Concert Went Well - And a Whine about the Weather

I was going to wait to post about Sunday's concert until I got pictures (two people took really nice pictures of me with the producer) but I haven't gotten them yet.  I did take a "selfie" which sort of shows my outfit and also shows a wall hanging I bought in honor of the Mentor (about 5 years ago).  I have gotten better at selfies (remembering not to grimace the way I would if I were just trying to frame a photograph) but I still can't get them to show anything below my shoulders.

I thought I sang well; the only problem was that the silk rose somehow got stuck in my lace sleeve, and flipped backwards instead of out into the audience (also, there was no attractive man or woman I felt that I wanted to honor with the rose!).  Also, although using the chair as a prop was a great idea (I had no trouble sitting down, standing up, or standing with my foot on it), when it came to "toss it aside" gracefully, it was too heavy and I could barely move it.

Plans for the Carmen concert continue.  I now have an accompanist.  I have not gotten a confirmation email back from the tenor, so I will contact him again.  There will be two runthrough rehearsals with the accompanist (I don't know yet if we will have a Micaela and an Escamillo) and before then I will try to go to 4 or 5 meetups with the producer/sponsor.  She posted several for the end of January and the beginning of February, but I want to avoid going out unnecessarily until there is less snow on the ground.  I am figuring I can get to maybe one at the end of February, two in March, and two in April.  

I finally had a lesson yesterday after not having had one for five weeks, and not singing any exercises (or anything) above an A for a week.  I sang through "Chanson Boheme" like a house afire, and today during my practice I sailed comfortably up to a high C on a long arpeggio.  Not a squeak that got stuck in my throat but a real note.  Maybe at some point I will go back to the difficult repertoire (meaning Verdi) that I have taken a break from.  

As for the weather, I am frightened for my safety in this storm.  I had a doctor's appointment this morning, but am in for the rest of the day.  Tomorrow night is choir practice.  The choir director has said the rule is that if the subways are running, we are on.  If I want to stay competitive with all the new talented young people I can't be a sissy and stay home because of a snowstorm, unless an advisory is issued (it has been for tonight).  I mean I now have a whole "old lady" protocol all the way from using a cane, to taking buses not subways, to, now, since my last fall, asking the bus driver to let me exit using the wheelchair platform if the bus has steps (a lot of them don't).  But staying home is not an option, I wouldn't think.  Of course this is an endless source of friction with my SO who would love to keep me in a little box until it's time for me to come do chores for her.  What bothers me is I have lived with inclement weather for over 6 decades and this is the first year I have really been frightened by it.  As a child it was fun, as a teenager it signaled a welcome holiday from school, and as an adult going to work it was a nuisance (I remember waiting for a bus standing in a foot of snow and thinking my legs were going to freeze off, for example, as well as having to clamber over huge snow drifts to cross the street) but  not a hazard.

Well, now it's back to Carmen.  I need to get serious about memorizing the second half of it!

ETA: Here is a photo of me with the woman who produced the concert and will sponsor my Carmen.  Note the stunning view from her window!