Annette Mackey's Blog

Note: The keyboard songs are copies from the original show (2003). They may or may not have the correct titles labeled on them.

ACT ONE

1. Overture – following this song, the orchestra immediately begins “I am Laman/I am Nephi”

5. Scene Change 1 to 2

8. Scene Change 2 to 3

10. Scene Change 3 to 4

15. End Act One – play with the orchestra

ACT TWO

16. Up Act Two

21. Change Scene 6 to 7

24. Change Scene 7 to 8

26. Change Scene 8 to 9

28. Scene 9

I took down the previous blog on my website because it was being overwhelmed by spammers and I didn’t want to go through all 39,000+ comments (not an exaggeration). So, I’m sorry if you reached out to me and I didn’t respond. This new blog is mainly for me. I just need a place to think out loud. Incidentally, I added a plugin to block those darn buggers. Spammers, beware.

It’s been a long time since I’ve shared any of my writings – music or script. This is mainly due to the fact that being a full-time choir teacher is an all-consuming occupation. It’s hard to find the time to use the restroom, let alone allow my brain to run free in the land of creativity. Summer is the only time for anything personal and is usually taken by my family and husband. But this summer COVID 19 has put a damper on all activities, which has given me some time to sit down at my computer. I like it here … where I can write and think and just be me.

“You Won’t Be Alone” was the first piece I orchestrated from my show, “The Promised Land.” In fact, it is the first piece I have ever orchestrated. Strangely enough, it only took me a couple of days. Other songs, that I thought would be a piece of cake, took weeks. Weird. But that is the way art is.

“Open Up Your Heart ” is the piece that I am working on right now. This song means sooooo much to me and I don’t want to ruin it. So, instead I am writing here as a means of boosting my courage to face the situation. If you’ve ever stared at a blank page of manuscript paper and wondered how you were going to get it all out of your brain and on to the page, then you know what I mean.

Okay, I’m just going to do it. I’m going to get back to work. One foot in front of the other. One step at a time. That’s how I survived writing “Woe is Us.” Okay, okay…. I’ve got this. (I hope.)

Confession – I’ve been up to my eyeballs working as a music educator. Anyone who works in the public education system knows what I mean. There are days when I literally don’t have time to eat. Anyhow, I thought that my website could stand alone for a while, as it seemed to be self sustaining. Little did I know that it would totally crash last September (9/17). Yep. Down, down,… dooooooown it went into the eternal abyss of cyber-space. Thankfully the “Way Back Machine” stored most of the content. I was able to get a lot of things back online. The saddest part of this little story is that google had been picking up the content of my old website, listing my site first under many searches, especially “Music Rhythm Worksheets.” I don’t know if I’ll ever get that priority from google again, but I still wanted to get the content back online. So, from me to you, … Happy New Year, 2018. And a little prayer for all of the public education servants out there: may you have time to eat and use the bathroom.

Gluten Free Chicken and Dumpling Casserole

Oh boy, oh boy, we really love this recipe at our house.

1/2 Cup chopped onion

1/2 Cup chopped celery

1/4 Cup butter, cubed

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 Cup corn starch

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon pepper

4 Cups chicken broth

1 package (10 oz) frozen green peas or other vegetable of choice

4 Cups cubed cooked chicken (Oh, please cook/saute the chicken in butter. It will taste so much better that way.)

 

Dumplings

2 Cups gluten free biscuit/baking mix

2 teaspoons dried basil

2/3 cup milk

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. In large saucepan, saute onion and celery in butter until tender. Add garlic. Cook 1 minute longer. Add sugar, salt, basil and pepper. In separate bowl, mix cornstarch and broth. Add broth mixture to onion and celery mixture; bring to boil. Cook until it thickens. Stir in chicken. Bring to boil. Pour mixture into greased 9×13 baking dish.
For dumplings, in a bowl, combine baking mix and basil. Stir in milk with a fork until moistened. Drop by tablespoonfuls over chicken mixture.
Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Cover and bake 10 minutes longer or until a toothpick inserted in a dumpling comes out clean.

Cheese Soup

 

I’ve made a lot of cheese soups. This one is my favorite.

Cori’s Cheese Soup

4 chicken bouil­lon cubes

1 qt. water on low

Dis­solve Cubes in Water.

Add to water and bouillon:

1 cup grated carrots

1 cup diced celery

1 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 cups cubed potatoes

Boil 15 minutes.

Add to Soup and cook for 15 miutes:

1 pkg Frozen chopped broccoli

1 pkg. frozen chopped cauliflower

Add

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

1 pkg (1 lb) Velveeta Cheese (cubed)

Cook until cheese melts, stir­ring to pre­vent scorching.

Soup freezes well.

What goes into a blog post? Helpful, industry-specific content that: 1) gives readers a useful takeaway, and 2) shows you’re an industry expert.

Use your company’s blog posts to opine on current industry topics, humanize your company, and show how your products and services can help people.

Just a reminder that today marks the 200th Anniversary of The Star Spangled Banner! On September 12, 1814, Francis Scott Key was held prisoner on a ship. During the rainy night, he witnessed the bombardment of Baltimore and observed that the fort’s small “storm flag” continued to fly. Once the shell and rocket fire stopped, smoke filled the air making it impossible to know how the battle had turned out. In the morning, he could see that the smaller storm flag had been lowered and a much larger flag had been raised. Although the large flag had been blasted until it was riddled with holes, it announced the American victory to the world. Key was so inspired by the sight that he wrote a poem on the back of a letter he kept in his pocket. That poem became our National Anthem.

In my life, I’ve noticed that most people go through a period of life where they blame others for whatever injustice they believe has been inflicted upon them. I’ve been there myself, more times that I care to admit. I think it’s human nature to blame others. But I also think that it’s unproductive–even damaging. Everyone has been through hard things. None of us really knows the life of another. Some people’s problems are obvious while other’s are hidden. On top of that, life is never “fair.” But looking backwards all the time, blaming family or even the world for our problems won’t solve anything. I am reminded of an African American spiritual titled, “Hold On.” The idea in the song is to not give up. Hold on! A line from the lyrics goes like this, “Can’t plow straight if you’re looking back.” In other words, moving forward is much more difficult if we hold on to the grudges of the past. Instead, work towards your goals instead of festering over past injustices. Forget or forgive past injuries, whether real or imagined. It really will make life easier. Move forward so that you can work towards your dreams instead of your nightmares.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Unknown author

FACE IT, nobody owes you a living.

What you achieve, or fail to achieve in your lifetime

Is directly related to what you do or fail to do.

No one chooses his parent or childhood,

But you can choose your own direction.

Everyone has problems and obstacles to overcome,

But that too is relative to each individual.

NOTHING IS CARVED IN STONE!

You can change anything in your life

If you want to badly enough.

Excuses are for losers! Those who take responsibility for their actions

Are the real winners in life.

Winners meet life challenges head on

Knowing there are guarantees, and give it all they’ve got

And never think it’s too late or too early to begin.

Time plays no favorites

And will pass whether you act or not

Take control of your LIFE

Dare to Dream and take risks.……

Compete!

If you aren’t willing to work for your goals

Don’t expect others to.

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!

Most people have been touched by cancer in one way or another. Whether it’s a relative or someone close to you, I think we all know the terror of that word. At times it seems unspeakable, and the treatment is just as dreaded, not to mention expensive. My nephew, Kent, recently found out that he has colon cancer. At 25 years old, it was a shocking discovery. Instead of worrying about school and tuition, his concerns turned to things that should be reserved until later in life.

Chemo. That single word says so much. It’s poison aimed at killing the cancer cells. Unfortunately, because it is poison, the treatment affects the entire body. Anyone who has seen chemo up close knows just how bad it can be, especially when a patient is young. The kind of chemo given to the young is almost always more powerful and aggressive, meaning that it’s seriously toxic stuff, which leads to extreme symptoms and longterm effects.

I’m not able to explain it myself. It’s too much and I am ill equipped to put such things into words. Thankfully Kent’s wife, Lyndsey, has taken the time to share a few of the details. If you would like to read about Kent’s journey, click on the link HERE.

I wish we lived in a world where the sick could focus their attention on getting well. Instead we live in a world where the sick have to worry about how to pay for treatment.

If you would like to make a donation to help Kent battle cancer, please click HERE.

Thank you so much!

~Annette

Sight Singing in Solfege

I’m in the process of adding a sight singing unit to my music studio. In the future, these “worksheets” will be found under my music studio “sight singing” tab.

I use solfege constantly when teaching voice students. It’s such a useful tool for ear training and can be equally useful in teaching students to read music. These worksheets have been designed as a resource for teachers and may be copied for incidental, non-commercial use.

The first step to sight singing is to learn to sing a major scale while using the hand signs. Engaging the hands while singing will increases your understanding and retention. After you have mastered the scale, try mixing up the pitches. After you have the pitches and hand signs down, move on to the worksheets.

Sight Singing 1.0 in the Key of C. Understanding the relationship between Do and So.

Sight Singing 1.1 in the Key of C. Understanding the relationship between Do, Mi, and So.

Sight Singing 1.2 in the Key of C. More practice understanding the relationship between Do, Mi, So.