"I have seen the others, And I will no other to follow me where I'm going"

Life is flying by.
Today has been one of ups and downs.
Let me start with yesterday. It was much more pleasant than today.
I got to go to Wichita yesterday and hang out with some wonderful friends. We ate out, and then went back to a home to watch a video creation. It was good to laugh with those people. I miss my friends who have graduated. I will become one of them in les than a month, and it is a bit frightening. I am so ready though. No More Homework! (for a short while at least)
This morning I was extremely discouraged during my concert choir. I just couldn’t conduct the song that we were working on. AHHH. I picked it because I knew it would be a challenge, but something with my brain and my arms was not connected today, because I couldn’t do what I normally can. I think exhaustion has made its way to my central nervous system.
Anyway…at least the 8th grade went well today. Let me tell you, those kids can get me going like no other class can. I feel like the general preparing for battle. I want to tell myself…..
“I have seen the others, and I will no other, to follow me where I’m going” (if you haven’t heard that song, you need to.”
Well, I have to gear up for one more class.
Tally ho!

a pause for a moment

Well, the semester is drawing to a close, as is my career as a student at Tabor College. I won’t get a chance to look back upon it until February some time, but I can wait until then.
Other than the fact that I don’t know whether I will make it through all that I need to get done in the next few weeks, life is going well.
I spent some of this last weekend in Wichita with Chris’ family. It was good to feel at home with them. I watched Katie’s half time show, picked on Clinton, and tried yet again to make friends with the dog.
I am so ready for thanksgiving. I miss my sister a lot. We are planning some serious bonding time together. It will be terrible if we don’t get to do everything that we want to do. It is kind of funny, our favorite thing to do together it rent a movie that one or the other of us swears that we will hate and cram together on the couch to watch it. We normally devour about 8 to 12 chocolate cookies then moan for ten minutes before eating another dozen.
Shenandoah is going well. We start our last performance in a little over two hours from now. It is a good show, and one that I will definitely consider doing again some day. I will have to have the good voices that we have in the men’s section in order to do it though.
That’s all for now….
I know that it is scattered, but hey those are my thoughts….

Ache

Yesterday I got my first flue shot ever.
Last night my joints began to ache.
This morning my joints ache and my stomach is upset.
Is this a benefit of the flue shot?
All that I can say is, I better get exposed to the flue a lot this year,
And I had better not get it,
Because right now I am not so much a big fan of it at all.

The high school opens Shenandoah today for the junior high.
We are going to do the first act for them as a teaser.
Rehearsal went well last night.
There were only a few flubbed lines, and some weird costume issues.
Note to cast members:
One may not wear plaid flannel under a white dress shirt.

No sense

Which sounds more beneficial to all of you?

1. Working for an evening with a cast of high school students on their first dress rehearsal. Assisting an experienced director who I respect, and who trusts me to work with her talented students.

or

2. Sitting in a night class. While sitting in a night class, and sitting in a night class.

Now, I have an inclination of my answer…but that’s not important.

MAPS Rhymes with ...

MAKE A RECCORD! RING THE BELLS! I ATTENDED A USEFUL IN-SERVICE DAY!!!!!
Today I attended a technology in service day. I actually learned some things. I got to sit and actually work with the programs that they were teaching us to use. It was wonderful. It is so much better than the maps testing in service that we had to go to last month. (insert enormous snore)
I actually feel kind of bad about hating that maps in service anyway, because I am putting it on my resume because it looks good. Man, those principals and superintendents are going to look at that and be Highly Impressed. They will say, “My, what a fine student who knows what Maps testing is. She must be a huge supporter of high stakes testing.” Little do they know….
Yah, anyway. I am going to go run a HHS musical rehearsal.

Dang it, I am smart!

In class on Monday night we talked about how as teachers we want to give kids the tools to be all that they have the potential to be. Well what do you do when you ask a junior in high school what he wants to be when he grows up and he responds with “a fire truck.” Then what do you do with the elementary school who actually thinks that he is a fire truck. (true story there is a kid that thinks he is a fire truck, but only on the days that he does not think that he is a dentist, or a cat.)
Then I think about myself. What do I want to be when I grow up? Is it wrong that I still don’t know. I mean, I think that I want to be a teacher, but sitting here in this teacher’s office with a world of music students coming to me for help with EVERYTHING musical and most things not musical, I think, is it for me?
I have the potential to be anything. Seriously…. I feel that I could even make it in Law school or Med school. Dang it, I am SMART.
Teaching????????

Chicken Patty, my new nemesis

In case you ever wanted to know….
If you step on a 1.57 inch square of chicken patty with your left heel on a tile floor…
The result is somewhat similar to the consequence of a cartoon character stepping on a banana peel.
One can be sure that they will end up on the floor in the position of a hurdler soaring over the bar.

My Soapbox

Last night I was highly impressed with my junior choir singers.
For those of you who read, and don’t know, I am the Junior Choir director at Zion Mennonite Church in the Middle of Nowhere. We are working on the song “Glory Train” for two voices. It is a great song. Anyway… I have a 4th grader in choir who has the ability to follow a music score, read music, and carry a part by himself while others are singing something different. He is what I would consider a choral genius for someone his age in this day and age of forgotten choral music. I also have a 7th grade boy who is going into the beginnings of his voice change and has a 2 and ½ octave range that is clear and pure as a bell. There is also a 7th grade girl who has absolutely no breathiness in her tone. Seriously! Where do these kids come from? I am becoming more convinced that the music world of elementary schools does not expect enough of its young people. We could offer much more technical training to students. Instead we forget the capability of the students. It is understandable that not all students are going to have the characteristics of these few at Zion, but I believe that if we challenged students in choral singing, we would see talent that used to be seen in youth choirs all over the world just a few hundred years ago.

This town is too small for all of us

Well, I have my first cold of the season. What a kick. It isn’t even cold outside yet. The fall is only one week gone, and here I am snuffling up a storm. Perhaps the pressure in my head will go away so that the kid’s voices will stop sounding like they are coming from beyond the grave.
Today a fifth grader asked me, “I saw you walking with someone the other day. Who was he?” to which I responded, “He is my friend.” To which he responded, “I’ll bet he is your close friend.” To which I wanted to respond, “Kid, Hush your mouth yuh kid yuh.” Instead I said: “where were we…” and went back to my lesson.
Dumb kids. (they are cute though, and I love um)

now that i know this works

Here are some funny things that kids have said to me:

The 3rd grade class asks?
What’s your name? And what did you do with Mrs. Baltzer?

Interaction with a 3rd grade girl:
Question 1: Are you married?
Answer: No
Question 2: Do you have kids?
Answer: I like kids, but I don’t have kids.

Quotes by Jacob (5th):
My Name is Trogdoor.
Strongbad told me the answer.
Can we sing it like Strongbad?

The 4th grade class asks:
Question: Who is that man?
Answer: Mr. Loewen. He is my teacher.
Question: Who is his teacher?

Quotes by Tatum (3rd):
Miss. Shope?
Miss. Koop?
Mrs. Shope?
What is your name?

I will try to give you more stories when I have more time.

2nd atempt

This is my second atempt at posting, but bloger is being stupid, and won't let me post, so I am trying again.
I just wanted to update this blog. I haven’t forgotten about it; I have just been busy. I am in the middle of student teaching in the Hillsboro school district. I work with students ages first grade through twelfth. I love it. It is a lot of work and a lot of stress, but it is what I love to do.
I am also helping direct Tabor’s musical Into the Woods. It is going to be an amazing production. You should get tickets if you get the chance. We had our first act run through last night. It was rough, but promising.
Tonight I am going to College night in McPherson, and hopefully I will get to see my friend’s new baby. She was born just a few days ago.
Well, that’s a short and sweet update on me.

Here and Now

Yes, yes, I know. I haven’t posted in ages.
I am currently student teaching M W F at Hillsboro elementary and T H at Hillsboro Junior High and High School. I am enjoying my time here. I have been teaching third through fifth grades for a few weeks now, and I am going to begin teaching Second grade today. I had my first informal observation today. My college professor came to observe me today, and it went well. He had good responses.
The life that is not spent at school and doing homework for my night class is spent at rehearsal for Into the Woods. (The Tabor Homecoming Musical.) The talent of the cast is phenomenal. It will be an amazing show.
I did get to go to the state fair last weekend. It was so much fun. Christopher and I drove there and met Panda, Cara, and Jen K. We went in most of the barns, saw all the animals except the pigs, and bought bracelets to ride rides. The best rides were the log ride, the farris wheel, and this one ride that spun and swung (it might have been called chaos.) Anyway…we rode about 16 or more different rides. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.
Hopefully I will go to College night at Body and Soul on Friday this next weekend, and then to the Bethel/Tabor in Newton this next weekend.
So that is an update on my life.
May God Bless Yours.

A good fish story that has nothing to do with fish

So I know that I haven’t posted in forever and a day, but it has not been because didn’t want to. I have been pretty tired from work and friends. The summer is flying by. I have had two work experiences that stand out more than the others. I will share these with you in the most picturesque manner that I can afford on a Saturday afternoon.

We took the older kids camp to the state lake to go fishing. It was a beautiful day. It wasn’t too hot at all, and the kids were having a great time. I was teaching one of my 12 year old girl campers how to cast with an open reel fishing rod. It is more complicated with the button reel rod, and she was doing an excellent job. Suddenly about 3 yards to the right some kid yells SNAKE!! There was a small water snake (I don’t know what kind) in the rocks not far from us. The counselors told the kids not to provoke it, an order which was completely ignored, and they wound up scaring him into his hole. (An unknown location not far from us.) Not long after another kid at the next dock over yells something along the lines of ANOTHER SNAKE. They went to look at it and it was much LARGER than the first one. By this time I was just praying that I wouldn’t step on one that I didn’t see. Well eventually the snake business settled down. My camper asked me if I would like to cast and I said sure. About half way through my cast I realized that something was entirely wrong with how the cast was going. I wound up in the place that is past the point of no return. I threw the entire STINKING FISHINGPOLE INTO THE STATE LAKE!!! After doing this I saw no alternative than to swim out (in the snake infested waters) to get the pole. It was still floating and I didn’t want to try to get it with another pole just incase the movement would sink it. I took off my shoes, and fully dressed I waded out into the water. About 3 feet out I realized that there was a sharp drop off. Soon I found that my feet did not touch and I was literally gliding out into the water trying not to disturb our slithery friend from his restful slumber. I retrieved the fishing pole, climbed out of the lake, and tried to dry off. Later when we were having our recap of the day, my camper told me that it was her favorite part of the day.

Wow, that took a long time. Perhaps I will save the other story for another day. I will give you a teaser. “Once upon a time, I took three seven year old boys to the Zoo, and I will never look at the exhibits the same.”

3 Weeks O' Work

It has been three weeks since I started my job at PV this summer. I have enjoyed it. Training was so much less of a boar since I missed the first 2 days of it, and since only five of the people who are working haven’t been here before. It made things run easier. I enjoy the people who I am working with this year. It is a closer group because we are smaller in numbers. The first week of camp was relatively uneventful, but not last week. Last week there were four therapeutic holds. (These are restraints of the patients for less than 30 minutes.) I was involved in one on Wednesday. I had a nine year old boy take off. Two other staff and I chased him for a block and a half then took him down in a front yard. Someone had arms, the other had feet, and I held his head. The little guy got me with his fingernails on my arm. He was mad, but calmed down in less than five minutes. He had a great day for the rest of the day. I didn’t know how emotionally exhausted it would make me, but I was beet. The rest of camp went well for me, but Lindsey didn’t have such a good go of Thursday. One of her girls is a little too flirtatious and wound up making out in the pool. Grrrr. I do not want teenaged daughters EVER!
On a lighter note, I have the day off and am going to spend it running around town getting things done. I will probably stop in and see sister at her place of work.

If anyone reads this, which I have not yet established, think of my Grandmother. She is in the Hospital with diabetic complications. My mom may be going to Indiana to stay with her soon. We are not sure what is going on but pray for a fast full recovery.
Thanks.

Vacation, and first day O' work after senior year

My Summer vacation. I know, I know. It is much too early to have had a summer vacation already, but I successfully took a summer vacation one day after coming home from college and have now arrived back at home and had my first day at work. (40 word sentence! Talk about your run on’s.) I left Monday with Chris at 5:30am. And then drove for 29,823,985,758,392,834 hours, 834,982,354,834 of which were spent going through Illinois. Honestly it took about 13 hours, but it did take 834,982,354,834 hours to get through Illinois. I arrived at my Grandparents house in Indiana and then Chris went on to Goshen where he is working for the rest of the summer. My vacation included an enormous flee market in Middlebury IN, shopping at the Lighthouse Place Outlet Mall, going into Chicago for a day, Eating Rootbeer Ice Cream Cones with the Grand parents and Chris, hanging out with my other grandma, eating at fine restaurant establishments such as The Walnut Room, Hammers, and Holly Macaroni, and a couple of trips to Lake Michigan. (62 word sentence, getting better.) It was a wonderful time. I wish that I could write more or expound to give you a better idea of all that I got to do, but it would be as long as a book, and who has that kind of time. I would like to give huge big thanks to my grandparents, Chris, Aunt Pat, and Vi (even though I didn’t get to see you) for the wonderful time that I had.
I am glad to be home. I started training for PV today. We have to go through a lot of the same stuff that we did last year, but I don’t mind. It is a good review, and hey, I get paid for it. I only got to work till 2:00 today because there was a bad storm, and the streets flooded. It took me three different rout attempts to get home. I finally came charging up the street in my low to the ground car. Dad thought that I was going to kill it, but I made it. Timmy must be part fish. (the car is Timmy) Anyway….I am beginning to get my head into the summer pattern. I will have more to say later. Right now it is time to say
Bye

This morning I woke up, and I had a bad stomach ache. I thought about it for a while, and I came to a conclusion. I have the reverse of what I had before college. Before my freshmen year I had pre college anxiety, and now I am a victim of post college anxiety. Before college it was mostly an anxiety of what I would face when I got to college, but now it is more of an anxiety over what I may loose. I have made the most amazing friends that I have ever had here at Tabor. The people who I have known throughout my years of school who are graduating with me mean more to me than I can express. May this be a tribute to them.

Amy – No one will ever be as loyal or as close
Amanda – No one will ever be as quick witted, hilarious, or easy to scare
Becky – No one will ever keep me speechless as long as you can, or be as sparkling as you are
Rachel P – No one will ever keep me on my toes so much, or care so much
Roman – No man (except one) will ever be as protective, or brotherly
Cara – No one will ever surprise me with weird moods like you do
Doc O. – No one will ever make me think like you do
Jonathan – No one will ever be as unexpected as you are, or as brave
Jenna – No one will be as eloquent as you are, or have as creative of a mind as you have
Jill – No one will ever make up wonderful morning songs like you
Landon – No one will ever make me as puzzled as you do, or be as evident in striving for strength of faith
Kindra – No one will ever make me laugh as you do
Mike B. – No one will ever be as honest as you
Val – No one will ever be as friendly as you are
Lucas – No one will ever be as passionate as you are about the things that you love
Rachel used to be W but now is R – No one will ever share like you do, or give hugs like you
Amy used to be M but now is T – No one will ever have Guns as big as yours or be as perseverant as you are
Nick – No one will ever be as passionate in new forms of ministry as you are

Although there will be people that come along who excel in these areas, I will always remember you for these things. I love you all. God Bless

There is always joy

So, when you were little was there ever something that you knew that you wanted to do before Jesus came back? Well, I was a child of high aspirations so I didn’t have just one thing that I wanted to do, but I had a bunch of things. I could go into the list of old things, but a lot of those don’t matter any more. I am not saying that i do not long for the day that Jesus returns, but I guess that what I am trying to say is this: Even though life on this earth is hard and we experience pain, the joy and good that we are allowed to discover outweighs a million sorrows.
God gives incredible joy,
Tonight it is through people,
Tomorrow it may be something else,
But there is always joy…

A lot on my mind

I should be working on my projects (multiple) that are due within the next week, but instead I decided to remind myself of today. I want to remember it. It was cold this morning. Honestly and truly cold. The clock in the bathroom was wrong, and it threw my entire morning off. I went to class and shivered through Church Music and Worship. I wish I could have concentrated. There was a lot on my mind. I went to pray at the 24 hour prayer after that, and then went to eat lunch. We also had our choir pictures today. How many men does it take to come up with one pare of black dress socks? Answer: A lot. After choir I read Harold Best, tried to read Harold Best with a lot on my mind, and then tried to fall asleep, with a lot on my mind. I did homework. Chris came over and we talked about how exhausted we are because of his birthday and the late night at Old Chicago. We went to dinner, and then I came back here, looked at a Pottery Barn Book that Laura checked out, and came down to write this...I still have a lot on my mind.
p.s.
I should change my calendar to May.

life is like...

Long time no post,
It is the end of the year,
There is no time for nothing,
I am working on learning how to be a teacher,
I am teaching third grade music tomorrow,
Becky told me that they are talkers,
I am going to do the cheesy thing and keep their attention by clapping mimics,
I hope that they don’t bowl me over,
Life is like a long run on sentence,
You never know when it is going to end…..

Almost Good Friday

Well, here I am…getting ready to go home for Easter 2006. Hurrah! I haven’t slept at home in my bed at my house in Mac town since Christmas 2005. I realize that this is only a period of four months, but for living 26 miles from home, I would consider this fact a bit sad.
My Senior recital went off without a hitch last weekend. It was good to get it done, and feel the relief of knowing that I don’t have to do that again at least for a long time. My grandparents ALL came down to see it. I was so happy that they could come. They literally drove for 14 hours here and back just to see it. I am so blessed.
We also had junior senior banquet last week. It went so well. Chris and I followed Angie, Sharon, Matthew, Landon, Amy, John, Roman, Rachel, and Rachel in a terrible blustering wind. It was at Rolling Hills Country Club. We ate, and watched the quiz bowl game show and the senior slide show. Then we took pictures and went to Chris’ house to see his family before we went to Landon’s house where we watched Dennis the Menus. We got back early-ish because I needed to sleep in preparation for the recital. It was an excellent time.
Now I am beginning to do the ceremonial gathering of the things that I brought to school with me that I most likely did not need in order to move them back to home. I do this in shifts because one fell swoop just plain does not fit into my little car. I have failed to find my laundry bag, so I am trying to fit 349,213,321,125, 769,097 loads of laundry into 1 (small) laundry basket. It is not so much working well.
Well, I still do have a bit to get done before I go home. I will perhaps post from my home, but perhaps not. If I do not, then have a wonderful Easter weekend celebrating the salvation that we have in Christ Jesus our Lord!