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tangelogal

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Taking a Moment to Reflect... [Jun. 23rd, 2007|11:13 pm]
[Current Mood | calm]

Whoa! It's been a LONG time since I wrote in here. Things have just been wild and crazy and they are NOT slowing down anytime in the near future! :-)

School ended just over a week ago. After a year that can sadly be best described as "another year towards retirement", I was able to walk out with my self-respect in tact, and the best teaching evaluation thus far in my career. I was shocked to see the highly-effective marks from my principal as we ended the year having many disagreements. The positive aspect is that he was only looking at things from his own perspective, and for once, I was not shy in pointing out the flaws in his views. I guess he respected it enough to encourage me to come back for another year? Regardless, praise God those decisions are not mine. I am itinerant and shall go where Tim tells me I am most needed in the county. I should know that by the end of July. I know I'm to be preparing for the middle school level, and really, that's all I absolutely need to know in order to start planning for next year. Planning, as though I have time to think about that!

Last Friday (1st day of summer!), we got up early and drove up to Syracuse. We got our marriage license!! That was exciting! Saturday was spent between wedding prep and a retirement shindig for my high school orchestra teacher. A phenomenal man and teacher, Mr. Hebert leaving will leave a gap in the community for years to come. Fortunately, I have continued a healthy working relationship with him since high school and still manage to see him on a regular basis. In a nutshell, the shindig was in honor of both Hebert, and Mr. Teuffel (another orchestra teacher also retiring). Their wives dreamed up a "Mr. Holland-type" retirement farewell. Approximately 30 of us showed up following the invitation and played one last concert under their direction. We had graduates there spanning the years of 1985-2007 playing in a full orchestra. It was a touching event. As usual, we concluded with the Farewell Symphony, in which players are written out stand by stand until the piece ends with two solo violinists. It was written that way for political reasons, which I will explain if anyone asks, but has become a Senior concert tradition at FM. Very meaningful to all involved. One of my favorite parts of this event was getting to see pretty much the entire "gang" from high school. We were all the orch-dorks. Sadly, class reunions only allow us to see people in our graduating class. Our gang encompassed four years of students. We all saw each other for the first time since high school. Fortunately, all except one (the mother of newborn twins!!!!) were available and we all went to Starbucks out in Armory Square in Syracuse following the concert and reception. One of the girls brought along copies of yearbooks, which provided for much reminiscing. It was a night to treasure and praise God for - that's for sure!!

Mike and I took the scenic drive through the eastern shore of PA back Sunday evening. Sadly, due to traffic on I-95, we arrived home at approximately 3:30am Monday morning. 6:30am came faster that we would have liked and found Mike off to work and me getting ready to start my class, "Reading in the Content Area, part I". Not too shabby of a class, but being a five-day whirlwind credit-bearing course, staying awake during class was a struggle. Fortunately, the teacher is amazingly entertaining, focuses on music and p.e. using reading during class as his baseline in regards to how likely things are to happen, and ends class early each day. Class ran this past Monday and Tuesday, and finishes this coming Monday through Wednesday. Crazy.

Meanwhile, this past Wednesday, I did my best to attempt to clean the house (I have had ZERO time to do the simple things!), packed, and got in the car to head to Baltimore. I applied and was selected to participate as one of about 50 pilot teachers in the entire state of Maryland with a project culminating in writing lessons for others to use in conjunction with the newly founded "Reginald Lewis Museum of African-American Heritage". We were paid and given free room, board and mileage to spend Wednesday through Friday listening to some fabulous speakers, touring the museum, networking with other teachers in the state, and just improving us as people. Here are some tidbits I learned about:
- The Deputy Superintendent in the state of Maryland spent eight years in Seminary prior to beginning his teaching career. As he stood up to speak, a copy of "My Utmost for His Highest" dropped from his jacket. I was hooked! He even quoted scripture repeatedly to make his points. Finally, he sang one of Dr. King Jr.'s meditations to us. Amazing voice, amazing message; I cried (as did many others).
- I finally heard the comment made that whites are now considered Euro-Americans. I can’t explain why, but I prefer having said title. (I’m weird!)
- The state Superintendent of the state of Maryland is one of the most praised women in education. I expected her to be evil and powerful looking… instead; she’s fairly short, pleasant, wears soft colors and fabrics and is easy to talk to.
- Subconsciously, I really learned (AGAIN) that the best way to be in charge is to trust in God and relax.
- This was a state education conference, but through many speakers ALL using scripture to defend their views, it was a religious experience to me.
Obviously, I learned about the topic at hand, but those were the unexpected lessons. I’m now home pushing to get the house picked up. Next week, I have class, and then heading back to Syracuse for my dress fitting. I must admit that I’m tired and stressed, but happy that the stress is helping me loose weight and not feel hungry! ☺

Well, it’s bedtime. I have a feeling starting to blog more regularly might help me to unwind. Expect to see more from me than normal!
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Success? [Feb. 2nd, 2007|11:21 pm]
[Current Mood | anxious]

Things are going well. My eyes continue to improve, wedding planning goes well, I actually got caught up with grades today, and Tri-County Orchestra seems like it will happen this weekend without any weather issues!!! (1st time in at LEAST 4 years!)

I'm a bit on the stressed, frazzled, frustrated side at work, but I'm working on that. Fortunately, my kids know me and seem to love me for who I am. This past Wednesday was just an all-out HORRIBLE day. My viola section (8th grade kids) came up to me and we shared a group hug because they wanted to cheer me up. I've decided that I love my job when it's all about teaching OR when it's all about administrative paperwork schtuff. I can't cope with the daily combination of the two. I'm getting better, but it's difficult.

Sorry I haven't been around much to post stuff, I'm just seriously being OCD with work, wedding, etc. I just want to get work done. I AM SUCH A LOSER! I promise I'll post more after this weekend though! Love to all of you whom I haven't had the opportunity to catch up with this year!!!!
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197 days! [Jan. 12th, 2007|08:12 pm]
[Current Location |My couch!]

So... thanks to theknot.com, I can keep my wedding countdown! I am soooo happy that we chose to be engaged for a year and half. Planning is so much more enjoyable this way! The dress I last wrote about has been purchased, and the really good news is that I was able to get the one right off the rack. Minimal alterations needed. We've also picked the bridesmaid dresses. This past weekend, Mike and I stopped by the jewelry store we got the engagement ring at, to look at wedding bands. We found rings that match my engagement ring that come in his and hers. We were hooked. Not horribly expensive either! The cool part? The ones on display were in our sizes. We got to buy them on the spot (not intentional, but it was 1 year to the DAY of buying the engagement ring!!!) and bring them home with us. I was a good girl, and everything is insured as well. Does anyone out there remember the computer game version of "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" Remember how when you were on the right track, the henchman would pop up making sure you knew you'd made correct choices? It's little things like the day of buying the rings that makes me feel like God is popping up, giving me a thumbs up and telling me this is all His will and doing. SO nice! We've finished the guest list, did the save the dates, and I believe my Mom is ordering the invitations and such this next week. I'm really having fun going to work, hanging out with my kids all day, staying an hour after to get work work done, and then coming home to do wedding stuff. I'd give you more detail on the wedding dress, but Mike subscribes to these posts, so I can't do that!

As for the eyes, I am recovering again. It got bad enough this last time that I conducted two orchestra concerts from memory as the scores were simply blobs in my eyes. It was pretty scary, especially with the pieces where the meter changes, fermata are written in, etc. I had to be totally upfront with my kids on the situation and really trust them to know their parts so that if *I* screwed up or missed something I forgot was there, they would keep going. God was faithful as always and both of those concerts went incredibly smoothly. I had a chorus concert that I sang in (Chesapeake Choral Arts Society!) and that was really hard. It was weird how I had memorized the Mozart pieces in foreign languages, yet with the Christmas music written in English I had to fake it, as I hadn't memorized the words and I couldn't read them. I even voluntarily took myself off the road for a few weeks because I was getting double vision (not totally, just that blurry) and road markings were not easily distinguishable. I got sort of depressed, I have to admit. Everything I've always truly loved doing requires sight. Mike got to sit down and read a book and I almost flipped out. Then I realized I own one book in large print!! (I was starting to recover at that point and my sight was a bit stronger anyway.) That one book? A devotional book. It was a massive pick me up. Between my last post and today, I've been to at least 10 eye doctor appointments. Now I'm at a specialist who is keeping me on the antibiotic/steroid drops but has added restasis to my care routine. Those of you who don't know, restasis is a drop that induces natural tear production to help with the dry eye. I'll be on that for months to come. I'm not sure I can ever wear contacts again, but who cares? I was literally legally blind, but now I see! At present I'm between 85% and 90% recovered.

My prayers are with all of you, that God is blessing your 2007 and showing His awesome love and compassion. On a final note to brag about God's goodness, I've made a good friend this year. She's from work and super sassy. We joke that we could be twins. In addition, she loves Jesus. We had a substitute teacher come up to us in tears who said she just assumed we were Christian and would we pray with her that morning. We did, in a public school, in the hallway, with administrators walking by. Now, she's another friend who comes over to play "The Bible Game" on my xbox (old testament trivia plus awesome challenge games!) and watch Veggie Tales. God is filling my social circle with others like me, and I couldn't be happier!
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Prayer Request [Dec. 6th, 2006|10:01 pm]
[Current Mood | cold]

My eye infection has returned. It took 4 mos to clear up, and now it's back with a vengence. Unfortunately, the infection has teamed up with my eyes not tearing up enough on their own and my corneas are now chapped. Gross, but even worse for vision. Everything is currently a huge haze and lights are exceptionally painful when bright! Praise God I was able to get in to see the doctor Monday for an emergency appointment where she gave me antibiotic drops as well as gel drops to keep some moisture locked in. I've been using my drops faithfully and forcing myself to blink more often. How weird that blinking is now a conscious choice? It makes me realize how amazing God is. We train millions of people to be engineers and doctors, yet one God (one Supreme Force for those who haven't come to accept God yet) was able to wire us to work this effortlessly. I guess it's similar to the difference of watching an Opera star sing compared to a contestant on American Idol. Some things are just meant to be!

I think everything will be okay, but I'm hoping this won't lead to the detection of anything more severe. Pray for me, please!
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Update! [Nov. 9th, 2006|11:00 pm]
I figured it was time for an update. The year continues to be hectic. On the plus side, I can't complain that I'm bored in my spare time - I don't HAVE any! These days, I specifically CHOOSE to blow off work and make time for my life. The wedding plans continue. I am SO happy that Mike and I chose a year and a half engagement to allow us time to plan and save for the big day. Our latest "decisions" include the bakery for the cake and our hopeful destination for the honeymoon... Disney Cruise!!! We'll see if the budget allows for it.

I'm going to ask opinions here... I am encouraging as many of you as possible to respond. As wedding guests, would you feel cheated of your "wedding favors" if you knew the money had been donated to a charity instead of spent on chocolates for you to take home? Mike and I are seriously looking at making a big donation instead of buying favors. My parents (very traditional) feel that guests will feel cheated. I look forward to any and all feedback that I can get!! Thanks!

By the way, happy birthday tomorrow to DANIELLE!!! You deserve the best, roomie!
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It Continues! [Aug. 9th, 2006|05:29 pm]
[Current Location |Couch]
[Current Mood | tired]

I should be starting my database project for Tim. I should be unpacking. I should be doing dishes. I should... Regardless, things have been horrendously nutty lately and I need to be decompressing. Therefore, I am writing.

For starters, I have my vision checkup tomorrow. Sadly, the vision hasn't noticeably improved since my last posting. I just pray they can up my prescription for my left eye because when I'm tired, BOTH eyes are now getting fuzzy. Forgive me for any spelling errors in this posting, everything looks like a garbled mess of black and white. It's kind of frustrating, but I refuse to get upset over it. Que sera sera.... In the words of Monty Python "I'm not dead yet!"

I just spent two weeks with my family. One week with my parents in NY and then about 4 days with my extended family in Wisconsin. The week in NY was fun. I got to help my parents with their water disaster at the house and help them put the kitchen back together. Remind me if I didn't talk about that disaster and you want to know. Otherwise, it's suffice to say "Thank God for homeowner's insurance!" I was surprised when my high school "chum", Mary stopped by the house with her 17 mo. old son asking if I wanted to go on morning walks with them. That was pure fun. Totally out of the blue, and wonderful.

In Wisconsin, we visited my Dad's side of the family whom I seriously haven't seen since I was like 12 years old. We had a great time. Got to spend serious bonding time with my Great Aunt Helen (she's 95 now). She had the opportunity to meet Hailey (Rebecca's daughter). What a HAM that child is! I just adore her to pieces! Transportation for the trip was a little annoying though. Reb and Al flew from Boston to Chicago while Mom, Dad and I took the train from NY to Chicago. Then we all rented a van and drove to Wisconsin. The train there was 2 hours late. On the way home, we reversed the process and then I took the train straight here to MD. My train left Chicago 5 mins late but arrived in DC 3 and a half HOURS late. I was on that train for 22 hours! When I got off and Mike was waiting for me at the gate, I crashed into his arms and cried. I missed him so much! It was the same relief I felt when I left Oceanwood and saw him again. I'm learning something important here - no matter what is going on, if I don't see Mike at least once a week, life just gets painful. Is that good or bad that I'm "addicted to him"? I don't know. He's just so much a part of me that when we're apart for extended periods, I start to fall apart myself.

Bad news - we had everything lined up for the wedding, but I got a phone call last night. Apparently the cake-maker we had lined up died last week of a sudden heart attack while baking someone else's cake. I'm praying for his family, but after tasting his cake, I know how he developed heart problems! That was AWESOME cake. We'll miss him. Mom says that hopefully he's making cakes in heaven that we can eat then. Just think - delicious cake and no weight gain! LORD TAKE ME NOW!!!! :-)

So... I'm home. Sarah is coming back today from her vacation. We shall spend tomorrow together. I've missed her like the dickens too! Let it be said - I love my friends dearly! I'm going to take a brief nap now and pray my vision clears up just a bit! Best wishes for all!
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Growing Up [Jul. 24th, 2006|08:06 pm]
[Current Location |The livingroom]
[Current Mood | anxious]
[Current Music |Real UFO's on the History Channel]

First - an update. The vision thing is improving in tiny itty bitty bits. The eye doctor is positive that the problem is that my cornea on my left eye is swollen and thus keeps me from seeing better. When I first went in, there was nothing they could do to correct the vision. I am officially to it being corrected up to 20/70. It's better, but could be OH SO MUCH BETTER! Pray that God's healing touch comes to either my eye or my head - if I can't see, I at least want these residual headaches to go away!

Okay, enough whining. NOW! I have had the most wonderful night of my life tonight! We had been asked to babysit Bekah's daughter, Tori. Bekah also lives in this house. Tori is going on 1 year old. Tim and his family are out of town. All evening I've been experiencing this:

A house, the man I will soon call husband by my side helping out at every turn, a dog, and a baby. I have seen my future and I LIKE IT!!!! I know things need to happen over time, but I'm very excited for the future. God is so awesome!
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Prayer Request [Jul. 18th, 2006|09:41 am]
[Current Mood | confused]

I am submitting a rather large prayer request to all of you-

Within the last week, my vision has gotten significantly worse. According to my eye doctor yesterday, my right eye has my normal same prescription but my left eye is really bad. I can see light, dark, color, and shapes, but is drastically worse than the right. His diagnosis was that my cornea might be deformed from overuse with my contacts. He told me to go home, take out my contacts until further notice, and get some rest. I slept a LOT. I go back today to see if there is any improvement. From what I can tell myself, there isn't. The other diagnosis he was mentioning is possible detached retina. Depending on his findings today, I get a referral to an opthemologist to have him test what's going on behind my eye. Being an orchestra teacher, seeing extra dots over time is a BAD thing. Doing website design on the side, I need to be able to fine tune things. Just pray that God delivers me from this as He choses and that whatever happens, I am in His will. Obviously, I have my choice of outcomes, but I don't know His purpose. I'll keep you posted.
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Product Reviews [Jul. 15th, 2006|12:38 pm]
[Current Mood | excited]

You know me and wanting to try and find better things. Here are my findings:

1. For those of us that use Jingles Hair Spray (to reduce the frizzies or just as a spray on/leave in conditioner) for roughly $13 a bottle is it? I just tried Dove's Sheer Moisture Leave-in Replenishing Mist spray. It works just as well and can be found in the grocery store for a mere $6 a bottle!

2. For those of us that are always trying to get out carpet stains and Resolve won't do the trick: Try "Folex Instant Carpet Spot Remover". It's easily cleaned up normal traffic dirt spots and pet stains that Resolve won't touch. It won't take out the old red wine stains, but it works on everything else! It's a little more expensive and comes in a rather generic looking bottle. Trust me, it works. Oh and it beats every KIND of Resolve - trust me, I've tried them. (Also works well on upholstery!) Non-toxic and odorless. Won't hurt the kids and pets. Just don't let them drink it! ;-)
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A New Week! [Jul. 11th, 2006|09:33 am]
[Current Mood | relaxed]
[Current Music |the hum of the AC and Bash running around]

What a summer I'm having! I've been VERY busy and I have a list and mile long of things that need to be accomplished before school starts again. Some activities are BORING and really work-like, others are so FUN and exciting! Last week, Mike's "little sister" (she's going to be an 11th grader and is considering being a music teacher!) was here with us. We took her down to Mike's brother's in Virginia over the weekend and spent a day at Busch Gardens while we were at it. Good times! I love thrilling roller coaster rides. We came back Sunday night with our new/used gas grill in itty bitty pieces. Certain parts work, certain parts don't. Yesterday afternoon, we went to Home Depot and Lowe's and priced replacement parts vs. brand new gas grill. Good news is that the replacement parts will only cost half of what a new grill will. Getting it all together will be this weekend's challenge I think.

I started my week of camp yesterday. I'm running an orchestra camp for the county. I have 13 kids in camp, and I already know and have a pretty close relationship with about 7 of them. All but about 3 will be my students next year. Talk about a sweet deal! They came in fully expecting to do nothing but rehearse. I made it clear right away that this wasn't just rehearsal, but it's still camp. I learned through the name game that one of my kids has a cousin who is currently the strongest man in the world. Impressive! One of my kids speaks fluent Italian! Then they had an absolute blast with the human knot. We actually got into music using the age old question of "What is music?" That ended with an "excerpt" of John Cage's 4' 33". They were stunned yet impressed! Then we went inside and sight-read some orchestra music. That seemed to go over well. I think Oceanwood prepared me well. Thanks!

Today is going to be more sight-reading, followed by an intro to jazz music for strings. Tomorrow shall be fiddling. Thursday will be picking concert order, making camp t-shirts for the concert (again, thanks OWood!) and assigning student conductors. Finally, Friday will start as a rehearsal and mid-way through, parents will come back and weather permitting, we'll have our concert ouside! I'm really encouraged by these kids. They are really into this stuff. I am also really encouraged that my camp doesn't start until 1pm, ends at 3pm each day and I'm making nearly $800 for one week of camp! Woohoo! I get to sleep in and still work.

Last bit of exciting news - my laptop came back all fixed! It's happy again!
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(no subject) [Jul. 5th, 2006|08:09 am]
[Current Mood | calm]
[Current Music |The guys drilling pavement next door....]

Happy Belated July 4th! Talk about an interesting day! We were supposed to spend the day in DC to check out festivities there. Unfortunately, yesterday I woke up with a headache that STILL hasn't gone away. After three doses of extra strength tylenol that did nothing, I gave up with meds. It's getting lighter, but still there. Oh well. Instead of the city (hot and SO humid!) we spent the day here at the house watching the Star Trek marathon on G4tv. The ORIGINAL episodes! Around 3pm, news came in that with all the bad weather that was starting to hit, they had evacuated the mall in DC due to severe thunderstorms and hail. At that point, we started to see my headache as devine intervention. We were going to check out the local fireworks, but the rain and thunderstorms persisted in this area. We heard that the fireworks were still on, but instead simply watched the concert from DC, the Macy's fireworks in NY, and the Boston Pops celebration on tv. I think the night turned out more festive anyway! Today it's back to the daily grind. Yes, even with the summer off, I'm doing work. I did some more on my budget for school next year, I have to finish a website today, work on the next site and try to nail down my daily plans for next week's orchestra camp that I'm running. Should be fun with a trip to the music store thrown in there!

In wedding news, Mike and I spent last week up visiting our families and interviewing perspective vendors for our wedding. Keep in mind that we're still 13 months away from the big day. We met with some really great people and some really sketchy people. At first, we simply wanted to go with the cheaper vendors, but then we realized that to do that, we had to go with less quality. We went with a lot of the better people... we'll be making deposits this week on our DJ, Florist and Photographer. Now we need to find cake people. We found a couple we liked but I a) don't want to be done with cake testing and b) in my gut, I'm not sure I've found what I want. It's TOUGH being this picky! Oh... haven't even STARTED looking at wedding dresses yet. I have my color scheme done, and I have a few choices of what my girls will be wearing. MY dress, I'm just not concerned with right now! Atypical in this respect, I assume.

Well, this has been fun procrastinating all of my work. I suppose it's time to get to it though! Have a great Wednesday!
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(no subject) [Jun. 22nd, 2006|09:06 am]
[Current Mood | cheerful]

Ahh... so, I'm not at ALL suprised to report that summer is in it's 2nd full week and I am bored and antsy to get back to work! Heehee... Don't worry, I'm having fun and living it up too. I've accomplished a few things this week already:
- I redid all the graphics for and updated a client's website
- I have meetings with vendors for the wedding for next week when Mike and I go home to visit family
- I am so close to being done with the first season of my four seasons cross-stitch that I'm doing for my Mom
- I am helping out Tim's family and sharing in the transportation duties with the kids
- The dog and I are back to our traditional paling around the house
- My house is CLEAN
- I've exercised more than once this week! (That's my big summer goal, but baby steps are imperative!)

Today I plan to do laundry and start my next project for Tim's event registration site. Translation: learning all the ins and outs of MS Access. WHY can't the world just use filemaker?!?

Hope all of you are doing well!
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Spring Concert *sigh* [May. 12th, 2006|11:23 am]
[Current Mood | exhausted]

So... had the spring concert for the middle school last night... this is where living down south can stink... Here's the scene: Concert was scheduled to start at 7pm. At least one building administrator is required to be at each event. Kids all arrived between 6:20 and 6:30pm. It looks like rain...

During the day, I am told there will be no administrator present due to other personal committments, but I am emailed an emergency number for one of the VP's in case something happens. The kids all arrive, I start sending kids onto stage... As I'm sending my last group out (it's about 6:50pm) one of the parents quietly mentions that we are under a tornado warning. Okay, we're down south, that's to be expected with rain. I quickly call the emergency phone number I've been given to find out what the VP wants me to do. NO ANSWER. I quickly call my supervisor (the infamous Tim). He quickly turns to the weather channel and sees that the warning only lasts until 7:05pm. Okay, we both decide to just start the concert. I do just that...
During the 2nd song (which was great by the way!) a parent walks up to me. I continue conducting as she whispers that our exact location is under a further warning until 7:30pm and we've been ordered to take cover immediately (praise God for cell phones on vibrate mode!). I finish conducting the song. I excuse myself and go ask that parent to repeat what she'd said to make sure I had understood. Yup. I had. I quickly (this is within one minute) weigh my options, 1. continue with the concert, something DOES happen and I'm in a whole lot of trouble if not worse or 2. evacuate into the hallway (away from windows, etc) and if nothing happens worst case scenario, I was too cautious. No brainer. I evacuate the room into the hallway for a "weather induced meet and greet".
Mike, a building service worker and I go right to the door to see what's going on with the weather. Oh yeah...sudden HARD rain, and Mike points out that the wind and the clouds are going in different directions. Me, being overwhelmed looked at him and said "this means what?" He said, "There IS rotation".
Long story short, nothing did happen (praise God) and around 7:30pm we started back where we left off. The kids were totally unfocused and hyped on sugar from the vending machines everyone used during our evacuation. Musically, the concert was a total disaster. However, kids were all smiling and laughing and no one seemed to mind that much. I think everyone (myself included) was just happy the night had finally ended.
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CONTEST! [May. 10th, 2006|03:53 pm]
So... here's the thing... my mom's town is having a naming contest and I'm trying to get all my friends to help:

Here's the challenge:
Come up with a NAME for a Coffee Shop to be located IN a library...

Deadline:
May 13th

So far we have:
A Tale of Two Lattes
Books n' Beans
The Buzzed Bookworm
Encyclopedic Espresso
Latte Literati

Join in the fun! If my mom wins... she gets 50 free cups of coffee!!! SHE'LL BE SO COTTON-PICKIN HAPPY!!!!!! :-)
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(no subject) [May. 10th, 2006|03:00 pm]
[Current Mood | complacent]

Wow! This school year is just coming to a close faster than I'm ready for. I think this is the busiest I've ever been, yet I'm still blissfully happy. A few moments here and there of stress, but for the most part... much happiness!

Tomorrow night is my middle school orchestra concert. I'll admit it won't be our finest concert, but it will still be good. That's okay. My kids are SO excited for this Toronto trip next week. I'm excited too I guess, but I still see it as something that needs to happen so summer will come faster! :-) Then I can do different work. Teaching is SO the perfect job for me - it's like the ideal job for people that have issues with attention span. Just as soon as you get into it, you get breaks from it. Hugs to my family for not letting me give up on this dream in college when things were tough!

Speaking of, pray for my parents right now: fortunately, Mom was home when this all happened so she was able to react and prevent even more damage. Long story short, one of their hot water pipes leading into the kitchen sink burst a couple days ago. There is water damage EVERYWHERE from what I've been told. There have been guys down in the basement ripping out soaked insulation from the walls, taking out stuff that has just been junked, etc. Dad says someone is coming in tomorrow to take out the cabinets in the kitchen and poke holes in the kitchen walls to let those walls dry out. Unfortunately, I guess the floorboards under the hardwood is a disaster too. I guess they told all of their friends and church buddies about it and everyone is very quick to say "That's terrible!" but no one will say "Can I help?" They are overwhelmed with the damage and as I was last summer, devestated that their friendships aren't what they could be. I desperately want to take a week off and go home to help, but with the orchestra competition in Toronto next week, it's just not possible! I was able to point out a few silver linings to my Mom yesterday and made her smile. Other than that, my parents are miserable. With Mother's Day and my Dad's birthday next week, I just don't know what I can do to help... Pray for them!
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I am alive and well! [Mar. 29th, 2006|09:07 am]
[Current Mood | accomplished]

Hello! I have such a hard time remembering to write in here. It's a combination of not having the time, and not really knowing what to say. I learned a while back, that venting on a public journal isn't always the best of ideas. Add to that being a teacher, and never really knowing if my kids might one day find my journals - I want to be a positive role model and want them to see me as optimistic, not downtrodden and whiney.

Orchestra festival went well. We got an "Excellent" rating. We have some work to do before our trip to Toronto for that competition, but it's always nice as a teacher to sit back, relax and listen to someone else's suggestions for my class. Overall, teaching is going really well. I had a bit of a problem with one of my co-workers at festival and right after. Long story short, she overstepped the line and really put me in an uncomfortable position with my kids and their parents. Many of my friends suggested I just tell her to buzz off and leave me alone. Truth be told, I wanted to do that. But, I wanted to figure her out more. I've come to recognize that being from a military family and having a military husband, she's not necessarily very good at forming relationships with others. I accepted that her presence at the festival came from a good heart of support for me and the orchestra kids. I accepted that and recognized that maybe she just didn't know she was crossing the line. I can't fault her for that. Since then, we've been working more closely together and I feel like our professional relationship has never been closer. It's amazing how cool things can be when we step back, recognize the position of the other person and choose to relate instead of fight.

Now, I'm totally in the midst of playing shows. I love playing in pit orchestras. I'm playing violin for "Annie Get Your Gun" at the local theater, and violin for the high school I work at for their production of "Beauty and the Beast". Both are going well, and I think my chops are SERIOUSLY improving. I have an insane schedule thanks to rehearsals and such. Saturday morning, my kids have solo and ensemble festival and I'm accompanying them on piano. More fun shall be had! I remember student teaching and being told by my sponsor teacher that she doesn't play much since she graduated from college. I've never played more! My choice, but some days I want to just relax and have a 9 to 5 job. However, I can also recognize that music is my life, my job and my stress relief... I couldn't have it better!

Well, I'm going to cut this short, as I have a stack and a half of dishes that aren't doing themselves. We discovered that by using the oven last night, we melted out the bottom of the toaster which was sitting on the stove. This is more than a sign that I should get the dishes done and off the stove, huh? Hope all is well for everyone else! *hugs*
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Life is Awesome! [Feb. 24th, 2006|04:41 pm]
[Current Mood | chipper]

It's been a while, but things have been great! I've stressed a little more than I should have, but things smoothed out. Friends are great like that. Family is even more awesome like that. The wedding plans continue. We've set a date - July 28, 2007! This past weekend we spent looking at reception halls, met with a photographer and met with one of our priests. SO FUN! We are actually doing the co-officiants for the actual wedding service, so we get twice the fun. The reception halls were great - we're torn between two - it'll come down to dollars and cents - but both include the bridal suite with jacuzzi for our first night as husband and wife. WOOHOO! Money is definately tight, however. It's looking like I should get a summer job. Mike keeps talking about picking up a second job, but since he's a 12 month employee with the schools, I'd feel HORRID if he worked two jobs and I happily sat on my butt all summer.

So far, I've quit weight watchers (my mom is helping me do the LA Weightloss program for free), I quit the gym - snagged my workout card, bought free weights and have my videos and Dance Dance Revolution at home to use, and I'm being very careful about spending more than $10 per week. Mike is likewise being very careful. I think things will work out just fine. I can not wait for our wedding. However, I know that this engagement period is necessary for us to get plans done and for us to do the pre-Canna stuff through the church. It's also helping us iron out little things that have been annoying us over the years.

Work is going well. We have the District Orchestra Festival (play for judges and get graded) in two weeks. I'm starting to get a bit more stressed over that, but I'm remembering what Jesse, a friend of mine from ME, once told me - "God is always in charge. You can only do your best, but you have to trust in Him that He'll provide and the kids will perform as He desires." He told me that during that music camp week - Camp Jam was it? I was TERRIFIED because I was so clueless. Scared stiff is an understatement! Despite my fears and tears, things went pretty well. Jesse was right then, and his words are right now. I often wonder how people do it without the handoff to God. Craziness...

Well, if ya'll are still reading, I congratulate you. I am going to call this a day and end for now. Hope all is well with the rest of you! *Hugs!*
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Funny Stuff [Feb. 7th, 2006|10:25 pm]
[Current Mood | apathetic]

Wow - once again, time has escaped me and I haven't updated. Suffice to say, life continues as normal for me. Some high points have passed, some lower points have passed... some indifferent points have passed. Regardless... I am still a happy camper!

At this point, I'll stop being so vague and recount a funny story from today to share with ya'll...
I woke up with one of those serious, nagging throbbing headaches. No matter what I took, the head was just pounding. I chose to push on and go to work. My high schoolers were great! We even got a new girl today, who seemed pretty pleased with our class by the end of the period. Woohoo!!! Anyway, my headache continued to get worse during that short span of time. Fairly quickly, I made the decision to call in sick to the middle school and simply go home to rest and relax. (Disclaimer: this makes my 2nd half day of sick time all year) I came home, took more tylenol, let the dog out and then brought him downstairs with me. We both proceeded to fall asleep for a good 2 hours. I started feeling a bit better and just basically relaxed and lounged in the comfort of my own home. I also baked an apple pie (Weight Watchers recipe that even Mike loved!) and made dinner. In the midst of this, I got a phone call from one of the full time substitute teachers at the middle school. She was checking up on me and clarifying a rumor that had been spread around the school. Keep in mind, I teach periods 3 through 5 at the middle school. No one notices if I'm not there until 3rd period. Jane called at the beginning of 5th - just so you get the mental picture of how fast this rumor had spread.

Apparently, one of my 7th graders had run up to her in the hallway, in tears, asking if the rumor was true. Rumor being - they'd frustrated me so much that I had quit my job. Jane had assured her that I was simply not feeling well and would never quit on her. Obviously, she then called me right after to check. HOLY COW! That was funny! I have NO CLUE how that one got started, but I am eagerly anticipating tomorrow to get the scoop. Who knew me not being at work for a day was really that noticed?!? Kids...
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Got this one from Oboepedge... enjoy! [Jan. 27th, 2006|08:55 pm]
[Current Mood | relaxed]

Q:WHO'S BED DID YOU SLEEP IN LAST NIGHT?
Mine (if he could talk, I think Sebastian would say it's his now, though...)

Q:WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
red sweatshirt, white turtleneck

Q:HOW MANY PEOPLE ON YOUR LIST DO YOU KNOW "IN REAL LIFE?"
I'm not very adventurous. I know them all in real life.

Q:DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS?
Tim's dog, Sebastian... and Mike... does Mike count as a pet?

Q:MOST RECENT MOVIE THAT YOU WATCHED?
Damn Yankees

Q:NAME 3 THINGS THAT YOU HAVE ON YOU AT ALL TIMES?
planner, cell, ring

Q:WHAT'S THE COLOR OF YOUR BEDSHEETS?
sky blue with heart shaped clouds

Q:HOW MUCH CASH DO YOU HAVE ON YOU RIGHT NOW?
I can't tell that information online...

Q:WHO'S THE 4TH PERSON ON YOUR RECEIVED CALL LIST?
My Mommy or my sister

Q:WHAT'S THE MAIN RINGTONE ON YOUR PHONE?
Some random stock ringer

Q:WHAT WERE YOU D0ING AT MIDNIGHT LAST NIGHT?
Finishing the editting of a Performing Arts Flyer for the high school I work at.

Q:WHAT DID THE LAST TEXT MESSAGE ON YOUR CELL PHONE SAY?
"ok"

Q: HOW MANY PEOPLE IN YOUR PHONE BOOK ARE EX'S?
none

Q: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE CHICKEN?
Legs! Eating them is so much easier...

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TOWN/CITY?
Town - Potsdam, NY (yes, I still miss and visit the joint)
City - Washington DC

Q: I CAN'T WAIT TO...?
Go read a book

Q: WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW YOUR MOM?
Christmas

Q: WHAT DID YOU HAVE FOR DINNER LAST NIGHT?
Roy Rogers - we dine in style down here...

Q: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN AT YOUR CURRENT JOB?
2.5 years

Q: WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU SAID OUT LOUD?
"Oh wow!"

Q: LOOK TO YOUR LEFT. WHAT'S THERE?
Space heater, blanket, Sebastian

Q: WHAT IS THE LAST THING/PERSON YOU SPENT OVER $100 ON?
Groceries last night, baby!

Q: WHO'S YOUR FAVORITE VILLAIN?
ME!

Q: WHAT'S THE LAST PIECE OF CLOTHING YOU BORROWED FROM SOMEONE?
I'd have to say a sweater from my Mommy... I think I've stopped even saying I'm BORROWING Mike's sweatshirts...

Q: WHAT WEBSITE(S) DO YOU VISIT THE MOST DURING THE DAY?
LiveJournal, Xanga, and my various email accounts

Q: DO YOU HAVE AN AIR FRESHENER IN YOUR CAR?
Yankee Candle freshener in Macintosh

Q: DO YOU HAVE PLANTS IN YOUR ROOM?
four of them - one still living that I got way back in Potsdam.

Q: IF YOU COULD DRINK ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
H2O!!

Q: DOES ANYTHING HURT ON YOUR BODY RIGHT NOW?
my eyes

Q: WHAT CITY WAS YOUR LAST TAXI CAB RIDE IN?
Sparks, Nevada, baby!

Q: DO YOU OWN A PICTURE PHONE?
Nope, and I really don't want one either.

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE STARBUCKS DRINK?
White Chocolate Mocha

Q: IF I DON'T LIKE YOU...
I will generally ignore your very existance.

Q: RECENT TIME YOU WERE REALLY UPSET?
Umm... REALLY upset? Like legitimately? I'd have to say the summer of 2003 when I was so upset with myself.

Q: WHAT WERE YOUR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS?
- Stop eating after 7pm
- Relax more and keep work at work

Q: ADMIT SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF.
I love being this happy, but a lot of the time, my happiness is a choice I make in the morning when I wake up.
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What a week! [Jan. 26th, 2006|11:32 pm]
[Current Mood | chipper]
[Current Music |Jay Leno]

This week has been abso-stinkin-lutely wonderful! LOTS of work and based on my skin at the moment, I've been fairly stressed. HOWEVER, in reality, SO MANY wonderful things have happened that I know without a doubt that I am a blessed kind of gal!

Tuesday night, I started a new class at the gym. It's called "Dance Grooves". It's basically a class where they teach you to dance like Brittney Spears, etc. because that stuff is so intense and truly is an awesome workout. It was fun and I'm proud to say I did pretty well! I call it "Hoochie Mama Dance Class", because well... if you don't agree that Brittney is a hooch... well... you're just in denial. I have a few girlfriends in that class, so that just made it that much better!

Wednesday, we had an all-day Tri County Orchestra rehearsal. It went really well. Three awesome things in specific to report on that:
1. Everyone there agreed that I'm incredibly happy and it's catching :-)
2. The kids actually told their teachers how much they enjoyed the times that I conducted during the rehearsal because I'm both entertaining AND educational.
3. One other teacher from one of the other counties asked me if I'd be willing to come in at some point to her classroom as a guest clinician to work with her orchestra. How flattering!!!!

Today, I was more than happy to be back with my students on a regular schedule. They just absolutely rock my socks right off! Tomorrow I have a few playing tests and then it's: THE WEEKEND!!!!! Woohoo!!!

Personally, my week has been great too! This has been like "Crane School of Music Homecoming Week Online". The WWBED or "What Would Big E Do?" revolution has begun. It's just been SO AWESOME to reconnect with people I haven't seen and/or heard from in a while - E, for at least 9 years! I feel so close to home now! I never really want to go to bed anymore, for fear of missing out on some conversations. ;-) There are a few people I'd still like to find though - Charlie and Randy to name a few... awesome guys who somehow managed to disappear. If you have any information for me on their whereabouts, LET ME KNOW!!!

Okay, it's 11:42pm and my eyes are closing. Nighty nights!
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