Spring Recital

Today was my studio's Spring Recital. Pretty much all of the day was spent preparing for the recital and teaching lessons. This was my first "solo" recital. When I started teaching voice lessons four years ago, I only had one student. My friend Kristin, who also teaches privately, let me piggyback on her recital so my student could perform. And it just sort of became a tradition that we combined for recitals. But alas, Kristin now lives in Arizona. And my studio has grown enough that it makes sense to do my own anyway.

This recital I had 5 violin students perform, and 1 voice student. I recently had 2 voice students sign up, so next time there should be a bit better balance. I also perform at the recitals (an idea I stole from Kristin) so that the parents get a chance to see my skill set (for lack of a better way to put it), and also so the kids can see that I'm willing to do what I ask them to do. Because I teach violin and voice, I switch instruments every recital. This time I sang "Lachen und Weinen". It's a lovely little Schubert song that works well with my voice.

I brought my camera, but it was all rather a whirlwind, with some students needing to leave quickly, and I didn't break it out until after most people had gone. I did get a picture of the two boys who started with me about three months ago. This was their very first recital, so it was kind of a big deal for them. I enjoy teaching all of my students, but these two are still very excited about learning something new that it makes it even more fun for me.

Ethan had fun at the recital. He thought it was so cool when all of us were tuning. But then he started getting into things he shouldn't while I was trying to make sure everything was in order, so I was very glad when one of the mothers arrived and immediately scooped him up. She kindly watched him for me until Terral came.

It was really cute to see all the other kids gathered around Ethan afterward. I tried to snap a picture of it, but they dispersed every time a grabbed the camera. One of the boys put his glasses on Ethan, and they were having fun with his reaction.

My banana oatmeal cookies were a success, and everyone seemed to enjoy the recital. Yay! And hooray for having one more thing crossed off the list. :)

Deflated

I just got done writing a long post about how excited I was because after a long fruitless search to find ways to earn re-licensure points for my teaching license, I found the perfect solution.  I was just about to hit publish when I decided to check one of the details and I saw that I had misread something.  The course offered hours, not credits.  Which means I'm getting way less bang for my buck than I thought. Pooh.

I knew it was too good to be true.

Good News Tuesday

Yesterday was a really good day.  Completely different from Monday (the day before) when I was feeling tired, overwhelmed, discouraged, pressured, and a little scared.  Part of the reason I was feeling that way was that the grant I had been awarded was taken away because they decided I wasn't eligible after all.

Tuesday morning started with a meeting with my mentor teacher.  The meeting went really well, contrary to my nervous expectations, and I felt like it was very productive.  Plus, I got two pieces of good news.  1)  I don't have to wear only collared shirts like the email said.  This is excellent news for one who will necessarily be wearing maternity clothes.  2) She's willing to work around my being gone on a family vacation in Oregon even though it's the week before the school gets out on break and we will have a concert sometime close to that.

After my meeting, I came home and we had lunch before we headed to St. George to talk to a midwife.  We had called every single number we could get our hands on, and she was the only one to call us back to make and appointment. (Well, besides the one who called to tell us she isn't practicing anymore.)   We had a really good meeting with Janae.  We were both really comfortable with her, she answered all of our questions and then some, and she was just real.  She seemed very knowledgeable and she gave us reasons for why she does the things she does.  She also let us know different options we have, and she encouraged us to talk to several different midwives before we decide who we'll go with.  She thinks new parents should make educated decisions, so she gave us a list of books and websites we can refer to.  I could go on and on about all the reasons we liked her (Terral and I talked for quite a long time about it), but one of the biggest things is just how we felt when we were there.

After the meeting, we got some more lunch (to stave off my queasiness) and sat down to eat it.  Terral got a call from another midwife, and we were able to meet with her shortly after.  It was a completely different experience.  She was nice enough, but the minute we walked in the door, it felt like walking into a wall.  We immediately knew that she wasn't the right midwife for us.  We stayed for a while and asked questions so as not to be rude, but we left as soon as we felt it was acceptable.

We have one more meeting with a midwife, but we're pretty positive that we've already found the one for us.  We have felt so guided in this decision, and it's been a huge blessing.

We rounded off our good day with a visit to the temple, and then a visit to Heather and Chris.  Who could ask for more?