It's happening.

I'm sitting in the British Airways terminal at BWI. There are very few people in this terminal, as I think this is the only BA flight leaving from here tonight. BUT HOLY SHIT I'M GOING TO ENGLAND!! Did I mention that? England? Wow. How did I get to this place in life? I really am amazed, looking back, at how I got to be where I am right now. And I'd like to thank the Academy. But anyway, here's a brief glimpse at my itinerary:

I land tomorrow morning at 3:15am EST (9:15am GMT) at Heathrow, and will, after customs and all that, immediately hop on a train to Guildford and the University of Surrey, for my friend Sierra's concert. I'll be in Guildford Saturday and Sunday, tooling around and undoubtedly drinking too much beer.

Monday morning, I board a train to Manchester around 5 am GMT (11pm EST *gross*) and will head up to my noon interview at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. I'll then promptly hop BACK on a train and head back to London to check into my hotel and meet up with my dad who will arrive at Heathrow at about 9pm GMT.

I have another interview on Tuesday with the Royal College of Music in London, after which dad and I will take the train to Glasgow for the night Tuesday and all day Wednesday, until my 11:10 interview at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on Thursday morning. Dad will have to head home during the day on Thursday so I'll head back to London on my own Thursday night.

Friday, I have my academic diagnostic with the Royal Academy in London. There's also a workshop they've invited me to attend and I will have to meet with the head of composition as well as some of the other teachers (to include the composer Simon Bainbridge). That's one of the things to which I am most looking forward.

Saturday and Sunday, I will most likely spend drinking beer and watching the 6 Nations rugby matches. I really have no idea what else I would want to do. Not a joke.

I leave on Monday. And there it is. My week. I cannot begin to express how excited I am at this whole thing. So much of my life I have spent daydreaming about England and Scotland and what it would be like. After this week, I will know. Sort of. I'll have an idea, anyway.

The last few months (since I last posted) have been some of the busiest and most gratifying of my life. I have really taken to writing again and spend time every single day putting notes on a page. The habits I've formed have really begun to shape and sharpen my music, I think. A few weeks ago, I put the finishing touches on the 6 and a half minutes of music the Quantico Marine Corps Band will be performing at the Virginia International Tattoo this year. It's been really an honor and a majorly stressful burden to take that project on and is definitely the biggest thing I've ever done. It's for full band with a pit and a synth as well as a full chorus: the Virginia Symphony Chorus has agreed to perform the music I provide for them. It's slightly overwhelming and humbling. I don't know that I'm really ready for all that. But I can hope that I've done the work and it will pay off in a big way.

They seem to have called my flight. I think this will be all. I will ATTEMPT (please note that I said attempt) to update once a day while I am in the UK. Please offer up prayers, happy thoughts, mojo, whatever. I am so excited for this.