Where did Jen go?

It is been so long since I posted. Sorry for the delay. I think if you have a blog, you should try and give a quick post at least once a week (I am not trying to guilt you Tony…well maybe a little.) In my defense I truly have been in over my head lately, so I am here and a lot has happened. Let’s start on a positive note shall we:

1) Nathan bought me flowers for no reason! He is so sweet, I love him.

2) In the last six weekends we have been to St. Louis four times. (high school reunion, two family weddings and this past weekend a funeral)

3) I just finished up a course for grad school which involved a semi-in-depth project and a five page paper about nothing.

4) My student teacher is taking more time and energy than I thought he would before the school year started.

5) Lastly, I am busy with IMEA stuff.

All the above things have just added up to the feeling I am overwhelmed. However, I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We came home late Saturday night and Sunday I was a giant bum and I think that is just what I needed. I am really looking forward to this semester coming to an end. Then I will be done with IMEA stuff and my student teacher will have moved on. Then at the end of this school year I will be done with grad school!!! So for now I am telling myself, “just keep swimming, just keep swimming.” That is a cute movie.

Work Stuff Mostly

I have been so busy with work lately. This past Thursday I took my 75 member band down to the University of Illinois. The choir and orchestra from my school also went so we had quite the caravan going down I-57. Anyway, I had two parents on each of my busses. I was going to be on one and then my student teacher on the other. However, when we pulled away from the school at 7:30 AM, my student teacher was nowhere to be found (That is a story in itself). I was afraid this was going to be an omen for how the day was going to go, but luckily it was not. My kids were fantastic. Their behavior was awesome and was only exceeded by their playing. I really feel like we got so much out of our visit, from the Sousa Museum, to working with Ken, to the kids listening to Symph. I rehearse. I do not think we could have asked for anything more.

This past Saturday was IMEA auditions. I am the band chair for my IMEA district this year. That means that I make tons of copies and the day of auditions I run around like a chicken with my head cut off for 13 hours entering scores and putting the IMEA band together along with a handful of other nuts like myself. I have to say I am so glad that day is over and that I only have a handful of responsibilities left as band chair for IMEA.

Today was my niece Ariana’s Birthday party. She is such a cutie. I have a picture of her below.

U of I and Gilmore Girls

I am taking my band to U of I tomorrow. I did this a few years ago and it was a lot of fun. I am really looking forward to this, my kids play well this year and I think Ken will be able to do a lot with them.

Other than that I have been pondering how I feel about the TV show Gilmore Girls. I have been a faithful follower of the show from its start, however I currently have issues. I am tired of them ripping Luke and Loralie (sp?) apart. They need to pick a course of action and stick with it. I know this is a tried and true TV formula. In my opinion you only get to go back and forth so many times before you lose your audience. I think the show has hit the limit. They are currently reintroducing Christopher as her love interest and I would be fine with that, but let’s stick with this plan Gilmore Girls.

Showcase Concert

This year is the first year that every child in my band program has only known me as the head band director. I have been looking forward to this for a while for two reasons. First, all my students know the way I teach, my quick pacing, how to read when I am angry, and the kind of quiz grader I am. Since the students are so familiar with me, it just makes everything run that much more efficiently. The second reason is that my current 8^th grade class has always been very strong. We were very excited about them as 5^th graders because the group was just so natural and large.

However, this year did not begin with the focused musical achievement I was expecting. I was worried about our concert last Thursday night. The kids, however, morphed into the outstanding young musicians I knew them to be. Last Thursday was really one of the strongest concerts we have ever given. A few of the kids said, “I have never seen you smile so much while conducting.” We played a wonderful arrangement of Children’s March, Country Wildflowers, and Fanfare and Flourishes 2. I hate it when a band just barely gets through a piece and then they are too ignorant to know they didn’t make any music. I was so afraid we were just going to get through the music. That could not have been further from the truth. My kids were so sensitive to the style of Children’s March, the phrasing of Country Wildflowers, and the dynamic changes in all three of the tunes that I was blown away. Now how do I get my kids to be as focused as they were at our concert all the time? This truly is my mission, although I do understand I am a little crazy for thinking I can achieve this.

Nothing new

Not tons new here to report, just real busy like everyone else. So, I though I would plug a new product I am now enjoying: Downey wrinkle releaser. It works pretty well. I always overstuff my drawers and then my shirts get wrinkled. I never have time to iron in the morning, nor do I think ahead the night before. So many of my shirts just sat in a wrinkled ball in my drawer but since using the wrinkle releaser I have access to a much larger wardrobe.