Snow!

Yes, indeed, we've had a little smattering of white stuff here in the Northwest! It was predicted for yesterday morning, but when it didn't come and school wasn't affected, there were definitely some disappointed little people. But then on my way home from school I noticed that the rain hitting my windshield was sort of splatting unusually, and I quickly surmised it must be snow. The closer I got to home the worse it got, till it appeared to be raining millions of snowballs. The road was whitening up. I had planned to get gas and do a little shopping, but I decided to just get gas and come home. It was really coming down hard and covering the road, which totally slows everyone down.

You snow veterans would snort at the panic a half inch of snow causes here, but do understand that we don't have sand trucks, snow plows, and snow tires at our beck and call. Ha, Washington probably has the same number of snow plows that the city of Boston has! But I merely guess. So anyway, I had to make my way down a steep, windy hill into the valley we live, and as I went down, I experienced something of the sensation you have when you're on a rollercoaster about to zoom down a hill. Black ice was my greatest fear, but I survived, PTL! I got some sophisticated, expensive rain tires last January at my dad's urging, and I'm hoping they'll also be snow worthy.

I do love snow, but as I've gotten older and have had to drive in it occasionally, I've been a little more wary of it. Last year we barely got a flake, so it's nice we're getting some this year. Tomorrow we're supposed to get a couple inches, which could seriously mess up traffic around here. I'm not sure if I'll get around to my teaching spots. I'm secretly hoping that I'll have to cancel so I can stay home and do other useful stuff! Besides my neck and back are out, and I'm not feeling very great. I've been practicing a lot for December performances, putting extra strain on my poor back.

World Tour Every Night!

Remember my story of going to Greece in a dream? Well, the next night I went to France, and last night I went to London! So is it some sort of sign that it's God's will for me to tour the world, or is it just a gift--see the world without leaving the comfort of my bed? Hmm, I wonder where I'll end up tonight!

It's Friday Night!

I'm so happy about staying home for three days in a row! That means I don't have to drive anywhere in the nasty weather. And that means I can bum around in a non-work clothes, put my hair in a puny pony-tail, and get lots of other things done!

Yesterday was a fun day. Zach and Jessie had spent the night. We all gathered together after breakfast and read the book about Thanksgiving by Barbara Rainey. I think we all learned hitherto unknown or fuzzy facts about the pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. Kids sure aren't likely to learn the whole story at public schools. Then we wrote out our thankful lists and prayed. My dad had 50 items on his list (which he'd worked on for awhile), but I kept mine to 15 because I wrote it in about 5 minutes. Here's my little list:
1. Salvation and an ever growing relationship with Christ
2. Family
3. Food
4. My 5 senses intact and working!
5. A lovely, warm home
6. A job and enough money
7. My kitty
8. Friends
9. A free country
10. Our church family
11. God's abundant grace for every need
12. Trips this year to Hawaii and New Hampshire
13. Good health
14. A Godly president
15. A very reliable van that hasn't given me any problems!

After that my mom bustled around with dinner preparations and I set the table. Table setting for holidays has been my job for as long as I can remember. I'm a little persnickety about proper layout and decor. My dad and Zach went out to put up the Christmas lights, so I went out to help them, since that's also my usual job. The roof is quite a bit higher and has several gable peaks that our old house didn't have, so there's a lot more roof climbing required. I did it last year with my dad and did crawl around the roof with some trepidation, but I was okay with relinquishing the job to Zach who just loves to clambor around the roof. He practically runs around it. I stayed on ground and handed the lights to them at the right time as I shivered from the bitter cold. It was a good thing we got up the lights when we did because it started to rain a few hours later and it's rained ever since.

The rest of the fam came over around 2:00 and dinner was served at 3:00. It was all delicious as usual. The older I get the better I get at controlling the amount of food I take at a feast. When I finished I was just pleasantly full. But after several pieces of pie I was definitely groaning a bit! I was a little depressed to notice this morning that my Thanksgiving tummy makes me look about 3 months pregnant, but hopefully it will go away with my strict holiday diet. (Seriously, I have to cut the sugar so I don't get sick before any of the 8 events I have in December. Doesn't hurt the figure any, but man, it's tough!)

I heard on Wednesday that the whole turkey tryptophane sleepy theory is a myth, but I can tell you I sure wasn't feeling very energetic after dinner!

We spent the rest of the day chatting pleasantly, trying to keep the kids subdued, doing a Wysocki puzzle, and playing the Abram version of Trivial Pursuit. I thought I'd sleep forever this morning, but I actually woke up around 6:30 and got up around 7:00. I guess it was good because I had a lot to do: cleaning, decorating, e-mailing, and practicing. Tomorrow there's nothing on the agenda! Yippee!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Here's my little pilgrim outfit that I wore to the school feast. Okay, my hair doesn't fit the period, but other than that, you'd think I'd just stepped out of old England, right? Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm thankful for dear friends like you!

One of those weeks

Ever wake up from a dream and wish so bad you could return? I always wake up just when stuff is getting good. Like I was dreaming this morning of flying over brilliant blue waters and then being in Greece. There were dark, handsome Greek men everywhere, but I was with my dad, so I wasn't about to run off with one! Then I woke up to my warm bed and cold reality. Sigh.

Then I went to the dentist and as I was sitting there noticed that I was wearing a black shoe on one foot and a navy shoe on the other. The shoes are identical in style, so it was an easy thing to do when I was in a rush. Then I had to go to school and the mall and hope nobody noticed my mismatched shoes. Probably nobody noticed, but I was quite aware of it!

Things have been pretty stressful at school this past week. Kids are busy preparing for the Thanksgiving Feast tomorrow and then the Christmas program in two weeks. If they're not as prepared as the administrator thinks they should be, then all the blame falls on me. She's a choleric organizer, and it's sometimes really hard working with her, because I'm a phlegmatic/melancholy, and NOT an organizer!

I love the kids, and I've loved much of the work at the school, but I've pretty much decided to not return next year. I'll finish up in June and turn over the reigns to someone else who can handle the stress and stretch of a growing music program and school. The growing schedule demands are continually crowding out other important things in my life, like my private students, traveling, practicing, and performing.

God sort of dropped this job in my lap, and it's been good, but I think it's time for the next chapter and I'm trusting Him to direct me in the way I should go next year. There remains the unpleasant task of telling the school of my plans, but I'll wait until after Christmas.

Meantime, I can't wait for Thanksgiving!! Lori's family is coming over and we're sure to have a jolly time stuffing ourselves, playing ping-pong, maybe going for the traditional walk, and whatever else. (We miss you, Jill!!) Then on Friday my mom and I are going to decorate for Christmas! I have a little fake tree in my room which I have fun decorating with oodles of musical ornaments. We'll listen to Christmas music, eat cookies, and have a cozy day. I have no desire to go shopping that day. If the weather's decent, I might even try to get the outside Christmas lights up.

So there's some of my life in a big nutshell. :-)

Random Stuff

Ah, I'm enjoying a wonderfully quiet, lazy Saturday morning! I slept in until like 8:30! Funny how as I get older, my ability to sleep late decreases. At least I don't have any kids waking me up at the crack of dawn. :-)

I felt like I was running all week and only getting done about half the things I needed to. It didn't help that my neck was out all week either. It all started last Friday night when we were eating dinner in the living room. I was leaning over my plate when suddenly the room appeared to tilt sideways. I let out a startled cry and doubled over, scaring my parents half to death. This major wave of dizziness passed over me while my mom held me. It soon passed, but over the week I frequently experienced waves of dizziness, nausea, head pressure, and ear sensitivity. I went to the chiropractor on Tuesday. He fixed my back but didn't think my neck was out. But it didn't get any better, so I went again yesterday and sure enough, my neck was out, and he put it back into place. I think I'm doing better, but I'm worried about it going out again. My back definitely gives me more problems when I'm under more stress and I'm moving my harp around a lot.

My school kids appear to be loving music class, for which I'm grateful. It's one of my goals to make music learning a positive experience, shaping their love of music for the rest of their lives. I was working with the Kindergarten and first grade class, talking about pitches and training their ears to recognize highs and lows. We were singing a Christmas song when a first grade boy raised his hand and then proceeded to give me this delightful bit of information: "Sometimes boogers get kind of caught down in my throat and it sort of makes my voice rusty and scratchy so I can't sing the higher notes." He said this with such an earnest, serious expression that I couldn't possibly laugh at him. I encouraged him to clear his throat and try anyway. Oh, dear. Ya never know what these kids will pop out with!

Last night the school staff, a couple staff spouses, and the administrators' 2 kids went to a swanky Italian restaurant in Seattle for dinner. I think there were 11 of us total. I couldn't believe how busy the city was! But then, I'm rarely there on a Friday night. I knew I'd stepped into a different world when we walked into the restaurant and I saw these four very urban, sophisticated people toasting each other with champagne glasses. And I knew we were in Seattle when I saw several gay couples eating together. But anyway, we had a fun time eating tons of food and easily spending $300, I would guess. The head of school paid for it all! The appetizers were good, my dinner wasn't that great (a ton of pasta with a few tiny pieces of chicken), and my dessert was absolutely yummy. It was a round, fairly solid chocolate mousse concoction with some raspberries in it and crunchy pieces of chocolate on top. Mmmm! I felt pretty sleepy after that. We were there about 4 hours! I wonder what the waiter thought of us.

Speaking of waiters! My word, it's so weird. In almost every restaurant, the male waiters have this thing for me. Happened in Jordan, it's happened in dozens of other restaurants. I'll be with several girlfriends even, and the waiter will pay special attention to me! My friends find it hilarious, but it's rather embarassing to me. So I thought our tall, blonde, dignified waiter last night was going to be an exception until the very end. He was standing next to me and asked if we needed anything else. Then looking at me with this arch, flirty expression he said, "Anything else?" Oh, good grief. But at least he didn't flirt with the married teacher who was pretty flirty with him.

This is symphony weekend. I have a rehearsal this afternoon, another one tomorrow afternoon, and the concert is tomorrow night. It's a neat program, but during the last rehearsal I spent far more time sitting and waiting than actually playing. Sigh. Such is the life of symphony harpists. Drive an hour each way, wrestle a 6 foot, 80 pound harp around, and then sit and read a book while the brass section deafens one ear and the percussion the other.

An Attitude of Gratitude

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit." (1 Thessalonians 5:18-19)

I read these verses this morning and they reminded me of what Nancy Leigh DeMoss shared this week on "Revive Our Hearts." She talked about an "attitude of gratitude." Certainly appropriate with Thanksgiving approaching! BTW, I love Thanksgiving. Such a great time for stuffing the tummy with wonderful food and sharing fun times with family and friends!

Anyway, Nancy said something yesterday that has stuck with me. She shared these verses out of Ephesians 5: "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord: Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." She pointed out that a sure sign that we are filled with the Spirit is a thankful heart. If you're filled with the Spirit and thanking God in every circumstance and worshipping Him, there is simply no room for carnal attitudes like self-pity, resentment, bitterness, jealousy, depression, or complaining. Wow! I mean, ouch! Pretty hard to be thankful and whining at the same time!

So going back to the 1 Thessalonians verses, if we're not being thankful, then we're actually quenching the Spirit. Nancy shared how we tend to think of the will of God in regards to an action, like where to go on a trip, who to marry, where to go to school, what job to take, etc. But it's actually pretty simple in God's Word: it's His will that we give thanks in everything. That's pretty straightforward. Doesn't mean it's easy, though! But it's something I want to aim for, to cultivate an "attitude of gratitude" and be filled with the Spirit.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

School Daze

When I woke up with a headache this morning and then dropped the end of my bathrobe belt in a, um, undesirable recepticle, I wondered if these were signs foretelling the kind of day I'd have. My headache did eventually go away, but when I got to school, boy, were things crazy! The teachers had this sort of run-over look. I was greeted with the news that one girl had a sinus infection and her brother had to go to the foot doctor and another girl was out sick. Okay, I can handle that. THEN during recess a first-grader fell from the play set bars and broke his leg pretty badly. I rushed the kindergartners and first graders off to music before the paramedics came. At the same time, two other first graders were sent home sick. A fifth grader was expelled for the day due to inappropriate behavior during chapel. Whew! Fortunately, music classes went pretty well. I felt pretty sorry for my boss and the other teachers, though. I sure hope nothing else happened!

But I did get some comic relief when I read something the administator was passing around to the teachers. It was copied from a magazine, which in turn had gotten it from an e-mail. It was a list of "actual" notes parents had written in to their child's school. The point of the article was to point out the faulty education of the parents. Whether they were actually written or not, I don't know, but they were pretty funny. Here are a few I especially liked. (Original grammar and punctuation have been kept.)

• Please exkuce lisa for being absent she was sick and I had her shot.
• Chris will not be in school cus he has an acre in his side.
• Please excuse ray friday from school. He has very loose vowels.
• Please excuse jimmy for being. It was his father's fault.
• Sally won't be in school a week from friday. We have to attend her funeral.
• Gloria was absent yesterday as she was having a gangover.
• Please excuse roland from p.e. for a few days. Yesterday he fell out of a tree and misplaced his hip.

Little Fan Club

Remember the story about the little girls at the mother/daughter event? Well, here are some cute pictures of my little fan club.

Narnia Mania

I presume you're all aware of the new Narnia movie coming out in December. Well, I got to see a sneak peek today! My school hosted an event for local church and education leaders to come see a preview of the movie and get resources and inspiration to use the movie as a gospel outreach in their churches and communities. Some of the stuff we saw you can also see on the Narnia website, but we got to see more of the movie, plus tidbits on the making of it. It looks absolutely awesome!! Did you know it took two years to "create" Aslan? The computer graphic imaging is just mind boggling. I can't wait to see the whole thing! Some of it looks kind of scary for very young children, so parents should definitely use discretion, like with LOTR.

After seeing the preview, I feel like reading the book again. I remember after reading "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" as a kid, I kept checking the back of my closet and praying it would open up into Narnia. I was bitterly disappointed every time to find the same old white wall!

Oh, and the co-director of the C.S. Lewis Institute in Seattle was there and shared some interesting stuff about C.S. Lewis. He said that the movie "Shadowlands" was pretty unfactual in places. Lewis wasn't that stuffy and academical. A few other things I didn't know: Lewis injured his leg during WWI combat, he failed his Oxford entrance exam twice, and his first couple books were absolute flops! I'm so glad he didn't give up on writing.