Those students...

Those students who you feel you know so well. Those students who drive you crazy. Those students you would stay after every day to work with. Those students who make you laugh. I've talked about those students before. And maybe my job really does make me happy. But tonight at the 8th grade promotion ceremony (2nd one of the week,) I got teary eyed. The 8th graders I've had as students since they were in 3rd grade are finally moving on. They were literally my "first" students. I had their classes at 8:45 in the morning my first year of teaching. They were my first 5th grade band class. Ive had a fun 4 years of band with them. Pushing them. Laughing at them, laughing at myself with them. Teaching them. 

Tonight they played "Over the Rainbow" as a small ensemble. All by themselves. I was tense, I was wringing my hands, I was thinking the Melody and harmony and feeling the beat in my whole body. And when they got through the 8th notes they tended to rush without rushing I felt my shoulders relax. As they played their final 8 measures I smiled back tears. They are my students. I taught them how to do that!! I wish them the best of luck in everything they do. And I only hope I made a similar impression on them as they did for me!!!

And I know now that "over the rainbow" will forever have an incredible meaning to me. 

Thank you Kassie, Nathalia, Gavin, Edward, Logan and Adriana. 

Tourist at home

Sunday my friends helped remind me how nice it is to spend a nice day being a tourist in our home town! I've lived in/near Cleveland my whole life and have actually had chances to do most of the main sites and activities. But yesterday we covered some new stuff. 

Once a month, Severance Hall gives tours for free, so we signed up for one. It was cool to hear about what it was like when it first opened, as well as see some back rooms where the owners, conductors and musicians hang out. 

After the tour, we headed to Lakeview Cemetery to see some of the historic buildings there. I have been there before, for family funerals in the beautiful Wade Chapel, but I had never been to president Garfield's memorial! WOW! I had no idea there was such a beautiful monument with such an amazing view here in Cleveland!! 

Later on in the day enjoyed a nice bike ride on the west side along Lake Ave. more sightseeing! 

I am thankful I live in this city. I never thought I'd be moving back after college, but I'm very happy I'm here! 

The kids, they make me happy!

Ok first, I haven't posted in a while. Just got into a period where I wasn't setting aside to post quickly, and then as it fell further behind, I kept forgetting. I would think about my thankful or happy thought often, but not at times when I could write it down. So now I am going to get back on track!! 

I am not going to go back everyday I have missed, but I'll just say that life has been pretty good. Nothing outrageous, but satisfactory. School has been keeping me busy, I have had some great running and swimming days, both for myself and with friends, and had a great vacation in charleston, and then put in bay! 

But for today, I'm proud of my students. I'm happy for them. We ran an honors band workshop and concert today for our top students. Although I had many kids not show, the ones that did, did a great job!! I got to spend the morning working with good middle school flutes, then in the afternoon the 60 kids played together. I had a few of those "I love my job" moments! Even despite spending my whole Saturday with a bunch of middle schoolers!! 

Rewarding teaching, music and family

Last Thursday I had one of the most rewarding days I have had in a long time. It was my 2nd day volunteering at my old middle school. I had students who were really looking forward to me coming back and working with them. One girl came 2 extra times plus after school and was so receptive to the tutoring on her flute. Some others seemed pretty excited to work with me again. It was fun. But then at the end of the day came the most moving part of my day. A little back story: years ago my godmother wrote a song for her mentor. We performed the song in Denver Colorado in 1999 for her mentor and in front of our choir and guests at the hotel. The song is beautiful and meaningful. I played the flute part a few times that year. Last week I played the song for the first time with my godmom since 1999. We stood in the band room that shaped my future career and played it for a few students but mostly for us. As soon  as I played the first few notes I was overcome with so much emotion that I wasn't sure I could do it without crying! So wonderful! But I made it. And we had fun playing it. It made me truly appreciate where I have ended up and all the people who have gotten me here. And appreciate the supprt I received from my parents, god mother and other family. I couldn't have gotten here without them. 

To end my amazing day, I had dinner with my aunt and uncle. Long overdue. So thankful for the family that have become a big part of my life!!

Laundry?

Post college, I lived in an apartment for about 4 years. While I truly loved my place, I absolutely dreaded carting my laundry down 4 floors to the building laundry room. I was always needing quarters, and needed to time my loads so that I didn't run the risk of someone taking my stuff out! 

When we bought our house it came with a working washer and dryer. Woohoo!! It still makes me so happy to have my own laundry machines. I don't mind throwing a load in. I am thankful for the luxury that I realize not everyone has. And even more thankful for the ability in my life to buy the clothes that I need. 

Now if only I was thankful to fold laundry...!!

volunteering at my old Middle School

My godmother is the middle school band director at the same school i went to 14 years ago. She was teaching choir when i was there, but has now moved into band. Between her and the band director I had at the time, they created the most amazing memories I have. The two of them are part of the reason I became a music teacher, and band director. They were so influential on my life. So over my spring break this year, I thought it would be great to head back to my old school and volunteer and help out with my godmom. It was a great day. I helped with a bunch of small groups of students getting ready for solo and ensemble contest in a few weeks. And I think I made the day a little smoother for my godmother. I also know how excited she was to have me come in! 

I am thankful for the teachers that shaped me and felt wonderful to pay it back!

spring break feels nice

Spent my first day of spring break relaxing. Had a plan of some school yearbook work, and cleaning.. but that did not happen! instead, I watched netflix, relaxed, and had a great day! First time i got dressed was when i headed to swimming at 7pm! :-) Not very often i get to do that. I am thankful for netflix!

First in age group!

Sunday morning I competed in an indoor triathlon, run by our local triathlon club. I went into it with just a goal of going hard, not getting injured and seeing how i did! I always feel pretty strong about my swim, and picked a lane mate I am used to swimming with. (thanks EJ!) We had a 3rd girl in our lane, but she was easy to swim with.

After a pretty solid swim (1175 meters in 20 min, i was aiming for 1200) had a pretty solid bike (9 miles in 20 min) So it was time for the run. My least favorite part! But after a few laps around the indoor track, i settled in and felt pretty strong. I knew i just needed to keep it up for 20 min!

In the end, i pushed myself and felt pretty good. best part.... actually placed in my age group! 1st place in the 30-49 females! WOOHOO Now i realize the results aren't important, its more about how i feel, and personal times/distances. But it still feels nice to get a certificate recognizing a great performance!!

Regular Saturdays

I love Saturdays. Especially Saturday mornings. It's usually the day I get the most done. This Saturday was nothing special in the long run, but so much made me happy that I was kinda on a high all day!! 

Started with a great swim practice, breakfast at one of my favorite places, buying cycling shoes, bike workout, then my favorite 3 year olds bday! It was a busy day, but enjoyable! Super excited about my new bike shoes, can't wait to put them to good use!! Thankful for the opportunity to do things I enjoy!! 

Spring break

Today was a good day. And there's not much more to say than, I am thankful for spring break!!  I am looking forward to using the time to relax, and get some work done as well as some workouts! 

Tonight I am also thankful for friends to eat sushi with and see plays at Cleveland playhouse!!!

Running with friends

Thursday I brought in the first day of spring with a 5am 5 mile run with one of my closest friends! I appreciate her friendship and support because I know my running speed is no where near hers, but she runs with me anyways! She has helped me tremendously and as long as I keep working at it, I should continue to get faster!! 

I am thankful for her presence in my life, as well as the weather starting to warm enough to allow 5am outdoor runs!!

Lessons falling into place.

I am officially at that bittersweet time of year that marks the end so close! It's awesome because you realize how quick summer will be here, but scary to a music teacher with performances because they come up quick, and then can be stressful for the teacher trying to come up with lessons for the end of the year! I am all of the above. 3/4 of my students will have performances coming up, so it's getting into crunch time for that, but then I have 2 general music classes that I was struggling with how to end the year. And then it all worked out!!

A couple years ago a friend sent me a book about music class Olympics. I have perused it and used a game or two, but never dove into the full "Olympic" aspect. But then I realized, wait, there are enough games, I have enough students and enough time that we could really make this work!! So Tuesday I presented the new unit to my students. I randomly assigned teams and had them select countries to represent and played our first game. I also explained that after spring break they would be making posters for their countries. The kids seemed pretty into it. They picked some great countries to represent and full participated in our "rhythm relay race". I am actually really excited to continue this unit and use it as a culminating event for our year!!

Thankful my 5th graders are on board with the idea!!

Run to the lake

Tuesday I actually had an evening free and the sun was shining, so I decided to lace up and go for a run over to Lakewood park to check out the lake and do some hill repeats on the ramp down to a waterfront promenade. I love that lake. And honestly could stare at it for days. I love that it always looks a little different. In the summer it has different winds, waves, colors and in the winter (this winter especially) there is ice that comes and goes. 

I used to have an apartment with a view and would at least catch a glimpse daily. Now I've realized I go a few days without seeing the water sometimes. But I am thankful that it is only a mile away to get an amazing view! I am thankful that I am able to live so close to such an amazing natural wonder such as a "Great Lake" and can see it so often and appreciate it's beauty!!

sailing!

It's been a long cold winter, and to be honest, I have enjoyed it. However, it was great to get away and go sailing this weekend. I ended the season back in November at an Ultimate 20 regatta at Lake Norman, North Carolina, and it's fitting that I started the new season at the same club! I am thankful for friends who also sail, and invite me to come along to regattas and race with them. We drove down to NC (thankful for the uneventful smooth drive). Went out to dinner and laid low. Over the weekend I was thankful for sunshine! The temps weren't too bad (better than Cleveland), and we got some great racing in! Another huge plus to the weekend, was the generous club member who offered us to stay at his lake house, which was literally 2 houses away from the club. So easy to go back and forth!
We won the event, and had a really nice weekend away before driving back into the snow in West Virginia. At least the snow was clear in Ohio. Sunday Night, I was happy to have the experience. I think sometimes it's easy to forget about how much you enjoy something when you haven't gotten to do it in 4 months!

Tonight, I am happy that my report card grades are done, and we have 4 days left till spring break! The End of the year is approaching WAY too quickly!!

Whirlwind week again

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that yet again I slacked off. I need to get back in the habit of posting every day! I'm already tired tonight so I'll try to keep it short.

Tuesday, we had another dinner party/fish fry. Corey and his dad were crazy successful with fishing this past weekend and we needed people to eat all the walleye!! 10 people later and about 6 lbs of walleye, everyone was happy. I am thankful for friends helping do dishes afterwards. I have survived without a dishwasher for about 6 years now, and although there are days it sucks, it's nice to have friends help out after dinner for 10!!

Wednesday, I won't even say I was thankful for the snow day. Although I caught up on sleep, it was frustrating to lose a rehearsal day one day before a concert! So instead, I'll focus on the evening. Went to playhouse square with some friends again. This time to see Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat. I am in love with the theater district here in Cleveland. Such high level shows for cheap and beautiful theaters to see them in! Can't get much better. And I am super thankful I have friends to go with me when Corey isn't interested! 

Today, was my winter/spring concert with my 7/8th graders at one school. I have a pretty unbalanced ensemble, but some very talented kids. We had a couple songs that could have crashed, but they pulled through! Overall it was actually a great concert!! Thankful for my students!!

Organization

Spent some time today cleaning the kitchen in preparation for our little fish fry tomorrow! 

My biggest goal was to get all my new pampered chef stuff put away and find it homes! I succeeded! We have an ok size kitchen, with a fair amount of storage but some of it is slightly unusuable. (High shelves, corner cabinets) but I am happy to say that for the first time in far too long I removed everything and started over. Now just to see how long it all lasts!!

Weekends don't get much better!

Well one thing is for sure, I am bad about writing daily during the weekends. But yet again another great weekend with friends. I feel like I am getting repetitive! So I will try to focus on some newer topics. 

Friday, I had an indoor workout planned with the girls, but we decided to take advantage of the sunshine and do a run outside first. I am thankful for sunshine!! Friday was one of those "glorious" spring days! Weather was up to 45, sun was shining! It was a great change to the cold cloudy days we have had so much of. (Personally I love winter, but I won't complain about warmer weather either!)

Saturday, after a tough swim practice, I headed to a new brunch place. I am thankful for where I live. I absolutely love living on the west side of Cleveland. There is always stuff going on (saw the irish band Gaelic storm later that night) and there are endless options for GREAT food! This brunch took us to the new "jack flaps" which as the name may suggest, specializes in pancakes (and wonderful waffles). I am lucky enough to have great friends who share their food so we all got to sample a little of each other's choices! So good!!

Today was a swim meet and house stuff. Meet went well, got to travel there with the same girls I spent all weekend with, and we cheered each other on. We all did respectably and were super supportive of each other no matter whether the race was a personal best or not! Came home to relax and meal plan for the week. 

Today I am thankful for my new kitchen gadgets from pampered chef! From the party I hosted 2 weeks ago, I scored some great stuff, and got to use it for the first time tonight. Loving my deep covered baker and garlic press!! Can't wait to make some awesome meals! 

This week is promising to be busy, but hopefully rewarding!

change of pace

Today I had the first day all week I could relax after work. Went to walk my friends dog, and then came home to have some dinner and lo and behold, a NAP! A glorious nap!! I haven't had one of those in weeks! Things have been so non stop for a while now. And next week will probably be similar. Luckily spring break is only 2 more weeks away! Today I am thankful for a different day. For a day that was not as crazy as some of the days I've had. For a split second tonight, I even debated on going to swimming. But once I really woke up, I realized "of course i need to go to swimming!" What made swim practice even better... we played a little modified Water Polo! We did a workout for the first 30 min or so, then the coach invited anyone who wanted to, to play some polo in the dive pool. Now, I know very little about the rules, but I get the basics, and we just play for fun, so of course I was one of the first people to switch pools. It's fun to change it up at practice once in a while! I was also able to get some advice from one of our coaches on an event I am swimming sunday at a meet, that is not a normal event for me. So hopefully I can make him happy! As long as I finish respectably, I will make myself happy!

Family dinners

I had all intention of catching up 100% last night on the blog, but I think I might have actually fallen asleep WHILE typing on my phone! Oops!! We had a visit from one of Corey's brothers. We haven't seen him in over a year, and he was in town for work. We went to one of my favorite restaurants for some great food and beer, then headed to a nearby bar for a bit. Although it was a late night, it was wonderful catching up with him. It makes me realize how important family and friends are. Even as I am typing this, I am realizing that so many of my posts this year have been about family and friends. Having those people near and far, sometimes next door, sometimes a phone call away can make all the difference. I have been pretty fortunate to be fairly close to my own extended family. Uncles and Aunts, cousins and beyond have been a fairly large part of my growing up. And when I lost my mom 2 years ago some of those family members became even more important to me! I also am glad that I get along with corey's family. From day one, his parents and brother seemed to like me, and we have had good times, even if its not often.

The highlight of today was signing up and starting the plans for a girls weekend in Chicago for a 5k swim! I have met some incredible girls from swimming, and we have started to really enjoy time together. Even just this weekend we have some great workouts, eating and a swim meet planned! Along with my family, these friends have helped keep me sane! Just when I thought I was going to fall asleep during a staff meeting, I rallied and hit the pool with these girls, and finished the night out with a great workout!! Can't wait to travel with them this summer!!

Busy days make me tired

I have been lazy in posting, mostly because I have collapsed into bed each night and not remembered till the next morning that I did not post. And at that time, I am usually driving and can't do anything about it! So although my goal was not to do this, I am gonna combine a few days into one post.

Sunday: during the day, I helped Corey finish his ice shanty. We endeded up having more work to do than we thought. In a way, I am thankful for the island life. When we weren't sure about our finish time, I was able to text message the airplane pilots wife and see about a later flight. Only on PIB are plane flights that easy to schedule!! She was able to bump us back 30 min and we had just enough time to pack and relax before heading home! 

Monday: made it through a school day pretty uneventfully. I feel like in order to point out a happy/thankful moment I need to explain that I really dislike lunch duty first. Now, this is not about the complaint, I recognize it's something I can't change, but I hate the loudness, the unstructured environment. On the plus side, I deal with 6-8th graders so ours is maybe a little more controlled than others, but I feel we rule with iron fists in order to keep our sanity. So.... My thankful thought is yet again about my students. To be specific, my band students. Often times when lunch duty ends I am in an awful mood, but lately, 15 min later when my class strolls on, I an able to push away the bad mood! My students help me keep my sanity after I feel like I am losing my mind after the loud lunch duty. So thank you students for helping me!

Ice shanty construction

I am not exactly the most handy person when it comes to building things, but I can get around a workshop and measure, hold, pass whatever may be needed. Corey is working on an ice shanty. So he enlisted my help this weekend. Although I probably spent more time being frustrated all of Saturday. I am trying to find the positive. So my result is that I am thankful I can be handy enough to help out when needed. I stay away from the circular saw, but at least I can help in other ways. 

Dads birthday

Friday was my fathers 73rd birthday. So I came up to the island to visit him. I believe it's his first birthday ever on this tiny island! Arrived in the evening and Corey was working on his ice shanty. But I was able to sit down and have a casual nice dinner with dad. It's nice that he enjoys cooking and is excited when he has people to cook for. If you know me well, you know that I take any good days with my dad! He and I have gone through a lot losing my mom almost 2 years ago. And I think we have learned how to best put up with each other! :-) I am thankful for those moments where I can just sit and relax with him. Unfortunatly, due to Corey's ice shanty project, I didn't get to hang out with dad as much as possible. I was needed to help with construction. 

When students show improvement

Thursday, I again fell asleep before updating this blog. Super busy evening after school. But I did have 2 related moments that made me smile. I think I may have posted something similar already, but when my students are succeeding, I am ecstatic! I have a group of 5th graders who are truly excelling and listening to them play makes me so happy. I love listening to them get better and better. I had a moment during their class that I thought to myself "I must be crazy because I'm enjoying the sound of 5th grade band kids right now...."

Then later in the day I had a private flute student. She has come so far. When she started she was a timid player and now she is doing so well. We are starting to work on strengthening her tone and it's just so enjoyable to hear the player she has become now!! 

Thankful for students that don't drive me crazy!!

Post Dinner party

Well, my Pampered Chef party went off just as well as I was hoping!! Everyone seemed to have a good time, and my consultant made some sales. The whole thing went so well that I collapsed into bed after doing a little cleaning up! I am thankful for my friends, yet again. They were such wonderful company. It was also fun to bring together some different groups of people. My consultant and one friend are Teachers with me, then I had two of my swimming/triathlon friends, then mixed in many of my sailing friends. Couldn't ask for more!
I am also pretty happy that my black bean chocolate cookies went over fairly well. I wasn't 100% sure about them, but people seemed to like them!!

Pre Dinner Party Excitement

My mom was someone who could be quiet, or the most social person you can imagine. She truly loved having a good time. That included going out to a regatta party, having a few friends over, throwing a holiday dinner, or hosting the annual "onion soup" party at Put in Bay. I like to believe I am pretty similar to her!! So tomorrow, I am hosting a pampered chef party. And what I am excited about most is having people over for a dinner party!! I know part of the deal is the consultant will make a dish, and so I made some apps and a dessert, and am supplying drinks. But as I am getting ready, I realized how happy it is making me to have friends over  for a little party! I am busting out the good china (since I try not to use disposable plates if i can help it) and maybe even the good silver.
Tonight my final thought before heading to bed is maybe I should throw dinner parties more often!! (and we will see if I still feel this way tomorrow at this time! 

Sometimes practice goes by quickly

After a pretty intense workout yesterday, my body was feeling a little sore today. Legs stiff from the hills and upper back stiff from swimming sprints. But still headed to swimming practice tonight to hopefully stretch out. Coach bob kept us moving all night. There was no downtime in the workout, so although it was a little exhausting, it was definitely a workout that you couldnt keep looking to see how much time. So I have to admit the tough workout wasn't bad. Made practice move quickly. Even the 8x25 fly at the end went quickly!!

Now bedtime so I can get up and do a bike trainer workout in the morning!!

Friends who encourage

I think I might have written about this already, but today I'm again thankful for friends who encourage and push me. This morning I joined the CSU tri team practice. I am not a runner, and was way behind everyone, and suffered on the hill repeats, but I made it, and had friends supporting me and encouraging me the whole time. It's a lot harder to walk when you know people are watching you!! (I had to walk a little but found it in me to get back to running after a few seconds each time!)

While I was running down one of the hills (let's face it, I wasn't thinking much while going up...!!) I thought why on earth did I think I wanted to do this, but then realized it's all for the feeling after, and my friends told me I could do it!! So although it's completely my choice, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have been running in and out of "the pit" downtown at 830 this morning!! Thanks ladies!!

Wonderful sunshine!

Had a nice Saturday. Swam this morning, then went to a friends pampered chef party. When I realized how close her new house is to mine, I thought, hey the sun is out, it's warming up, I should bike there!! My only hesitancy was the possibility of ice on the roads, but after getting some confirmation that I should do it, just be careful, I bundled up and headed out the door! The two things I didn't consider were the intense wind, and the fact that it would be mostly uphill all the way to her house! Plus I took my hybrid comfy bike since it has slightly bigger tires than my road bike. Made for a tough ride there, but really enjoyable. I should have gone for a further ride when I was leaving, but decided to just head home. Gotta love Cleveland weather, it's gonna be back down to single digits later this week!!

Anyways, I'm thankful for the short break in weather. Nothing beats a little sunshine and temps above freezing! 

Re-newed excitement

My friends and I have spent a fair amount of time during this "off season" and cold winter months planning out our race season. For me this includes sailing, triathlons, running and swimming... a lot going on! And I will admit lately I have had a hard time getting motivated to work out. Sure, I will head to masters swim practices, but I have not been motivated for 5am workouts yet, and have not spent as much time on the bike trainer as I should be.
Tonight I headed to the Cleveland Triathlon Club winter/spring meeting. While seeing mostly all new faces, we heard a speaker who is the author of a book about the internal workings of doping in the pro cycling ring. The book sounds fascinating, and is now on my must read list! (The Secret Race by Daniel Coyle and Tyler Hamilton)

But also, there was a social aspect of the night. After the meeting and book reading, we got our membership cards and headed next door for food and drink. Met some new people, and hung out with old. And in listening to other people, I think I have found some of my motivation back. Being around all these other people who are decidedly more crazy than I am, I am excited and feel guilty at the same time about the upcoming season. Excited for everything to come, guilty that I have been so lazy lately! But with both of those feelings in there, hopefully I can get some more workouts in regularly and not just wait for someone else to say "hey lets go!!"

The places you'll go...online!

I am fortunate (and realistic enough to realize) that I live in the age of the internet as far as knowledge and resources go. Yea I will admit the abundance of false stuff out there is unfortunate, but I love that I can look up just about anything I need. I can purchase items after sitting on my couch and researching the best price, I can constantly have thousands of recipes at my fingertips, I can lay out basic plans about a trip I'm going to take in a few months and research travel and lodging! And yes, I did each one of these today. Thank you hotels.com, amazon.com and my favorite food blog "budget bytes!" 

When I started writing tonight's post, I planned on it being about how I am thankful for the budget bytes blog because of the easy, affordable and healthy recipes on it. I have started to make most of our meals based on the recipes found there. But as I started typing I noticed that really my thankfulness extends so far past just one blog! So I guess I will stick with I am thankful for the internet! (This post is purposely ignoring all of the bad that comes with the internet, so just be optimistic with me!!)

It coulda been worse!

Today I had a few speed bumps. But there were positive points, so I'll only talk about those tonight! After finding out my car had a flat tire, Corey reminded me I had a compressor in the back! Hooray! So during my planning I went out and was able to pump it up. Then the hope was that it would stay filled enough to get to the tire store. And it did! Slow leak I guess. Then to make things even better (and I don't mean that sarcastically!!) Conrad's was able to get me in and out very quickly, and since I bought my tires there, they fixed it free of charge!! Woohoo!!  It could have been so much worse. One of the roads I take to work is considered one of the worst roads in Cleveland right now as far as potholes go. Ugh! So the question is now, do I start to detour to work and take an extra 20 min? Or continue to drive very slowly down the cobbled road? You would think they could start filling the holds by now!!

More fresh fish and friends

We almost have a habit/tradition going on now!! For the 3rd time this year, Corey has come home with a fair amount of fish, and for the 2nd time we invited people over to help us enjoy it!! So yet again tonight we had a wonderful perch dinner with friends. It's nice to have company, and these dinners are so casual that it's easy. (And it gives me reason to keep the house cleaner!!)

Thank you to Melanie and Ron for coming!!

Thankful that Corey catches all this fish and that we have people to enjoy all that fosh'n

ski day!

You can't complain when you come home from a day of fun and fall into bed, and asleep so fast that you don't have time to update your blog!
Got to spend a beautifully sunny day snowboarding in New York yesterday. This winter has been so fantastic!! I am someone who is not complaining about the snow!
Hooked up with a friend I haven't hung out with in a few years and we headed east. I am thankful that Corey taught me to snowboard a few years ago, and even more thankful that I have the ability to occasionally hit the slopes. I'm not fantastic, but can get down any green/blue hill and an occasionaly black diamond. We did NOT try the double black "Wall" :-) I had no need to hurt myself yesterday!!

To make me even happier after a great 3 day weekend, I woke up to find out we have a snowday today!!

Honest people

Todays thankful post may be a little more materialistic than normal, but I'll try to spin it a different way! Today I am thankful for honest people on craigslist!! We have had some great purchases on craigslist. Each time we are entirely careful, trying to get as much background information as possible. I have gotten musical instruments, bikes, cars and now a new iphone. We got lucky, this guy got his phone, decided he wanted a bigger screen, and was getting rid of his almost brand new phone!! Found him by pure luck on friday, met with him today at Staples, and he waited around long enough for us to check it out, and set it up. (we had already checked the ID to make sure it wasn't stolen)

But so as thankful and excited I am for my new iphone, I am glad there are still honest people out there to be found on the internet!!

walking on ice!

I walked out on the ice saturday morning with Corey to the ice shanty he was planning to spend the day in. Such a weird feeling walking about a mile "offshore" over the area that I normally am sailing, swimming, kayaking or playing in.... Right now there is so much snow covering the ice that you dont even realize it's the same area. You just feel like you're walking across a field. Then you really think about it, and realize that you're standing over a foot of snow, 2 feet of ice, and then 20-30 feet of water!!! Thankful for my safety!!

friday flight

I sat in a fairly good professional develoment meeting all day friday. Not the best ever, but I give our administration credit for at least trying to get something worthwhile for the music teachers! Talked about assessment that actually benefits us!! Then I headed to put in bay.

This island has been part of my life forever. We were never considered islanders, and we werent even home owners until 14 years ago, but we would visit for several weeks every year and I have tons of memories there. I am thankful that I have the ability to go up there whenever now! Friday night i hopped onto the plane and took the 10 minute trip over the ice to the island. First time I've been back since Christmas. Still such a cool experience. And such a cool place in the winter! So quiet, so different looking with all the snow. Looking forward to the relaxing weekend at dad's house!

student dance and swim practice

Opened up the blog, and I had two ideas to write about for my thankful post today. So without giving you a whole rundown of my day, I will try to briefly explain what made me happy today!
This afternoon my students had a school dance. It was nice to see the kids dressed up and having such a good time. I love getting to see them outside of the classroom when you can see their goofy personalities, and be goofy right there with them! I showed off a few of my dance moves, but mostly took yearbook pictures. Despite the gym reaching what seemed like 100 degrees and super smelly! The afternoon was fun.

Then tonight, after making a great homemade pizza (thanks Melanie for the dough recipe) with my first time making my own crust; I headed to swim practice. Our Thursday night practices are an hour later than normal and usually are a little tough to get motivated. Also our Thursday night coach often does a little more drill and not as tough practice. Well tonight... HE was motivated!! After doing 750 yards of kicking, we swam 14 sets of 100 yards at a pretty fast pace. It was one of those paces that I knew I could do the first 4-5 no problem and get a good workout, so my friend and I decided we would do as many as we good, and if we slowed down and couldn't make it, we would switch to the other set (longer intervals). Well, 5 go by, and we're still making it with about 10 seconds rest... and then 8 go by, and although i felt like I was dying, we were still making the time... so we finished it out. By the end, we were exhausted! And coach was feeling pretty proud of himself! He takes pleasure in our pain.  But although it was tough, and i want to whine about it... the good part is that I know I have become a stronger swimmer.... A year ago, I couldn't have completed that whole set without taking a break, or doing the slower sendoff... But I was making it! So, I guess I owe a thank you to our coaches for pushing us!

Live theater

Living in Cleveland, I have come to love all there is to do here! Especially playhouse square! Cleveland's Playhouse Square boasts one of the top 5 theater districts in the country!! We have regular top level tours plus several other shows going on all the time. I have been fortunate to see some great shows here. Tonight I went to see Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. It was excellent. Definitely darker and heavier than I expected, but per usual standards, the performance was great!

The thing I am most thankful for today... Playhouse Square, and their $10 smart seats!! For only 10 bucks you can see almost any big show if you get your tickets early. Sure you're pretty high up, but there is nothing better than a live performance. Especially when it's cheaper than a movie theater!!

More fresh fish

Corey came home with some more fresh walleye this weekend! 2 28" fish, and knowing full well that we really can't eat that much on our own, we invited 2 friends over to join. I am very happy to say that dinner turned out great. The walleye was fantastic, I made an easy side of roasted potatoes. The company was great! And they even brought dessert and helped clean up. Tuesday evenings can't get much better than that!

I didn't have a case of the Monday's

I think because of all of our snow days, I have not been dreading Mondays. Although Sunday evening I sure would have liked one more day to relax, Monday morning I had no problem getting moving for the day.
Overall, it was an uneventful day. Students were normal, taught general music and band. Got busy Monday evening tidying up the house and getting organized for having dinner guests Tuesday. Made another batch of homemade yogurt. All was pretty good. So I guess my thankful thought for the day was I am thankful for no drama, and a smooth day.

Encouragement goes a long way

Today I competed in an Indoor Triathlon with my friend Chelsea. Last year I did this same event, and was battling a major cold/flu, so was glad to come back to it this year with a better ability to breath, and not feeling feverish!!

The swim went fairly well, though I was one of the faster people in my heat, so it was really hard to gauge how hard to push myself, in the end i was about 50-75 yards short of where I wanted to be. On the spin bike, I spun too hard in the beginning and strained a muscle in my quad, so i was having to alternate peddling with one foot while stretching my quad, and both feet with some pain. On the run, i settled in and ran exactly where I guessed I would. Settled right into a 10 min/mile pace.

But this blog isn't about a race report. So I want to throw a huge thank you out to the competitors, my awesome friend Chelsea and some of the fantastic volunteers. The volunteers really stepped it up and helped push me. Chelsea kept me smiling through the pain, and the competitors pushed me. I truly appreciate the woman in the spin room who not only was the most entertaining person i've met, but gave me a face to face pep talk to keep me going through the 20 min spin. Helped me power up. The encouragement from all the people around me was what made me keep going!

Without all those people, it just wouldn't be worth it! Thankful for volunteers, friends and competitors!!

Bananas and chocolate

I love bananas. I eat them every day, and feel very weird when I don't have one! That being said, tonight I made a great milkshake that for sure will be repeated. I meant to take pictures, but finished it too fast!!

2 bananas, 1tb dark cocoa powder (unsweetened), 1 tb peanut butter, a generous squeeze of honey, some milk and ice cubes. SO GOOD!! And pretty healthy! I use 1% organic milk but I'm sure any milk substitute would work!

So tonight I am thankful for chocolate and bananas!

Warmth

About two years ago, I began house hunting. I knew this was a big ordeal, and although I loved my apartment, Corey and I decided we were done renting. We found our house and I love it. We have great room sizes, original hardwood floors, and best of all a working, wood burning fireplace! Now with this major cold front hanging out, tonight I am thankful for our fireplace.

A Good Run Helps...

To be honest, I was in a bit of a rut this weekend, Not feeling 100% and camped on the couch most of the weekend. And  I have been in a bit of a workout rut for a couple weeks. But today, I finally got off my butt and went for a run. It wasn't my best run ever, but I managed to push through it (Even without my wonderful running partner!) I am thankful for my health, and my running shoes. And the wonderful feeling after the run! I have to say that I was in a better mood after the run.

It's not the beautiful outdoors, but it'll do!

When we bought our house I had a few things that weren't necessities, but things I really wanted to include. I wanted a room to teach flute lessons in, and a space that could be used as a workout space. A little over a year ago, we found the perfect house with both of those things. Oh yea, and bedrooms, bathroom, hardwood floors etc...! :-)
Tonight I finally set up my bike trainer for the first time this winter on our 3rd floor. This finished space has turned into a rec room of sorts with a ping pong table and plenty of space for workouts, bike, and even some Wii, if you feel so inclined!
 Now that I have gotten over the bump of setting it up and being lazy, it's time to start logging some solid time sitting on that bike! It will be outdoor season before I know it!

Sometimes its worth it!

I have usually considered myself a pretty practical person. And when Corey suggested a few years ago that I should replace my dead blender with a vita-mix, I thought he was crazy. "Who needs something like that??!" I thought! "I only make smoothies..." Well, we found one discounted on Ebay, never been used, and I have never looked back! He was right... my Vitamix has revolutionized my smoothies! (And soup, and hummus, and soon to try peanut butter)
Then just over a year ago, before we approached our first winter in our first home, he found a large snowblower on craigs list. I looked at him, and at it, and was like "Really, what on earth do we need one that big for! We have arms, our driveway isnt THAT long..." But he insisted, and again.. he was right!

Today, I had full intention of pushing our snow before I left for work (we have this amazing pusher that works 10x better than a shovel when the snow is light enough) but sadly within seconds I realized the snow was much too deep and heavy for the pusher. So I sent him a message that I would have to be blown. Well he did, but it continued to snow all day, enough so that when I got home at 4.... I got stuck trying to pull in the driveway. So I go get the shovel, free my car and realize the logical choice to rev up the blower instead of trying to shovel my way into the driveway. Man that thing is nice.... Thank you Corey for convincing me!

And to my friends who shoveled their entire driveways today... You get mad props....!! I did our back sidewalk and front stairs (the areas the blower couldn't do), and crap that was tough! You did your upper body workout for the day!

So today I am thankful for the things that sometimes just turn out to really be worth it!! (Side note, the picture is just half of the driveway. )

Bus trip to the slopes

Living in Ohio, the skiing and snowboarding isn't exactly the BEST ever... but not too far away in NY there are some decent resorts. Today I was lucky enough to hook up with a bus trip out of a ski shop in my home town to go spend the day snowboarding. Double bonus.... group discounted lift tickets, and I didn't have to drive myself there or home!!

Haven't gotten the chance to ride in almost 2 years, so I was pretty psyched to get out there today. My friend was trying her hand (or feet?) at snowboarding for the first time, so while she checked out a lesson, I hit the lifts. Found some friendly lift riding people to chat with in the beginning, then later did some riding with a girl that was on the bus trip with us (her fiance was also back on the beginner hill). Overall, a pretty great day. Slopes were a little crunchy and icy at first, but with it snowing all day, we had some powder at the end of the day before we had to pack it up and get on the bus.

Such a great feeling riding down the hills, and even better, NO INJURY! Had 1 pretty impressive wipeout that I hope someone enjoyed watching, but nothing hurt after, so that's a plus! I knew I was going too fast! :-)

Time to get ready for work. Pretty cold tomorrow AM... think we can get another snow day? HAH

Homemade, and naps

Took snow day # 6 in a pretty relaxing fashion!! Hung out in bed, read quite a bit, made some homemade yogurt, dinner, nap... nothing spectacular! The good news, I stayed warm all day, and read on Facebook how cold it was outside.
Have to admit, there isn't much better than making products from scratch, in tuesdays case, yogurt! and then some dinner, and some dessert in a mug. It's been a long time since I've made yogurt, definitely looking forward to enjoying it.

One more snow day, then hopefully back to work.

Sometimes it's nice to get recognized

Every quarter, we give awards to our students for honor roll, merit roll, character, improvement, attendance etc. It's nice, and you can tell some of the kids get really excited about it. Well unbeknownst to the teachers, the principal and asst. principal at one of my schools decided they would start recognizing teachers too. I wasn't present for the assembly since I was at my other schools, but when I arrived, our asst. principal immediately asked if I heard the news? Well after a very confusing conversation because she wasn't sure she was supposed to tell me, I find out that I got an award at the assembly. My principals recognized my positive attitude and hard work with the students. Awesome! So I was very grateful as they handed me the certificate. But what felt even better, was that throughout the afternoon, students who were at the assembly were proud that I got an award, and they kept telling me about it! Hey they were paying attention!! "Hey Miss Skoch, Congratulations!" "high five!" As nice as it is to get recognized for what I do from the principals, it's even nicer to get a little thanks from students!

Thankful for soft Kleenex!

Developed a bit of a cold, and today's brief post will be that I am thankful for soft Kleenex, the kind with lotion. It even better Vicks! I'm usually the kind of person who will use whatever napkin or papertowel that is available to me, but of course my nose pays for that... So I went out and bough the lotion Kleenex, and now my nose is slightly happier! 

At least swim practice gave me an hour of normal breathing!!

Teaching something you're excited about.

I became a band teacher because I LOVE playing instruments and think all kids should try it. I purposely teach middle school because I love teaching all the beginning band stuff.

The best part, is teaching things you are excited about. 4 years ago I taught general music to k-8, and with the older kids I was usually trying to think of "what would I want to learn" or "what would be interesting to me?" In hopes those lessons would be just a little more interesting. Well now, on top of my 8 band classes, I teach two sections of general music to 5th and 6th grade. I'll admit there have been challenges but I've managed to create some units that haven't winded up half bad. Always room for improvement. But what I am getting at tonight, with this post, is a unit I am looking forward to beginning either tomorrow or next week! 

I have ALWAYS loved Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals!! Cinderella, the Sound of Music, the King and I....so now in my general music class, we are going to cover the King and I!! I figure this is a musical with an interesting story for middle schoolers, songs they may have heard before, and are catchy, and it's one they probably haven't learned or watched before!!

So tonight I worked out how I am gonna introduce it, and am pretty excited about starting it! 

Now here's to sorta hoping for no snow day tomorrow so that I can get this project underway!!

When they just get it!

Ok, I've gotten out of habit of posting before bed, but I have actually taken time each day I think about something positive!

Yesterday I had this with 2 classes.... Some students finally "clicked." I have had 2 classes that have been a little bit of a struggle. Students not practicing, forgetting instruments, not trying etc. But yesterday one of these classes finally made it through almost a whole new piece with minimal technical problems!! We still have a long way to go to make it good, but I am at least encouraged they finally got the rhythms down!! (Their concert is a month away.. Here's hoping!!)

In another class later, a student has been struggling with her flute. No idea when her fingers do what, struggling with sound 90% of the time, but Friday and yesterday, we finally started to get a good sound out!! Now, when she says she has practiced I might actually believe her! 

Anyways, moments like these add to why I became a teacher. It's for the triumphs, the successes. It just takes a lot of tries to get there sometimes!!

Casual Sundays.

Lazy Sunday really. Spent most of the morning in my pjs. I think I'm starting to get a cold, so it was nice to just lounge and read. Watched the snow fall and create a beautiful scenery outside! Made my first attempt at venison burgers, which actually were pretty good! Might make the next lb of venison into a stew or chili? Recipes welcome!

Went to a friends to watch the Super Bowl and I have to admit it really didn't hold my attention. I've never really followed pro sports but occasionally enjoy watching a game. Plus I would choose football over basketball or baseball. But tonight's one sided game couldn't keep me interested. The company was the good part. Low key, hung out with some sailing friends. 

I'm thankful today for my eclectic group of friends. I believe I have posted about them already, but I love that I have friends of diverse ages (25-55) and all different careers, backgrounds. But it makes hanging out that much more enjoyable when someone always has a story to tell!!

Excited about cooking

Earlier this week I was excited about getting back into making my own yogurt, then Thursday and Friday I started thinking about the possibility of making my own bread. The bread idea got even more exciting when I realized my dad has a bread maker sitting unused in storage!! To continue the homemade trend,  Friday night my friend gives me a easy DIY pizza crust recipe.

Today I got to take all this excitement and plans to a Pampered Chef party and try not to spend too much money!! Luckily I have enough sense to not go crazy, but of course since my wish list was getting longer I decided to host a party to get some good deals!!

I thought back to my parents house and realized how much pampered chef stuff we had that was used regularly! I am looking forward to cooking and making more homemade stuff. Now if only I had more of a green thumb and could contribute to growing some of our own produce!! Hah! 

Instead I spent a little time this afternoon scouting out discount shopping near home. Checked out Aldis and GFS. have to admit got a little more excited about the bulk frozen fruit and beans that I can get at GFS! Looks like I know where I'll be buying that stuff now! :-)

Thursday and Friday too busy to blog!

I have always had a busy schedule. One might say I don't even know how to NOT be busy! I sign up for committees, I attend meetings, I go to workout and music practices, I teach flute lessons, the list goes on and on! I used to joke in college that I needed an 8 day work week but then I would always realize and admit that knowing me, if I had an 8th day, I wouldn't use it for house work or relaxing, I would fill it with more activity!!

That being said, I have to sadly admit this was the first time I truly forgot to blog for 2 days! Thursday was so non stop that I came home around 830, did a quick workout and went immediately to bed. Never even sitting down after I came home from work.

Friday was similar, filling up my time with a bike workout with friends.

So I guess my thursday thankful thought would be that I am thankful that I enjoy being busy! I actually love the feeling of occasionally going non stop and falling into bed at night. I much prefer that to multiple snow days of laying around! (ok yes, I could have done some chores on the snow days... but lets not get too crazy!)

My thankful friday post will be thankful for the love of doing things with friends. Our bike workouts have become a friday night tradition now, and they are a blast!! We even added dinner to the mix this week!

Now off to enjoy the rest of my Saturday!

Time to read

It was a very unusual January with about 7 snow days! The beauty of these snow days was the time I got to read!! I have always enjoyed reading, but most of the time I just read a few pages before bed. During all these snow days I was able to read 4 new books! The whole Divergent series by Veronica Roth really had my attention, and I think it's a good thing I find these books after they are all published because I don't know how I would have been able to wait for book 3 especially! After finishing those, I popped off one quick girly romance just in time to head back to work. I have to say I am extremely thankful my parents were both solid readers, they really encouraged a life long hobby and love!

Healthy and happy

This post is a little late, because I fell asleep on the couch last night!
Mondays Happy thought for the day was about my health and strength. I feel like I have probably posted a fair amount about working out lately. After a mostly relaxing day (yet another snow day) and running errands, last night swim practice was cancelled, so I did a home workout. I use an app on my phone that is basically high intensity intervals for a set time. It tells me when and what I have to do. It's great.

But while the workout was kicking my butt last night, I was thinking about how happy exercise makes me, and how thankful I am for my health, and that I keep getting stronger and stronger. Although I might have to accept my limits sometimes, like I can't run as fast, or jump as much, or swim as hard.... I keep improving, and thats all I can hope for!

That winning feeling!

When I compete in swimming, and triathlons, I am doing it for me. I like the challenge. They are both something that is physically difficult for me, and I push myself to get better. When I compete in sailing, it is a little different.  Its not the same intrinsic feeling of getting a personal best. But I have this competitive side... which anyone who knows me are probably laughing and nodding just reading this! But when I swim and do triathlons... I am not worried about the placing as much as I do in sailing. With Triathlons.. usually there are so many people that I don't expect to be as fast, and with swim meets, there are so few, that when you win out of 2 it doesn't feel the same. But that great feeling comes when you finish and you see your time, and you realize "hey I just did that better than ever before!!" Or, in your heat for swimming, you hit the wall first, and see that little 1 next to your lane. Although the people next to you may be in different age groups, or male, its such an amazing feeling to look up there and see the 1 plus a great time!! Today I was able to get a PR in 2 of my events, and placed 1st in my heat in one or 2 of them. Such a great feeling. And I got to share it with the support and excitement of our Lakewood swim group. We cheered for each other, congratulated each other, and supported each other. Overall... a pretty great day!!

Best Saturday Mornings

Most people consider Saturday mornings great when they get to sleep in, make a nice breakfast, enjoy some time at home before beginning their day. Not me. I've never been a sleep in person. As a kid and even a college kid... I was usually awake by 7 or 8 am. Now as an adult, I am lucky if i can sleep in past 7/730!

So what do I do on saturday mornings? Head to swim practice and then often get some brunch after. Nothing motivates you to get through a 730 am 3500-4000 yard practice like the promise of breakfast and friends!!

It also made me think, I have developed a group of girlfriends based solely on working out and food! That's what we do together, and I love it! We run, we swim, we bike, and we eat. Occasionally we might throw in other activities, but those are our go to's! These girls are also great because they are encouraging, pushing and fun.

Happy thought for the day- friends go a long way!

Sunday- we meet up again for a swimmeet!

Keeping the Living Room Warm

After our last super cold spell a few weeks ago, we learned that sometimes our first floor radiators just dont get the heat spread throughout the rooms like in the bedrooms. We didn't turn the heat up, just kinda dealt with a cold living room (and i spent most of a day in the bedroom!)
But my dad came up with the idea of putting a fan near a radiator to get the air moving. So this morning, I suggested that to Corey, and he seemed a little doubtful. We both kinda thought the fan would have to be behind the radiator to push the air out... and we don't have the room between the wall and a unit. So, before corey left, he took our window exhaust fan we use in the kitchen and put it on top of one of the radiators. 1 hour later, it was shocking how much warmer the dining room and living room were!!
On the plus side, the radiators don't have to kick on as much which may mean in the long run we will save a little gas (maybe it won't matter because of the energy spent using the fan, but I'm thinking less of two evils!!)

Hope everyone had a good Friday- I know I enjoyed yet another "cold" day and lounged around the house!

"Cat" nap

Had a little bit of a headache off and on today, so when I got home I had intentions of laying down and maybe reading. Well, a nap immediately ensued! But what I loved was that in seconds of me laying in bed, my awesome cat jumps up, starts purring and climbs right on top of me to nap with me! My cat, Gitta, never ceases to amaze me. She's probably one of the most friendly cats I know, loves people and loves both playtime and sleep equally. Maybe only loves food more!! I have had cats almost my whole life, but this one I feel is the most incredible. Her personality is just so fitting with Corey and I. Love her!

Now I'm headed to bed (pjs on backwards, dreamin of a snow day!)

Looking forward to what tomorrow brings.

Fresh Lake Erie Perch... doesn't get much better!

This past weekend Corey headed up to the bay to ice fish all weekend. Everyone he was with had a successful weekend, so in turn he came home with a few walleye and several perch. So tonight we fried up the perch for an easy dinner. Honestly, had more than we could eat in one sitting, but it was certainly good! Meant to take a picture, but then again, I am one of those people that feel like we see too many pictures of peoples meals on social media. So, use your imagination... imagine about 12 perch lightly fried up with just some flour and pepper, sitting on a plate! There ya go!
Finished the night off with a ride on the bike trainer for an hour. Loving this app i found last year that sets me up with intervals and beeps at me when its time to change gears so I don't have to do any thinking!

Thankful for the fresh fish, and looking forward to the Walleye dinner tomorrow night! 

Sometimes a compliment helps (tuesday)

Today was pretty much an ordinary day, students were good, classes went fine, came home and got some work done for a foundation I am on. I headed to a board meeting for this foundation, and I will admit, some days it takes a lot out of me. I have been on this board for several years, and am starting to feel my time is up. I have spent the past year as secretary, and have to admit, I feel like I could have done a better job. There are still loose ends I am trying to tie up. As tonight's meeting wore on, I felt myself getting frustrated, wanting to keep things moving. I know I am guilty of talking too.. :-) Then came the issue that I wish to retire from the secretary position. And no one steps up to the plate. I get it, i really do... everyone already has a lot on their plate. So as I am feeling like I am going to be continuing in this position, someone asks to clarify that I am JUST retiring from the position not the board, and I hesitated. Because, honestly I am not sure my heart is in it anymore. But the light in the tunnel at least for tonight's meeting was someone looking me in the eye and saying they really appreciate me being on the board and my strong personality is an asset. Thank you. Sometimes it helps to hear the little things. And to anyone reading this, who I may have snapped at during said meeting, Sorry...I get impatient when I am tired! ;-)

Sunday fun day (version 1)

There isn't much better than a Sunday with knowing Monday is a day off! One thing that is better is getting to fully enjoy the day with a good book, and the time to read it! Started the day off with a great workout downtown (cold run and then good swim). Then came home and spent the day with the goal of finishing the book I started a day or two before.

If you haven't read Divergent yet, highly recommend it! Fast read, interesting story, and has that futuristic "what could happen" story line. It's similar to Hunger Games but I think this one is a little better written. I like the main character a little more. It is slated to come out as a movie this year, so do the right thing and read it before you see it! 

Thankful for the time to enjoy a good book! 

Finding something lost

So I forgot to post last night before I fell asleep, so I am getting in my post now!
My Saturday was a fairly uneventful saturday.. swim practice, breakfast with friends, laundry, reading, dinner with friends then bed!
But one thing that stuck out was the feeling of finding something you thought was lost! So I am headed to go snowboarding tomorrow. And Yesterday I figured it was a perfect time to go through the closet and gather up my stuff. Now, last time I thought I checked, it was all in there in a bag, so I figured it should be pretty easy! Ski pants- check, gloves- check, coat- check, helmet- check, goggles... uh oh! So I tear apart the whole closet. Which in itself is probably a good thing! I was able to reorganize, throw away stuff that we had been holding on to, put things in other places they belonged! So I message Corey, hoping he saw them, or borrowed them or something. No luck. Starting to panic! Start looking online at cost of new goggles.. uh oh!
But then, he mentions just checking the basement just in case. and BAM!! There was a whole other bag with gloves and stuff and my goggles!! woot!! Now it's mostly more organized, I have everything I need for tomorrow, and I don't need to go shopping today!! Love that feeling of finding what you were about to give up looking for!!

Friends

To say that I'm thankful for friends would truly be an understatement. My friends mean the world to me. They have been there for me through good and bad and all the cliches you can think of.

I have a fair amount of people in my support system and I love each and everyone of them. But tonight, I'll stick to simply saying I'm thankful for my friends who push me. Some push me mentally, some push me musically, some push me physically ( ok not physically push me, but get me to push myself! )

Without those friends I wouldn't be who I am today. 

So thank you, to each and everyone of you. And thank you to my triathlete girls for a great bike trainer workout in my living room tonight!!!

More snow!

Call me crazy, but I enjoy living in the north eastern US because we have seasons! There are a few months of hot (which I love), there are a few months of cool temps (which is the wonderful break from the hot), there is spring (which I am indifferent to, other then the flowers that pop up in my backyard,) and then we have winter. Cold, snowy, short day winter. I love winter as much as I love summer. I get a little excited everytime I see snowflakes.  Whether it's the first ones of the season, or a return snow flurry after 2 weeks of heavy snow- I am happy to see it! Today at dismissal we opened the door to some light snow, and it made me smile. Sure it can have its dilemmas of traffic but overall I am a fan!!

Students make me laugh

As I realized I needed to write today's blog post, I started thinking, ok, I was in a pretty good mood all day, nothing really seemed to stand out. Classes went smoothly, swimming practice was good. Nothing really made me switch gears and remember the positives. But then I remembered... my students. They make me laugh....A lot. This year at one of my schools I truly enjoy the 8th graders. I have known many of them since they were 3rd graders when I first started at the school, and some of them really are great kids. There are some odd ducks, and some that push the limits, but then there are some that just bring a smile to my face. I enjoy that I can get laughs out of them too. They seem to be a little weirded out when they walk by and I say "Sup?" to them! (That's prob my favorite "i know I'm a dorky teacher, but I'm gonna say it anyways" greeting!) Today at lunch duty, a few 8th grade boys were joking around, and I was able to give it right back to them. In a class later, a student managed to side track me into a off topic conversation for almost half the class, but I wasn't even mad about it! We still managed to get a little of our lesson completed!
I have had moments this year where I have felt like I am forgetting to do things in the classroom, but today was a day that made me realize sometimes the relationship with the student is just as important as everything else we are trying to teach them! So, thank you to my students for making me happy today!

Thank you mom.

Today I am missing my mom. A lot. But I can't dwell on how much I miss her. So instead I'll do a brief post about one of the many things I loved about her. Really I could write for days on all the amazing things my mom meant to me. And I am sure over the remaining 352 (approximately) posts I will mention her amazingness again!

But tonight I'll talk about how thankful I am that she taught me to love the water. My mom loved the water. She loved sailing, swimming, listening to the waves, watching the lake change and so much more. And she has passed that passion on to me in every way possible. Tonight I returned from a great swim practice. And I'm preparing my year for some great swimming and sailing challenges. And although I can't call her or have her come watch my next milestone.... I know she is with me, every stroke, every wave and every race. 

The picture is from about 1985-6? Either Lake Erie or Florida on my grandfathers boat.

Thankful for lazy Saturdays

It's not very often that I have a low key weekend. Usually there is lots planned and just a little time here or there to myself. But I'm very happy that today (and this whole weekend) was relaxed. I was able to go see my students basketball game (which we won by a landslide!) and got to eat my 2nd favorite ice cream. Sadly my very favorite ice cream was discontinued. So some Ben and Jerry's will have to do for now!

Never thought I would say my dentist made my day?

This has been a good challenge for me so far. Although I will admit I have gone to bed a couple times forgetting to post, I have consciously thinking of "what makes me happy today?" Today was one of my tougher days. I've been having some pain in my mouth/jaw/sinus this week, and wasn't sure if it was a sinus infection, or something going on with my teeth, so first I tried to self-diagnose and medicate with some sudafed and ibuprofin. (After determining, ok although jaw pain is a symptom, I am most likely NOT having a heart attack... silly webMD) Long story short- you probably don't need my medical history of the week- no infections to speak of, courtesy of seeing my dr. and my dentist! so Yay!

Ok, so throughout today, while trying to combat this pain and still teach my students, I am thinking "ok, what is good about today?" I could easily wallow in self pity, but I promised myself I wouldn't do that! So here it is, the thing I am thankful for today... my dentist! Back in the fall I finally (long overdue) found a new dentist near home. Went in for some stuff, seemed pleasant enough. Today, I call in around my lunch time and they fit me in immediately! I walk in the door, and before I can even take my coat off, they bring be back, get me situated and start taking xrays and getting organized. I was in and out in quicker than I could even tell my principal I was on my to school, with good news and no huge co pay or outrageous fees!! How many other appointments have you been to like that?

Love it when things go right!

When returning to school on an unexpected day, its pretty much a guarantee that students (and sometimes teachers) will forget what day it is, and what goes on that day. In my case, it tends to be students forgetting their instruments. While I easily had a handful of students in each class forget their instruments yesterday, my highlight of the day was then I had a class of 5th graders (yes 5th graders, the newest to the program) ALL had their instruments!! Granted it's a small class, but I'll take it!! It was better than one of my classes of 8th graders I had in the morning! They also came back with a fairly good memory of everything we had been working on, an we were able to progress past the review I had planned! I will admit, I look forward to that group most of the time because they are so excited to learn in my room each day!

To Work Again...

Alright, so maybe I am only waxing nostalgic because I have managed to have 2 1/2 weeks off from school, but I do really enjoy my job. I have some hilarious kids, some talented kids, some obnoxious kids and some that just make me smile and shake my head! I have an amazing job of getting to teach middle school students how to play instruments. Its noisy, its considered unstructured, principals don't know how to evaluate me, and teachers don't know how to put up with the sounds coming from my room. But honestly, my favorite time of class is the first 5-10 minutes when the kids come in, open up their cases and start playing. I give them "warm-up time" and although some abuse the downtime, some use it productively, and either play something new and different or actually practice what we're working on. Either way, I enjoy hearing that freedom of playing for a few minutes. That is, until the first trumpet plays a sound as loud and high as they can into the ear of a unsuspecting flute or clarinet player and then I have to deal with that!

Tomorrow I return to the classroom after 2 weeks of winter vacation and then 3 bonus snow/cold days. And I am thankful I have a job to return to. I am happy that I have a job I enjoy (and I am happy I don't have to teach any general music classes tomorrow!) Today I reflected on the awesome break that I just had, there was fun, excitement, travel, relaxing, cleaning, eating (lots of eating!) and tomorrow I return to the normalcy of the school year. Time to get back to lessons, grading, assessments; ok, to keep on the positive I will stop listing the chores that have to continue!!

Let's hope tonights "thankful" post about my day tomorrow keeps the positive energy flowing all day. Even through the high chance that 40% of my students will probably forget their instruments since they won't know what day it is!!

Mondays

When you have an unexpected day off on Monday it is a pretty nice feeling. Gone is the feeling of "ugh, work on a Monday..." And in my case this week, due to the cold, by the time I go back to work on Wednesay, the week is half over!! 

I am thankful of a heated house, a garage that helps keep my car a little warmer and my cat who snuggled with me all day!

Who Wouldn't Want an Extra Day?!

We made it home from FL, and we were not affected by the storm that is predicted to be doomsday 2014! Little bit of rain for the last 2 hours, but considering the snow and ice that the news was saying... I am totally ok with the rain.

So, after spending the last 16 hours in a car, I had plenty of time to think about happy thoughts for the day. And although I am still spinning over yesterdays manatee encounter... today's thankfulness comes from the wonderful text messages that came through at about 7:30 tonight..."SCHOOL IS CANCELLED TOMORROW!" So if you know any teachers, you know this is one of the most amazing messages ever, and to even be told the night before, even better!!

Now you may be thinking "seriously, those damn selfish teachers!" And I understand, in fact, after the wonderful 2 weeks I have just finished, i feel weird having a day off tomorrow. However, I intend to rest up from the long drive, and maybe even do a little school work so that I am more prepared when we actually go back (maybe on wednesday!!)

Driving and vacationing

Yesterday we completed a drive to our vacation destination. My thankful moment came yesterday that I love my boyfriend for driving most of the way and accepting that I just sleep! (I was sleeping too much to get a picture!) 

Today, we swam with wild manatees. I can't even explain the amazing feelings of having a 2 ton marine mammal bump against you and move your hands gently! This amazing experience made me happy, thankful and excited all at the same time. I'm not sure I could even sum it up into one emotion. But basically everything about today made me pretty happy!!

Drove right out of the snow storm!

Left Cleveland in the beginning of a great blizzard this morning. Driving was slow, lots of spun out cars. Tonight, my thankful thought for the day is about us driving safely and making it out of the state to start our mini vacation weekend! 

Happy Memories

So I thought the first joyful post would be so easy. In my head I could make a list so long of things that make me grateful and put me in a good mood. But then, where to start! 

So I start here, with a piece of my past that makes me so nostalgic everytime I look at it. This Christmas bear is 29 years old and is in the stocking that I was wrapped in when I was brought home from the hospital. (I guess that's what happens to Christmas babies!) Seeing this bear makes me thankful of the childhood I had, and brings up happy memories of my parents and family. 

2014, lets go!

 During my junior year at Salve Regina University, the Dalai Lama came to speak to the college community. And the 1 thing that stuck out, that I have remembered since, is his comment about world peace. A student submitted a question about how do we obtain world peace, and after he chuckled, he explained that we really need to work on ourselves before we can work on the world, and that by working on our own happiness, then the rest falls into place. I believe that's true on so many levels. I consider myself a fairly positive/upbeat person. Sure, everyone has their bad days, and over the last 2-4 years I have had more bad days than I thought were imaginable, BUT I always manage to keep going, and I TRY to look on the bright side.  
Often times in November, people start posting comments on facebook about things they are thankful for. And I think its a great trend, but why not the rest of the year? I think it's something that we should all at least think about (if not publicly announce) every day. It would make a lot of people a lot happier!

So although I avoid the term "resolution," I am giving myself a goal for 2014. Every day I will come up with something that makes me happy. It could be something I am thankful for, something I am grateful for, something that makes me smile etc. And I will try to get a picture to go along with it. I will say right now, there is a good chance I might not make a blog entry EVERY single day, but I will at least think about the goal, and have something for each day. So at the end of 365 days from now... I will have a record and something to remind me of all the wonderful parts of my life!!