Blizzardless

There’s snow question that blizzard missed us. :P

We were supposed to get 6 inches, and got what…half an inch? I guess it was pretty bad south of here, but the storm definitely passed us by.

Truth be told, I don’t like closings and delays during rehearsal runs (unless the closing happens on a Friday — then I’m all yay). No schools delayed or closed in the area — yet. Strange that the local university and seminary are both closed; maybe it’s because of the faculty having to drive in from down south. Just got back in from letting the dog out, and it’s not “cold” at all. Good. And I just checked the weather at school (22 miles northwest of here), and it’s already 36 degrees. No white-knuckle driving this morning. PTL.

Still, it’s Wednesday and time to get ready to go shape young voices — all day and all evening. :-D Have a good one, fiends — this is likely the last snow of the season, which means spring is on the way!

Do NOT go here IX

Do NOT go here. Don’t do it. Matter of fact, stay away from the entire site — especially the random interior links to other lists, located at the bottom of each page, and the main category navs at the top.

Just a PSA, FYI. I’m tellin’ ya. I’ve been up since 4:50, and fully half of that time (it’s now 5:54) has been spent there. Now look what you made me do. I’ve gotten nothing done I wanted to do before leaving for school.

It’s OK, though. I’ll make up for it tonight after rehearsal. Then I shall watch my recorded episode of Once Upon a Time, get caught up on some writing, take some NyQuil, and crash. Sounds like a good Monday to me. Yay!

Weekend Update

I swear, Rousseau knows when it’s Saturday. He knows when I don’t set my alarm for 5 a.m., as that’s his cue to make sure I get up to take him outside at five.

Oh, well. I have to be up anyway, because today is fingerprinting day. No, I haven’t been arrested (yet). I have to renew my teaching license one final time!!!  :-), so off to the Sheriff’s Department I go for the obligatory processing and FBI check. 

Good part about that: Mavis and I get to have a long-overdue palaver. We’ll do some grocery shopping together, then have breakfast while the Thriller gets the Finkmobile’s oil changed. Then the work day starts, but we won’t talk about that right now.

Let’s talk about Little Shop of Horrors. Excellent show yesterday, followed by the best part: lunch in my room. The day was enjoyed by all, and I was very proud of my students, who dressed up beautifully and behaved with great class.

I will never understand the sight of high school students showing up to a theater performance in pajama pants; yet, it happened. Call me a relic, call me what you will. Say I’m old-fashioned, say I’m over the hill. I care not.

So I taught all of one class yesterday, then came home to run errands with the Thriller. We have a house guest for the next three weeks, while Kay and Bob are in Slovenia. Drago (or, as I prefer to call him, Drag, the Impaler on account of how he likes to demand that you pet him by digging his little claws into your arm) is an awesome pup who gets on Rousseau’s everlast nerve, as pups are supposed to do. He is a wonderful addition to the household, and provides lots of laughs.

I find it hilarious that if we are eating chicken, cereal, or peanut butter sandwiches, the dogs have no interest in what’s on our plates. But beef tips and gravy over noodles drives them absolutely bonkers, and forces them into decidedly un-gentlemanly behavior.

How rude, truly.

So, what’s your weekend update? Do tell, as I always covet your articulate and compendious commentary. I’m off to the big house to get booked for future crimes against education.

Finkday Fun

Today, I will go with 70 of my closest friends to the local university’s production of Little Shop of Horrors. Yay! A fun show that doesn’t make you think too much. :P I’m really looking forward to it.

After we get back to school, my fantastic Music Parents Organization is putting on a pizza lunch in my room for my high school choir students. Should be a great day. We can all enter the room and say…

FEED ME!

:-D

Today’s Lesson

Let. It. Go.

Yesterday was rough. We had a district-wide staff meeting about budget cuts (and possibly — likely, actually — staff cuts). Hard to hear that people and programs might have to go. And I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t think about the fact that the arts are often the first thing to get the old heave-ho.

Then, on Facebook last night, a well-meaning parent posted a link to all of our salaries, and I noticed that a couple of the listings (including mine) on this non-district-affiliated website were wrong.

Say something? Let it go?

B. Definitely B.

It was an unpleasant meeting yesterday, for both administration and staff. People came away more confused and worried. And now we wait until the board of education makes its decisions. We’re looking at about a month-long wait, if not longer, which bothers me, because it’s the months of March and April when many jobs come open due to plans for retirement. Those tend to be the better jobs, and they’re scooped up right away. If I’m on the chopping block, I want to know as soon as possible.

It’s not a good time for us (and many school districts) right now.

But…I need to let it go. I am neither the first nor the last person to face the possibility of a reduction in force, and just like the millions of others before me, if it happens, I will deal with it. And there’s no sense in packin’ it in when there might not be a need for it.

So today, I let it go. I resolve to stay true to my 2013 motto, and while keeping a watchful eye on my future, I won’t add needless stress.

Cripes, I’m doing a show right now — I got that in spades. :-)

Thoughts for a Thursday…