A clever response and a broken appliance...

Don't you love those moments where you somehow manage to have a brilliant comeback? I do... :-)

Last night, when I was working at the restaurant, I was walking back from carrying an order out to the bar section and there was a customer who was asking his buddies if he could tell a joke, and they all were not letting him tell it. I don't know if the joke was dirty or in ill humor or what, but they weren't gonna listen to it. As I passed by this person, he asked me if he could tell me a joke. And I looked at him and said no thank-you, and kept walking, but he continued and asked me if I had a sense of humor...

At this, I stopped and looked at him, raised my eyebrows and replied:

"Not yours," and I went back to the kitchen.

As I walked away, the guy's buddies hailed my answer as "awesome" and one they've never heard before and heckled the guy for getting shot down so well. As I reached the kitchen I could hear him yelling for me to get back there, so he could tell me the joke.

Not a chance. :-)

Not bad for someone who can barely talk over a whisper, no? :-)


THEN. When I got home at 10:15pm I noticed that my house was exceptionally cold... Colder than it usually is when I turn the heat down to 60 when I leave.... And I discover: My furnace is not working. In fact, it's blowing COLD AIR throughout my house! (The temp read 48 degrees INSIDE. Brrrrr!!!!)

So I checked and made sure I had hot water, I checked my gas stove and made sure I had gas-- they were all working, so I figured it had something to do with the mechanics of my furnace. I called my dad like 3 times, and mom 3 times and the house once. Mom was at work and Dad was AWOL. (Although, later it was discovered that he was at the gym.) I can't get a hold of ANYONE. So at 10:40 I finally get the courage to call my landlord, who (thankfully) was still up and able to come over...

AND FIX MY FURNACE! *whew* It took like, 10 minutes tops. The heating plug---or something like that---had gone out... Which he said is typical of Amana Furnaces, so he keeps a couple extra just in case... So he replaced it, and I have heat again!!!

Which, I feel I cannot stress enough, is very much appreciated.


Now the next thing I would like would be to have my voice back and get over this blasted cold.

Preconceived notions....

Person: So Sarah, you teach elementary music? That's wonderful!
Me: Thank-you, I enjoy it!
Person: So do you play piano?
Me: No, not very well.
Person: Well, do you sing?
Me: No, not really. *laughs* Not if I can help it.
Person: Well then, what DO you do?
Me: ........

This is an actual conversation I had with someone. They were not trying to be mean or rude, they were just trying to figure out my job and my talents. But they err by making the generalization that all people who teach music can sing and/or play piano. And I was polite and friendly and explained that my main instrument is flute, and someday I want to direct a band, but I'm certified to teach K-8 general music as well as 5-12 band, choir and orchestra. My current job was my only offer, and I'm working hard to do my best with what I have. I'm always learning something new, and I'm always working to improve. Whether it's playing the piano, matching pitch with my voice or even classroom management. And my students always find ways to make me smile and keep me on my toes. :-)

And to talk a bit about this sort of music major generalization: those of you who know me, and those of you who are ALSO music majors, know that not everyone who studies music can sing (and I mean, to sing in a manner that is pleasing to the ear. Everyone is physically CAPABLE of singing.) Music majors who CAN sing or play piano.... Or even BOTH are all amazing, and their skills help them! But just because someone can't sing, or play the piano doesn't mean they lack the ability to teach. Or lack the ability to perform fantastic music by some other venue.


:::::bang head here:::::::


This post stems from a circular conversation I had this evening trying to explain that even though I teach elementary music, I do not play piano. Specifically, I do not play piano well enough to accompany soloists, choirs or church cantors. I guess this is a difficult concept for people to understand. I can play the right hand well enough to assist my students in learning the music. But I am NOT going to play the piano at the concert. Nor will I play the piano in church. Yes, to study music in college, I had to pass a piano proficiency test, but that is really nothing like trying to play the accompaniment for concerts and church services. And that test was almost THREE years ago!

Would my job be easier if I COULD play the piano? Yes, definitely YES. But just because I am lacking in this particular skill does not make me any less qualified to teach music.

What do I do?

I teach students how to listen and find the similarities between Holst's Planets Suite and John Williams' score for STAR WARS. I teach students why flutes and saxophones belong to the woodwind family even though they're made of metal. I teach students to know what I mean when I listen to music write AABBCCABCD and I teach them how to find the pattern without my help. I teach students Italian. I teach students the difference between singing, singing loud, talking and shouting. I teach math. I teach spelling. I teach history. I teach current events. I teach responsibility. I teach problem solving. I teach etiquette. I teach coordination. I teach students how to read a new language. I teach students how to recognize high and low pitches. I teach students how to MATCH high and low pitches. I teach students to sing in unison AND in parts. I teach students how to listen and identify individual instruments. I teach students how to describe what they hear and how that makes them feel and why music is important. I teach students to listen to music and try to figure out the story. I teach students how to work together.

I teach in a classroom where I often equip every child with their own individual noisemaker... And with the cooperation of my students, I take chaos and show them how to turn it into music.

So I just try and pray for patience and understanding when I struggle with people who appear to judge my ability to teach music simply because I can neither sing nor play piano well enough to volunteer and help in the community. I wish these people could see that even though I lack these two gifts does not mean that I am any less qualified to teach music.

I didn't become a music teacher for the money. I became a music teacher because I love music and I can't keep that love to myself. I want to show others just how fantastic it can be.


You'd be surprised at what I can do... And all without any great piano playing ability.

Mac & Cheese deliciousness...

Okay, so once again a decent blog post is high overdue. I have things to say, it's just that when I come home from work, it's more tempting to play some School of Wizardry on Facebook (curse you Mary for getting me hooked!) and then watch a movie. Or try and catch up on TV via the interwebz.

So I'm back at school now. Unfortunately we have yet to have a full "normal" week of school. Due to weather and MLK day Tripoli, like many schools in Iowa have yet to complete a full week of school. We got out at noon today and I fulfilled my customary "rest of the day off" routine -- check out movies from the library and stop at the grocery story for things I'm need, like milk and hamburger. (I'll get back to that in a minute.) This afternoon I wrote a lesson plan and watched How to Loose a Guy in 10 Days. Tomorrow school is already delayed 2 hours. Which doesn't affect the time I go in to school... NORMALLY. Unfortunately tomorrow happens to be the day I re-rescheduled for the morning meeting for the senior play. Yes. It was the third time I've rescheduled, due to weather! How crazy is that???? :-P

Last week we had a half day on Monday because of MLK day, Tuesday was a delay, Wednesday an early out, Thursday a delay and Friday was the first full day of the week. Oh, and in case you didn't notice, or you read this and you're not from Iowa, it was FOGGY all last week! I saw the teeeeensiest bit of the sun this afternoon, through the clouds, but that doesn't count. Tomorrow is SUPPOSEDLY going to be mostly sunny. But we'll see.

Okay, so last Wednesday, in a fit of nostalgia I decided to try and make some homemade macaroni and cheese. I had some bow-tie noodles and a bunch of American cheese to use up... I *thought* I could make some like mom used to make. Well. I was wrong. In a very disgusting and bland way. I managed to eat ONE bowl and that was it. Which posed a problem. What do I do with the giant bowl of the REST of it??? I have no money, I shouldn't throw it away... So I stashed it... And thought of how to put it INTO something to make it at least palatable.

And I succeeded. In fact, the concoction I have made turned out to be incredibly delicious! (And I am feeling very smug about this...) I did a layer of tostitos chips, then the failed macaroni, covered with salsa, then hamburger then shredded cheese.... And my friends... It is sooooo gooooooood! I'm glad that I didn't throw it away!

I've started my 5th bag of Brach's Conversation Hearts, just in case anyone was wondering... :-)

Watson is doing just fine. He's still a turd, but he keeps life interesting. Especially when he does things like talk to the toilet (it wasn't even running) or staring at the wall while touching it intermittantly with his paw. (Both true.) I took some really good pictures of him last night, but for some reason my camera is refusing to upload them. :-P Rachel V. stopped by two weeks ago, on her way back to Minneapolis and she had her cat Pippin with her, so it was a fun/interesting time watching Watson and Pip interact. Pippin is 4 months older than Watson and you can tell he's going to be a big cat. But Watson is definately louder than Pippin, so in the end they were pretty evenly matched. By the end of the night they were getting along fairly well and we didn't have to keep an eye on them 110% of the time. That weekend Emily came up and stayed too and after we picked up Rachel D. we all went and saw The Princess and the Frog, which was SO FUN! I really enjoyed that movie! The villain, Dr. Facillier was so delightfully creepy and entertaining. I love 2D hand-drawn animation!

Movies I am excited for:
Toy Story 3
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Eclipse
Robin Hood
Iron Man 2
How to Train Your Dragon
Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief
Disney's Rapunzel

Stuff I'm interested in seeing, but leery:
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
X-MEN Origins: Magnito
Shrek goes Fourth
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Hobbit
Spiderman 4

The next full day we have off from school I am going to try and marathon Lord of the Rings again. :-)

Well, there ya go, folks! Consider yourself updated!

You know it's time for bed when...

You think:

Hey, someone should start a Netflix-type-thing, but instead of renting videos to watch, you could get books to read!

... And then you reminded yourself that it's called Interlibrary Loan, and is available at every public library in the history of ever.


Good-night all.

Reason I love my Mom #98836221

Because of:













Of course she is referring to this post. It kind of describes the event lightly---but at the time I was really annoyed. You would be too if you were in a cow field on a humid 95 degree evening, with mud, swamp water, blood and cow poo on your clothes... And then had to die and fall into the arms of someone who was also dirty... And being a jerk.

Wow... That seems like such a long time ago...

And as my Aunt Melissa says: The S------------- side of the family doesn't get mad. They get even.

That makes me laugh. Because sometimes it's true.

Beware! I am a demonic wing'd squirrel of fury! GRARRRR!

:-D


I love you Rachel V.

_______________________________________

Edit: Evidently it was someone else.... I'm now trying to remember the incident.

Responsibilty kills... Or at least stinks.

Maybe I should rename Watson "Tylenol PM." Tylenol for the pain and annoyance that he causes and PM for POOPING MACHINE...

Hello 2010...

Good-bye David Tennant.

*sigh*

Wow. Just wow.

No spoilers here.

But I feel so emotionally drained... I must have been bawling for the last half hour of the episode.

Now my eyes are all red and my nose is even more stuffy.

It was hard watching it alone. But it would have been harder to try and avoid spoilers.

... He was *my* Doctor...