Daisy

This post was begun in June, and finished over a month later. Oh well, better late than never... (This explains the incongruous timeline references.)

School is out for summer. Yay for that! Around our house things are far different than they ever have been. We have completed our suburban stereotype with the addition to our family of a four-legged member of the canine variety. Yes, folks, we got a dog.

Her name is Daisy. She's currently three and a half months old, and last week she weighed in at three and a half pounds. She is a full-bred shih tzu, although her parents were both on the tiny side at less than five pounds each. She's not going to get very big, which has a lot to do with why we chose her. I grew up with Hotdog, a six pound runt toy fox terrier. Hubby grew up with Beau, a lhasa apso who was on the huge side of the breed standard at 20+ pounds. Beau was too big for me, and Hotdog was too yippy for Hubby, so agreeing on a dog was a big deal.

Daisy is very social. I have not seen her react negatively to any person. Ever. Each new human she encounters is an immediate best friend. And she doesn't bark at people. Not unless she is left alone.

She will fetch a tennis ball. It's a hilarious sight to see this tiny dog carrying a ball the size of her head by clutching the fuzz with her teeth. It's too big to fit in her mouth, of course. She also fetches her other toys. The tennis ball is the most fun for us, as it requires more of a chase, and watching her scamper through the house is quite entertaining.

The first few nights we had her, she cried all night long. Not liking to be left alone, she let us know what a horrible thing it was to be abandoned in a crate downstairs while we went upstairs to our bedrooms. One night we put the crate in the laundry room, and after that, I just wore earplugs to bed like hubby does all the time. Daisy has learned that it's not so bad, and now she doesn't even bark at us as we ascend the stairs. Sometimes, when she's feeling particularly cooperative, she'll go in the crate on her own accord.

House training was a challenge at first. Now that it's been about two and a half months that we've had her, and she's five months old, she knows what to do outside, and not to go inside. It took a whole bottle of Urine Off to get to that point, however. It pains me to say that it was easier to teach this dog what to do than it was my second born child... Long time readers of this blog know what I'm talking about. That was April of 2009 after we started working on it in August or September of 2008. The dog has the concept mastered in about a month...

Daisy has some towels that we've given her, old towels we'd use to wash the car. She's fond of dragging them to wherever she wants to park for a little while. They're hers and she doesn't get into trouble for chewing the corners. They're not in good shape anyway, that's why they're hers. She sleeps with one on her bed in her crate. As I'm typing, she's got one right now.

Shih tzu have bad rep for intelligence. If as a breed they are generally dumb, as some websites suggest, then I fully believe she is an exception. Any failings in her training are not her fault. They are ours. We have trained her to wait for her dinner. She will stay seated about five feet away as we pour her food in the bowl, and not come to eat it until we say it's OK. She's getting to be good about coming in that way too. When the door is open, I want her to be invited before she comes. There was one day when she got her front leg caught in the door for trying to come in when she wasn't welcome. She hadn't yet done her "business" outside, and it was in the days before she was fully house trained.

One thing she hasn't learned yet is how to go down the stairs. She can climb up, but she doesn't know how to go down. I guess that's all right with me because I don't really want her to have full reign of the house anyway. I would like her to stay down. She used to go upstairs and then be stuck, but lately she doesn't try to go up, and that's good.

Hubby and I will look around and then at each other every now and then and remark, "We have a dog." It's kind of like the feeling we had after we had our first baby. The reality of it is still so new. Unlike having a baby, this is something we never thought we'd do. This is a change from the paradigm we had worked under for so long.

So there it is. We have a dog.

Another Opening, Another Show

This is the week I dread of all the weeks of a school year. It's the week of our pop show. It's a huge thing to put on a show with 200+ kids, each singing at least 2 songs all together, with choreography, PLUS 2 songs for each choir, also choreographed, PLUS 15 solo acts scattered in between. There are all kinds of details that have to be rehearsed, and rehearsed, and rehearsed again. When do all those rehearsals have to happen? AFTER SCHOOL when none of the 200+ kids we need are in math or science or English classes. It's a nightmare.

And who gets to tell all those kids to be quiet over and over again? Oh yeah, you got it. It's me.

I hate this part of my job. Why can't kids just be professional for a little while?

Blog Fail

I am now a complete failure as a blogger. I just can't hang with working, mothering AND blogging. Of those three to get the boot, of course it should be the blogging. Oh well.

Blah Humbug

I know I shouldn't blog when I'm down on myself, but if I don't do this now, it's never going to happen. Why am I down on myself? I didn't do Christmas cards this year. I did send an e-card to everyone in my address book, but no family picture, no newsletter. The last few years I have created a newspaper as our newsletter. Last year I didn't get it out on time, as it was my first year working as a choir director, and there were Christmas concerts and so much busyness, I didn't have myself organized well enough to do it all. This year I didn't even set such expectations on myself. I did have one week this year with a concert to attend or direct 4 of 5 weeknights. By the end of it I was a wreck. So I'm a Christmas failure.

Things have been piling up to the extent that I'm dropping some balls for my kids. Little Girl was supposed to be star student that same week as all my concerts. I had no idea until we got an email from the teacher that Monday, when we should have already sent in a poster. I'm a mommy failure. Thankfully the teacher tacked us on at the end of the year, and we'll get some sort of warning ahead of time. She's compensating for my shortcoming...

I think I've blogged before about how I don't do well when I'm not productive. The last couple of days, the first two of Christmas break, have been very relaxing, but not very productive, and I'm starting to get down on myself for that. You'd think I'd enjoy it, but it doesn't work that way. I did take my girls to the park yesterday to ride their bikes on the blacktop. It's a much easier place to ride than up and down the sidewalk. There's enough of a slope to our street that going one way is significantly easier than the other, and they don't want to come back up. Plus, the blacktop is removed from the street and cars, and is much safer, so long as there aren't any big teenage guys wanting to play basketball there. Besides the bike-riding adventure, I've gotten a load of laundry done. Just one. There are so many more waiting for my attention.

October Means 3 Things...

1. My birthday. I can't say I'm excited to be having a birthday. I know that getting older beats the alternative, but do I have to be reminded of it annually? Really? That number just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and I can't claim some sort of hold on my youth the bigger it gets. The chasm between me and my cultural relevance grows and grows...

2. Fall concert(s). This week is the giant choir school's fall concert, and next week is the tiny choir school's fall concert. Are we ready? I'd say yes at the tiny choir school, and no at the giant choir school. Several factors are at play in that lack of readiness. The main one is my students' inability to buckle down and get to work. Sometimes it's good-hearted chit-chat, and sometimes it's an outright rebellious refusal to comply. Towards the end of last week, my girls started to feel the pressure of the imminent performance, and the work ethic improved dramatically. They don't want to go on stage and stink it up. Can't say I do either...

3. Big Girl's birthday, which means Big Girl's birthday party as well... Ugh... I'm getting to the point of wanting to hire the birthday party stuff out. I just don't have the time or energy to pull it off as a working mom. But of course the alleged party is now under two weeks away, and I can't just call up a Chuck-E-Cheese at this point and book the party on the day I want to have it. By the way, we have to have it 5 days early because the weekend after her birthday is Region Choir auditions, and I'll be working all day that Saturday... I really do love my life. It's just complicated when there are things like birthdays so close to region auditions. I can't move the audition, and I can't move the birthday. And this is the kid who wouldn't be understanding about celebrating a month late. (I'd love to do that this go 'round...)

So that's what's up with me/us... We're getting older, and we're busy. It's a good life.

I have that song in my head by Sting, on the Brand New Day album where he writes a nasty letter to his ex and then wants to take it back... What's it called...? "Big Lie, Small World," I think. It came on my iPod yesterday while I was getting ready for church.

School Year Update

Already, four weeks are nearly gone. Things are getting under way. I am busy.

At my giant-choir school, things are really chugging along. I am directing a 6th grade class, and a non-varsity women's class, which will combine with classes the other director is teaching, and then I'll direct them in concert. I am handling all the finances, and so far, I'm on top of it. There's no money left in the choir office that hasn't been turned in, which is my goal for every day. I have turned in a deposit nearly every day. That part of it is pretty tedious, but I'd rather be diligent with it in small doses than to let it pile up, and then it takes a whole day just to get caught up. Besides, it's policy to get it in. (I'm sorry... I know you don't care about this stuff. It's just what I'm thinking about at the moment.)

My tiny-choir school still has a tiny choir, but the culture is shifting somewhat. This year it seems like the kids aren't afraid to SING!! Amazing, huh? AND I have 2 BOYS in the class. That has changed things more than anything else, as the songs I pick now have to have parts for the boys. It's been a fun challenge. Unfortunately, there's so much more good music available for treble choirs than for 3-part mixed choirs... So far things are going pretty well.

Choir club is a bigger problem than I'd like to admit. I have lost 4 kids who were enrolled last year in my class who changed their electives to something other than choir because they can come to my after school choir club and participate that way. The problem is that I'm not paid for choir club (well, I get about $3/hr for it). My enrollment numbers are what matters to administrators for justifying my job, and while an increase from 9 to 12 is good, 16 would be far better. Again, I'm 6th grade heavy, which compromises my eligibility for the biggest contest we do all year...

This is definitely the last year I'm going to do the choir club. I just can't do this to myself, or my family. If not for choir club, I'd be able to pick up my kids from school most days. I could probably work it out for my mom to cover for me the other days, and then we could not be paying for after school care. When you take what we pay for the girls to have a place to go and offset it by what I'm paid for the club (that $3/hr), we're so far in the hole, it's really not worth it at all. Couple that with the fact that it's undercutting my enrollment... definitely not doing this again.

Big Girl is sailing along with 2nd grade. No surprises there. She really enjoys school. She's good at it.

Little Girl is having a little bit of difficulty adjusting to Kindergarten. She spent most of the first few weeks of school being very tired. It's a long day for her, I know. She's not used to paying attention for that many hours in a row.

I'm sitting right now, between schools, at a local sandwich shop, taking advantage of their free WiFi. My sandwich is long since eaten, and now I'm jamming to Huey Lewis & The News, "Happy to be Stuck with You." It's a nice break. Unfortunately, I need to go back to school. Class starts in 20 minutes... TGIF!!

1 Down, 35 More to Go!

One week of school is complete. There are 35 left.

I think this will be a good year. I can definitely see some challenges on the horizon, but all in all, it's good. I can see myself already being a better teacher. It's amazing what experience can bring. I'm glad to be in the same place, same teaching position as last year. It's nice to not be new.

Little Girl has now started Kindergarten. She's having a rough time of it. It's hard to get used to being "on" all day, and having that day start an hour and a half earlier than before. She's already showing improvement.

Big Girl is also having some difficulties, but hers are different. She wanted to be in the after-school care group with her sister, even though she is now classified differently, being in 2nd grade. They have a younger group (K & 1st), middle group (2nd & 3rd), and an older group (4th & 5th). Big Girl stayed with Little Girl the first week, and then today there were some problems when it was suggested that she go in with her own age group. I think it's worked out now, and she'll be fine. It's just getting adjusted. We didn't talk about her expectations, and we probably should have. If her expectations are set correctly from the start, there are far fewer problems of this nature.

I love both of my girls so much, and it's hard on me when they're having difficulties, especially when it makes me feel like my job is making their problems harder for them. I must trust God to know what's best for them and me, and He has directed my career path, and whatever bumps we all experience will work out for the good of us all. If I were a SAHM again, yes, I'd be there to pick them up from school, but I may not be the mom they need in other ways. Or maybe God has me in the mission field of public school for the souls of others at the expense of some bumpy days in my babies' lives for His ultimate glory.

The very anti-God teacher that I'm working with has chose to teach the men's choir "Fairest Lord Jesus." It makes my heart smile. Lord, I pray that the words of truth in that song will penetrate some very hard hearts.