Good Things

I haven't been very bloggy of late. Things have gotten a bit busy--in a good way. I guess it's easiest to lay them out in sections...

Endeavour In the Sky

On Friday, NASA's retired space shuttle Endeavour flew a victory lap of sorts over California on its way to a museum in Los Angeles where it will reside permanently. The museum paid for this tour, which is pretty classy, if you ask me. The Endeavour, mounted on a 747 and escorted by a fighter, flew over Sacramento sometime before 10:00 in the morning, circling the State Capitol and then flying south and west to San Francisco for a pass over the Golden Gate Bridge.

I had heard that it was touring, but a busy morning at Petite School had pushed it out of my mind, until, around 10:00, I noticed my 4th graders were late for music, and there was a lot of screaming going on outside. Suddenly, I heard a huge roar, and it occurred to me what was going on. I ran outside just in time to see the 747 approach--low--and roar right over my head. I mean right over it. Not half a mile off, but literally buzzing our school.

I was clapping my hands and jumping up and down, squealing along with the students of Petite School. We were all gathered in the parking lot, waving and making noise, watching a piece of history fly over our heads. It was thrilling.  

Endeavour passes the Capitol Building in Sacramento.
Photo Credit: Sacramento Bee

New Music!!

So Mumford & Sons have finally, finally released their second album, Babel, and it's fabulous. Of course, rabid fans like Maayan and myself had already heard many of the tracks on it, as the Mumford boys have been playing them live for ages now. But it's great to hear studio recordings of them, and the new material is fantastic.

My favorite, so far, is the first single, "I Will Wait," but I'm also loving "Lover Of the Light" and the cover (available on the Deluxe Edition only) of Simon and Garfunkle's "The Boxer."

M&S have to be my second-favorite band right now. Keane will always hold that top spot--they're just too awesome--but M&S have some great music and I have a lot of great memories of seeing them with Meghan, Maayan and Summer.

And, of course, of meeting Ben in 2010.

Cute British boy who is far too young for me.

Awesome Feedback

So obviously, most of my blogging in the last couple of weeks has been about reaching that elusive Goal Weight, and thanking my awesome trainer all over the place.(Not to mention those awesome after pics.)

The feedback I've been getting--a few blog comments, but mostly on Facebook and Twitter, has been amazing. Apparently, I'm inspiring. This makes me happy--I'm glad that my Odyssey proves to others that reaching a great level of fitness is possible for anyone. I started out very heavy and completely out-of-shape. Here I am, three-and-a-half years later.

So yeah, the feedback makes me happy.

Petite School Awesomeness

Let me just say this again: I love my job!!!

I gave the following assignment a couple of weeks ago...to third graders:

If I had tried this with my middle school students in Stockton, it would have been confusion and meltdowns all over the place. I barely had to help my students with this at Petite School. A few questions for clarification, and then ZOOM! They were off. The assignment was kind of fail-proof, as I had them using the pentatonic scale and easy rhythms, but still, they composed melodies. Four-bar melodies. Every single group followed every single direction.

And they adore using the lap boards.

Obviously, I'm only posting pictures that don't have the childrens' faces.

The other amazing thing? The cooperation! You can see how they take turns and no one does the bulk of the work. It's really great to watch.

I love my job!!!!

The World's Ugliest Scarf Finds a New Home

If you've been following my adventures for a few years, then you might remember Scarfapalooza. In which Yours Truly had an epic hissy fit at having to wear the World's Ugliest Scarf for a Chorale Concert in Stockton.

During a recent trip to my storage unit, I found the scarf in a box of costume stuff (I might recycle my Mini Mouse ears from Disneyland for Halloween this year) and decided it was time to let go.

Way past time.

So the World's Ugliest Scarf got listed on eBay. And it got four bids. And today, it sold.

I wish it all the best in its new home.

This pic was taken by my friend
The PurpleMagpie.

It really was ugly, right?



And there you have it. There are other exciting things happening, but those will wait for future posts. Right now, it's time for me to head to Bedfordshire. Just because I'm at goal weight doesn't mean I don't have to get up and run!