Closer and closer...

Closer to the end of the semester now - the 2nd DDF tournament of the year is out of the way. Got in super late last night (well, 1:30 in the morning), but it was so incredibly worth it. We swept the Humorous Interp and Duet Acting events, as well as winning the Overall Sweepstakes (1st in Drama/Speech and 3rd in Debate) by 1 point. It was pretty amazing. I'm so proud of how well the kids did, and how focused and intent they were on everything that they did.

I would also like to say congratulations to the Houghton Gremlin Volleyball Team - Class C Regional Champions! My dad and the rest of his team is headed off to the quarterfinals tomorrow, with the game being Tuesday night. Go here for any of you who want to read all about their trip so far. :)

Now? Preparing for All-State. I leave on Wednesday after school and will be back again early Sunday morning. Then it's a 3 day week, four days off (hurray for Thanksgiving!), two full weeks, 4 days of classes (3 concerts), an inservice... and then it's winter break. 16 days off, 6 days in Memphis with the family. I need to call the cousins this week to talk about a few things, and overall I'm really excited to get to see everyone. I also get to look for my Christmas present (yay for a new camera!) when I'm up in Anchorage this weekend and see what I can find that will work well.

We've got snow! It's really pretty now, and it makes me happy that we have it. Otherwise, fall and winter are kind of not-as-pretty because it's just grey and brown and a bit of yellow. I like the fact that we have snow. The only troublesome thing is that it also melts during the day (because it doesn't always stay warm enough) which means that a lot of the parking lots turn into ice and aren't particularly safe. But I have ice cleats that I wear, and so it's okay. Hopefully.

11 days until Thanksgiving. 32 days until Christmas. :) Almost half-way done with my third year of teaching. Still a mind-trip, sometimes. A good one, though.

And now... it's November

Only 7 more weeks, and I'll be in Memphis for the family Christmas. It seems, in some ways, that it's rather far away - still a DDF tournament, All-State Band, and three concerts - but then I know that it's also going to fly by. I'll be half-way done with my third year of teaching. That in and of itself seems a bit strange. There are still times when I feel like I'm just out of college and not really qualified to do this.

That said - my bands did AMAZINGLY at their fall concerts this year. It was really impressive to see how well my middle school band blended and listened to each other. The high school band did very well with some difficult music, and I was so proud of how well they all stepped up and met the goals that we've decided to work on with each other. Now, we're going to keep working and improving. Winter concert is now in 5 weeks, and I know that they're going to do well.

We have one more DDF tournament next weekend. It really doesn't get crazy until after we come back from Winter Break. Big fundraiser the weekend right after (which I need to start planning this weekend), and then 4 tournaments in 5 weeks, including State. The kids are doing SO well this year, and I'm happy that the changes that we've implemented have gone well and the kids are flourishing. Success breeds success, and all that.

Unfortunately, there's not really a whole lot *new* going on here. Mostly just work and then relaxing when I'm home from work, but not really doing anything too terribly exciting. However, I'm really okay with that, at least for right now. :)