One term my late husband used to say before any of our deadlines is “It’s going to be a race to the finish!”

On May 12th the plan is that I’ll be getting on the plane to England and Portugal, but what I have to do in the meantime is almost an unending list of activities to accomplish. In the next two weeks, I have to:

• Attend a meeting of the Executive Board of the American Guild of Organists. I’ll be standing for election of Dean next season, in addition to my current responsibilities for their website, publicity and Concert Chair.
• Attend a meeting of my condo’s Board of Directors. I was supposed to work on our new website, but that project will have to wait until my return

• Set up a schedule and design email blasts for Early Music Hawaii, announcing the “From Venice to Dresden” concert of the music of Schütz and his contemporaries.
• Finish preparing my scores for the Schütz concert. Because of my limited rehearsal time, I’m “realizing” my figured bass score and punching it into Finale, a music software program. So far I’ve worked on nearly 50 pages of music, requiring many, many hours at my computer. Then of course I have to practice said music!
• Attend four rehearsals (April 27, May 3, 4, 6) for the Schütz concert, which will be Saturday, May 7th at 7:30 pm at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu
• Attend a quarterly meeting of the Peter R. Hallock Institute, of which I am a director
• Have my monthly eye injection. My vision fortunately has been stable throughout ten years of monthly injections.
• Play two Sunday church services at Nuuanu Congregational Church — on the PIANO!
• Fly to Kaua’i and teach three organ lessons. My students on the “Garden Isle” are now more advanced and don’t need lessons every two weeks as I had done before. I now go there once a month.
• Teach several organ lessons on Oahu. I have a new student who asked for pipe organ lessons for her 14th birthday!
• Do a school presentation for Early Music Hawaii in Pearl City. I’ll be toting my little harpsichord and playing some early music for some elementary school students, along with Kaleb and Naomi Barrett.
• Have an appointment with an orthopedic specialist for osteoarthritis
• Have my hair done before my flight
• Buy omiyage — gifts to take to friends I meet on my trip.
• Attend Cada Dia Spanish’s Book Club. This month we only meet two days a week, but there is quite a lot of homework (writing assignments) which leaves me little free time.
• Stop my daily newspaper and mail delivery, and pack my suitcase

and of course,

• Practice Spanish! Last week Duolingo said I spent 29 hours on practicing Spanish! In addition to daily practice with the app (Today I hit 1010 days in a row of using Duolingo!), I also have a daily, 45-minute Zoom conversation all in Spanish with my friends Cindy Scheinert and Marsha Walker. We’re also joined by Sue Haas, when she’s not traveling.

You call this retirement?!