So my first full week of work is finished, and I'm exhausted! And ready. And not ready. Excited, terrified...mostly excited. I have a busy, crazy, fun year ahead of me, one that's going to challenge me as a teacher, as a musician, and that will show what I'm made of. But first, I've got stories. When do I not have stories? This is, after all, the Wild and Absolutely True Adventures of Meg.
I Hope You're Happy, Pinnochio
A little while ago I peeled the cover off of my duvet and hauled it into the laundry room to wash. As I peered into the washing machine, horror of horrors, I saw something moving. My first thought was, "Cockroach! Oh, I'm gonna barf!!" Fortunately, it was only a cricket.
Actually, it was a trapped cricket, and one that didn't seem to be able to jump, even though I could see that it had all of it's legs. "Great," I muttered to myself. "I'll just grab a glass and a piece of that junk mail and catch this critter."
Yeah. Not so easy, that.
You see, I don't touch bugs. It's just not my thing. I also don't like to kill them unless they're ants or those horrid little "earwig" bugs with the pinchers. Not to mention it's supposedly bad luck to kill crickets (...and I don't want cricket body parts all over my bedding). This is why I found myself, fifteen minutes later, cursing one terrified little cricket as I chased it around the drum of my washing machine with a wooden spoon and a drinking glass. I just couldn't get the little guy into the glass, so I took a piece of junk mail (nice and sturdy) to scoop him up and drop him into the glass. Then I smacked the letter down over the top and hustled Jiminy out to a planter outside of my front door.
Crisis solved.
Well, How About That!!
Monday was a day for all new teachers at my site to meet with the principal and some teachers who have been there for a while. We did a quick introduction, going around the room, and the new video tech guy mentioned living "across from *store name here*."
Hey, I live across from *store name here*!
Later I had a chance to chat with him one-on-one, because his classroom is in the same quad area as mine--no more than 50-60 yards from my room. I asked him if he lives in my complex. "Yeah, that's the place."
"I live there too." I mentioned which building and he got a funny smile on his face.
"You live...yeah. I live in 261."
"No way!"
Yes, my friends. He is my upstairs neighbor. How funny is that? He and his girlfriend live right above my head. I can hear their footfalls, they, no doubt, will be subjected to my loud singing. It's all good!
Surprise!
I talked to Mom and Dad on the phone this afternoon--they're coming to see me tomorrow, and Dad mentioned that I had a piece of mail from Chimacum (the school in WA). "It looks like a check."
"Nah...come on, you're just teasing me."
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are! I don't believe you."
"I'm not kidding. It looks like a check."
"Well, go ahead and open it, then."
Sure enough, it was a check, for nearly $500. Woohoo! This was going to be a lean month, because I don't get my first paycheck from the new job until September 30. An extra $500 is a big treat.
What Did YOU Do This Week?
I attacked a baby grand with a Shop Vac.
Yes, in the interest of instrument maintanence, the band teacher and I cleaned out the piano in my classroom. The school bought it 10 years ago, with a heavy discount, for $15,000. It's valuable. And it was in dire need of a good cleaning. Larry knows how to take the keyboard aparatus out, so he did that while I sneezed. A lot. Next we took the Shop Vac, put it on "blow," and went at the inside of the piano with a vengeance, blowing dust bunnies the size of, well, real bunnies, out of the box, along with paper clips, a hair clip and bits of paper. We had to blow everything out because there's no way to fish it out between the strings.
Finally we switched the Shop Vac back to "suck" and got all remaining dust out. I took a damp rag to the metal parts and wiped it clean. Now that piano is absolutely gleaming, inside and out.
I'm Off
I've spent a good chunk of my day on the Internet, researching choir music and getting ideas. I'm ready to relax with a movie or a good book.
Cheers!
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