What a month!

I know that as Army wives, we're all insanely busy (especially if there are children). I have been so insanely busy the last month or two that I don't even know where my brain is.

I am an Army wife, a step-mom to 2 teenagers (well, they're 12 & 15 - close enough), an elementary music teacher, a volunteer in my church, the FRG secretary/newlsetter editor, and a professional musician. On top of all this, I took on the project of being an assisstant vocal coach at a local high school for their spring musical (Cinderella). The last couple months have been gruelling and long and exhausting. But, it was all worth it. Last weekend, the students (grades 7-12) performed the spring musical. Was it perfect? No - in musical theater and music in general, it's never perfect. Was it amazing? You betcha! Did it come with freak outs and panic attacks? Most definitely! Two days before opening night, Prince Christopher got strep throat. Would I do this all over again? In a heartbeat. I got to work with some of the most amazing high school students. I truly love and adore all of them. If I could, I would adopt each and every one of them. The hugs and words of appreciation after the show really made it all worth it. I'm sitting here at my desk looking at the cast picture that they bought me (and all signed the back of it) and just reflecting on how hard they worked. There were times I wanted to scream and yell and whatever else, but for the most part they were great to work with - despite teenage attitude. It's the week following the show - and I'm trying to figure out what to do with my life.

During the high school musical craziness, I also had to direct a second grade musical for my elementary school kiddos. The music teacher before me had picked it out and the date was set before I took over. It's not exactly what I would have picked for a number of reasons and ended up being a pretty hard level of music/script. I am UBER proud of these kids. They rose to my expectation level for them and performed a great show.

Also in all of this I sing with a local symphony chorus. We have the May Festival coming up in May. There are 5 concerts, and each concert has a seperate set of repertoire. My music bag gets heavy carrying it around everyday. We have rehearsal once or twice a week for at least 3 hours each. It's all worth it too. I enjoy getting to sing with the others in the chorus. Although my husband will be away on orders during all 5 concerts, I am looking forward to performing.

Most of all, I am SO grateful to have a husband that is SO supportive of my insanity to do all these things and more. He often talks to me about how I over-extend myself (and I also get that talk from my colleagues), but at the same time he understands that I am a first year teacher who is trying to find a permanent position. All of these things look wonderful on my resume. I definitely earn every penny I make. I also truly love what I do. I do love working with the little people everyday. There are 720 kids in my elementary school, and I see each and every one of them. There's a lot of names to learn (and I'm still learning) and there's a lot of stories behind the kids. Some of their stories are heartbreaking - and I wish I didn't care so much. I find myself crying for these kids. Then I think about how fortunate I am. I am married to a soldier who has two kiddos that I love and adore. We lack nothing. I come to school and see some of these kids and my heart just breaks. I have several students whose mom or dad is deployed or away on orders. I had a student whose mom was just recently home on her R & R. I was SO happy for this student to see their mom. I'm also glad that I'm here because I have something I can offer this student and the others who are military kids that the other teachers cannot. I've been through deployment with my husband. I understand meltdowns and emotional outbursts and tears out of nowhere. I understand how much it means when there is someone who truly knows what you're feeling/going through to sit there and just listen. With all the craziness of my life, I never forget how thankful I am for the seasoned spouses in my life who 'held my hand' when I went through my first deployment. I feel like I'm just paying it forward in a sense, but at the same time, I'd do it for any kid or spouse who has a loved on that's deployed.