Complaints and Confessions

Nathan and I bought a living room set when we bought our house. When we made our purchase we bought the deluxe stain guard protection. The fabric was supposed to be completely covered for five years. Since then the furniture store went out of business. I used a generic Febreeze type spray to freshen the fabric but it stained our couch! Actually I think it bleached it instead of staining it. I am so mad I could spit. Of course the company that bought out the furniture store we got our stuff from said too bad so sad. So beware of fabric fresheners they can really mess up your couch.

So now for the confession... Nathan and I have been "borrowing" internet access from our neighbors for a while now. Recently the signal has been very weak. So after a couple of weeks of almost no internet access we are getting our own. It will be such a luxury to get on line when ever I want. I guess I will have to blog more.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving went off without a hitch. I was hosted my family this year. We did not make a whole turkey for three reasons: 1) there were only eight of us; 2) nobody really loves turkey in my family; and 3) I was afraid of cooking a whole bird. I do not like to cook anything for the first time for people. On the other hand when would I cook a whole turkey for just Nathan and me? So we marinated and barbequed several turkey breasts. I thought they turned out terrific, no dry flavorless turkey this year. One quick question though. Someone spilled red wine on my table cloth. Does anyone know a trick to get that out?

Today I went to a spin class to try and burn off a little bit of yesterday’s meal. I really like spin classes. I am exhausted afterwards but in a good way. Later in the day I did not want to join the huddled masses in the stores, but I got bored. I decided to wander over to Target. To my surprise Target was over staffed and very organized. I was able to cross my aunt and nephew off my Christmas list. I think I might try and do some online shopping this year as well in an effort to minimize my exposure to impulse shopping.

One last note, I did write a Christmas letter this year.

Should I do a Christmas letter?

Should I do a Christmas letter? I have asked myself this question for the last few years. In a way it would be like a blog about my year. I like the idea of keeping those I care enough about to send a Christmas card to informed about my life. I always read the Christmas letters I receive.

On the other hand I hate how some letters come across so braggadocios. I mean life is not all gum drops and pay raises. If I compose one, I want it to be real. Do people want “real” around the Holiday? How long is too long? Right now I am thinking one page double spaced. Just enough to give the big highlights and a few antidotes, right? Having never composed one of these little beauties, I have no idea.

Other than that I had a hard week. Nathan was gone on business, Except for today, I felt very ineffective this week as a teacher. My kids will not play with good tempo and I spent all week pulling teeth on this issue. Today I held an American Idol-like contest concerning tempo. The winning section receives a fabulous edible prize on Monday once the votes are tabulated. I had all the sections play and everyone voted on who kept the best time. The two rules were you could not vote for your own section and if I called on a student for talking during the contest, their section was disqualified. The kids really worked hard on playing with good time and keeping quiet. Although this was a nice break from the normal rehearsal, I need to get them to stay quiet and focused on tempo without playing games.

Can't sleep

So it is 12:30 on a Friday night and I can not sleep. I ate a greasy dinner and it is not agreeing with me… that will teach me to not eat healthy. I should be sleeping I need to be up early. I have an IMEA jazz festival to go to tomorrow (today). After that my fall from hell will be over! Next weekend I am free as a bird. My plan at the moment is to sit on the couch and do nothing all weekend long. I might have to modify those plans slightly since I am hosting Turkey Day this year. However I am certainly looking forward to my free weekend.

I just finished parent teacher conferences and everything went smoothly. I had rehearsals with my bands for four hours the first day of p/t conferences and we got a lot of wood shedding done on our music. As the band director I only had two parents request my presence at their student’s conference. However I go to all of them….well most I usually just catch in the hallway and give a quick up date too. My students rarely have significant issues maybe they forgot to turn in a practice chart or two and that is about it.

Nathan and I saw a great movie this evening, Stranger than Fiction. I really like Will Farrell. He did a nice job although it was a bit of a departure from the goofy guys he usually plays. He just has a real likability to him, the kind of guy you would want as a neighbor. Anyways I would recommend the movie. Now I am going to go lie down and pretend to be sleepy.

Did you vote?

I did! I did have mixed feeling about the race for Governor. I am tired of the adage “the lesser of two evils.” I want a person who can do the job, not the least amount of damage. Although I understand why some people would react by not voting, I believe that to be the wrong choice. If nothing else, vote for the Green party. Then you are actually sending a message. Not voting is not sending a message. It is letting other people decide for you. It scares me what a small percentage of people actually decide who runs our government. Mr. Rodey would be so proud of me right now.

Freedom

Freedom!! (In more ways than one) The big IMEA festival I was helping organize is done. That is a gigantic weight lifted off my shoulders. It’s not like I spent every waking moment doing things for this festival, but I will have some more free time now. I am glad I did my part to help the cause and now I am glad my tour of duty is over.

My student teacher is no longer with me, which is also a bit of a relief. There are many factors which contributed to this, none of which are appropriate to air on the internet. I wish things could have worked out, but I think in the long run things will be better for everyone. However, this turn of events will give me back my plan times for myself rather than coaching some one else. I am looking forward to that.

This week is my Mom’s birthday. I gave her and my dad a trip to Door County WI for a week as a present. I thought that was a really thoughtful gift. However, they decided at the last minute not to go and it was already too late for a refund. Let’s just say that will be the last time I send them on a vacation. I might have tried to use the reservation myself for at least a few days if I had not been so busy with work