Here’s a look back at the week that was…
HITS
- School is back in session. As much as I felt underprepared for a new semester, I was ready to get started. It was a good feeling to have students roaming the halls again and hearing the early strains of music making filling the air. It’s gonna be an awesome semester and there are truly great things ahead for us.
- In the midst of all of the craziness of week 1, I appreciated slipping away to enjoy dinner with family. No earth-shattering discussions. No major planning. Just talking and being together.
- Despite being insanely busy this week, I was still able to fit in regularly scheduled times of reading each day. I don’t guess I truly understood just how important to my emotional and mental health it is for me to slip away from the day’s activities and lose myself in a book for a bit. Most of the week was devoted to re-reading Read for Your Life as well as the novel Dear Evan Hansen. Here’s hoping that I can continue to fit some quiet moments in each day to spend in the pages of a book. I’ll definitely be a much happier person if I do.
- What kept me so busy this week? Registration for the Academy of Fine Arts happened early in the week, so that meant working with student teachers to get them paired up with private students and make sure lessons are getting scheduled. I am so happy that I get to be involved in this service to our community. The biggest event of the week, however, was final preparation for the 2nd annual WBU Piano Competition that was held on Saturday morning. The event was a huge success and I am thrilled with how everything turned out. 15 students competed and we were able to award $1,600 in prizes thanks to the generosity of the WBU Friends of Music. This event would have never happened without help from the incredible student staff that volunteered their time as well as my esteemed colleagues – Richard and Ann. Now I just need to make my final notes about Saturday’s event and put it away for a little while before starting work on the 2021 event.
- After the competition on Saturday, I took a mental health day that was greatly needed. I left Plainview for a few hours to let my mind wander, do a little reading, enjoy some food, and simply be in a new environment for a bit. Were there other things that I could have done? Certainly. There was work that still needed my attention. I just had to let it go for a while, knowing that it will still be there when I actually go back to the office.
MISSES
- There are days when it feels as though there is so much work to do and simply not enough hours in the day. I felt like the man from one of my favorite childhood television commercials: “Time to make the donuts! I’ve made the donuts.”
- Cold weather is for the birds! I don’t like it. I don’t have the clothes for it. And then school was cancelled on Friday morning because of the ice. I enjoyed sleeping in Friday morning, but was more than ready for the cold and precipitation to go away!
Livin' Life 