Big Chill Get Together

Jennie, Rose, and Bret came down yesterday and it was fabulous spending time with them. The picture above was taken at the Woodford Reserve Distillery. Love you guys!!

Merry Christmas Early

I realized I would be pretty busy Christmas Day and didn't want to miss getting Christmas blessings out to you, so here it is from the guy who created the day!



MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Picture of the Month - December 2006

Guess who, it's Libby Lou!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a good night!

Your Accent

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
Boston
North Central
Philadelphia
The South
The Inland North
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Plug-In Hybrids

Good work Toyota!

What a pair!

Aren't they cute?!

In Honor of the Republicans

Here comes Truthiness!

Election 2006

Come on Democrats!!! Bring it on!

Picture of the Month-November 2006

Look what I found! This is a long-ago picture. It's from the Floyd Central Austria trip. Time sure flies!

A Sad State

The question I posed today to my Arts and Humanities class today was "Has humanity culminated?" The answered varied from student to student. My hopeful side says no, humanity has not culminated and we have bigger and better things to achieve and improve the world, but according to this article and others regarding the health of the world we've hit our high point and are on the decline.

Picture of the Month-October 2006

Can't wait for Halloween!

Picture of the Month-September 2006

Wow! I am way behind on my posting! Happy September! Hasn't the weather been fantastic?! I LOVE it! I cannot wait until fall! This is my focus for the picture of the month.

Personalized South Park Characters

Here are mine and Ryan's designs if we were South Park characters. I saw this on Kirsten's site and thought it was cute. Click here to design your own.

An Inconvenient Truth

Everyone MUST go see this movie. It's not just a movie, it is an awakening to our future. Go to the website for more details on what you can do to help the environment. Please, please see it and take a serious committment in changing the way you live for the better!

Accept

HA! I find this hilarious!

Picture of the Month-August 2006

Here it is!!! It is here!!! Happy birthday to my new blue baby! Ryan took this picture with his camera phone. This is it at the dealership right before I drove it off the lot. Isn't it beeeautiful?! I'm so happy, happy, happy!

It's Here!!

My Mini is at the dealership!!! I got the phone call today and I can pick it up either Thursday or Friday of this week! Yippee!!!

Baby store commercial

I just saw this commercial for a baby store that sells used items. The store is called:
"Reruns for Wee Ones"! WHAT?!!! Just say it. Ridiculous.

Moving right along

My Mini is now at the distribution center!! Maybe I'll get it in sometime this week or weekend!!! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Honda Civic Commercial

This is pretty creative and shows my geeky music side. Click on Watch Civic in the top left corner or the bottom.

It's Coming!

I've tracked my Mini Cooper and it is "en route" to the U.S.! Only a couple more weeks to wait!

Picture of the Month-July 2006

Good job Ryan! Ryan took this picture of the Swiss Alps on our Europe trip. Isn't it beeeautiful?!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

So, we returned home last night from our trip to Europe. It was GREAT! We saw so many things and the students we chaperoned were good. We had a few small problems, but nothing major. I'll post some pictures once we get them uploaded to our computers.

Crash into me...or a stone wall

Some of you have not heard the news; my car was wrecked Saturday night. Ryan and I were driving home from Lexington and a(an) opossum waddled out in front of the car. Ryan was driving and he swirved left then right and left again and the car was out of control and spun off the road into the ditch and slammed the back into an old stone wall. The good thing was we were fine, no injuries. It was a bit scary, a little frustrating, and more stuff to deal with than we want to right now. At the same time it is probably the best time to be without a car since we are getting ready to head to Europe. This is definitely a catalyst to get the Mini Cooper purchased. Ho hum.

Picture of the Month-June 2006

The picture of this month is one of our wedding photos. And hey, guess what? We STILL do not have our pictures!!!! Unbelievable!
Anyway, our anniversary is next Monday (the 19th) if you want to celebrate with us!

Congratulations to Brad Ritchie, Sammy Day, and I don't know the other guy.

This was the announcement on the UofL School of Music website.

Congratulations! to Brad Ritchie & the School of Music Symphony Orchestra!

One of our UofL School of Music students, Brad Ritchie (composer), played a huge role in the making of the movie "Perspective" which received a Gold medal (instead of a statuette) at the 2006 Oscar Awards presentation, where 13 young filmmakers were honored for their short films at the 33rd annual Student Academy Awards on June 10, 2006. To watch a video clip of the movie Perspective, visit this USA Today website.

Note that our very own Symphony Orchestra performed the music written solely by Brad Ritchie!

How well can you hear?

Test at what frequencies you can hear. My limit was 19,000 Hz. Ryan "says" he can hear 20,000 Hz. I don't know about that. I say this is the next big idea in student discipline management!

Picture of the Month-May 2006

This picture of the month is just in time. It's of my choral group at Casa Loma in Toronto, Canada. It was a fun and tiring trip!

Rachmaninoff's Piano?

Bret sent me another interesting article and I thought I would post it.

The Devil's Music

Bret sent me this article the other day on the Devil's Music. It's stuff that I learned about in music school, but the article takes it a step farther relating different genres of music. Kinda neat.

Picture of the Month-April 2006

Look what I found, look what I found!!! Can anyone name this familiar face??!!

Good night Tokyo

Hello all if, that is, you are still out there. So, Spring Break has come and gone and now we are on the downward slope to the end of the school year. Thank God, yet, it is somewhat bittersweet. I have a great group of kids in Chorale this year and I hate to see the seniors go, but at the same time I have a crappy Beginning Chorus group and can't wait to get rid of them. Ah, the trials and tribulations of a music teacher.
At the same time I am very excited to finish up this school year because it puts me that much closer to my Mini Cooper and possibly yet ANOTHER European trip, but this time it's not only to Germany. We will be going to England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and others!! Woo Hoo!
So, count down with me, about 6 weeks, 4 days, 10 hours.

There.

Today's posts should last me another month!

Vote for Your Favorite Kentucky Bridge Designs

Vote on your favorite Kentucky east-end bridge design.

Vote for your favorite Kentucky downtown Anyway, two weeks ago Ryan, Angela, and I had our massed concerts combining our three schools. That filled every bit of that weekend. All went very well and the kids had a good time.
Last weekend we had a lovely evening out with our friend Katie. We went bowling!!! I haven't been bowling in a long time. It was fun and Ryan got to show of his skills. He proudly informed Katie and me that he took bowling lessons when he was a youngster! HA! I learn new things about him every day.
This weekend Ryan and I spent our Saturday in northern Kentucky judging choral groups from the local middle and high schools. That was a loooong day listening to mostly sucky choirs. At least we got paid; that made things better.
So, here I sit now on a Sunday afternoon not wanting to do a damn thing, so I decide to post. And what I have realized is that in a month's time all I have to show for it is about three happenings. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Hmm...

Have you ever wondered how Pillsbury makes crescent rolls?

Ha, this is cute! You will need Windows Media Player.

Cool, but a waste of time?

Music by John Cage is being performed in Germany. Take a look at the article because it isn't an ordinary musical performance.

New Server

The move to the new server is over!

Friday Nights

There's nothin' better than a Friday night. The feeling that you have had a busy, productive day and now don't have anything to do because tomorrow is Saturday. I've noticed also that, for the most part, people at school (students and teachers alike) are in better moods on Fridays. I guess it's the thought of, "Thank God, I don't have to see you for two days straight!"
Oh and my next few weeks are gonna be SWEEEEET too! Next week I go to the KMEA (Kentucky Music Educators Association) conference and will miss Thursday and Friday. The following week is a four-day week due to a professional development day on Friday, the 17th and that is followed by a four-day weekend because Monday, the 20th we are off for President's Day.
Ah, the life of a public school teacher. :)

Picture of the Month-February 2006

Happy February.
So, I realized while I was looking for a picture for February that I don't and NEVER have owned a red dress. It's seems like that is supposed to a staple of a woman's wardrobe. Ya know...the little black dress...the little red dress. But no, not in my closet. So, my treat to myself this Valentine's Day is buying a red dress.

American Idol Song

So, here's my question to you...what song would you choose to sing if you were to audition on American Idol? Ryan posed this question to me tonight and I really wasn't sure.

AH! Too much pressure.

Just kidding. I just can't seem to get into the habit of posting everyday. And I guess I don't really have a whole lot to post about. That's kinda sad.
Anyway, this week has been really long. I guess because last week we had so many interruptions and missed two of the five days of school due to MLK's b-day and a frickin' snow day (Kentucky wimps).
My semester is going soooooo much better than the past 3 other semesters I have taught. I only have one Arts and Humanities class and about half of the kids in there are kids I have in one of the choirs (so they are wonderful)! AND I got a Girl's Chorale added to my schedule this semester. Now, it's a kinda pitiful start (only 9 girls in the class), but again good kids and they actually try. I'm so much happier when I come home because of these classes. It's amazing what a few changes can do.
Well, that's all for now. Gotta get my stuff together for tomorrow and hit the sack! I love you my blog readers!

Here I go again.

Ok, so another resolution (yeah, a little late) and I need your help to keep me going. As I have been meandering through blogs today I realize I have completely neglected my own. I need to take a different turn. I thought I should go the route of a journal instead of just posted periodically random stuff that has really nothing to do with me. Well, maybe I can keep that stuff in, but also start posting what I am doing regularly. So, if I actually still have people that read this thing, give me some feedback.

Mozart's a "head" above the rest

Have researchers found Mozart's skull?

Picture of the Month-January 2006

New Year's Resolution

So, Ryan and I bought an exercise bike yesterday. This is both of our new year's resolutions. We may be skinny, but we are out of shape! Anyway, it's called a recumbent bike. It looks differently from the other bikes. It's supposed to give better blood flow when you are exercising and the guy at Dick's told us that this one is easier to get on on the days that you are tired. That was the selling point for us.

We also bought two chairs this week; one for our living room and one for our family room. They look good. Now we must halt the spending, so I can save up for my Mini!! Only 6 more months then it will be mine! Bwahahaha! What color should I get? I'm still debating.

Ok, enough dreaming about my Mini, it's my turn to exercise.