"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

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:

Out of the Mouths of Babes: Part 4

My apologies to those of you who don't find as much joy and humor in my "kiddo stories" as some do - I promise to write about other topics in future posts.  These can't go without sharing, though:

About 10 minutes after explaining to the 5-yr.-old I nanny for that the library was closed due to Veteran's Day, he asked, "What's Barbarian's Day?"  It took me a second to understand what he was asking, but then I realized that because he pronounces his "v"'s with a "b" sound, "Veteran's" got mistranslated in his head as he kept thinking about what I'd said.  It took me a second to re-translate...

After telling one of my little 4-yr.-old girl students the piece she was about to play was written by Ludwig van Beethoven, she asked, "Does he like mac-and-cheese?"

I've had a few introductory lessons with new students, lately.  During one of them, I asked the first-grader what his favorite color is.  He replied, "Blue and black."  I said, "Both?!"  He explained, "Blue is my favorite color because I like blue things, and black is my favorite color, because when I make a mistake, I can just color over it in black."

Our studio's student recital is coming up, so we've been doing lots preparing for it in lessons.  One of my kindergarten students had to sign up to perform during a time that I won't be in attendance at the recital, and he is aware of that.  After he played his pieces for me this week, I asked if he was excited for his first recital.  He said, "Yeah...but I'm not excited you're not going to be there..."  Melted my heart!  (I'll be teaching during the time he's performing...and I'll be wishing I was there to hear him!)

The same kiddo informed me that he was getting drums for Christmas (after using our legs as pretend drums in our lesson).  "Aaand I'm getting real powers...like to turn into a dog...or a cat," he said.  This was followed by a lengthy explanation of how he'll still be him and will be able to turn back into a human when he wants, but he will be getting real powers, because that's one of the things he put on his list to Santa.  I said, "Real powers, huh?"  He replied, "Yeah.  I'm using my imagination - that's what my mom says.  But I'm still going to be able to turn into a dog."

☺

I hope you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving and safe travels, if you're headed out of town.

Thankfully,
Kensy

Favorites of the day:

productivity

the movie "While You Were Sleeping"

family time!!!!

Out of the mouths of babes: Part 3

These have been accumulating for a couple weeks, now.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

When introducing one of my students' new songs titled "Rodeo," I asked him if he'd ever been to a rodeo. He said, "No, those only happen out West." I don't think he believed me when I told him there are rodeos right here in Lincoln. ☺

One of my students stopped before playing a piece for me the other day, saying, "I have something I want to give you." He started pulling things out of his pocket (chapstick, lint, etc.), finally found what he was looking for, held his hand out, and gave me these:

2 nickels and a penny

I asked if he was sure he wanted to give those away, and he said, "Yeah - I want you to have them. These are the ones I don't need anymore." I said, "Well, that's very nice of you - thank you!" He said, "Well, they don't go in my piggy bank, and I found them, so I thought you should have them." The conversation then turned to whether or not pennies and dimes are the same size, and of course, why.

One of the little girls I taught this evening was telling me about games they got to make at school today.  "They're like real board games, but they're just on flat paper," she said.  "And we get to eliminate them and take them home!"  My response: "...do you mean "laminate" them?"  She laughed at herself and replied, "Oh yeah - whatever." with a flip of her hand.

When asking a student to fill out a teacher evaluation form for me, I was telling him he could list things he likes or doesn't like about what I'm doing or things I could do better. He asked if he could write his Christmas list on there (I take it he stopped listening after "List things you like..."). Before I could explain, "No, that's not what it's for," he went on to list the things he wants: "A race car, a rocket launcher, the moon, a spaceship, 162 baby kitties - no wait, my mom's cousin is allergic to those, so I probably shouldn't get them...unless I get ones so small no one could see them...but then I'd step on them...so I would probably keep them in the fish bowl with my fish." I said, "In the water?!" He said, "No...that wouldn't work, either. I'd keep them under my globe on my dresser." Good luck, Santa.

I was prepping one of my new little students about what is going to happen at the recital, because I won't be in attendance during the time he'll perform.  It will be his first recital, but he's watched his siblings perform before, so he knows what it's all about. During this discussion, I started to tell him where he'll be sitting, and he said, "Yeah - and I'll probably be wearing my beautiful shirt and probably my beautiful pants." He has such a sweet little voice, and I was just cracking up at his word choice.

Finally, two conversations with the 5-yr.-old I nanny for:

• He was eating sardines for lunch (and repeatedly exclaiming how good they tasted and how he liked them so much), and afterward said, "I need to go brush my teeth."  I asked why, and he said, "Well, these sardines sure give you a stinky breath, and I can't go to school like that!"  He made his way to the bathroom, and then I heard him groan and say, "Oh great!"  I went to see what the problem was, and he told me, "I can't get any toothpaste out of here, and now I have to go to school with such a stinky breath!"  Have no fear - I helped him squeeze a little bit of toothpaste out, and he went to school with a minty fresh breath.
• He came to me the other day saying, "Guess what?!"  As usual, I started guessing ridiculous things, "Umm...you just ate a worm...you're joining the circus...etc., etc."  He said "No!" to them all, then I guessed, "Umm....you love me a lot."  He paused and frowned, and I said, "You don't love me?!"  He replied in a very calm, reassuring voice, "Well, let's not worry about that right now." 

Thanks for letting me share these!  I know they're probably not as great second-hand, but I probably shouldn't carry around a video camera...  ☺

Youthfully,

Kensy

P.S.  I haven't ever posted about politics, and I don't plan to, but can I just say how much I dislike the extent to which some individuals and groups get so caught up in disagreement and argue about various issues, etc.?  I get annoyed by all the back-and-forth that goes on, but mostly, I am saddened to see friends and family members arguing and relationships being severed over a single issue/candidate/etc.  Don't get me wrong - I am incredibly thankful for our freedom, and I respect individuals' rights to express their opinions.  It's just sad that so often it comes with the consequence of conflict...on so many levels.

Favorites of the day:

b-day celebrations

free pie

opening the sunroof in November!

Weekend Getaway: Minnesota

Hello, hello!

I hope this finds you and yours well and staying as warm as possible!

This weekend, I took a fairly spontaneous trip to Minnesota (St. Paul area) to visit a dear friend from college.  She has had so many new and exciting things happen in her life in the recent past, and I decided to just make the trip up there to see/experience it all first hand!

So, after teaching lessons Friday evening (got done at 6:30), I headed out - armed with Google and AAA maps (no GPS for this girl), a road trip care package from my brother (complete with our favorite road trip snacks and a mix CD), Nicholas Sparks' newest book on CD (from the library), and a double-shot vanilla cappuccino smoothie from Scooter's.

The drive went really well and pretty fast, both going and coming back.  Since it was mostly dark both times, I didn't see too many sites on the road (not that there were many to be seen, anyway).  On the way out, though, I was driving through Iowa and saw a bunch of red lights blinking in unison across the horizon.  At first, I thought it was an airport, but couldn't figure out which one, because I was in the middle of nowhere...in Iowa.  I don't know how it finally occurred to me that they were the windmills, but that's what they were!  There were soooo many, though, and it was kind-of creepy to only see all those hundreds of red lights blinking simultaneously out there in the distance.

After arriving a little after 2 a.m., we proceeded to have a most lovely weekend together!  And as my mother's daughter, I documented it with pictures.  ☺

Saturday's brunch at The Good Earth included salmon with potato hash and poached eggs and pumpkin pancakes with applesauce and dried cranberries.  All the food here is made from organic and mostly local ingredients.

 Then, we made a trip to St. Olaf college where my friend did part of her master's program and where my cousin is a senior!

(for all you relatives out there...)

What a stunningly beautiful chapel!  (This is one of many windows there - pictures don't do it justice)

My cousin works at a cafe on campus where my friend used to go with other grad students a lot (though they hadn't met till now), and he made us drinks before we left.  This was my Pumpkin Spice Latte.)

A picture on the campus of Luther Seminary (where she also attended).

A delicious meal was prepared for us by my friend's thoughtful and talented boyfriend.  After supper, the night continued with lots of great conversation and a came of Scattergories.

One of the "new and exciting" things I went to experience was a litter of 7 kittens.  Need I say more...?  ☺

For now, their names are Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, and Ti.

Such a good (and young!) mama kitty.

Her sweet dog, Rondo, is pretty great, too!  I got to experience giving him a bath before I left on Sunday.

Since my friend is a (talented, organized, amazing) music/worship director, I took my trumpet and was able to participate in Sunday's All Saint's Day service.  It was so great to see her in her element (and hear her play organ!!), and also such a blessing to be able to be part of it all.

Afterward, we ate at a cafe that doubles as a bike shop - pretty cool...and also yummy!

A lot of people thought I was a little crazy for making this trip alone, but I really didn't think twice about it.  I figured there is no time like the present (and it was the only weekend between now and Christmas - when the kittens would be finding new homes - that worked), so I just went...and I'm so glad I did!  It was a really wonderful trip, and I feel like I got to do and see everything I wanted to.  Of course, there are lots of touristy things we didn't take time to do or see, but that doesn't matter - it's the real and meaningful "attractions" that matter most.  ☺

Also - I never shared my Halloween costume with you all!  I was originally going to dress up as something completely different (an idea I'm saving for next year, so not sharing now), but then I found this priceless sweatshirt-turned-cat-cardigan at Goodwill, and couldn't not be the Crazy Cat Lady.

That's all, folks!  Hope you have an exceptional week!

Home without a kitten or a Minnesotan accent,

Kensy

Favorites of the day:

having student evaluations done!

This is what Charlie's doing right now.

Stories and "Now vs. Then" thoughts

Hello!  Long time, no write/read, huh?

Things are pretty status quo here, just pretty busy...all good things, though!

I'm sitting in Panera working on student evaluations, right now, and though I thought I would get less distracted than I would at home (with other things I need to do), there are so many interesting conversations going on around me that it's a little tricky to focus on the task at hand!  haha.  I am making some headway, though, and therefore, am rewarding myself (and you) with a "blog break."

I have a couple stories to share with you, and then a few thoughts I've been compiling for a while:

During the warmer weather, I wore a lot of skirts, and therefore, a lot of open-toed heels.  When the colder weather first arrived a couple weeks ago, I wore flats for the first time in awhile, and one of my little 6-yr.-old girl students noticed.  She has asked why I always wear high heels, before, and when she caught a glimpse of my flats that day, she exclaimed "You're not wearing high heels today!"

Ever since I adopted Charlie, I have fed him twice a day, rather than leaving lots of food out for him to eat at his leisure.  Recently, however, I decided to do an experiment to see if leaving food out for him continuously would help him to be less naughty.  It seems to have helped a little bit, but he has had a hard time adjusting to the new "meal plan."  My roomie (who is usually the first one up and the first one home in the evening, so usually feeds him at those times) has had to walk a crying Charlie to his food bowl each morning/evening and basically stick his nose in his bowl to remind him that she doesn't need to feed him, because there's already food in the bowl!  It makes sense, since he's been conditioned to be fed at those times of day for his whole life; it's just funny that his nose doesn't help him remember food is available all the time, now!  ☺

I don't think I've ever documented my "music librarian" duties with a picture before and had a great example of a day a work a couple weeks ago:

This is the result of two Nebraska Jazz Orchestra concerts in one week.

I've always remembered answering the "Where do you see yourself in 10 years?" question as a 6th grader, and am often reminded of the ways in which I was both correct and incorrect in answering that question 13 years ago.  In thinking about all that, I compiled the following lists.  Perhaps you can relate...

Misconceptions I had of adult life as a child:
-I'll use cursive writing every day.
-I'd always get to live 5 minutes (or less) from my best friend.
-It will be easy to remember the minor (and some major) events of grade school, junior high, and high school.
-I'll always have the same group of friends.
-I'd be married with kids on the way a year after finishing college.
-All adults are the same as my parents and their friends.
-I'll never want (or have) to go to bed.

True conceptions I had of adult life as a child:
-Going to the doctor alone is even worse than having to go with Mom (or Dad).
-I can have an indoor cat!
-It is fun to have (and organize) all my own things in my own place.
-I will always love to travel.
-Moving and transition is not fun...but meeting new people and making new friends is pretty great!
-I can have brownies for breakfast, if I want.

These are not all-inclusive lists, by any means, but just what has come to mind the last couple of weeks.  Let me know if you have any additions!

Ok - time to get back to work.  Have a lovely weekend!

As warmly as possible,
Kensy

Favorites of the day:

gift cards

the fact that MY BEST FRIEND IS (OFFICIALLY) ENGAGED!!!!!

having friends in lots of places and being able to visit and stay with them

"Singles Night"

Ooook....so, I had one of the most unique and hilarious experiences ever last night.  It was probably one of those "you had to be there" kind of things, but please allow me to try to share it with you:

Various friends and I have been hearing about/talking about going to the "singles night" a local ballroom/dance hall advertises for the first Friday of every month.  This ballroom is known for it's Sunday country/swing/line dancing nights (which I've gone to and thoroughly enjoyed) that are attended by large quantities of college-age-ish people.  So, when a group of girlfriends and I were planning a "girls night out," we thought checking out this "singles night" would be a good option.  It was advertised on the website as "Singles Night (couples welcome)," and though we didn't know quite what that meant, we just wanted to dance, so decided to try it out.

We arrived about an hour and a half after the event had supposedly kicked off.  The dulcet tones of a Frank Sinatra tune met us at the door...and the person usually checking ID's and taking money did not (this should've been the first red flag).  As we made our way further inside, we were greeted by a 65+ couple sitting at a table with a white table cloth (quite possibly covered in confetti) taking money and putting admission tickets into a raffle ticket cage/drum thing.  We looked to the dance floor, and saw a scene similar to this:

...except add more tables with white table cloths, balloons, and lights only partially dimmed.

 It reminded me of jr. high dances...and this scene from Napoleon Dynamite:

Our only regret is that we didn't capture the moment via picture or video...both of the scene we happened upon and of our own reactions.  Pretty sure we stood there with jaws to the floor in shock/surprise/disbelief for a good 15 seconds before looking to each other and backing away.  We were not able to contain our laughter before making it out the door and back to the car.

After containing ourselves and wiping away the tears of laughter, we went on to find a place downtown where an '80s cover band was playing...and doubled the dance crowd there - haha.  We sure got our dancing in, though, so all was not lost!

Moral of the story (especially for those of you living in Lincoln): Unless you are over the age of 60 and/or want to step into a time warp, stay away from the Pla Mor Ballroom on "Singles Night."

In other news...Go Big Red!

Still laughing,
Kensy

Favorites of the day:

two of my favorite dances at Zumba today! (Jai Ho and The Cupid Shuffle)

Shirley Temples (and cherry Dr. Pepper)

Roasted Red Pepper and Artichoke Tempenade from Trader Joe's

blueberries