It's that time of year

(Not 'tis the season. Ugh.)

The Advent time of year is always busy for a church musician. Take the last 9 days or so for me.

Last Saturday: I played a funeral, then played my two regular Masses.

Last Sunday: Sang at the morning Mass.

Monday: Practice at one of the churches where I'll be playing on Christmas Eve.

Wednesday: Funeral at midday, then evening practice.

Thursday: Another funeral! (Must be one of those weeks, on top of it being that type of year.)

Saturday: My regular two Masses -- plus I headed out to pick up a piece of sheet music for a parishioner who had found comfort in it when her husband died.

Saturday: Sang, and gave the parishioner that music.

This isn't quite as bad as last year, when I had practices three nights a week, but it's still keeping me busy. (As a trade-off, I won't be playing Saturday Masses during Christmas season, because there won't be any; Christmas and New Year's both fall on Saturdays.)

And that's combined with my regular work, of course. Rest? I wouldn't count on it -- not for a while.