by Rachel | Uncategorized
I consider myself quite lucky to provide music therapy and lessons to such an amazing bunch of students. The sweet, thoughtful gifts that many of them (along with their families) give me during the holidays are completely unnecessary, but always very much appreciated. And some are just too cool not to share with you!
Take, for example, music pasta. I am so giving this to my musician friends and family as a stocking stuffer next year. What a fun gift from one of my lovely voice students, Nicolette O. I told her that it was too neat to actually cook and eat, so maybe I’ll put it on display in my kitchen for visitors to ooh-and-aah over :)
I am so digging the music-themed presents — others have included ornaments, jewelry dishes, and gift cards to my favorite local music store — but like I said earlier, I don’t need or expect anything from my students and their families, especially anything lavish. In fact, one of my favorite gifts so far this year is a fabulous drawing by Henry H. Not only are my students generous, but they are multi-talented as well!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
One of my favorite December traditions is providing music activities for children at my church’s “Breakfast With Santa” event. This year’s breakfast is happening tomorrow, and it will be my 4th time putting on those reindeer antlers and making music with lots of excited children (while their parents take lots of pictures).
Reindeer have been the theme of the music room since year one, mostly because “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is a guaranteed holiday hit with children and I have written quite a few reindeer tunes, myself. I’ve changed my approach through the years, though; here’s my 2009 version, and my variation on a theme for 2010.
I’m looking forward to Breakfast with Santa because it’s always a super cheerful, no-pressure, chaotic-in-a-good-way morning. What better way to truly kick off the holiday season? I’d love to hear about your favorite December traditions and events…feel free to share them in the comments!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
Last year, my friend Katie and I ventured out at 4 a.m. on the day after Thanksgiving to participate in the absolute chaos that is Black Friday. I do have to admit that we had fun, and I did score some great deals on items for my studio, but I am not sad to have missed out this year.
Instead, I slept in and then went to the Festival of Trees with my dad. This afternoon I’m going to eat some leftovers, work on a song with my mom, and maybe even start getting out the Christmas decorations (we’re putting up the tree tomorrow).
My poor husband has been outside stringing up lights all day, which might be even worse than fighting the Black Friday crowds. What about you? Did you brave the mania and take advantage of the sales?
by Rachel | Uncategorized
I’ve lost track of how many times I have mentioned here on the blog that I’m a list-maker. I’ve also lost track of how many lists I have running on any given day — on a notepad in my office, in the “Reminders” app of my phone, a Pages document on my computer, and now, in the cloud.
I discovered today’s “Friday Fave” while catching up on my Google Reader one day last month. John Jantsch writes the blog Duct Tape Marketing (and also wrote the book The Referral Engine, which I loved and learned a lot from), so I have him to thank for this new resource.
Workflowy is hard to describe, because calling it a list-making tool would be selling it short. The interface couldn’t be simpler: it’s just a blank page where you can add items, and then add bullet points to those items, and bullet points to those items, and then notes to those items. My Workflowy account contains an outline of all of my to-do’s in every area of my life, broken down into the smallest detail.
When I sat down earlier this week to outline my presentation for the national music therapy conference (yes, this is happening next week, and yes, I am completely guilty of procrastination), I decided to go the Workflowy route. You can see a portion of my outline above. The entire outline is nested within the rest of my Workflowy space, and I can minimize and maximize it as needed. This tool is too cool!
You know what else is cool about Workflowy? It’s totally free. It’s also accessible anywhere. I can pull it up on my computer, iPhone, or iPad — there’s no dedicated app; just type the address in Safari, sign in, and there are my lists.
I’m going to stop trying to explain and just let you go check it out for yourself. Have you tried Workflowy, or do you have another favorite organizational tool?
by Rachel | Uncategorized
As you read this, I’m either on my way to Minnesota (we hit the road to the airport at 4.30 am…eek!) or already there.
A few months back, my mom told me about a songwriting contest being held by a national non-profit organization whose mission is to end child abuse.
The National Child Protection Training Center (NCPTC) focuses on educational curriculum development and training for child protection professionals across the country. The winning song would be performed at their gala, Embracing Hope: A World Without Child Abuse Starts Tonight, as a theme song of sorts.
So we entered…and guess what? We won! We found out the good news in September, and now we’re off to St. Paul in order to attend and sing the song at the gala.
My mom and I are pretty excited about having the opportunity to share the song with so many people who we know will appreciate it. If you want to hear the song for yourself, click here.
Another thing we’re pretty excited about? Doing some shopping at the Mall of America! I’ve never been, and this trip just happens to fall at the perfect time to start doing my holiday shopping :)
