January: We started the year off at my sister Lynn's house. We had just left Marc's sister, Karyn's house in Wisconsin and stopped in Tennessee on the way home. Emma and Addison rode their first horses and Addison got licked in the face by a cow when he tried to feed it loaf bread. Hilarious. We had Region Band auditions and I had more kids make the band than the year before, but ironically, only one student was a repeat qualifier. The kids that made it before didn't, and the kids that hadn't made it before, did.
February: We received Marc's first monthly disability payment and rejoiced to put 19 months of financial struggle behind us. We stayed busy almost every weekend. Both of us traveled to the Marriage Retreat with the church in Pigeon Forge, and the state Music Convention in Charleston. Charleston is ALWAYS fun and this year was no exception. I talked with people about 6th grade percussion and tried some new ideas...but none of them worked. The music was incredible and the food was even better. While at the marriage retreat we got to see a side of some of our husbands that I could live with never seeing again, but boy was it hilarious! I love being in a church that doesn't think religion has to be stuffy. I took the students to Region Band in Lexington and that was a lot of fun. We took them to eat at a Japanese Steakhouse and David Vickery and Joey Bagwell convinced them to try Wasabi. While we were unloading the fruit truck this past November, they were still laughing about that dinner. It was one of those moments that you don't realize at the time, but makes your whole teaching career. Marc's parents lived with our kids alot so that we were able to take the trips...and they took them back and forth to school, signed agendas and did homework with them, even while they were in the middle of a move to a new house. Karyn came down to help them move and up the mountain they climbed! We were so grateful for their help!
In March, the band went to Concert Festival for the first time ever. We spent most of this month with guest clinicians and after school rehearsals. The kids played VERY WELL and even though they received and "Excellent" rating, everyone that listened to their recording was genuinely very impressed with their growth. David Vickery said to me, "I think you did a great job and you should be proud of your students." Having the validation of your colleagues often means more than the rating from the judges...especially when one judge, during the part that we worked the HARDEST to get right, (And boy did they play it well,) said that she would "like to talk to me about the hangey downy things on my shirt sleeves." She went on to say that my outfit was a distraction to the band, (even though I wear that outfit to most every concert- so much that the kids tease me about it) and she missed the really great moment in the music. Ooh well...
April arrived and spring break came with it. Marc and Emma traveled to Florida to visit family there and Addison and I stayed home. We visited with my grandfather and played at the park. I bought Emma a pair of shoes over spring break and when Easter arrived, the shoes were too small. She was growing and growing and GROWING! I started the process of seriously looking at surgery for reflux because my singing voice had all but disappeared.
I had the surgery in May and that took up about the whole month. BEST. SLEEP. EVER!!! I took most of the last month off of school, but returned the last few days to wrap up the end of the school year. I learned that Loratab gives me nightmares and had some of the best people take care of me- It was a big adjustment to be taken care OF instead of caring FOR people, so I didn't stay down for long. The surgery was an easy recovery and I'm happy to say that I've pretty much recovered most of my voice. I really hated being out of school, and people thought I was stupid for coming back so soon, but I could not let the end of the school year pass without wrapping up all of the loose ends. Every band director reading this agrees with me. :-)
The summer came and we started it with a wonderful trip to Disney World. I was three weeks post op and really couldn't eat much. My sugar dropped quickly for awhile after the surgery until my stomach learned to regulate the food it could hold...so there were times on the trip when I had a little demon inside me and the family thought I had turned into the wicked witch...but I couldn't help it...Lol! We had a GREAT time at Disney. We visited Hollywood Studios where Marc got to meet some of his favorite Star Wars actors, and we also went to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Emma and all of the girls had an afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian where Emma ate the head off of a cream filled swan and declared to us that she was "not fancy." The tea was one of the highlights of the trip for me, but I think Emma would prefer to play in the mud. Lol! Nana was right, though, when she said that an afternoon tea is something that "every little girl should be able to do once in their lives." I LOVED it! At Epcot, Addison and I got stuck in a terrible thunderstorm and I got turned around in the park and couldn't find my way out. He was terrified and it was the first time we really saw a LOT of anxiety in him. On the way home, we visited Marc's granny in her nursing home and again, Addie flipped out. We tried to take what turned out to be the last pictures we would ever take with granny, but Addison did not feel comfortable in the nursing home with all of the older people and he went into a full meltdown. Off to the pediatrician we went.
We discussed with the pediatrician that several school teachers had expressed that Addison would need Occupational Therapy to work with his hands because he was left handed and wrote his letters wrong. He didn't like to cut with scissors, wouldn't cross the mid line on paper, etc...and we discussed the meltdowns on vacation. He broke my heart when he looked at the doctor and said, "I'm a bad kid. I ruined my daddy's last trip to see his granny." The doctor teared up a bit and said, "I have a great friend who helps kids figure out why they feel like they do. He is a really good doctor. Would you like to go see him?" Then she said, "You're not a bad guy. You're just a little confused about how to handle your feelings." And all three of us cried just a little. If you need a pediatrician, I can recommend a great one.
The rest of the summer was spent going to the child psychologist and OT sessions. Addison made GREAT progress and met all of his goals. Marc's grandmother passed away, so while he and his sisters traveled to Florida, we were able to have Katelyn over for a few days. That was good for Emma because I felt like she was sort of getting left out as we had to focus so much attention on Addison. Emma and Katelyn are more like sisters than cousins and they LOVE spending time together!
Band camp started and Marc decided that he would like to try and work with the band. I was hesitant because I knew that it would be very hard on his back, but I also knew that it would be a great thing to get him out of the house and give him a goal to work towards. He ended up becoming my literal right arm during marching season. In August, school started and Emma went to the Elementary school for the first time. Addie started first grade. Both of the kids have incredible teachers this year and both of them are making all A's. Addison was quickly able to test out of both OT and speech at school, but we still give him little OT activities for him to do without him knowing about it. Silly putty, Weave a Loom, Mousetrap and Jenga are just a few ways that Santa and others keep him practicing! His anxiety is much better, though we still see its ugly head occasionally. Emma was in the marching band show, starring as the narrator of the show. I never once worried about her forgetting a line, being in the wrong place or messing up in any way. She was an absolute natural. Several times the judges said, "I know that I should be watching the band right now, but this little girl is so cute I can't stop watching her." That was the point, Mr. Judge. :-)
September and October were a flurry of band contests. After an initial run of second place, the band never lost another prelim contest. Each week it was guard, percussion and music trophy after trophy and winning became something we got used to. The band qualified for State Finals and ended up finishing 7th in the state, a tenth of a point away from 6th. I was very proud. Marc spent the month of November in the bed. :-)
In October, my beloved car Frogger passed away. I know I talk about that stupid car like it was a person, but jeepers I loved that thing. I've never been so tied to a "thing," a "possession" as I was that car. We bought one car that turned out to be a lemon and spent a Saturday in December buying a second car. I just didn't feel like you should have to have a car towed when you've only made one payment on it. Luckily, we were able to get into a really great, brand new car that I absolutely love and plan to drive for another 14 or so years. It's difficult getting financing when you're recovering from the 19 months of Marc not working, but we were able to pull ourselves out of the hole enough for God to come through AGAIN.
November was spent playing a lot of football on Friday nights and with a great visit from Marc's sister at Thanksgiving. After a few days in the hospital for what turned out to be the craziest thing ever, a hemorrhagic ovulation, I was able to go black Friday eve shopping with both of my sister in laws and that was a lot of fun. I spent November and part of December in alot of pain, recovering from the ovarian problem, but I also had two concerts to prepare the band and chorus for. The chorus decided to do "Christmas with the Phantom" and learned the music from Phantom of the Opera. It turned out to be a GREAT idea and we may choose to do something like that again next year. Truly, you can only sing the same arrangement of "Jingle Bells" so many times before you're ready for something else. Unless I wanted to blow the budget on all new Christmas music, we were going to have to come up with something new, and Phantom provided the perfect music. My friend Joyce was able to get the tracks off of iTunes and the concert ended up costing me nothing to perform. The best concerts are FREE concerts, right???
December started with parades and concerts and ended with a great visit to my sister Lynn's house. Funny how the year started and ended there, huh? Before Facebook, Lynn and I went maybe 10 years without seeing or speaking to each other...but we found each other on FB and now talk quite regularly. We joke about how sane we ended up in the midst of chaos and are both pretty determined to raise decent families without alot of drama. Horses provide her sanity the same way that music does for me. We're so much alike that it's scary...but at least if she is like me, I know she's a keeper! :-)
January is almost here again and it's going to be much more of the same...I'm going to start with Region auditions, the Convention, Concert Festival and many more of the exact same things I did in 2012. Maybe this year the band will get that Superior rating that has eluded us...Maybe Marc's back will be better. Maybe I'll be perfectly content if we just rest in the fact of knowing that whatever happens, God will take care of us. Here's looking forward to a wonderful, peaceful, 2013!
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