Since When is it February!?

Okay, please, someone explain to me how it is already a week into February. We just celebrated the New Year, I still hesitate a bit when writing the last digit of the year, and there's barely any snow on the ground. I guess it means the world needs another update from me by now. Just when I think nothing has happened, I turn around to find that worlds of change have happened without my notice.

Starting this month, I'm not only teaching Jazz Band after school. I've started a new class called Digital Animation, where kids learn to create short films using traditional drawings, stop motion, and time lapse techniques. The digital part comes in with the tools we use, since they're all digital cameras and computers we save and edit the images on. I think the coolest idea they came up with yesterday is a human clock. I'll post up the videos as they are created. Jazz Band has been going on for a few weeks now, and the kids are coming along quickly. We're working on great classics, such as 'Tuxedo Junction' and 'Caravan'. I'm still having trouble assembling a rhythm section, but the horns have had a good showing so far, considering it is a forgettable once a week rehearsal currently. Come Monday, I think I'll be having them sightread 'Satin Doll', just for my own peace of mind.

Michelle's been seeking out better work, and has even had a couple of really good prospects come up. Soon she'll be going through all those wonderful interview processes, which are always nice and nerve-wracking. We're both quite antsy, as her having a properly paying job for once will be quite a boon for us and make our lives noticibly more stable. Also, it would give me the chance to go back to school without it being an endurance trial. Please, if you have room in your hopes, send some thoughts to her.

The big news on the home front as of late is Austin becoming potty trained. It's taken us a long time, but he's there with fewer and fewer accidents. Michelle and I were completely beside ourselves with joy. Perhaps a little too much so, as that was the higlight of our month. The way I see it, all I have left to do is teach him how to tie his shoes, and the kid is set for life; I'll be done raising him. Other than that, he's just himself, good days and bad days. Mostly, though, he's been so happy to have his Grandma Pat in town.

For a nice long weekend, my mom flew out here to visit. I took a couple of days off to spend time with her, and she managed to survive the cold and eventual snow. I had been missing my family and friends out west a lot, so it was really nice to see her and have her around. Austin just loves her, and especially having her read to him. That voice reading stories came across as strangely familiar, since I don't have any actual memory of my parents reading to me; I simply know that they did. I was a little worried that she was starting to feel a little bored out here, since we didn't get out and do anything, just puttered around town. Michelle and I both had work, so she was on her own for some large bits of time. But she never let on that that was the case.

I dropped my mom off last night. She and I are always bad at goodbyes, so we kept it brief and I took off from the airport. The tougher goodbyes had to have been for Michelle and Austin. But, in all, I just keep remembering the fact that I'll see my folks again sooner than not, so it's easier to deal with. For now, it's life back to normal, though not really. We've had less than one third the normal amount of snow for this time of year, so I'm not shoveling anywhere near enough as I'd like. I'm odd and like to physically shovel. It's some exercise for me, and it gives me some alone time with tunes in my ears.

Toodles for now~