November

Well, it has been a busy month. I survived my first Book Fair, parent-teacher conferences for the Mayor and Computer Boy and Thanksgiving with my Mother-in-Law. But, now I'm sick, I'm fighting laryngitis. Just great for a professional singer...(she says sarcastically).

I can't complain about the Book Fair. Scholastic delivered everything as promised and the Friday prior to the event we set up the room. A fellow PTA member, Donna, helped out. Donna is very efficient and when she does a job, it is done well. Many people don't like her, because she is opinionated and while she is knowledgable, when she shares information she sounds as if it's her way or no way. Personally, I don't mind her. It might be due to the fact that she is so informed. She is truly a wealth of information. Or it may be because I only have had to directly deal with her this year.

Book Fair was held on three mornings the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving. Students only have half days that week due to the fact that parent-teacher conferences are held in the afternoon.

While I am on the subject...parent-teacher conferences. As expected the Mayor is doing very well in school. In fact, I would have been extremely surprised if she hadn't done well. My son's...let's just say...didn't go as smoothly. The classroom teacher offered CB's speech therapist the opportunity to speak first. She started by saying my son whines. Yes, you read that correctly. She would have been better off starting off on a positive note. How he's made progress with his language. I'll be honest with you, I know why he whines. He senses that she deson't like him. That's right. A boy with social difficulties, on the autistic spectrum, knows when someone doesn't like him. I digress, that comment made me feel as if a black cloud was hanging over the rest of the meeting. The classroom teacher offered her the opportunity to leave, but she said she would like to stay. I didn't think anything of it, but she probably was just being nosy. I will speak with her about this, I haven't decided if it will be face to face in a meeting or if it will be on the phone. Part of me, wants this to be over with and discuss this on the phone. However, the other part of me wants to look her in the eye and confront her on this (nicely, of course). Unlike her, I will start of a positive note and then get into the fact that her comment, while true, made me feel uncomfortable in an already "tense" situation. Any suggestions or comments on how to handle "her" are welcome.

After Book Fair and my parent-teacher conference, Thanksgiving was uneventful. Since I sang Wednesday night and Thursday morning, we went out to a restaurant for dinner. My meal was very nice, the children were behaved and best of all, I did not have to cook or clean afterward. :) An added bonus, my mother-in-law behaved herself. She didn't embarass anyone by screaming across the room for the server and made polite converation. It was a pleasant day.

A Meme

I don't do memes very often. To be honest, I don't post very often either. In fact, Suzanne tagged me a while back and before I had a chance to do her meme, my life became a bit busier than usual. However, I thought it would be fun to do one. This one is courtesy of Natalie.

The idea is to answer the questions with one word answers only. I'm not going to pass it on, but rather if you'd like to do, please feel free to play along.

1. Where is your cell phone? charging
2. Your hair? brown
3. Your mother? living
4. Your father? passed
5. Your favorite food? chocolate
6. Your dream last night? children
7. Your favorite drink? tea
8. Your dream/goal? millionaire
9. What room are you in? living
10. Your hobby? baking
11. Your fear? alone
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? debt-free
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something that you aren't? tall
15. Muffins? blueberry
16. Wish list item? health
17. Where did you grow up? suburbia
18. Last thing you did? laundry
19. What are you wearing? jeans
20. Your TV? on
21. Your pets? none
22. Friends? supportive
23. Your life? busy
24. Your mood? anxious
25. Missing someone? dad
26. Vehicle? Honda
27. Something you're not wearing? jewelry
28. Your favorite store? Target
29. Your favorite color? red
30. When was the last time you laughed? yesterday
31. Last time you cried? yesterday
32. Your best friend? husband
33. One place that I go to over and over? Florida
34. One person who emails me regularly? Ralph
35. Favorite place to eat? out

Why ask?

I am someone who is naturally curious. I enjoy learning about different things. Consequently, I ask a lot of questions and usually receive a lot of answers to those questions. When I ask questions, I want honest and correct responses. So, I would expect someone to want the same of me. Apparently, that is not always the case.

Why ask me a question if I'm not going to give you the answer you WANT to hear? Have you ever been in this situation? You receive a phone call, exchange polite greetings and then you're asked a question...of course, you give an answer to the best of your ability...only to be told "Oh, well, I'll call (so & so). Truly, I wanted to reach through the phone line and scream "Then why didn't you call her in THE FIRST PLACE????!!" (Rant over--thank you for letting me vent.)

People, I'm sorry. I give honest answers. Is that a problem? Should I just tell you what you want to hear only to find that I was correct in the first place? That seems to be a waste of our collective time. When I don't know the answer, I take the time to find the right answer for your purposes. I offer for your consideration this post. The one in which I was tied up in knots, but I managed to get answers for the people involved. By the way, Dinosaur Rocks! is a definite go for the second graders. Whoo-hoo! I'm thrilled and truly hope the students enjoy the program.

My other PTA responsibility is the Book Fair. My chairperson and I met today and worked on the letter inviting the students and their parents to come "check us out". Scholastic has an entire program in which they offer all sorts of suggestions and assign a sales representative assist in planning and coordinating your fair. This year's theme is "Read Around the World". We have a month and a half to plan, coordinate and line up volunteers to help. Since the students visit during class time, we need volunteers to assist the children in selecting a book (or two) to purchase. I've already made a mental list of people I want to help us with the fair. I'll keep you updated on our progress.

PTA stuff

It has been one heck of a busy week. For a couple of days, I was in PTA (well, there's no other way to say it) hell. This year, I am co-chair of the Book Fair. Hopefully, I will learn all I need to know for next year, when I chair the committee. (Oh, joy!)

However, most of the angst I felt this week was due to the Cultural Arts committee (also known as Arts-in-Education) of which I'm the chair. Essentially, Cultural Arts helps facilitate the students' educational enrichment. Mrs. W (who happens to be the Mayor's second grade teacher from last year) always brings in this program on dinosaurs to culminate the unit. Since it happens so early in the school year, it can be tricky to coordinate the vendor and Boces approval. If you're not familiar with Boces--they (in this case) are the overseers of the various enrichment programs. It just so happens that Dinosaurs Rock! was not included in the Boces list of programs last year. So, my predecessor asked the PTA if we would agree to fund it. Of course, the members approved to do so. (I'm glad too, my daughter LOVED it.) This year, Mrs. W asked if we could once again fund the program if Dinosaurs Rock! was not one of the approved vendors. I called a Boces representative who told me that they once were on the list but weren't currently. Then, I decided to take the proverbial "bull by the horns" and call the people at Dinosaurs Rock! Once again I spoke to a lovely and helpful woman who indicated to me, she was mailing off the form within a couple of days. In the meantime, we had a PTA meeting pending, so at that point, I decided I would ask the Executive Board if Boces wouldn't pay for it, if our funds could do so. I shared the total cost and reminded them that we did this last year. Unfortunately, for me, the school principal spoke up and didn't know why we should pay for it. I tried to speak, however I couldn't find my voice. This happens to me when I am scared or shocked. I saw the writing on the wall-this teacher was NOT going to get her program and the principal didn't care. As luck would have it, we have some out-spoken members (and in this case-it worked out for me), the past treasurer added that it doesn't make a difference. She said that we either pay now or we pay later. This is a correct statement, because if we go over budget we have to pay Boces back. However, it's good, because they increase our budget for the next school year. But, back to my problem and the meeting, the principal said he would take care of it (meaning he'd talk to the teacher), but we didn't vote on it. So, in my mind, the principal was cancelling her program.

I barely slept that night, thinking that I failed the teacher, the second graders and my job to make enrichment programs happen for all of the students. Ready to quit, I finally called the PTA president who said she'd check into it. When I saw her later in the day, she told me that she'd speak to the principal after the dust settles and if we had to do a vote by telephone we could do it. A phone vote means that I would call all the members (with a witness present) and ask them to approve paying for the program. Fast forward 24 hours, when I called Boces and was told that Dinosaurs Rock! is an approved program. Quickly, I fill out the paperwork online and email it to the appropriate people. Hooray! Hooray!

Not for nothing, I hope this gets easier. I will keep you posted.

First Days and Giveaways

Today was the first day of school for us. We live in the north eastern part of the country and begin after Labor Day. If I had my way, our district would start when the rest of the country starts school which is usually sometime in August. However, now that my older children are back in school, I may have time to blog again. Did you catch that? I may have time to blog.

The Mayor is now in third grade and was very concerned about starting school this year. Don't get me wrong, she LOVES school. She loves seeing her friends and learning. But, she really was worried last night. In fact. she was so uptight that she was still awake at 1:15 AM. Computer Kid (formerly known as Computer Boy--thanks Suzanne--I prefer your version) was not at all concerned about his first day. Since CK is on the autistic spectrum, I was thrilled he was not worried. He was excited to see his friend, Carl again. I reminded him that he'd see many of his friends from kindergarten in his new class. Both kids had good first days. One day down and 182 to go.

The same Suzanne is having a giveaway. Whoo-hoo! I love free stuff. She has a $500 gift card for Walmart. So, go visit this post and check out all the details!

Out of Practice

Before HW and I got married, I had voice lessons on a regular basis. Unfortunately, once we got busier, the lessons were the first to go. At this point in my life, I don't get to really work on new pieces very much. Sure, I practice the music that I need to sing for Sunday liturgies but something I can truly sink my teeth into usually falls by the wayside. Between the husband, children (and their activities) and housework, there is little time left in the day for me. You can imagine my excitement when I finally arranged a private voice lesson with my "former" teacher. So, the other day I had my first lesson in almost a year. Holy Cow! She made me work! Honestly, it felt good too. While a couple of the vocal exercises were tricky, I got the handle of them. However, that's not what bothers me. What concerns me is the piece of music she's given me to learn. Talk about giving me a challenge! It's a piece by Mendelssohn and it is HARD.

Do I dare say I'm up for the challenge? I don't know. It scares me a little, but I have to try it. I think finding the time to work on it and learn it will be tough. However, I think it's time to put my money where my mouth is. I always say how much I want to learn more, be challenged and grow as a musician. I don't want to rest on my laurels, become stagnant and rusty. It's time to make the time and get to work.

What will he do next?

As you may remember, I sing at church. Well, three churches to be exact. In those churches, I work with different music directors who have varying abilities and personalities. For the most part, I enjoy doing what I do. It can be lots of fun and hard work (yes, singing is work--you use many different muscles!). Anyway, today was one of those fun days.

One of my favorite directors is RL. He is incredibly talented, has a type A personality, even-tempered and has a great sense of humor. I often wonder what he's doing in a rinky dink little church on Long Island and not in Manhattan playing at St. Patrick's Cathedral. However, the cathedral's loss is my gain. This man challenges me to become a better musician. During mass, he will modulate keys, add interludes between verses of songs (when none are written), play a different harmonization (such as English ones), go off on musical tangents all while expecting me to go along with him. Some singers might find this stressful, but I don't. He and I both feel it makes things more interesting. Playing a hymn over and over can become tedious and boring. My job is to encourage the congregation to sing along with me. If I let his creativity stress me out, the people won't feel comfortable and won't sing along. They should feel as if singing with me is like taking a walk in the park. Something that is an easy, enjoyable activity. Not to blow my own horn, but I know RL doesn't do this kind of thing to the other singers. He has told me so. It makes me feel good, really proud of the musicianship I've achieved, yet I find myself wondering what will he do next. It's good, it keeps me on my toes.