I love subbing music!

I had such a wonderful time with the kids today. I subbed music at an elementary school. I have some experience with music: I was in chorus and a select singing group in jr. high, sang in chorus, choir, Madrigals, and some musicals in high school, took voice lessons in high school and in my early 20's, sang in a musical in college, and I sang with a community singing group later on - not to mention that I spent many days as a child singing along to records with my favorite singer, Julie Andrews. So any day that I get to sing is a good day for me!

Some of the kids were rehearsing their musicals today, so I enjoyed that best of all. They were a bit rowdy in-between numbers, but I loved the music and I was impressed by the kids who took it seriously, knew the lyrics, sang out, and seemed to really enjoy what they were doing. Some of the soloists had very, very nice voices, too. I enjoyed listening to them. The music was catchy and exhuberant. Working with the kids on their music was delightful!

I enjoyed the rest of the day, too, though - singing along (and laughing) to a Raffi sing-along video with some of the kids, playing some music games, teaching the kids a new song, etc. During my lunch break, I popped in my Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers cd and I was in seventh heaven! You just can't argue with a day like that! :-)

Latest happenings

Lately, things have been running smoothly. I subbed special ed., ESOL, and music last week. Mothers Day weekend (combined with my birthday *and* treats for Teacher Appreciation Week) was wonderful! Yesterday, I subbed third-grade. The kids were a bit trying, and I was tired by the time I got home (after only 1/2-day of subbing), but I still had a great time, and I was very, very pleased to note that one boy who has struggled mightily was making some very good behavior decisions. I checked my university records today and found that I received an overall grade of A- for my American Folklore class. Yippee! Now I'm off to sub music this morning. More good news? It finally stopped raining here (what a downpour!).

Did I mention that my university class ended?

I'm actually enjoying reading a book for pleasure again! It's a nice feeling. I picked up yet another math book, though, to try to retrain myself in math. Math, science, and geography were never my best subjects in school. I did much better with English, music, and drama. Later on, I developed a love of history.

I've had an enjoyable three days of subbing this week. I subbed a special ed. class on Monday and an ESL class on Tuesday and yesterday.

Unlike some subs, I find most admin. and teachers at schools where I sub to be very friendly to subs. Likewise, I don't take offense when a teacher asks me who I am for that day - whereas some subs feel insulted by the question. I lucked out yesterday. It was teacher appreciation week at the school and the teachers were given breakfast. As a sub, I was invited to partake, too. It was quite delicious! :-)

Sometimes I get tired of moving from school to school, class to class. When I've had a few days in the same class, I sometimes wish I could do that permanently - so I'll know what I'll be doing from day-to-day, so I get to greet the same people each day and get to know the kids better, so I don't have to rush so much in the morning to memorize emergency plans, read the sub plans and make sure I have everything I'll need for the day, make seating charts, etc. I mean, I'm good at "flying by the seat of my pants" (a requirement for this job), but sometimes I feel it'd be nice to have a workplace "home," y'know?

I have 20 some more credits left to get my undergrad. degree in English. Then I'll have to take 20 some more credits in math and science to be eligible to become a teacher. I guess all of that isn't too far away...even though I'm taking only three classes per academic year. Someday I'll make it over to the financial aid office to see if there's financial assistance available...

Can't find my eyeglasses this a.m. At this point, I don't have a sub job, so I'm not in a mad rush to locate them. I can see fine to drive my daughter to the bus stop, but I have more trouble with seeing things at a distance so I really need to find my glasses before I have to drive any farther - especially since I'm required to wear them for driving at all.

I'm sort-of angry at myself. Yesterday, I accidentally ran a stop sign in my neighborhood. That stop sign has been there for a very long time, too. I was watching for kids, but somehow I forgot about the stop sign and was past it before it hit me that I'd missed it - just in time for me to notice that a neighbor had seen it happen. I'm not a bad driver...really. But I made a mistake yesterday and I feel like kicking myself for it.

Coffee Groups - Can you spare a minute?

I meant to say that I'm still interested in hearing about your coffee groups, even though I've already turned in my paper. I told my prof. that I'll send any further info. I collect to him so he'll have it in his folklorist mind bank for future reference. If you belong to a coffee group, please go to my April post entitled "Coffee Group Questions" and let me know about your coffee group. Thanks!

Spring class is over!

I turned in my paper (that, by the way, I stayed up all night to finish) and enjoyed one last lecture on foodways. Now, I'm officially free for the summer. Whoopeeeee! I liked the class - don't get me wrong, but there's something to be said for free time.

To celebrate, I came home and cuddled our little dwarf hamster. It's taken forever for him to get to the point of even allowing me to pick him up, much less sitting there contentedly in my hand and allowing me to rub behind his ears, so I'm grateful he'll allow it now. He'll lightly "nip" my knuckle when I ask for "a kiss." Our other hamster (regular-sized) will lie, snuggled up, on my daughter's arm while she holds it across her chest, but he's usually squirmy when I hold him.

Last night, my daughter and I went on errands and stopped off at a pet store to visit the animals while we were out. I got one bunny to rise up on his hind legs by rubbing my finger upward on the glass. My daughter loved playing with the puppies the best. If she'd had $1,000 to $2,000, I'm sure she'd have seriously considered buying one she fell in love with. My husband would never go for having a dog, though...although persuasion from his daughter might work much better than persuasion from his wife... You know how daddies usually are about their daughters...

So all's right with the world right now. It's nice and warm outside, the People magazine came (well, it's a step up from the National Enquirer I used to read when I was younger...), I'll be going out to dinner with my hubby soon... The only thing that could make this more perfect is if a new Monk show would come on!

Speaking of National Enquirer, I once played a pretty good joke on an old boss of mine for April Fools Day. When she was out of her office, I cut out a picture of monkeys from the National Enquirer, slipped into her office and slipped the picture over top of her children's pictures in her photo frame. I waited all afternoon for some type of reaction. Finally, I heard this loud, "Hah!" and I knew she'd seen it. The joke was sort-of on me, though, because she laughingly told me later that she hadn't found it until after an interviewee and probably seen it when he came to apply for a job... Still, my joke was harmless and fun. Some coworkers of mine moved one employee's desk out to the roof and he was thoroughly displeased (although they got a good laugh out of it).

I guess I'll have to work to try to clean up the house now that my class is over. Housecleaning and cooking are *not* second-nature to me.

O.K., I'm glancing through the latest issue of People that touts the "100 Most Beautiful, 69 pages of stunning stars" and I'm disappointed to note that many of them are below the age of 50 (sigh). Oh well, nothing I can do about it. Gotta move on. I wish I could still look the age I feel, because I surely don't feel like I"m 52!