The first official blog of Summer!!!!!!!!

First of all...congrats to the Hays Crew for the new addition to the family.   She is a cutie!!!

First "official" day of summer was spend doing the following -

7:30 (yes that's AM) - actually got my butt up out of bed and went for a walk with my personal motivator
9:00 - flag practice learning the tryout routine, way to go girls, you are picking it up fast!!
Noon - leave to head to Rolling Meadows.  The guys hit some balls on the driving range and did some putting before we played.  I opted out (didn't want to use up my good shots just practicing).  Us four women played 18 holes of best ball.  We were only 3 over after 9 but things went downhill after that.  Had a great afternoon with Scoop, Juice, and the Redneck.  Shared a lot of laughs, some great golf shots, and some not so great shots.  Ended the evening with a gathering at the Tropics.  Good food, good friends, and a lot of old stories.  Got a little sunburned and not looking forward to walking at 7:30 tomorrow morning again but it was well worth it!  Summer 2010 is finally here!!!!!!!!!!!!

Haven't killed it yet..........

I was going through some boxes during Spring Break and I found  a gift certificate from our local greenhouse that I received from the parent organization at my school that closed last year.  It was going to expire so I headed off to the greenhouse to see what I could get that I couldn't kill.

I wouldn't necessarily say I have a black thumb.  Plants that come up on their own every year and don't require regular watering do pretty well at my house.  I have a spot on the west side of my house that gets a lot of sun and needed a little pop.  I already have some mini irises there.........

I also transplanted some bushy things that get purple shoots (I have no clue what they are called) that have survived for quite a while so I thought I would give them a shot.  There is also a small mum plant that manages to survive.  I needed something for an area where the kitchen wall meets the area of the dining room that juts out.  I gave my requirements to Lisa (she knows I know nothing about plants), west side, full sun, will get watered when Mother Nature decides to do it..........She made a few suggestions and then took me outside to show me a rose bush.  I was leary, I've always heard people say how much work roses are.  She assured me that these could survive even me and that my gift certificate would just cover it.  So I brought home a Knockout Rose Bush.  No care needed except to trim it back a little in the spring so it doesn't get really big.  It is mid-May and it is still alive and even blooming!!!

Truly humbled

Tuesday night was our last band concert of the year.  It was also my last as a band director for a while.   Next year I will be teaching elementary general music (notice I did not say vocal).  While this is something that I have done before it has always been mixed in with teaching band.  I have never not been a band director. 

I was trying to play down the whole thing if for no other reason than to keep myself sane.  I only rehearsed one piece to conduct that evening and kept backstage most of the evening warming up the groups.  I had a feeling something had been planned but was not really sure what.  When the HS band took the stage there were pieces of posterboard laying all over the stage.  Before the last piece, which I was conducting, we recognized our band seniors and parents.  Then the microphone got taken over......

The HS band kids had made posters.  There was much yelling and screaming and clapping.  For 9 years I have been the queen of all covert operations in the band department.  They had pulled one over on me and I was very humbled and touched.  I try to avoid public speaking at all costs.  I can get up in front of a band but speaking to their parents honestly scares the poop out of me.  In retrospect, I should have maybe prepared something because there are so many things I wanted to say.  

I really don't remember much of what happened after that.  I know I conducted my last piece of band music for a while.  I have no clue how it sounded.   As a band director, you spend so much time hearing these pieces as you rehearse and fixing mistakes and pointing things out to the kids in the music and studying the score that by the time you get to the concert all you hear in your head is this band that plays it how you have taught it.  I have walked off stage thinking we sounded great and then the recording told me differently.  I'm still debating whether I'm even going to listen to this performance or not.  

Random Dozen

1. What was the last thing about which you procrastinated?
 I am currently putting off boxing up my personal stuff at school and getting ready to move to new buildings.

2. How long does it take you to fall asleep, and do you sleep through the night?
I'm not sure but I very rarely make it to the musical act of Letterman.  I can easily sleep through the night.  My husband claims my dog can jump on my head and it doesn't even phase me.

3. Which decade would you choose to exemplify your favorite fashion styles?
hmmm.......I am going to have to go with the 90s.  Not because I enjoyed any of the fashions then but because that is when I was in HS and college and I could get away with wearing jeans, boots, t-shirts and sweatshirts a good majority of the time.

4. What is your personal best dish to feed a crowd?
I am not the cook in the family, but if I had to feed people probably cookies or cupcakes.

5. Are you an impulse shopper? What was the last thing you bought on impulse?
I really try not to be because I am thrifty (or cheap, however you want to spin it).  Although I have been known to grab a movie, or iTunes card, or break down and buy the hubby baseball cards on occasion.

6. What is one wish you have for your own funeral?
I want Garth Brooks there to sing "The Dance."  If he is unavailable then any good male vocalist would probably be acceptable.

7. If it's true that joy is in found in the simple things in life, what does your joy look like today?
I don't know what it looks like but it sounds like complete silence.

8. What is your favorite type of bread?
Honey wheat

9. What trait do you fear developing the most? (Laziness, greediness, grumpiness, etc.)
Distrust.  I am generally a very trusting person but there have been some recent events that have left me a bit jaded.  

10. What trait would you like most to develop?
Diplomacy..........

  11. Which room in your house best reflects your personality? Why?
Either my living room or my office.  My living room is purple and cozy and comfortable, my office is blue with a "Stardust" ceiling and it has all of my favorite things in it.

12. How do you maintain balance in your life regarding, work, family, church, other organizations and activities, and blogging? 
I need to do a better job of balancing.  During school mostly everything revolves around school stuff, weekends are for taking care of things around the house.  I try to find a regular time to exercise or walk but school stuff always seems to get in the way.  Maybe with a change in job descriptions that will get a little better.  I guess we'll see.