fall into reading 2007

Yay! My friend Leslie just told me about Fall Into Reading 2007!! I'm really excited to see how many books I can read! Anyone can participate, just go here to sign up.

And without further ado, here is my list for fall:

1. Main Corpse - Diane Mott Davidson
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling
3. Sisterchicks Down Under - Robin Jones Gunn
4. While My Pretty One Sleeps - Mary Higgins Clark
5. The Note - Angela Hunt
6. Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult
7. Mercy - Jodi Picoult
8. Still Summer - Jacquelyn Mitchard
9. Iced - Carol Higgins Clark
10. The Infidelity Pact - Carrie Karasyov
11. Getting Rid of Matthew - Jane Fallon
12. Best Kept Secrets - Sandra Brown
13. Queen of Babble in the Big City - Meg Cabot
14. Daddy's Girl - Lisa Scottoline
15. The Quickie - James Patterson
16. Second Chance - Jane Green
17. Finding Noel - Richard Paul Evans
18. Miss Julia Strikes Back - Ann B. Ross
19. Peace Like a River - Leif Enger
20. The Grilling Season - Diane Mott Davidson
21. The Sunday Philosophy Club - Alexander McCall Smith
22. Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons - Lorna Landvik
23. Santa Cruise: A Holiday Mystery at Sea - Mary Higgins Clark
24. The Christmas Thief - Mary Higgins Clark

BLUE = currently reading
PURPLE = finished

summer reading thing recap

Well, the summer reading thing ended yesterday. I read ALMOST all of the books I wanted to read, but Kindermusik took up way more time than I thought it would! LOL Here's my recap:

1 The Blue Zone - Andrew Gross
2 The Sixth Target - James Patterson
3 Main Corpse - Diane Mott Davidson
4 Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
5 Sisterchicks Do the Hula - Robin Jones Gunn
6 Sisterchicks Down Under - Robin Jones Gunn
7 The Good Husband of Zebra Drive - Alexander McCall Smith
8 Lean Mean Thirteen - Janet Evanovich
9 Being Committed - Anna Maxted
10 While My Pretty One Sleeps - Mary Higgins Clark
11 Queen of Broken Hearts - Cassandra King
12 Heartstopper - Joy Fielding
13 Body Surfing - Anita Shreve
14 Divine - Karen Kingsbury
15 Dream When You're Feeling Blue - Elizabeth Berg
16 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling
17 The Note - Angela Hunt
18 Where Are the Children? - Mary Higgins Clark
19 Dedication - Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
20 Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult

BLUE = currently reading
PURPLE = finished

*How many total books did you read? Were you surprised by that number?
I read 15 books and am in the middle of reading 2 more. Yes, I'm surprised at the number, because it's so little! I can usually read more than this, but as I said, I'm working now and so I don't have as much time.

*How do you feel about what you read?
I liked every book I read and I loved several of them.

*What about your stretch book? Did you find that you enjoyed it after all? Are you planning to read more of that genre/author?
I had several "stretch" books, meaning authors and/or genres I had not read before. They are as follows:
1. The Blue Zone - Andrew Gross
2. Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
3. Queen of Broken Hearts - Cassandra King
4. Heartstopper - Joy Fielding
5. Divine - Karen Kingsbury

I enjoyed all of these books, some more than others. I will probably read all of the authors again. My least favorite of these five was Karen Kingsbury, but I will still probably give her another chance. The rest will be added to my list of favorite authors, though I'm still a big skeptical about Cassandra King.

Ender's Game was very new to me - a new genre AND new author. Brian had recommended this book as he loves reading Sci-Fi. And it was really, really good - with a twist I absolutely never imagined. :-)

*Did you read as many books as you intended to? Or more? How do you feel about that?
As I said before, I wanted to read more, and I'm a bit disappointed, but it's really good for me to be working again and I'm enjoying reading more now that I have less time to do it.

*Was this fun? Do you want to continue (if so, sign up for Katrina's Fall Into Reading challenge.)
Yes, I will definitely continue. It was a blast!

the aroma of autumn

As I left from my evening Kindermusik class last night, I smelled a fire burning. It reminded me of burning leaves and when my grandparents used to burn their trash when I was little. Bonfires, hayrides, pumpkin patches - that scent brought all things autumn to mind. Too bad we won't have any TRULY cool weather until November or December! (If you consider the 70s to be cool!)

Last week was a wild one. I interviewed again with the Montessori school to teach their elementary music, and thus started the figuring out of hours, salary, times, etc. I think we have it pretty close to being nailed down. I'm going again tomorrow to go over curriculum and do my final paperwork. I'm a little worried about being too busy, but I'm also excited at the prospect of doing something new. These are some great kids and I think they will be a lot of fun to work with.

My cousin Chris, who is the minister of music at our church, resigned last Tuesday. That was pretty weird. When he resigned, he made it effective immediately. So now we're not sure what exactly is in store for the band. The pastor gave us last Sunday off (a HUGE blessing, after the crazy week I had) and we're going to start putting things back together this weekend. I think we're going to be ok - I'm not sure who's going to lead. I'm not really sure about anything, but I know we love playing together and I'm really excited to see what God has in store for us. I've definitely shed a few tears over the past week, knowing things will never be the same, but I'm also anxious to see what this all means for us. I think we'll be taking baby steps and just getting a feel for how things will be.

Today I saw some love bugs. THEY'RE BACK! They come during certain times of the year, when the temperature is just right. They are a huge pain! I'll be glad to see them go - and get some cooler weather. Though it's starting to be nice in the evenings.

Well, I have one more class to teach in a little while, and then I'm done for the week. I also have a few new piano students! I went from doing nothing to doing everything! LOL Hopefully I'll have some pictures to share later.

just an update

It's been awhile! Although Kindermusik is going GREAT and it's so much fun I can't even believe I'm getting paid to do it, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. One of my marketing strategies included contacting a school about 30 minutes away whose Kindermusik program had to close down this year because the teacher moved away. In contacting them, I found out that they are looking for an elementary music teacher. This is a Montessori school and I'm very unfamiliar with their program, but I've now had 2 interviews with them and today I went and observed a class. They do blended ages, so 1st through 3rd grades are all in the same class and 4th through 6th grades are together. It's an interesting environment! Anyway, I think things are looking positive and it's only a few hours a week, so I'm seriously considering it.

I had one wild class last week - a class with 5 3-year-old boys. They were just crazy! I learned a lot from that class! I now have a strategy for this week, since we didn't really get anything done last week. Whew! Part of me feels like I'm an aerobics instructor! LOL I do get a lot of exercise during the classes. And it's SO fun!

In other news, I actually RAN on the treadmill this week! I know, I'm shocked too. I've never been able to run - I always get a side cramp! I can't even run to the end of the driveway! So I was pretty proud. I only ran for 2 minutes, and then I walked awhile, and then I ran for 2 more minutes!! That doesn't seem like much, I know, but for me - it's a big deal! LOL

OK, here are some pictures of my Kindermusik classroom! I'll leave you with those and maybe my life will become more interesting at some point so I can write about something besides kids and music! :-)