Update

I felt a bit out of the loop when I signed on and all of my cousins on my blog list had updated and I hadn't!

I went to the mountains for Labor Day weekend. We have a house in Virginia near Hillsville...home of a HUGE flea market that I care absolutely nothing about. On Sunday we went down the New River in a Canoe! For those of you that know me, you know that this was out of my character. Mom and Dad shared a canoe and Katherine and I shared another one. Dad is skilled in paddling because he kayaks most every weekend...but for the rest of us, it was not a good situation. Katherine stuck her foot in the water and marred up to her shins in mud before she even made it to the boat. We finally pushed off the land and our boat headed straight for the bank where I got a face full of brush that was probably the home to about a thousand mosquitoes, ticks, and a few snakes....it's ok though, I came through it blemish free...just in time for us to move 2 feet and get stuck on a rock. Needless to say, the first five minutes were a challenge and I was ready to be done with it. Things ended up getting better. Katherine and I LOVE to sing like little kids when we're together. On the way down the river, we were paddling and singing some of our favorite songs from our childhood. This included the song from the old Disney classic The Sword in the Stone. "To and fro, stop and go, that's what makes the world go 'round"....so we were singing this in the worst singing voices possible for a good 20 minutes. We decided to turn around at some point for whatever reason and saw that there was a couple right behind us in a canoe that had been listening (and laughing) the entire time. Oh well, saving the world one children's song at a time!

I'm sure I'll miss school when I leave...in fact, I know I will...but right now I'm ready to be finished. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of the mentality of most college aged people right now...self absorbed and not very dependable. I'm hoping that things will improve when I'm away from the college setting...or maybe all I need is a change of scenery. I'll miss choir. I'll miss being in front of the podium rather than my big future of being behind it. I'll probably never get to sing in a choir of this caliber once I graduate.

I spoke to my long time friend and mentor today. She always puts me in the right frame of mind. I met her when I was a 7th grader. I was asked to participate in All-County chorus and she was the guest conductor. I had been musical my entire life, but had never thought about making it a career. I decided within the first few minutes of her rehearsal that I was going to be a music teacher, and I haven't changed my mind since. When I get tired and discouraged with all of the CRAP that comes with being a musician ...or being a music major...I write, call, or visit her. She reminds me of the love that I have for Music Education, and tugs at that passion I have inside of me that she evoked when I was only 12 years old. It was good for me to talk to her today...I'm 99% sure that I will student teach with her. The only thing that could stop it is if the education dept or school systems have a glitch and won't place me with her.

My laptop is running out of power, and I'm afraid I am as well. I will write more later.