Over the River and Through the Wood

This is the final Thanksgiving post of the year. Thought I'd get it posted before December 25. The drive to WV was great, thanks in part to vans with video and audio entertainment systems.  Along those lines, the great drive credit also goes out to Sponge Bob, Mickey, Sirius radio, Harry Connick Jr, and the headphones that made it all possible.

The mountains in VA were gorgeous, as usual.  Andrew and Ethan really enjoyed the tunnels.

Once in Morgantown, WV, Jon and I treated ourselves to the usual yummy breakfast Shmiscuits.

And Keglers' wings could not be passed up, either.

After the wonderful meal on turkey day, our nuclear family took a much-needed walk on MB & Al's gorgeous property.

We loved the time with family and friends.  Here are our very best friends.  I was bummed that the lighting was weird and this is the best photo of all of us.  But, it is also funny to me, like we are taking part in some alien invasion.

Adios, Thanksgiving 2011. Bring on the Christmas postings. I am ready!

Backyard Brawl 2011

Thanksgiving week, we taught Monday and Tuesday and then headed to WV early Wednesday morning. There was family and warm houses and turkey and other wonderful time with kids and relatives and such.  My favorite photos of the trip, however, were of the WVU/Pitt game Friday night. It was the first WVU (or college football, for that matter) game for Jon and me since the same exact time 6 years ago.  THAT one was COOOOLLLLD.  This one was gorgeous!  We had a great time at the game, as well as the other two evenings we were in Morgantown.  Thanks to the family who looked after our boys so we could enjoy long, lost time with good friends for three days in a row!

Jennifer and I were totally psyched about our 21-20 win over Pitt.

Beautiful things about last Tuesday, November 22

I know.  The post title is weird.  The reason is that I MEANT to post these on the actual day but it was the last day of school before our Thanksgiving trip to WV and life got away from me.  Sometimes, in that situation, photos become the permanent prisoners of my computer, never to be seen by anyone, even me, ever again.  But sometimes the day is so sweet and special that the working mama needs to go ahead and post the inspiring things about it, even if they are nine days after the fact.

Alas, here are four things I loved about Tuesday, November 22:

The Turkey Trot: A one-mile run our PE teacher put together for the last day before break.  All grade levels ran during their related arts time and then we convened
in the multi-purpose room to sing turkey songs before the awards ceremony.
The weather was gorgeous and everyone involved had a great time!

A love note given to me by a first grade music student.  A girl. She must've really liked the music lesson last week. Kids are so sweet and funny and uninhibited.

Flowers from my principals to congratulate me on boards. 

Two gorgeous boys peacefully watching a Christmas movie together. 

Ignore the toy mess; just focus on the peace.

National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT)!

Good luck charms work.  Remember these guys, from this photo taken this March 31?  That was the deadline for submission of this blue box, THE box, containing many, many pages of carefully constructed and edited portfolio entries on different aspects of my music teaching.  I had Andrew and Ethan touch it before I headed to the post office and I am so glad I did!

The process was really, really difficult for me.  Last year marked my 12th year as an elementary music educator, but I felt like a first-year teacher (and this bunny) in many ways.

I had just come off of three solid years as a stay-at-home-mama (wouldn't have traded those years for the world) and the transition was not an easy one AT ALL.  I was so happy to have a job again, but quickly realized much had changed over my three-year teaching hiatus.  I was in a new school in a new district in a new state.  There was so much to be learned about the way this new bunch of folks did things.  My confidence level about teaching took a major nosedive. 

But, the state was offering a wonderful financial opportunity to teachers who tried to achieve national board status.  I couldn't pass it up.  So, I threw another log on the fire and went for it.  Stress level = instantly WAY HIGHER.  I did not expect to achieve it on my first try (we have three years), but I was still cautiously optimistic.

In addition to the portfolio entries that I mailed at the last possible second on March 31, there were some dreaded tests.  I went to a computer assessment center one Saturday in May and took six 30-minute exams on music history, applied theory, diagnostics, and a few other facets of teaching.

The long-awaited scores were supposed to be posted Friday.  So many candidates checked for their scores, the website crashed.  It was still down yesterday.  This morning, however, it was up and running!  I logged on to see this very exciting greeting:

After checking my scores in disbelief about a million times, I read this sentence on an attached letter.  Aaaaaaaaah.

This achievement means a lot of wonderful things for my career and for my family.  I am so happy and relieved and thankful and proud.

Good luck charms work.  Period.

Beautiful Run

I've been trying to run a lot, but usually can only fit it in at 5:00 am, in our dark neighborhood. Since the weather has been so gorgeous around here lately, I treated myself to a rare weekday daytime run the other day, and took a couple of shots of the pretty landscape.

Full, Fun Weekend

I'm anxious about some upcoming events and have given up on sleep for now, so why not post?
This Saturday, Jon and I had a really interesting date night as we checked out the SC State Museum's latest traveling exhibit, Body Worlds Vital. We were not allowed to take photos, so here is one I borrowed from the website.

The short of it is that a German scientist named Gunther von Hagens teamed up with a doctor in the late 70s to invent plastination, which is a process that stops decomposition and preserves the bodies of donors.  Mr. Hagens and his staff have posed the bodies in various positions, and in this particular exhibit, they have compared healthy bodies to those ravaged by disease.  It was eye-opening and amazing to see this. Once you realize everything you are seeing is REAL and this is YOU, it is a beautiful exhibit. Go here for more information on this amazing experience.

On a completely different note... on Sunday, we took the kids to Monkey Joe's,
a new play place very near our house, and we are so thankful! We used to have to drive across town to get to the bouncy houses.

Ethan was extremely apprehensive at first.  Here I am, encouraging him to slide!

Perhaps by "encouraging," I meant that I actually sent him down the slide, whether he really wanted to go or not.  In this photo, you can see flailing legs on the way down.

And here he is, clearly letting his parents know what he thought of his sliding experience.

BUT, he ended up becoming very courageous and enjoying his sliding time

after he warmed up to the whole deal.

So, there went another amazingly FAST weekend. I will be at school in 4.5 hours, working on parts with whatever 4th and 5th grade steel band members decide to roll in for 7:30 am sectionals.  Good night, fellow bloggers, and have a good week!

Inspirational Week... Thanks to Our Vets!

On Monday, our school's 600+ students and staff spelled "USA" and got up-close and personal with an Army helicopter pilot who hovered VERY NEARBY for a few moments to snap this amazing shot! The leaves were swirling off the trees and everyone was really excited to see the massive chopper. Teachers got tears in their eyes. It was awesome.

Then, a group of lovely teachers and I sang this version of the national anthem for the school's Veteran's Day celebration on Tuesday morning. It was definitely a feel-good experience for all.
Today, the only ever 11.11.11 in our lifetime, we honor the amazing people who serve(d) so that we may be free to do whatever we choose. Thank you to ALL.