Morning coffee is the best. Not so much for the caffeine, but I really like the taste of my half-coffee, half-soy milk blend. If I drink more than a half-cup, I get way fidgety. So I'm looking forward to the routine without the addiction.
First concert of the school year this morning, and everything was simply fantastic. Polished, energetic, musical performances from my students (PK-2), great parent turnout, gratifying teacher/administration feedback... Just good times.
Photos courtesy of Wilmer, 5th grade
Then I had 3 periods of nothing. I reset the auditorium for the next round (grades 3-5), which involved transporting boxes of instruments and 3 xylophones over 4 flights of stairs. I didn't even get tired. It was weird. And fabulous, because I am 100% set for the rest of the week. I just have to walk in tomorrow morning and boss people around.
My school afternoon finished with 3 teaching periods, all with classes of middling general behavior, all of whom ROCKED IT OUT today. I think the energy of their impending (2 days!) concert is finally sinking in; it's great to glimpse tangible progress and success after weeks and weeks of figurative tooth-pulling.
I was able to leave school at 3:30 (relatively early for me!) and hit up a number of New York's holiday markets to do some Christmas shopping. I doubted the soundness of my marathon-day ambitions... but I got most of my shopping DONE and got to enjoy a heaping dose of the lovely holiday atmosphere of the city in the process. And I did some light grocery shopping at the Union Square Greenmarket, aka my favorite place in all five boroughs.
Bryant Park Tree (Holiday Market not pictured)A leisurely, free (thanks, Mom!) dinner at Starbucks was followed by a choir rehearsal at St. Patrick's Cathedral (yes, THAT St. Patrick's Cathedral). Oh wait, I was 20 minutes early for it, so I wandered the vicinity of Rockefeller Center long enough to snap some touristy pictures of the tree and ice skating rink.
I am thrilled that my newest camera has the ability to take beautiful nighttime shots--a first in my history of camera ownership.
Then I caught the laser-timed-with-music show on the facade of Bloomingdale's. Then I went and rehearsed a bunch of festive Christmas carols in St. Patrick's Cathedral, which means I got to stand on the altar (and loop around the back), a perspective not afforded to many visitors. It was also neat to rehearse in front of all the unsuspecting tourists... I am tickled by the idea that our choir is now part of hundreds of vacation stories. Pretty neat.
To top it off, with all the commuting I logged today, I was able to take on a formidable chunk of my latest read, Skinny Legs and All (Tom Robbins). Whimsy, philosophy, religion, art, hilarity... Only a third through, but I highly recommend it!
So there you have it: my version of a perfect day in all it's coffee-flavored, concert-singing, xylophone-toting, progress-making, gift-finding, electric-lit, cathedral-performing, literarily-satisfying goodness.
Love. Love. Love.
KP =)
