Thursday, December 20, 2012

"Snow" much to tell you about!

Hello, hello!  Sorry - couldn't resist the "punny" title - haha.

I've been meaning to take advantage of the snow day all day and get a new blog post written, but I spent most of the afternoon digging my car out of the driveway...so...yeah...

Anyway, I hope this finds you safe and warm.  As I found myself becoming increasingly annoyed and discouraged by my immobile car, I kept reminding myself to be thankful to have a car to be stuck in the first place, to have a warm home in which to take breaks from the cold, and to have a warm bed to rest in later.

Though the winter storm made traveling home treacherous last night, it, coupled with the sunshine, made for some beautiful scenes here at the coop today:

I thought this guy would enjoy playing in the snow for a bit.
He only lasted 5 mins. before sitting at the door waiting to be let in.
...8 hours later, he's still recovering.
A couple kiddo stories I've been saving:
The 3-yr.-old I nanny for asked me if I could whistle.  I demonstrated my ability to do so, then she tried for herself.  She was using a high-pitched voice to make a "whistle" sound, rather than actually blowing through her lips - haha.  Afterward, she asked, "Am I blowing a whistle, yet?"

On the way to school on the same day, the 5-yr.-old boy asked, "How do you get brain damage?"  I replied, "Well, it's usually because of an accident...why do you ask?"  He responded, "I want to know, because I don't want to get it."  Fair enough, dear friend.

As is evidenced by the lack of posts in the recent past, it's been a crazy busy month, but what's new?  ☺  I was able to listen to almost all of my students perform on our 2-day student recital for the whole studio, and was so proud of each of them and excited to be able to support them that day!  The next weekend was our faculty recital, as well as a wedding music showcase recital we put on for engaged couples looking for their perfect wedding music.  It was so much fun to spend some quality time and perform with my amazing coworkers!  Last weekend was spent attending three different Christmas parties, as well as the Nutcracker and lunch with former roommates and their families.  I've probably said it before, but I just love being able to spend (sometimes spontaneous) quality time with friends from various times in my life and just pick up where we left off!

I'd like to thank those of you who have sent Christmas cards, pictures, and letters - I soooo love getting mail and hearing from each of you!  I'm going to apologize right now, though, because I'm not going to be sending out a Christmas picture or letter in return this year.  I decided that since nothing has drastically changed in my life, I'll save on printing and postage this year and come up with something great for next!  ☺  In the meantime, feel free to read previous blog posts from the year - I may need to do the same to remember what all happened this year!

I'd also like to publicly thank all my students and their families for the thoughtful and extremely generous gifts they've given me over the past week or so.  As if I'm not blessed enough to get to spend 30 minutes with those precious kiddos each week...!

This will probably be the last post before Christmas, so Merry Christmas to you all!  I hope you enjoy the blessings of family, food, laughter, and warmth throughout the holiday week(s), and may you keep the focus on the reason we're celebrating in the first place...Jesus!

Love,
Kensy
Favorites of the day:
snow!
not loosing power
Trader Joe's Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup
uncles/neighbors/landlords with skid loaders

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Once upon a December...

Hello, hello and Happy December!

I'll forego generic comments about the weather, Husker loss, and busyness of this season and share a couple stories from the week with you all!  ☺

I had an episode of Modern Family playing last night while I was cleaning.  The doorbell on the show rang about 10 times throughout the duration of the episode, and Charlie either ran to or looked alertly at our door every time!  I'm not sure how he's so conditioned to the sound - hardly anyone ever uses our doorbell...

I played a beautiful duet with one of my first-grade students at her lesson this week.  When we were finished playing, I asked her what she thought of it.  She thought for a second, then said, "It sounded like Valentime's day..."  (No, that's not a typo.)  I asked, "How so?"  She replied, "It sounded like...love."  Couldn't have said it better myself!  ☺

Those of you on Facebook have already heard/read this story, but I think it's worth sharing, again:
I called my grandma (on Dad's side, for those of you who know her) just to say "hi" the other morning.  She was asking about my jobs, and saying how glad she is that I am enjoying it all, but asked if I'd ever be looking for a full-time classroom position.  I gave my usual answer to that ever-so-prevalent question: "Not right now, but I know my current schedule isn't conducive to a having family, if and when that time comes, so we'll see..."  She agreed and said, "Yes, that will be wonderful...when it happens.  And it will - just keep praying...and hoping."  I was right there with her and might as well have chimed in with an, "Amen, sister!"  She went on to say, "Well, we want to be around [when you have a family], so tell God to hurry up!"  Apparently, my sweet, lovely grandma has less patience than I do in that department of my life! haha

I spent the day today putting up Christmas decorations (and can't believe it's time to do so, already)!  Charlie's sleeping, now, because he was such an attentive supervisor.  (Sorry about the poor quality of the pictures - I only had my phone handy.)
He sat like this, staring at the tree, for literally 30 minutes.
So far, all the decorations (and light cords) are still in tact.
Cross your fingers it stays this way!  ☺
I hope you all have had a great weekend and your weeks get off to a good start tomorrow.

Until next time,
Kensy

P.S.  Congratulations to all my students on their exceptional recital performances Friday and Saturday.  I'm so proud of each of them!

Favorites of the day:
flannel sheets
talented coworkers and getting to see them in action
these flowers (and a box of chocolates) from my student after his recital performance: