KMEA

I love the end of February.  It is the only time that they let all of us crazy music teachers congregate in one spot.  I love going to KMEA, the concerts, the clinic sessions, the networking, seeing old friends, getting recharged to finish up the rest of the school year, there is nothing better.

Tomorrow night, the Dallas Brass will be performing at the President's Concert.  Friday afternoon I will get to see a former student perform in the Kansas Intercollegiate Band.  Also, good luck to my teacher's aide who will be performing as part of the 1-4A State Band on Saturday!

Back in the old days I used to drive an hour each way from my parents house to Wichita for KMEA.  The first year that I stayed at the Hyatt, I got spoiled.  Its connected to Century II, I don't have to go outside if I don't want to which is sounding like a pretty good deal with the weather forecast this weekend. 

There have been some crazy times at KMEA.  Most of them seems to involve the guys from the local music store or my old band guys.  Now when I say my old band guys, only one of them is actually my old band guy.  The other one is one of his bestest buds and they really are a hoot to hang out with.  There have been many late nights at the Broadview shooting the breeze, talking shop.  With the Broadview closed this year, I'm not sure where we will hang but I'm sure we'll figure something out!

24 days!!!!!

Shorts weather?

Today I put on a pair of shorts.  I went outside, I roamed around at school, hubby cleaned out my truck, dogs ran around outside. 

There are only really two drawbacks about today...

1.  The dogs were very muddy and its somewhat difficult to get the undercarriage of a Jack Russell clean.

2. The realization that I may blind some people in Arizona if I don't get some sun before Spring Break.

New Background in honor of......

the countdown to Spring Training has begun.  Well, I guess I should say MY countdown to Spring Training (and being warm) has started.  Someone else in the house has been counting down for quite a while.

Royals/Rangers Ballpark in Surprise

Extra Credit--What movie was filmed at this stadium in Tucson??

Another mark on the Time Line

When you become a teacher, one of the last thoughts that crosses your mind is that at some point, you will start teaching your second generation.  So far I have had some of those heart stopping, freaky moments.  For instance, when a former student married a woman with children and he showed up at 5th grade band night with them.  He literally had to pick me up off of the floor from shock.  Then I taught with a former student but I only had them in high school so that didn't seem quite as bad.  The year when I graduated my first class of 5th graders was kind of bittersweet.  This year I am having my first experience with teaching a student of a student.  Again, I taught them when they were in high school so I am kind of okay with it.

Last Saturday was an elementary honor choir event.  I took seven very talented fifth graders.  One of my girls kept telling me that her relative had been helping her with her music and that she was taking kids from the school she taught at as well.  I didn't really think anything of it until we arrived Saturday and she ran over and hugged her relative, it was a young lady that I taught in middle school.  I kind of lost track of her after high school and had no idea that she had majored in music education.  Once the kids started rehearsing we talked for a while, mostly about our jobs and her surprise at me teaching elementary music.  At one point she asked if I was a little freaked out that one of my students was out there teaching.  Honestly, yeah I guess I am.  I mean, I do have another student out there in the trenches teaching and we run into each other once a year at KMEA, but that seems different since we don't really bring students with us. 

Now, I'm not going to gush the way that my old Band Guy does when we hang out at KMEA or KBA.  It is pretty cool though that there are kids out there that I have taught that have been so moved by music that they have chosen it as a profession, even though it kind of makes me feel old.