I had been very busy with school lately, so I have fallen behind a bit in my blog postings...for that I apologize. I just received an email from a friend of mine. basically yelling at me for not updating this site...It was pretty funny, and eye opening. I would post it here for everyone to read...but in my very first post I said I was going to keep this blog kid-friendly...and he used some very "unique and colorful" language while suggesting I spend a little more time in Blogging World.
I'll start with a quick picture. I have not been out shooting too much due to the cold, but I am sure that will change come March. So the picture...I love hoarfrost!!!! It is beautiful. Here it is:
So how have I been doing?.....I've been great! School has been working me like mad! I have two combined concerts in less than a month than I am working very hard to prepare the kids for. March is Music in Our Schools Month, and to celebrate, Randy Smith is joining up with two other middle schools (Tanana and Ryan) to perform two very large joint concerts...one band and one orchestra. since I teach both band and orchestra...I get to work on both =) We are playing some very fun music...but it is extremely challenging, so the pressure is a little high.
Other cool things about school: I had a formal evaluation from my principal a few weeks ago and she seems to be VERY impressed with what I am doing. I thought I was doing pretty well with everything, but of coarse I am critical of my teaching and feel like I have a long way to go. My principal also sees that I have a long way to go, but she told me that I am already a great teacher...and in years to come, if I keep doing what I am doing and continue to grow, people will be hearing about me. That was very sweet and kinda fun to hear =)
I am very happy, however, not everything has been great: "The Swamp Donkey" is dead! I went out to start my car last week. It was one of those pleasant -40 degree mornings, I went to the passenger side door to get in (oh yeah...my door handle snapped off in the cold one day), and I started the car. It turned over...it didn't want to...but it did. When I say it didn't want to turn over, I just mean that it was very sluggish...so I gave it a little gas. I barely touched the accelerator when all of the sudden something caught and the engine revved very high for a fraction of a second, then calmed down and idled regularly. I then went in side to grab a few things for school and to let "The Swamp Donkey" warm up for today's ride to school. I go back out to the car and find that it had shut it's self off...not something it had ever done before. I turn her back over and she goes. I wait a little bit and decide to slowly back out and start going to work. I back up about 6 feet and it dies again. I try turning it over...and no dice. I am not super happy at this point. To make things worse...I look over to where the car was, and there, on the ground, was a large puddle of black, viscous, liquid. The Swamp Donkey had bled to death. Apparently, during the very brief period the engine was revving high, I blew a gasket. Blown head gaskets are VERY nasty and expensive to replace...so guess who is going to try to buy a car today...ME =) I have been taking the city bus to school everyday and have been getting rides home by various teachers. It has been a pain in the backside...but it's not that bad. The bus come right to Wedgewood pretty early in the morning, so I still have pleanty of time to get to jazz band.
I actually need to wrap this one up now because the bus will be here soon and I need to go to the bank as see about a loan for a vehicle. I know it has been a while since my last post, so I hope people still check this place out now and then.
Have a fantastic weekend!!
~Mr. Lockwood
