mountain, a valley, and then another mountain.

MOUNTAIN #1
This morning started with devotions with Aunt Faye. Yes, she's everyone's aunt. I thought devotions would be worship time, but it's much more relaxed. Every morning, she just tells a little story with a meaningful message, and then leads us in a short prayer. It's a lovely and calming way to start the day. I've decided I'd like Aunt Faye to come to my house every morning to tell me something lovely.

Then I had my final songwriting lesson. My song has finally come together, and yes, you will hear it in Toronto. I sang the tune, and Daryl wrote out a chord chart for it. We did a quicky demo on a cassette, so I have something to bring home. The lesson ended far too quickly, but he offered to review my material anytime. I'll be keeping in touch with him for sure.

As my classes are ending, I'm giving out copies of my cd as thank you presents. I feel it's the best thing I could put in the hands of my teachers.

THE VALLEY
After my lesson, I felt a little low. I went to my room, and spent the next five hours sick in bed. It was terrible. Nothing makes you homesick like an upset tummy. I'm feeling better now. Just a little worn out. But I'm mad cause I missed a whole day of classes and stuff.

MOUNTAIN #2
Tonight we had auditions for the closing night program. What an impressive line-up of talent is here at the school. There were over 40 soloists and 15 groups that auditioned. We were all limited to 90 seconds, so it went quickly. Still, it took three hours to hear everyone. I did a solo and a group. My solo was It Is Well With My Soul, and my friend, Karen, played piano. I was still feeling weak, so my main goal was not to fall off the stage. I think it went well, and I've had some very generous compliments on it. Of course, I have to be realistic. They are only going to take two or three soloists, and there's no way I can compete with the 9-year-old blues singer! But I'm still glad that I took the opportunity to sing. And I just love that song so much. I'll take any chance to sing it.

My group audition was our trio, singing What God's Gonna Do. I haven't written anything about us for a while. Donna lost her voice for several days. We were hoping to perform earlier in the week, but it just wasn't possible. So tonight, we only got to do 90 seconds. Still, it was so great just to learn it and get the chance to perform with Debbie and Donna. Our group name was Pure Heart. It was really great fun, and I'll be bringing that song back to Toronto too.

And now, I must get some sleep so I can enjoy tomorrow. I don't want to miss a minute of the day. I've never worked so hard in my whole life. I can't believe it's almost over. But, oh my, do I need a day off!