OK......for many of you who are now reading this little blog of mine, you may have not read the first six chapters of the miniaturization of my Life.....HA...sure wish I could miniaturize my sagging hulk as I grow older!!! I checked back this morning and....OMG....I haven't written another chapter since the one on October 15, 2007!!!!! SOOOOOOOOO, for those of you who might need to refresh yourselves and for those of you who didn't read the the first six, go BACK in the Archives to October, 2007, where Chapter Six is located. And then.....scroll backwards to find the first Chapter.
I came to this seven month pause in my concise discussion of the chapters in my Life just as we had arrived in F'town in the summer heat of 1988....and HEAT it was on that day. Sure wish I had had our scales unpacked that evening as I know that I must have lost several pounds in the loading, driving the large truck, and unloading on that 107 degree day. THANK GOD, I had good friends......not sure they were AFTER that moving day.......to help us make the move. And then......we began our lives here in Southeast Missouri.
As I look backwards twenty years ago........how I now realize that making a complete change in one's Life is usually for the very best.......and in our case, it certainly WAS for the very best! Of course, when you uproot the family, the children who are in school with their friends, it may not seem like a good idea........but, like plants that we are putting into the soil at this time of the year, it does take time for those roots to adjust, to settle in, and to then start to grow and mature in their new spot in the soil.........and so, for us as a family moving into a completely strange town and school district, it did take time for our roots to adjust, to get settled in, and then to start to make our Lives grow and blossom in this new community.
The 1st Lady was without a teaching position when we arrived in late July.....but, before long she received an offer to teach....not any Science classes.....but the Gifted Program in a very small district west and north of here....about a 25 mile drive. Soooo, not only the physical move adjustment, but the adjustment to teaching something she really didn't consider herself qualified to teach was terribly nerve-wracking for her!!!
We were living in a HUGE old house that needed many repairs........a house we DID feel lucky to find that we could rent until we could sell our home in Eldon. The place was located right on the main street of F'town.....about 2 blocks from the city square and center of town.....and the street WAS the main highway through town......UGH!!!!!! Yep.....the noise factor of trucks braking, changing gears, and the young people driving by all of the time was not most pleasant way of living. We could not even keep the windows open at night for the noises of the street. But......we adjusted to it.
Before long, we were all involved in the school....teaching and getting to know the students, as well as the people of this small town. Dr. Jeni....a freshman....was selected to be a cheerleader.....which certainly improved her emotions of being a stranger in a new town and school. Jeremy(Jay) was in the 6th grade that fall......and both of these two soon found themselves surrounded by new friends and activities......and Life returned to normal for the family. Well......as normal as it can be while still making those adjustments of moving into a new town! (Being "the new blond girl in town"), Dr. Jeni began trying to push the limits of some of the rules that we had for her being in high school that the 1st Lady and I had to make.......isn't that the way of every "new girl" in a new situation? HAHAHA!!!
Those first years certainly rolled by quickly. By the fall of 1991, we had sold our home in Eldon...and began to search in earnest for a house here in F'town to purchase and make a real home......not having to live in someone else's stick and brick and always being careful when we made a nail hole in the wall for pictures, etc., etc. We found one and in Jan, 1992, we moved into TheHowserHouse up on Buford Heights........and as the years went by, we made it into our place with many, many, many changes and remodeling projects. I seriously doubt if the previous owners would recognize it at all now, other than the original footprint of the house which has not changed at all.
My job??? Ahhhhh, as in the two previous school districts, the music program began to grow.......a high school vocal teacher took over the vocal program two years after I began teaching here......as the band program was growing and enlarging by leaps and bounds!!! We had 43 students in high school band when I arrived.....and in the next 13 years, it grew and grew and at one time reached a total of 140 students in the high school band program.
The kids were great.....the parents were great....and the town was soooooo supportive of the program, as well as a terrific school administration who backed me in any project, idea, or trip that I wanted to have the kids involved in. Over those 13 years, the kids became very successful in their performances, both individually and as a band.......and because of their hard work, their striving for perfection, and their belief that they CAN do anything which they wanted to do.......the band became one of the top bands not only in southeast Missouri, but in the entire state. We received invitations to perform in many places......and the first out of state trip was for one of those invitations: to play at the United States Capitol in Washington.......at a marvelous location where we could overlook the Mall with the Washington Monument in the background and the Dome of the Capitol towering just behind us with our flag flying proudly on top of it!!
It was the trip of a lifetime for many of those students, and for that matter for the parents, also. And........after that full week's wonderful trip to Washington DC and to Gettysburg and all of the many, many educational things to do and see in D.C............two years later we were playing at the foot of the Statue of Liberty in NYC!! WOW.......what trips!!! WHAT experiences for these kids from this small town in southeast Missouri....many of which had never even been to St Louis, an hour up the road!!!!! And soooo, one other trip to Washington was made while I was still teaching.....and two years later I assisted the new director when he took the band to NYC again.
Yep........those were wonderful times........wonderful kids in those bands.......and those trips made the memories that the kids, as well as this sagging hulk of me, will never, never forget!!!!!
And sooooo, enough of this seventh chapter for now..........I WILL continue soon!!!
TODAY!!!!!!!
Another beautiful day!!!! I was up and after a couple of cups of my French Roast coffee....and then I ran up to Farmington to have a few X-rays made of my shoulder.....at one of the hospitals there. A brief shopping stop at the Super Center there.....and then I returned to the stick and brick here on the hill. I potted some Thai Basil plants......for using as an herb in many of our cooking dishes.......and then I just relaxed on the patio, reading and enjoying the gorgeous day.
And before long, I was once again watering the new grass in the front lawn.....and then I put on the grill a couple of brats to BBQ. YUMMM......and the really turned out great!!!!! A glass of my dark red medicine had disappeared earlier when I determined that it must be 5 o'clock somewhere, if not here.....and enjoyed the daily dosage of that medicine!
This evening.....AHHHH......what a super American Idol show it was!!!! I do believe that young David was certainly the best, consistently throughout his three performances. I really, really do like Big David, but just thought his performances tonight were a bit lackluster.....just not up to his usual performances that we have seen every week.
And sooooo, with another election night on the tellie........it is looking as if Sen. Obama is very close to getting the delegates needed .......and should then pick up the super delegates by the end of the month.........MAYBE. Who knows in this electoral season????!!!
It has been a good day.......it has been fun to return to 1988 and remember many of the things that occurred during that time.......and in doing so, I really have enjoyed those memories returning. Which.....brings me to something I have wanted to speak to for a long time.........If you haven't started a blog.....or a journal.....or a diary........let me encourage you to do so. It is great to travel back in time....in you mind.....to recall and remember many of the things that have happened in your Life.....and how small things can influence many future outcomes and decisions and events in your later Life!! Try it!!!! And so.........a great day.....and.....
LIFE IS REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment