Spem in Alium - a Forty-Part Motet & Music Theory

      Spem in Alium is one of my favorite choral pieces of all time. It is a 16th-century motet in 40 parts by the English composer Thomas Tallis (1505-1585).  It is composed of eight choirs of five parts each: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone, and Bass.  The amazing thing about it is that it all follows the rules of counterpoint!  While it’s been 30 years since I studied music theory- and sang this wonderful motet- there are many rules in counterpoint which tell you how the individual parts- or lines- can relate to each other.  For example,  parallel 4ths or 5ths are not allowed.  Parallel motion, for example would be two parts which are a 4th or 5th away from each other moving up or down stepwise to a second parallel 4th or 5th, as the case may be.  Dissonances must be resolved downward in a stepwise motion.   In music theory class even trying to write a 3 or 4 part piece of counterpoint proved difficult!  It boggles my mind that Tallis arranged these 40 parts together like he did!  (See documentary below on false relations.)

Work initiated by Guerino Mazzola (born 1947) has given counterpoint theory a mathematical foundation. In particular, Mazzola's model gives a structural (and not psychological) foundation of forbidden parallels of fifths and the dissonant fourth. Octavio Agustin has extended the model to microtonal contexts.^{[4][5]   (See the link below on counterpoint on Wikipedia.)}

     Spem in Alium is fun to sing, especially when all 40 parts are sounding at once. The eight soprano parts frequently go up to the G just above the treble staff in succession.  In parts of the piece, it’s 40 individual musical lines at the same time that each have a melody of sorts going on (some of which are very simple, such as Choir eight’s bass line), the apparent result of which is a cacophony, but still each vocal part following the rules of counterpoint, tonal centers washing over the listener in waves.  To swim through this, each singer must rely on reading the intervals between notes and on utilizing solfège.  Since the tonal centers change frequently, one must “be on their toes”!

     When I was 18 and in my freshman year as a Vocal Performance major, I had a music theory class taught by Doctor Kaleb.  As part of the class, we had to learn to sightread solfège.  (See link below.)  Solfège is a way of relating notes to a set of word symbols which stand for relative pitches, named do, re,  mi, fa, sol, la, ti and do again.  There are also names for the half steps in between - one set for going up the scale- do, di, re, ri, mi, fa, fi, sol, si, la, li, ti and do again, and one for going down- do, ti, te, la, le, sol, se, fa, mi, me, re, ra, do.  Each class, in addition to learning other important theory, like counterpoint, we practiced singing solfège.  Printouts were handed out and each student had a few lines of  notes to read.  Doctor Kaleb would sing do and the student would have to sing the line which, more often than not, did not begin with do, but another note in the scale such as, for example, sol.

     As Doctor Kaleb went around the room, he would invariably call on a certain student, who, for this example we will call “Michael”.  Michael was a piano major.  According to the university’s rules, piano majors had to be voice minors and voice majors had to be piano minors, both of which required several semesters of private lessons.  When Micheal was called upon to sing a solfège (see link below) exercise, the professor would give him do by singing it.  “Do”, Micheal would sing back, his voice wobbling around the pitch.  “Do!” Doctor Kaleb would repeat, placing his pitch exactly where it was before.  “Do…” Micheal sang again, his tonal center blurred.  “Do!” The professor would come back, his pitch never failing.  Sometimes when a student was performing particularly poorly, Doctor Kaleb would cover his ears, his hands shaking and his face scrunched up in pain, breathing in between his teeth with his voice warbling exclaiming “Saaaaaaave IT!!” in a rising tone.  This would go on until, inevitably, he moved on to someone else.

     Near the end of Spem in Alium, there is a false relation (see link below) where one soprano part is singing “ti do” starting on the downbeat and a second sings “te la sol fa mi” starting with “te”on the offbeat thus resolving the dissonance in a stepwise downward motion as the counterpoint rules require.  I actually had the false relation in my part in choir two where I sang an F-natural against the F-sharp in another choir, BUT unfortunately for me, that soprano decided to take a breath right at her F-sharp, thus dissolving the false relation!  But, you can definitely hear it in the King’s College Choir performance linked below!

     Someone has made a documentary on the history of this magnificent piece.  Of special interest is the animated diagram at the end when the whole piece is performed which moves along with the singing showing which voice is active at the time by lighting up the active voices.  He also has a shorter video on “the most dangerous note” in Spem in Alium, which if not sung could make the whole performance collapse!  I had thought that that note would be the choir two’s F-natural against another choir’s F-sharp that I mention above- a false relation, see link below- but it’s actually a B-flat entrance earlier by choir four’s baritone!

Thomas Tallis on Wikipedia

Counterpoint on Wikipedia

Motet on Wikipedia

Spem in Alium on Wikipedia

Documentary on the history of Spem in Alium

The first piece with basso continuo and how it can teach you counterpoint

False relations in the late Renaissance

Spem in Alium - King’s College Choir

The most dangerous note in Spem in Alium

Solfège on Wikipedia

Countertenors & Castrati and the Allegri Miserere

     In this entry, I discuss various types of high male voices and some of their repertoire.  I’ve included plenty of recordings- both audio and video- along with interviews from various time periods and Wikipedia articles which discuss the artists and some musical contexts.

      I’m listening to an album that I didn’t know I had until I sorted through a naked stack of my CDs- Russel Oberlin (1928-2016), “America’s Countertenor”, sings Händel arias.  I’ve been revisiting his smooth yet powerful masculine voice with its wonderful controlled rich vibrato from this 1959 recording.  It includes two of the Arias that he sings on a 1961 and 1962 DVD recording, Russel Oberlin: America’s Countertenor.  It’s wonderful to see him sing “in the flesh”.  In the DVD interview, Russel quips “Oh no!  They’re very very different!” when asked “Is a countertenor the same thing as a castrato?”  He explains how male altos use their falsetto voice but he uses his natural voice which has much more projection.  I’d say his vocal range is much larger than any female contralto, both at his top register and his lower register.  

     As a student, his voice teacher advised him to “Sing where it’s comfortable.”  His singing style is exacting yet portamenti can be heard if you listen carefully (see Ah Dolce Nome! below)- every note and every phrase is properly placed and executed flawlessly as he is singing, while simultaneously anticipating the next phrase in his head.  He was fond of sentimentality and liked to sing Romantic lieder because it this.  

     In a 1963 interview (see link below) Russel explains,

I like Schumann s- I like the sentimental Schumann songs.  I think “Ihre Stimme”, “Your voice”,  it would be fine… “Let me search deep within you; conceal nothing from my gaze.  What sort of magic power dwells in your voice?  So many words strike our ears unheeded and even as they fade away all are forgotten.  Yet, when your voice reaches me, though from afar, I listen to it happily.  I can never forget it.  I tremble then, burning with all consuming passion.  My heart and your voice understand each other so well.”  [“Ihre Stimme” plays.]  [See Russel Oberlin Recital Part 4]

     The YouTube channel “Russel Oberlin - Topic” has the entire album Russel Oberlin Sings Händel Arias, plus a second album A Child’s Garden of Verses in which Russel sings several short children’s songs.  There are several interviews with Russel below: one from 2004 and one where he talks about working with the famous Canadian pianist Glenn Gould.  An interview with Glenn Gould on Bach is followed by a video of him and Russel Oberlin in a rare historical performance together (from 9:25 to 23.26).  There is also another interview with Russel Oberlin in four short parts.  Russel sings a 1961 recital in which he sings German lieder- a wondrous change in musical time periods from Händel’s arias.  (See above paragraph.). And, moreover, he had another interview in 1963 where his distinctive speaking voice is showcased with the same man who interviews him in Russel Oberlin -  America’s Countertenor.  In the interview, he talks about the history of the countertenor as well as the castrati and their music.  (See above paragraph.)

     René Jacobs (b. 1946) is another countertenor which, like Russel Oberlin and Bejun Mehta, had a natural “Mezza-voca technique” (from the Italian “Mixed voice”) where the vocal registers are naturally unified.   Rene Jacobs’ countertenor voice has an exceptional range, which he utilizes with ease.  This can be heard in the Horn Aria by Händel below. (There is even a René Jacobs YouTube channel. See below.)  He takes his upper register sweetly and with ease.

     I’ve also included a documentary on castrati- including a 1904 recording!  Alessandro Moreschi was the last castrato (1858-1922) and the only one to have made recordings.  See Moreschi’s Wikipedia page for two examples of his singing which, not unlike Russel Oberlin, include wonderful sighing portamenti.  Keep in mind when listening to these early 1900s wax cylinder recordings that the singing style of the turn of the 20th century was full of scoops down from one note to another (portamenti) along with jumps up from a lower note to a higher one (acciaccaturas). As castrati grew, the ends of the bones never closed.  The growth plates remained unfused and therefore their limbs grew disproportionally long. They  continued to grow as well as their lungs, giving them their great ability to sustain musical phrases for long periods of time.  For nearly two hundred and fifty years, castrati were adored for their clear, powerful voices, which at the peak of their popularity in the 1700s, up to 4,000 boys per year were castrated in Italy before puberty in order to preserve their pre-pubescent voices- only 80 percent survived the operation.  Many boys were cut but few made it to the operatic stage.  Carlo Broschi - known as Farinelli- is the most famous castrato in history and his operatic singing is legendary.  It is said that he could swell a note up to a great volume and then diminuendo back down to a pianissimo while holding the note for several minutes!  Others joined church choirs like Moreschi and colleagues in the Sistine Chapel choir - famous for their castrati, their yearly performances of Allegri’s Miserere, and, of course, their 1902 and 1904 recordings.  Since castrati had a bigger sound while singing than a boy trebles do, they could produce a more powerful vocal sound, especially as a group.  Moreschi’s voice can clearly be heard on the 1904 recording of Oremus Pro Pontifice over the Chorus of Roman Choristers (boys).

      It’s not always easy to tell the difference between the countertenor sound, the sopranist sound and the castrato sound. This YouTube channel, Early Music Sources, also has a video on the countertenors, as well as their one on the castrati.  I’ve posted a link to a documentary about how the “high C” version of the Allegri “Miserere” came to be.  A few measures of the version that Allegri wrote was transcribed and transposed to another key and placed on top of the original key.  This gives the piece its haunting color.  A recording of this “high C” Miserere is also linked below interestingly enough with a male soprano named Patrick Husson (b. 1960), age about 30 when this recording was made, who is NOT a castrato, but what is called a “Sopranist” a rare wondrous voice of an adult male who went through puberty but can still sing in a soprano’s tessitura.  Listen carefully to hear Patrick sing the entire “G” to high “C” then the descent and “turn” ornament in one breath- a feat no boy soprano could accomplish!  A castrato might’ve been able to do this and although the Sistine chapel choir is famous for employing castrati for both the alto parts and the soprano parts, - and for keeping the Miserere to themselves, along with their secret ornamentations- Mendelssohn’s version with the high “C” came after their hay day and this is also when the modern version of the Miserere was made public.  The rest of the choir, La Maitrise De Garçons De Colmar, is composed of boy trebles, adult male altos (falsettists), tenors and basses.  A 2015 recording of the current Sistine Chapel Choir- composed of boys and adult men- performing the “Miserere” in its original 17th-century form including their famous ornaments can be heard in the link below, “Original Miserere”.

     There are many male sopranos who can still sing the repertoire written for the castrati.  

     Philippe Jaroussky (born 1978) is a French soprano countertenor who sings solely in the falsetto register.  I have included Händel’s Ombra Cara in contrast to Russel Oberlin’s rendition.  I have also included an English interview with him where you will notice his baritone speaking voice- very interesting!

     Michael Maniaci’s (b. 1976) voice never fully broke and as a result he can still sing in the soprano range.  In the link below of him singing Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate, K. 165 you can hear him hit a very high note indeed, near the end.  Like Radu Marian, he has a softer sound than Moreschi.  

     Radu Marian (b. 1977) is also a man whose voice never changed. He sings with a light tone somewhat like a woman but with a male timber.  According to Wikipedia, “ Marian is an ‘endocrinological castrato’ or ‘natural castrato’. A natural castrato is a male singer who never went through puberty and is able to keep his ‘unbroken’ voice intact.” 

     An unique boy soprano, Bejun Mehta (b. 1968) made recordings of his unusually rich and mature voice when he was 14- only six months before his voice changed!  Upon hearing him, one might think that he is what a castrato should sound like.  Interestingly, he is now a countertenor.

     And just as a bonus, I’ve included a boy contralto- not a soprano or a countertenor- Peter Schreier  (1935-2019) in a recording from the early 1950s.  His rich tone and wonderful technique show both his mature musicality but his mature boy’s voice as well.  He was 13-15 when these recordings were made. As he wished, he became a tenor, after his voice broke at 16 years of age.   

     Of course, countertenors have their voices break as teenagers and the castrati did not. This allowed the castrati time to develop their maturing soprano or contralto voices. Radu Marian (b. 1977) is one who never went through puberty and so is not a true “castrato” as he wasn’t castrated even though he sings in the soprano range and is not a countertenor.  He also is not a Sopranist.  Micheal Maniaci (b. 1976) is also an endocrinological soprano castrato, his voice breaking only partially. 

     In the first interview below (2004), Russel explains that his voice changed “quite late”, too.

I guess my voice changed maybe when I was maybe 15- quite late.  Now, you know nowadays kids’ voices are changing when they’re, you know, twelve years old, it seems… In my day- I mean, I was a boy soprano in church choirs and did a lot of other just solo soprano singing.  When my voice changed, I was probably a kind of second tenor, really.  It wasn’t particularly high.  I remember my own first significant voice teacher I had who was- I was born in Akron, Ohio and lived my childhood there- but I studied singing AFTER my voice changed, in Cleveland with a very fine teacher whose name is Gretchen Garnett… She was asked a question about “What was his voice like when he came to you?” and she said, “Well, he didn’t have much of a high voice nor much of a low voice.”  It was just sort of a middle kind of whatever.  But, I was- I had some very good advice- she and others- who simply said, “Sing where it’s comfortable.  Don’t push yourself into a voice category… Your body is changing- the voice will change, too!  And let it change where it wants to go- don’t push it into that.”  And that’s what happened!  By the time I went to Julliard, I was a very high tenor- a naturally high-placed tenor.  I looked for repertoire that used that range of my voice, because it was better than the very low stuff.  And that’s how I got started.

     Russel Oberlin explains in the 1963 interview the difference between his type of voice and the falsetto singers.  For example, male altos, which have been used in English cathedral choirs such as King’s College Choir at Cambridge.  The cadenza in Ombra Cara, which he interpolated himself, shows off his high range and, wonderfully, his low range. 

In my kind of a voice, being a tenor, I also have lots of tenor notes- the lower part of the male voice range- whereas in falsetto singing, the falsetto voice just fades away about A below middle C; maybe an octave and a half in falsetto is fine.  Lots of countertenor things don’t encompass any more than that.  It’s an interesting point to be able to look- we can look at scores and decide by the range of the piece and by the orchestral accompaniment- if it’s an orchestral accompanied piece, or an aria that I’m speaking of, we can tell what kind of a countertenor that was intended for…. Some of the Händel things- there’s so much accompaniment- almost full orchestra- that the falsetto simply wouldn’t cut through all that….  [In Händel’s “Ombra Cara”, there’s]…  a cadenza that is interpolated by me- it’s not written down.  But, it’s in the style- in Handel’s day, the artists and singers, were known for their embellishing of the score with this cadenza in the style and tradition of the Händel operas of his day.

     In the DVD insert to Russel Oberlin, America’s Legendary Countertenor, Joshua Cohen writes,

At the end of ‘Ombra Cara’…he inserts an electrifying cadenza, racing all the way down to a firm baritone D, then up the scale two octaves and a minor third to a soaring F (above tenor high C), then down again to settle two octaves below.  At no point does his tone betray the faintest blip or creak- not even the slightest hint of the dreaded ‘gear shift’.  It is one of the most amazing demonstrations of vocal homogeneity on record…. The high F was apparently the upper limit of his range.

Doctor Ian Howell is a countertenor who has given an interview on the specifics of the countertenor voice called The Countertenor Voice- with Ian Howell where he gives information on a variety of qualities of this voice type.  A very good detailed interview!

  Here’s to the history of the high male singing voices!

  This is just a brief introduction to the worlds of the countertenors, castrati, and sopranists.  I hope you take your time and really savor the links below.  I find the topic of unusual male voices fascinating and I hope you do too!  

Castrati on Wkipedia

Alessandro Moreschi on Wikipedia

Russel Oberlin Wikipedia Page

Glen Gould on Wikipedia

Radu Marian, endocrinological castrato on Wikipedia

Bejun Mehta on Wikipedia

Peter Schreier on Wikipedia

Michael Maniaci on Wikipedia

René Jacobs on Wikipedia

Philippe Jaroussky - Wikipedia

Ah dolce nome! Russel Oberlin

Ombra Cara by Handel, singer: Russel Oberlin

Händel - Ombra Cara, Philippe Jaeoussky

Philippe Jaroussky, Sopranist, interview

Philippe Jaroussky - soprano countertenor - Interview part 2

Sopranist on Wikipedia

Interview with Russel Oberlin (2004)

Russel Oberlin and Glenn Gould with interview of Oberlin re: Gould

Glenn Gould on Bach - with performance with Russel Oberlin

Another interview with Russel Oberlin part 1

Another interview with Russel Oberlin Paer 2

Another interview with Russel Oberlin part 3

Another interview with Russel Oberlin part 4

1963 interview with Russel Oberlin

Russel Oberlin - Recital Part 1

Russel Oberlin - Recital Part 2

Russel Oberlin in Recital - part 3

Russel Oberlin - Recital Part 4

The Castrati-Documentary 

The Countertenor - Documentary

Male soprano sings high solo in Allegri’s Miserere

Falsobordone and Allegri’s Miserere - Documentary

Early Music Sources

Radu Marian, natural castrato

Bejun Mehta, mature boy soprano 

Bejun Mehta sings Handel (Countertenor)  

Peter Schreier - boy alto

Michael Maniaci - Exultate Jubilate

The Original Miserere

Oremus Pro Pontifice - Moreschi and boys chorus

René Jacobs - Horn Aria, Händel

René Jacobs - YouTube channel

Luna Kling’s YouTube channel on Russel Oberlin

Pergolesi - Stabat Mater, Philippe Jaroussky

 

Smooth, even me!

 Well, I’m at Starbucks for the second time today.  The first time was two and a half hours ago:  Noah and I came here for our weekend morning coffee and a donut, except that today he got a bumblebee cake pop and an iced matcha; I got a cheese danish and an iced oat milk chocolate espresso.   (Nataleigh and I both love oat milk.   Noelle is the one who introduced me to it.)  I’m here again because my WI-FI went out at home and Nataleigh and I tried troubleshooting, first alone then she contacted an online agent.  We tried rebooting a few times and I even changed out the coaxial cable but nothing helped, so they’re sending out a technician tomorrow.  

I went through a fairly big stack of CDs that I had on my CD shelf.  None of them have cases!  I found one that I’d been looking for a couple weeks ago - English Anthems from the 20th century, including “Like as the Hart Desireth the Waterbrooks” by Herbert Howells, which is an absolutely gorgeous piece!- and one that is all Russel Oberlin!  I didn’t know I had a CD of him at all.  Nice find.  Wish I knew where all the cases went.  Even though they’ve just been sitting in a stack, some are dirty and may be scratched.  Caleb told me how to fix scratches with toothpaste, if that is indeed the problem.   I’ll have to see if I can find some cheap jewel cases, or the cloth-like double sleeve kind.  

Today is a gorgeous day!  Blue skies, slight breeze, sunny and high 70’s.  It can only make one’s mood better!  Ever since I started Klonopin and Ingrezza, my mood has been even.  I feel like my natural, been-this-way-my-whole-life self!  Me, integrated- smooth and even!

Mother’s Day & I found a recording of me doing a solo!

 Last night was our outing for (a belated) Mother’s Day.  My mom and Kevin and all three of my kids plus Jarrett - my middle daughter’s live-in boyfriend- and I were there.  We were going to eat at a Mexican place but they had an hour and forty-five minute wait so my mom secured a long table across the street at a pizza/bar type place.  Nobody got pizza actually: my mom and I got cavatappi mac ‘n cheese -my favorite- hers with bacon, mine with jalapeños.  Noah and I split a dessert: fried cookie dough in a fried roll cut in half diagonally with a scoop of vanilla ice cream drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauces.  I got cards- one of which had a $25 Starbucks gift card in it, which is good because after buying my contacts and eye exam last week, I’m broke (practically).  Next month will be tight, too, I’m predicting.  

I had a relaxing morning.  I listened to another professional recording that I did with the Grail Singers back around 2005.  It’s not as spectacular as the one when I was pregnant with Noah and I barely recognized a lot of the pieces but my name is printed on the CD insert so I must’ve sung for the recording!  Even better, I found a live concert CD of us and the third track is a Gregorian chant with a solo in the middle and darned it it isn’t me!  I don’t have a memory of singing that solo but that’s unmistakably my voice and my style of singing!  I also talked with Caleb this morning for about an hour and a half- not as long as sometimes but still a worthwhile conversation.  Just a few minutes ago I messaged him that I love him and he was happy about that.

Reading a journal from age 17

 Been listening to a different CD of Libera while reading a journal from the second semester of my senior year in High School.  The details are wonderful- remembering all those things I only had an outline in my mind about all these years later.  Of course it reads like my writing, and my youthfulness comes through.  I’d like to read a few bits to Caleb- things we’ve talked about.  For that matter, I should Facebook message Todd the bits where I explain my confusion at his suddenly not wanting to be friends anymore.   (He suddenly quit talking with me during that time period.)  At age 29, during a long-distance phone call, he asked me if I were sitting down and that “This is going to make everything make sense…”.  Pause.  “I’m gay,” he revealed simply.  Yup!  I told him that it all made perfect sense- the never wanting to be “more than best friends”.  So, so many times during our four/five year friendship I wanted to kiss him but never got the courage up enough to actually go through with it.  At one point when we were at his family’s house, his dad said to him quietly, “You know, I think ‘J’ likes you for more than a friend.”  And this whole time, I just put it down to his being a late bloomer!

Pdoc check-up and my poetry & a previous post

 I saw my new psych Nurse Practitioner this morning.  She was glad I was smiling and commented on it.  She raised my Ingrezza because a couple days ago I was having the tongue movements again.  She also refilled my Klonopin which I’ll get another day since I still have a few left.  I told her about my poetry and she said I should get it published!  That seems like such a hard task seeing as I have so many of them- most of which are hand-written in journals.  I’ve included several of my newest ones here on my blog- mostly in January and February 2021.  I need to try to write more.  It’s such an intense process. It’s cathartic to get these thoughts and feelings out.  

Today, my three kids- 21, 23 and 25- And their significant others and my mom and her husband and I are going out for a late Mother’s Day meal.  That should be fun: it’s at a local favorite Mexican restaurant.

I’m re-reading the article Evidence and Ethics on: Circumcision that I posted about previously here.  (You can type the title into the search bar here and it should come up.It’s from January 1, 2021.)  It’s a great intro into the topic for those of you having  children or grandchildren soon.  Even just for a good informational read.  This topic is controversial still even though the stats nationwide are about 50/50 and dropping- they’re lower on the West coast of the United States: about 25%.  

New nurse practitioner & Scripts - & lots more!

 Listening to my favorite “boy band”, Libera, as I write this.  Look them up.  They have their own site and a YouTube channel.  

Been five months since I last wrote.  Been doing very well.  I feel like myself!  Yesterday, I listened to “The Hidden Spirit”, a CD of 16th and 17th century choral pieces by women for women.  I was five and a half months pregnant with my youngest child the two days in May, 2001 that we recorded this album.  I have a solo on Track 2  and I can hear myself in other tracks even though we are blending flawlessly.  I used to love to sing Gregorian chant with this group: such power in uniting our voices as one big voice!  

As far as my voice is concerned I have been seeing a voice therapist since March this year.  I don’t feel that I’m making much progress and I still can’t sing above about an A or B-flat.  Very disappointing.  I am singing every day and doing my exercises several times a day yet my upper range is still messed up.  Gone are the days of my women’s choir- that voice was 22 years ago!  

I got a new psychiatric Nurse Practitioner back in March.  My old one retired at the end of April- she called me about that time to say an official farewell which I thought was kind of her.  After all, we’d been a team for at least fifteen years.  The new NP is very nice and though I’ve only seen her for one session so far, I saw both her at my last appointment with my old psych NP.  In fact, I see her tomorrow morning- a month after my last appointment.  My old NP had added Klonopin for sleep back in August and it has been a miracle drug!  Not only am I not staying/waking up at all hours of the night, but the terrible anxiety that followed me everywhere and consumed my every thought is gone!   She also added Ingrezza for bad akathisia.  Although I’ve gained ten pounds from not constantly rocking back and forth and shuffling my feet and legs around, my tongue hasn’t been moving around in my mouth (except to eat and talk of course!) so much at all anymore, too.  

I have annual paperwork that comes around about the end of April.  I always seem to dread when I see it in the mailbox because there is so much to it.  However this year I mailed it off yesterday- only three weeks out of six that I had between when it arrived and when I had to get it back to them.  There is so much to do- it’s practically a full-time job in itself!  It should arrive either tomorrow or early next week- three weeks before the deadline.  

I went to the eye doctor a week ago.  I got an eye exam plus a contact lens exam because I wanted to order more contacts in my updated prescription.  I also got glasses.  The frames are plain black but don’t look too bad on me considering I only had six pair to choose from that my insurance would pay for. Both my glasses and contacts came in today but I was only able to pick up my glasses as they didn’t call to tell me that my contacts had just come in until five-to-five- right before they close.  I will get them on my way to my appointment tomorrow.  

For about three months now, Caleb and I have been getting a lot closer.  He came to see me about a month ago and in one more month he is coming to see me and we’re going to a concert of one of his favorite artists that I’ve never heard- not even a recording.  I’ve also set out some of my DVDs and CDs that we’ve talked about on the phone.  We probably won’t play all of them in their entirety except maybe “Office Space” because we both love that movie and he hasn’t seen it in a long time.