by Rachel | Uncategorized
This is my dad. We spent Father’s Day watching the Cardinals game (not a whole lot has changed over the years, besides my hairstyle!) and then eating one of my dad’s specialties for dinner. Don’t worry, we offered to take him out, but he wanted my brother to have one last home-cooked meal before he and his fiancee move to South Carolina tomorrow. My dad likes to complain, but the truth is he enjoys cooking for us…even on a day devoted to him :)
I’m lucky to have amazing parents an all-around wonderful family. I got to spend lots of time with them this weekend with all the birthday, engagement, and Father’s Day festivities. It was quite the whirlwind, though, and I’m exhausted! I realized today that I forgot to post my “Summer” song on the first official day of the season, so make sure to come back for that tomorrow. Goodnight!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
It’s been a great two weeks, but all good things must come to an end! Actually, I’m really REALLY excited for this week, as lessons and music therapy resume tomorrow. I have a full day ahead of me: Mondays are my longest, with 9 lessons, 2 individual MT sessions, and 1 group. Just thinking about it makes me exhausted, but happy :)
I thoroughly enjoyed my last day of vacation, which began at 5 am with the dog crying to be let out (the everyday norm). Luckily I got a couple more hours of sleep after that, and then Zach and I set out with Sadie the wonder pup for some playtime in the park.
Turns out Sadie is a fan of the guitar…she is my puppy, after all :) Sadie also displayed her fearlessness, playing with a couple of dogs who outweighed her by 200 pounds. I was more scared than she was! After a jaunt through the fountains, Sadie was exhausted and so were we. I came home to do a bit of recording before hitting my parents’ pool (my personal vacation spot). Follow that up with a delicious meal courtesy of mom, and my day was practically perfect!
I’ll be back tomorrow with a report on my music-filled Monday, which will begin with lots and lots of coffee. I think I’m going to need the extra caffeine…wish me luck!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
It’s June 5th, which means I’m one year older today. 26! Even though I don’t love these growing numbers, I do love celebrating my birthday. I was awakened by my husband and puppy singing “Happy Birthday” to me (well, Zach was doing most of the singing, and Sadie was mostly just licking). and then we took her for a walk around the neighborhood. I’m going out to lunch this afternoon, and then hopefully spending some quality time by the pool :) Tonight my friends and family are gathering for a little shindig, topping off the perfect birthday.
Have a great day…I know I will!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
Can this really be true? Well, judging from my near-empty, cleaned out music room and the big smiles on all of the teachers’ faces, I guess it is! This school year has been an exciting one, and today marks the end of my second full year here at Hope. This afternoon during my end-of-the-year evaluation, my principal asked, “You WILL be coming back in the fall, right?” Of course I answered with an emphatic YES…I’m thrilled to be able to keep my position going, especially since it was originally funded by a two-year grant.
This morning was our annual school talent show, in which I participated with a couple of the Junior classes. They wrote an “American Idol” themed skit, and I was one of the contestants. Unfortunately, I lost to a student, which just goes to show how talented our kids are :) Watching the rest of the acts, it made me realize how much I’m going to miss this place over the summer. I love our kids, and the staff is amazingly supportive of me and my program. It’s a wonderful place to be a music therapist.
Today’s the last day of school, but it’s the first day of music therapy at The Autism Program. I started this in the summer of 2008, and I am so excited to be back for a second summer. We have three different sessions to accomodate all ages, and though each session is only three weeks long, we make the very best of it. Can’t wait to get started this afternoon!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
One of my very favorite websites for discovering great tunes – as well as sharing my own – is Songs for Teaching. I’ve been lucky enough to have quite a few Listen & Learn originals available for downloading (find them here) at Songs for Teaching, and recently had the opportunity to produce a few recordings of well-known songs exclusively for the website.
Here are the first three, which you’ll probably recognize:
German Cradle Song
My Country ‘Tis of Thee
Rock-a-Bye Baby
I’ll be adding several more over the next few weeks, so I will be sure to keep you updated! In other news, you might have visited earlier today and noticed that many songs did not play as they should have. This was due to a file server upgrade, which I’m happy to say is completed. All of the songs you’ll find here are now hosted by a much more reliable server, which should eliminate any problems you may have encountered in the past when listening. Thanks so much for your patience, and for visiting Listen & Learn Music regularly :)
This is my dad. We spent Father’s Day watching the Cardinals game (not a whole lot has changed over the years, besides my hairstyle!) and then eating one of my dad’s specialties for dinner. Don’t worry, we offered to take him out, but he wanted my brother to have one last home-cooked meal before he and his fiancee move to South Carolina tomorrow. My dad likes to complain, but the truth is he enjoys cooking for us…even on a day devoted to him :)
