Warning: Vent Session

This is my venting. The urge just sort of hit me, and it's actually kind of nice to put it out in the open. Don't read it if you don't want to. It's more for me to get out than anything else.

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I feel like I've been taken advantage of. From all aspects of this stupid car wreck (the other car? UNINSURED.) including the rental company, body shop, the OTHER insurance company (which isn't going to matter here)... the only good thing? MY insurance company is doing its job. Thank goodness. But really?? Everyone else?? I JUST WANT IT FIXED.

My old apartment complex. You want me to pay for new carpet? I lived there 6 months, and gave you a deposit as well as a pet deposit. I don't think I owe you anything. So you're next on my list to take down.

My ex. Without going into all the embarrassingly agonizing details, I wish the lightbulb would have gone on sooner in my brain. So now I'll be that much MORE skeptical of someone I might possibly have a relation with. Because he's still messing with my - we'll keep this family friendly - stuff.

And me? I'm compliant. Too much so. I know this, have known it, and probably will struggle with it my entire life. I have a feeling this next year I'm really going to have to stand up for myself and what I need. It's going to be a rude awakening. Professionally and personally.

So I'm going to PK tomorrow afternoon to enjoy my aunts and my mother. Thank goodness for amazing women in my life who I can look to and find support in. That includes my sisters and my friends. Because Lord knows where I'd be without them! Probably not in as good a place as I am.

Nature in the Big City

I am constantly amazed at the number of natural elements I find living in the city rather than the suburbs. Sure, you have your normal squirrels, chipmunks (or ground squirrels), grackles, pigeons, etc. But now that I live IN Dallas, I have seen more wildlife and a vast array of trees and plantlife. From the opposums to the snails (big as I've ever seen!) to the variety of mushrooms - ones that look like parasols, neon green, even one that I thought was a white rock until I realized Coda was sniffing it and it was a fungus. I am constantly amazed. There are more birds here than the suburbs. More cardinals, more blue jays, more robins... And more trees! No one is plowing up vast acres of land to plant the same tree 50 times and say it's a "wooded" lot! There are vines everywhere. Flowers along the roadside and the residents take great pride in their landscaping. Mostly. I am more drawn to walk around and take in everything here than I was living in Grapevine, Irving, Frisco... all the suburbs just don't seem to offer the same unique, and yet familiar, landscape I enjoy. Kudos to the people here for bringing and maintaining the natural landscape you wouldn't think to find in Big D.

Sunday

I am ready to be in Colorado with my family. I'm on break, right? I STILL feel like I have ALL THIS STUFF to do! Colorado means I can relax and enjoy my siblings, my niece, my parents, and all the activities or non-activities I wish!

So Sunday... GET HERE.

God Bless

FINALLY

An update! I've moved to Oak Lawn! It's a community in Dallas, just north of Uptown. LOVE IT. The people are friendly, the area is green, and I have easy access to highways, food, and friends. The latter two are extremely important. :)

So I will post pics of the new place soon. Right now I just can't find my camera from the move. But if I put off posting any longer, you'll all have thought I'd disappeared off the planet!

Other exciting things? My choir program is growing like crazy next year! I have 79 students currently. Or did before school let out. Next year? 180!!! How crazy is that?!?!? I am really looking forward to finally teaching Choir, and only Choir! I will miss the time with the administrators at lunch duty, and the hecticness that is Yearbook, but CHOIR! This is what I'm SUPPOSED to teach! So I'm happy!

ANOTHER exciting thing? I get to go on vacation with my family in a few weeks! Time to enjoy horseback riding, hiking, and the mountains of Colorado. I am REALLY looking forward to seeing my sisters, my parents, and my NIECE. Love that cutie pie!

So as soon as I get pictures uploaded, you can see the new place for yourselves. It's very, "Kate". :)

Before & After

So many of you have asked about our "new" place. We've been moved in since the end of December, but FINALLY have it mostly organized! Takes us awhile, but we get 'r done! Here are is a before and after of the living room.

BEFORE


AFTER


If you want to see the place in its (almost) entirety, click here to see the Picasa album.

Negative Pressure

So you know how I can never quite hear you the first time you say something to me? How I ask you to repeat things? How it seems like I turn the radio or tv up or I talk to loudly? It's because I have hearing loss. It's proven now, folks! I went in for the appointment. Apparently though, it's correctable! It's either one of two things. 1: I have a buildup of negative pressure in my middle ear cause by an inflamed or blocked eustation tube or 2: the bones in my middle ear are stiff. How do we figure out which it is? By cutting a hole in my ear drum and placing a tube in there to equalize the pressure in my ear and allowing the eustation tube to go back to normal. If that works, then we know it's not the bones. If it doesn't work, then it's time for surgery to loosen the bones in my ear so they vibrate correctly.

See?


Good times, eh? Prayers would be appreciated. I'm a little nervous, being that music is such an integral part of my life, that there will soon be a hole in my ear drum. But I'd rather fix this now than wait for it to get worse. Right? Right? I can't hear you.

Chuckin' Butter

Me: The next move is a small squat up and down to the oom-pa of the beat. Your hands are in the middle, like you're a proper English-woman. Like this, 1 + 2 + 3 + so on and so forth!

6th Grade Girl: Oh! So it looks like we're chuckin' butter!

Me and the rest of the class: What??

Girl: You know, how they used to make butter!

Me: Do you mean CHURNING butter?

Girl: Oops.

*insert the entire class falling over laughing*

Excitement, Disappointment, and Excitement!

I am so excited to be moving in 2 weeks! Getting a place in Grapevine that's between school and UTA. Finally! I really am excited about this next step in life. Where then is the disappointment?? Christmas decorations! Why would I put them up now only to take them down in a week and a half, unpack them RIGHT before Christmas, then drive to ABQ for New Year's?? I want to have that festive feeling, but I think it's going to have to wait 'til next year. Thankfully I'll be at some other places that will be decorated. Marc's parents for Christmas, then my parents for the new year.

So enough of the lack of decorations. And besides moving... I am THRILLED to be going to ABQ for New Years! Every time I've seen my parents in the past year has been for an event where we were uber busy the entire time. I am looking forward to some well-deserved hanging out with my parents and just relaxing and catching up. Yes, we do that on the phone quite a bit, but some things are just better in person.

WARNING: Complaining

So don't read if you don't want to listen to me whine.

I am so tired of being sick. It started with laryngitis that manifested into a sinus infection or bronchitis. Now it's some other virus that is knocking me off my feet. 5 DAYS BEFORE MY WINTER CONCERT. My head hurts, my body aches, and I can't sleep well. I'm hot, I'm cold, and I've been tested for flu and pneumonia. Those both came back negative. That's the good news. I'm still contagious with some virus I don't have a name for, I'm not teaching tomorrow, and I haven't been well in almost 3 weeks!

Whining done.

Mark Your Calendars Now

April 30th, my Swing Choir and other featured Choir members will perform their 2nd Annual Dessert Show. Below is a taste of what you will see.

Coda Pics!

I was able to download (and now upload!) the pics and video of Coda disemboweling her toy she received from my students! So here she is, for your viewing pleasure. I knew you'd appreciate it.

Stuffing Removal


Squeaker Removal - sorry for the low light

Break!

Thanksgiving. A time to be thankful. While I'm sure to have more deep and meaningful thanks as the week progresses, right now it is Friday night and I am thankful for a week off! It has been a crazy school year, folks. And today was the climax. I lost my voice. The choir teacher was teaching kiddos how to sing, without even SPEAKING. It was amazing. I mean, let's consider the superb teaching skills that have to be mastered to even be able to teach middle school in the first place. Then to do it MUTED? It seems there is little I can't do.

Now that I've sufficiently lied all over my page, I'll tell you how it REALLY went down. My 6th graders didn't understand that if I can't speak, then I can't answer 'why' questions very well. The boys thought it was great and 2 of them decided to become 'my voice' and 'instruct the class' as they thought I/they saw fit. My 7th and 8th grade girls were louder than I can even begin to imagine, and I had to resort to elementary echo clapping, WHICH THEY DIDN'T FOLLOW WELL. It was a day. But what made it worth every second of hacking and muteness for this bubbly, energetic, and usually loud woman? My Select kiddos threw me a birthday party! Several brought desserts, one made me a really cute "Peace, Love & Music" sign to hang in my room, and others got me pencils (since I break them tapping them on the music stands), Sharpie pens (my favorites!), and a stuffed toy for Coda!!!!! Do they know me or what??

I took pictures of Coda tearing into her toy. Mostly to prove to the girls she would get the squeaker (and most of the stuffing) out in under 60 minutes. She broke her own personal record and had it demolished in 32 minutes. I have attempted to load them onto my computer to share with you, but alas, it's not wanting to read my camera right now. So you will have to wait. I promise to post them though. I got some cute video too!

However, I can post from Halloween finally! My camera has been MIA lately. Well, not the camera, but the cable that charges the camera's battery. So I've had few pictures. And while there are several from others I would love to show you, here is Marc and myself at East. He brought me lunch the Friday before Halloween in his suit of armor! The kids loved it! They were all very intrigued by the chain maille and wanted to touch it. He was so patient! Mostly. ;) So here is the Knight and his semi-fair Maiden during the school day!

Silent Monks Singing

(Minnesota North) STARS!

I'm cheating on my home state. Or at least the state I refer to as home. I'm rooting for the Dallas Stars. I KNOW. Sacrilege. However, I have my reasons. First, I love hockey. Second, they're my (now) home team. Third, C'mon. It was over a decade ago they left the state, and it's time to move on. But I still can't get the little voice out of my head that says, "TRAITOR! They left YOU! You should stick to your state! Booooo!" So I compromised. I recently went to a Stars game and noticed an uncanny amount of North Stars gear. Hmmm... So I am the proud owner or a North Stars hat now! It's like I can support my team, and still pay homage to the state they, and I, came from! Hooray! I feel better. Anybody else? Didn't think so.

Keeping Up...

...with life! Things have been getting busy. School is great! And busy. Life is great! And busy. Friends are great! And busy. Family's great! And... you guessed it! Wedding date has been set, calendars aligned, apartments found, and Coda walked. And Marc and I have found a place to live! I am extremely excited about everything, and even though I've slowed down on planning, Marc and I have started up our pre-marital sessions with our pastor. It's pretty neat! Next assignment? Finding out the relationship history of my family through my great-grandparents. It should be interesting. I know Marc's got his done, now it's my turn! If I find out anything beyond ordinary, I'll let you know.

Supply Blog

I have to keep up with my friends! While they blog about all their new school supplies, there was only one I was interested in. The Sharpie Pen. Imagine! The quality, feel, and color of a Sharpie that won't bleed through paper! Impressive. I indulged today. I bought the 4-pack. Black, Green, Blue, and Red. I have to admit, that while I am still ecstatic about the overall Sharpie pen, the brilliancy in the color has been lost. Still a product I am sure to enjoy! Just not to the extent of it's predecessor regarding color. :) Happy girl!

Bob the Viking

For Bob's birthday, I commissioned Marc to make Bob his very own Viking Helmet! Is that not AWESOME?? Gooooo Vikings!

Little Puppy

So this morning when I finally woke up, I did my usual and invited Coda to jump up on the bed with me. She barely got up off the floor from a laying down position, and took quite awhile to work out the muscle coordination to jump up on the bed. She was shaking the whole time. I called the vet. After a visit with the good Doctor, she is now on meds to hopefully curb a possible infection of Lyme Disease, as well as an anti-inflamitory. The latter has definitely helped. I'll keep you updated if anything else comes up. Until then, my baby is being spoiled rotten!

I know, nothing new.

Proud Mama

Coda caught a toy in her mouth when I threw it to her! She always used to let things hit her in the head or land before going and picking them up, but yesterday she CAUGHT it! I was so impressed by my baby. Of course, it was Marc's sock. So not really threatening. Or a toy. But then we tried it with treats! She succeeded!!! Then I really pushed her... a tennis ball. *BONK* right on the head! Didn't even flinch. Baby steps, right?