Winter Blues and some School News

Wow, it has been a terribly long winter. Just when I think it's going to improve nature reminds me what life in the north is all about.  I have been struggling lately with some winter blues. It's very difficult to be stuck for days and even weeks on end. I try not to complain, but after a month without going to the grocery I was at my wits end. Last Saturday my car wouldn't start, and trying to get it jumped in -20 F, was like laughing in the face of a bear (nothing will help.) I was blessed to be allowed to take the school suburban to town, and it was a Godsend!! Nothing is better then having a stocked pantry and fridge!

 School has been crazy recently, as usual. We are preparing for District Music Festival on April 8,9. It's kind of like Contest, and Solo and Ensemble all in one weekend. I also got some new students this week. I think it will be a good addition in our classroom dynamics, but you just never know. Last Friday, I had a camping/bonfire themed lesson for my grade K-4 classes. We had smores, sang some fun songs, and played a game. I set up my tent in the classroom, turned down the lights, and set up a fake fire to sit around. It was a lot of fun, and I think the student's enjoyed themselves, as well. I made me 5-8th graders jealous though, so I need to think of something fun for them, in the near future.

It's been tournament season out here in Montana. The Pep Band travels to the games to play, so I've had to haul around all our instruments, and students too! With the weather, it's been very stressful, but I have seen some great  games. Our girls didn't make it past Districts, but they fought hard with their 3 games (tournament is double elimination.) The boys made it through Districts and are in Divisionals this weekend. Today our game was at 1:00, so we had to leave the school at 9:30! I had to get a sub for the elementary so that added to me going to bed late, and getting up early. We won today in a very close game, so we are going back tomorrow. The Band bus leaves at 7:30. AAHHH!!! Luckily this is the last Pep Band weekend, no matter how our boys do because the Band will not be traveling all the way to Bozeman for State.

Also....

I  was cleaning out my phone pictures and figured I'd post a few forgotten treasures, that peer into the mundane life that I live. And, for some reason most of the pictures have to do with food.

The Lustre Version of Soft Pretzel and Cheese (yes it's homemade)

 I made myself a nice meal.

 Honeycomb, from Ben!!!!

Tigerbrood also known Dutch Crunch Bread: Yum!!

Oh, Dear What can the Matter Be?...starvation :-(

Cheers!

Things I love about Saturday!

Saturday's can sometimes be a bummer. It always seems like everyone is out and about, and I'm stuck in Lustre doing school work. I normally arrive at the elementary by 10:00am. I let myself sleep in before getting to work. I work on lesson planning for 4 or 5 hours , take an afternoon break, then go to the high school for a few hours to prepare for the week. Eventually, I head home, make supper and relax for a few hours before going to bed. In my mission to think positively about my life and what's going on, today I decided to look for things that I could be thankful for.

 

I love to watch movies or in today's case, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, while I'm working. I'm one of those individuals who likes background noise while I'm working, as long as it's not distracting.

I love Classics for Kids! I visit the website at least twice a month for lesson ideas and their radio shows.

I love simple comforting meals while I'm working. Today I had egg salad with crackers.

I Love the fact that I'm safe and warm.

I love to take mini breaks and play some music. I even played my clarinet today, working through Brahms Sonata No. 1 in F Minor. 

If you wonder why I was carrying around a heart, I was in the middle of decorating my door at the grade school. It's not finished but I took a picture anyways. Have a great Sunday and enjoy the Super Bowl!

Just Pictures

I'm too tired to write. Here's some pictures of winter life in Montana, although I'm happy to have the snow over the ice!

I refuse to take down my Christmas lights. Every time we get more snow, I hope my window isn't snowed shut. It's my only view outside in my whole apartment!

Day view from my window. 

See my window!

Road View Sunset

 Sidewalk to my neighbors.

 

Proof of the deer walking around the yard looking for food. It's so sad. :-(

My white winter photo.

P.S. Thanks for the Cheese Curds Ron and Cathy Rife!

Strange Morning

Well, today has been an interesting morning for me, as you can probably tell by the early blogging. I wasn't feeling well last night, so I got to bed at a decent hour. I awoke at 4:30 this morning feeling a little sick (with a possible fever) and very thirsty. I got my morning glass of ice water, took some Tylenol and tried to get back to bed. After 15 mins. or so I realized that wasn't going to happen. The chain of events that followed led to the most relaxing morning I've had while teaching. I had three hours to get ready, have some breakfast, a nice cup of coffee, do some reading, and watch the today show. I also finished my lesson plans that I was hoping to get done this morning during my morning plan time.
I may not be feeling so great by the end of the day, especially because I won't get home till 7:00 pm due to potentially stressful and possibly long discussions during parent teacher conferences at the High School, and a possible sinus infection and fever, but I feel great about how my day has started. For once, I'll make it to our staff devotions on time without running in at the last moment, frazzled. Maybe I should attempt another early morning sometime soon.

Have a Great Day!

Chicago and Back

Well Christmas Break has come and gone. I told another teacher today that I was experiencing the "Post Holiday Blues" and I think a lot of student's would join in on an "amen!" I did get two days off this week because of a blizzard in North Dakota, which shut down Amtrak trains between Whitefish and Fargo. I ended up stuck in Chicago on Sat. and Sunday, finally leaving on Monday.
I was a little irritated to be stuck but made the best of it, by exploring Chicago and even getting lost in Chinatown at 9:00 pm. On Saturday Amtrak paid for my hotel and gave me money for food and transportation. I went to my hotel, rested, and then attempted to not get lost in downtown Chicago. I originally wanted to go to the ESPN Zone. I took a bus to downtown, walked to the address, and then discovered it's closed. AAHH!! With Ben's help, I ended up farther north at Dave & Busters! I had some supper and spent some money on games. I had a blast! I even got 350 points on Skeeball!!
On Sunday I learned I was stuck at least for another day. I typed up plans for my substitute, booked a new hotel room (***'s for $35.00's plus tax :-), and left by the checkout time. My new hotel was on the Magnificent Mile. I walked around for a few hours, did some shopping, and finally ended up at Giordano's for some stuffed pizza!
To end my stranded in Chicago days, I went to a Dueling Piano Bar. It was so much fun!!!
Had a great night's sleep then called Amtrak's Julie, and discovered the train was leaving on schedule.
I got back to Lustre on Tuesday, and very tried from the lack of sleep on the train.
I'm glad to be back in some ways, because it means I'm closer to seeing family and friends again.
Here's some pictures, but the quality is bad because my phone's resolution was set low.

These wreaths were all over town.

Sorry I've been busy!

Life has been very busy lately! I'm sorry I haven't blogged for awhile. I am preparing for the Christmas Concert this Thursday, and our fruit fundraiser came in. I was up till 11:30 on Wednesday sorting fruit. Luckily almost all of the fruit is delivered, my Christmas programs are mostly done, and my lessons are ready for the coming week. I figured I could blog a little about what's been going on.
Basketball is starting, which means Pep Band. In this area of Montana the home team plays the school song of the visiting school. Isn't that interesting? The only problem is I can't find some of the songs. Hoping my search will have success this week, as my first Pep Band gig is Friday.
The weather has been interesting. We had some snow and really cold temperatures right before Thanksgiving. (Like a high of 0!) Then we, warmed up, and we got some snow a couple of days ago. It's cold again tonight (-5 right now, with a windchill of -20 or so,)  so you have to bundle up when you go outside. I went to deliver fruit to an older gentleman this afternoon, and couldn't make it through his lane without getting stuck. I had to walk the lane, twice, and I was so cold that my legs took about 30 minutes to warm up! I enjoy looking at my new thermometer every day, and calling Ben to have him explain the barometric pressure.

We had some interesting freezing fog. I was trying to see how much ice could build up on my antenna. When the sun came out, it looked like a true winter wonderland.

 

Over Thanksgiving I spent the weekend in Whitefish Montana. I didn't really do anything really interesting. Mostly I just relaxed in my hotel room, and walked around town. The shops were a little expensive so I really didn't buy anything. I even "went out" and met two very nice ladies. One of them worked at a boarding school in Kalispel. It was neat to talk to her and share stories.The mountain air was amazing. The air was cool and crisp and my lungs soaked it right up. I enjoyed walking around the antique stores, and made my second purchase (of 2, lol) at a used book store.

 

 

Whitefish at night

I took the train to Whitefish on Thanksgiving day and returned on Sunday. My experiences on the train were great! It's a more relaxed form of travel. You have time to relax, enjoy the view, and even grade papers. If you ever ride the train, I suggest hanging out in the Lounge. During daylight, you have a better view of the scenery, and at night it's quiet and free on snoring passengers! I feel a lot more comfortable about riding the train home for Christmas now.

I'll post my other pictures on Facebook in the near future. Hope everyone is enjoying this Holiday Season. I've appreciated all the notes, cards, and prayers you've been sending my way. If you are able to pray from me for this Thursday, for the Christmas concert, I'd appreciate it. It will be my first K-12 program I've been involved in, and my first completely in charge of concert.

Can't wait to come home and see everyone!!!!!!

Etsy Rules

(partially stolen from http://www.regretsy.com)

#1. Bandannas were originally created to help cowboys keep dust from getting into their nose, mouth, and throat. Do not use them to create clothing styles.

(source)

#2. When making beauty products, not only should they smell good, but they should look pretty too!

 

(source)

#3. Knitted beards are not in style in this century.

 

(source)

#4. I know recycling is important, but clothing fabric should be more luxurious then this. 

(source)

#5. Tapestries shouldn't be monstrosities. Especially when you're being charged $1,200!

Sorry to have wasted your precious time

Brahms, Candelight, and Chocolate

I went to the High School this evening to work on grades because it's the end of the trimester. I got most of my work done so I decided to go into my classroom and play the piano. I ended up lost in the world of Brahms for about an hour. It's been awhile since I played some real music so I was making mistakes all over the place. It doesn't matter how it sounded because what's important is that I left feeling relaxed and somewhat cheerful! I'm now realizing that because I'm involved in music all day I tend to unwind by reading, watching TV, or playing a game. To teach student's to love and appreciate music I need to love and appreciate music! I am feeling really motivated to start practicing again on a regular basis. We'll see how it goes.

I also got a wonderful package today from Steve and Mel North. It had a whole bunch of goodies, but most importantly there was chocolate!!! I never buy chocolate or snacks for myself because I don't "need" it and it's not cheap. With Thanksgiving approaching and the knowledge that I won't be eating at my Grandma's on Sunday, or with the Rife's on Thanksgiving chocolate was just what I needed.

After eating some chocolate, I lit some candles to try and make my apartment feel warm and cozy. It's so COLD here!!!

These three things made me smile, and I feel like today was a good day. Honestly it's been awhile since I could say that, and it was much needed.


With Love,
Casey

Choir

I thought my "audience" would be interested in seeing a picture of my choir singing at the EMB church last week. I stole this picture from the dorm blog which is a fun read as well. I was jealous to learn they were out driving four wheelers today. That's ok, I spent my day relaxing, cleaning, and making homemade bread.

Music keeps me Happy!

I love listening to music while I'm working on the weekends and when exercising. It helps calm me but still keeps me focused. I thought I'd upload two songs I've been listening to recently. The songs are peaceful, a little sad at times, but the lyrics are hopeful, as I am.


NEW FOUND LAND - Rooftops from TV Noir on Vimeo.