Remember me? Don't worry, I'm still alive!

Well, folks, life is good.

I apologize for not writing in OVER A MONTH (eeeeeeeek! Bad Becky! BAAAAD!) and I promise I'll try and make these updates as short and sweet as possible so you can still have some time to enjoy your day :)

1) I survived Music Festival season, amid last minute instrument malfunctions, lost scores and a few moments of madly hunting down permission slips. WOO HOO!  Success! I am still breathing, still enthusiastic about my job, and even still smiling! A big, happy, toothy grin!  To be honest, festival really wasn't as hectic as I imagined it to be. Funny how our brains trick us into more stress than it's worth sometimes, eh? Or maybe that's just me?? My bands and choirs emerged with a modest collection of silvers and bronzes, and one gold with the grade 6 honour band, qualifying them for last week's trip to Red Deer (more on that a bit later!).

2) Job applications are going alright. Still haven't heard back on any leads, but at least I'm finding things to apply to, right? I'm trying to be a bit picky instead of applying to anything and everything I'm qualified for, because I really just want to be sure I'm going to be happy with my job. I've realized how much of your life is defined and affected by work, so I want to be sure I have a good chance of enjoying the next year or so of it :)  If I can't find what I REALLY want, I'll become desperate as September gets closer.  The more I think about it, the more I want to be working in an arts school or a private school or an after-school programming where kids can come and be kids.  Maybe it's because of my relatively young age, but a big struggle I'm having this year is telling kids, essentially, to "sit down and be quiet". 

I don't mean I have trouble saying the words or enforcing it...I just have a bit of trouble rationalizing it to myself. While I very much do value respect and good manners, I think kids need to be able to freely express themselves and be artistic and have energy. Sometimes I think schools are a little suffocating in that regard. So anyway! If any of you on the off-chance know of a job that loosely fits that description, lemme know!

3) There are officially 24 days left of the school year.  That's a mere 12 classes, since I see them every other day, and even less than that for some because of half days, track meets and assemblies!!! EEEEK!! On the bright side, I have got a pretty good use of my benefits, including an eye appointment, new glasses (see below), massages, and dentist appointments (FML, I'm pretty sure all dentists across the country are out to get me. And I've even been FLOSSING. Like err'y day!).

#1 - plain black frames

#2 - a little smaller lenses, black on the front and floral on the sides

#3 - tortoise shell plastic frames.

4) You know when you meet people and they keep on surprising you with how awesome they are? I met one of those people, and his name is James. Think me -- only tall, male, athletic, and ambidextrous. I know what you're thinking. Didn't think there could be anyone cooler than me, right? Neither did I. 




5) The daylight hours are getting ridiculous[ly good]! WOOHOOOO! So there IS something to love about Grande Prairie! hahaha jooooking (or AM I ?).  Often times I'll be sitting doing work and look outside and think "Ah, it must be like what, 4pm? I have tons of time to finish this prep work!"

9:00pm

10:00pm

and then I look at the clock and it's actually 8pm. Yesterday it was 11pm and I could still see light in the sky. And the solstice is still a month away! Among other happy things in my life, it's helping to keep me in a GREAT mood! Reflecting on the harshness of winter, I spoke with a parent the other day who found out that this was my first winter in Grande Prairie. She really, genuinely apologized and promised that this year was particularly bad weather, and promised that it's not usually so horrible. Oh great, wonderful, so it's confirmed: I just have ALL the weather luck, don't I? hehe that's okay. Like I said, this awesome daylight thing is making it all seem worth it :)

11:00pm

6) So most of you know how I'm a pretty huge klutz.  Well last week (hmm, maybe 2 weeks ago?) I was volunteering as the staff rep at the jr. high soccer practice, and they really inspired me to go for a run. I hadn't been in a long time, and was so motivated to get going.  HOWEVER. After like 5 minutes of running, I pulled a 'Becky' totally biffed it!

I don't know if the pavement was cracked or what, but I just tripped for like NO reason. I subconsciously attempted a suave tuck-and-roll, but I'm 100% sure that it just made it worse.   I think one girl maybe saw me, but she took a turn off the path so I didn't have to be too embarrassed when I passed her. Gravel in my hands and blood on my knees, I hung my head in shame and finished the jog. 

I'd love to say that I've been out running a few times since, but between some travel plans and the death of an ipod who decided it would be a good idea to go for a swim in the washing machine, I haven't been out since.


I've made a sub-category of Travel:

1) Summer plans are coming together well. Not sure if I've updated on this yet or not, but the plan is to pack up camp here, make the drive to Edmonton and explore there for a day or two in the first few days of July; then continue on down to Calgary. Dad's gunna fly and meet me there and then we'll make the trek back to Kingston together. WOOP WOOP! I am so excited, I can't wait!  I've already made the playlist for the drive back to Ontario...lots of good stuff on there, but definitely taking suggestions from anyone who has anything to add. It has to be dad-daughter appropriate, and I'll happily accept any suggestions falling under the sub-categories of "summer jamz", "chilled out cruising tunes" and "pump me up, yo!" . Faja and I will be making the cross-country trek past wheatpools and water towers and experiencing Canada's beauty [and sickeningly straight highways, or so I'm told].

GPS: "In 625 kilometres, turn right"

2) Britt's Grad - this was last weekend in Boston, and it was just SO PERFECT.  I flew out Thursday night and arrived mid-morning in Boston.  Paul was working and Britt was done classes, so I got her ALL TO MYSELF - that rarely happens nowadays, since the only time we have a reason to visit is  some sort of family reunion and I have to share her with everyone else.  That afternoon was perfect, walking around Boston, eating lunch at Finagle a Bagel, and sitting on a dock making cloud shapes. The rest of the weekend was filled with visits, receptions, lots of spanish people, and real intense parking.   

A lovely afternoon with a lovely sister!

3) Red Deer - Like I said before, the grade 6 Honour Band got gold in the Grande Prairie music festival. That means they got to go onto the 'next level', so to speak, which is the Red Deer festival, run in conjunction with the Alberta Band Association.  It was a 7 hour bus ride both ways, with one overnight stay in a hotel.  I took full advantage of the hot tub and pool in the small window between the 'lights out' call and my late-night hallway shift.  I had the whole place to myself, it was wonderful! It was also the first time I've ever had a hotel room all to myself, which was kind of nice, I guess.  The kids were all so wonderful, as were the chaperones.  I wasn't conducting or anything, but helped out behind-the-scenes and got a good seat for taking a video of their performance.  It was such a nice 'break' from teaching, and I really truly enjoyed getting to know the kids more outside of school. They made me laugh so much. One kid accidentally used body lotion instead of conditioner in the shower and was like "I feel silly...and my hair feels gross." Another kid walked out in the pouring rain shouting "YOLO! YOLO! I'm going to enjoy the rain!". They're so funny and creative and lovely...I'm going to miss them! 

4) The iPod drive is coming to a close, and I'm hoping to take a few students with me to the recreation therapy unit at Alberta Health services on Wednesday. The idea is that we'll meet with a representative, donate the ipods, perhaps meet some of the patients, and then talk a little bit about the meaning of the project. I'm not sure of our total count yet, but I'm estimating about 20. I think we could have done better, but now I have some better ideas about how to run a collection in coming years. I'll post more pictures if I can soon!

Anyway, peeps. I better get back to that thing called, you know, called work.  If I keep going at this rate, I'm going to forget how to do it! Something tells me it's not quite the same as riding a bike.

Until Next Time,
B.