Another summer has come to a close already for this teacher. I shall refer to this summer as The Summer of George because I'm a Seinfeld fan and because Kate finally had her baby and his name is George so now we can all stop talking about it right? Oh who am I kidding, I clap with excitement every time I see a picture of that little kid...
I know school is just around the corner because I've begun having stress dreams. They are always the same: some variation of me not being able to the control the kids and they end up running the classroom while I scream my head off and no one listens to me. Sometimes I'm missing an article of clothing, sometimes I've forgotten it's actually the day of the concert but we don't know any songs, sometimes I meet with my principal and call her the wrong name over and over. I wake up angry and frustrated. They are so not cool. Let's not dwell on them
June flew by quickly and mostly rainy. I have a great new batch of beginners. I have a HUGE cello/bass section this year. They are not the brightest either- not a great combo. There is also an autistic kid who chose the cello thinking he could sit down and play in about 5 minutes and who loudly sighs every time I ask the group to do something that has to do with position or set-up. I also have a 4-foot-nothing ADD bass player who I am 100% positive will break an instrument before the end of the first week of school. I'm not sure if I am hoping these two boys end up in the same class so I can have that one bad class then its over with or if I am hoping they're split up so each class is only marginally horrible. My violin/viola group is very sweet and eager to learn. A little too eager some days when I had up to 5 kids show up over a half hour early to class. Come on guys, at least give me a lunch break! But they seem bright and shiny so they should be a fun class. My graduated 8th graders made me proud by showing up to the freshman orientation orchestra camp. All but two of my honors kids attended and made me proud. I had five excellent incoming 8th graders help out with the beginners every day of summer school. There was no incentive or nothing- they just came because they love orchestra. The best school-related news I received in June was that I am going to be given an orchestra homeroom! I am beyond ecstatic about this! It means that other than lunch duty, I will only have orchestra kids all day long. There are so many performance-based music teachers that would kill for this kind of set-up. Most teachers have to have at least one general music class or a study hall or something to that nature, but not me! So fortunate...
But the BEST overall news I received in June is that we are having a baby BOY! Graham Alexander Martin will be welcomed into the world sometime after my fall break. I've yet to decide whether I'll come back to school for the two weeks after fall break until I pop or if I'll just start my maternity leave at fall break. I'll have to see how I feel. I'll get to my pregnancy symptoms in a mo though...
July was everything I was dreaming it would be. The first week of my vacation I played a couple Carmel Symphony gigs. I love working with these people. They were so sweet and threw me a little baby shower. Several people pitched in a bought us diapers and gift cards and cute baby clothes. It was so generous. It made me feel guilty for all the times we were asked to chip in for other people's showers and I forgot to bring something... The second week of July was spent helping out at a couple all day high school camps and prepping for vacation. I cleaned the house, did the laundry and packed two successful carry-on bags for our trip to the Dominican Republic. We left on a Wednesday night for a Thursday morning flight out of Chicago. We got home Monday evening. It was the perfect little get-away. It was an all-inclusive resort right on the coast. We spent every day on the beach alternating sleeping, eating, and walking. A pregnant lady's dream... The third week of July I spent recovering from vacation and hosting my little brother-in-law. He mostly spent his days playing PlayStation on the couch so I didn't do much in the entertaining department. I unpacked and did laundry and cooked. For the weekend, we drove home for a going-away party for my other brother-in-law who is moving to California. It was a nice get-together with family up at their lake-front property. The fourth week of July I spent doing practically nothing. This has prepared me to go back to school because I felt a little bored and lonely. I did very much enjoy the absolutely perfect weather, the sleeping-in, the late breakfasts/lunches, the reading books outside on the hammock in the shade, the taking of multiple naps, the watching of Price is Right and Ellen, the dog-snuggling, and the time to cook real dinners every night. However I have found myself counting the minutes until my husband gets home so I have someone to talk to other than the dog. I know I'll be eating my words after about a week and a half of middle school kids for company, but I feel rested and relaxed now.
Pregnancy symptoms have been a fun adventure. I have to say, I've enjoying my second trimester a lot. I didn't have a very tough first trimester though, so other than the extreme fatigue and having to work through it, trimester one was probably a little better than trimester two. I have more energy, but I've fattened up quite a bit, which makes everything just a little big uncomfortable. I've had an extremely bad case of heartburn- just constant burning regardless of what I eat. My doctor gave me some pills which help but I still have to be careful to eat smaller meals/snacks throughout the day and avoid greasy foods. Food has been a tough mountain to conquer because I literally could eat at any moment. I'm especially fond of eggs at this point as well as turkey sandwiches with provolone cheese and mayonnaise. I also like English muffins with peanut butter and jelly and a good watermelon. Man, now I want to eat- I'm telling you, it's not good. My latest symptoms have been back aches and constantly needing to pee. I have been going on a good 20-45 minute walk at least once a day but it's getting more and more taxing (obviously, the fatter I get.) I often have a hard time finding a comfortable position sitting on the couch and when I sleep. Every night I get up to use the bathroom no fewer than five times and more often it's seven or eight times. During the summer it's OK because I can sleep in until whenever I want. But as soon as school starts I may find myself more than a little grouchy in the mornings. Most enjoyably though is the fact that Graham is always on the move. I felt him moving early in the pregnancy- just little bubbles that could easily be mistaken as indigestion. Now he flips and kicks and rolls and punches all the time. I can tell when he's awake because he's moving! I can see him being quite the handful when he becomes a crawler...
I start my third trimester in two weeks. I don't want to be a doom and gloomer, but I think this one will be the toughest. I'm back to school and I'll be the biggest I've even been. The beginning of the year takes the most energy too because beginning string players take a lot of hands-on attention and walking around the room and fixing instruments and fielding stupid questions... eye yai yai, I need a nap just thinking about it. I think it will go by fast though because by the time my first concert is in the bag, I'll only be 4 weeks away from my due date!
During my last few days of freedom I plan on continuing my regimen of sleeping in, napping, and relaxing. I might make a short trip to school to set my room up and gather a few things together before my first official day. I can't complain about my summer though. It has been lovely!
