Thursday, August 15, 2013

Changes and A New Adventure!

Over this summer, Alan was offered the Girls Athletic Director and Head Girls Basketball Coach Position at a little 1A school in South Texas.  They just happened to have a Elementary Music position opened and wanted me to start a choir at the Middle School with adding High School Choir next year.  This ISD really pushed to get us here.  They wanted a couple with young kids to come in as a team that would be around for a while.  While I did not want to move and pull our kids out of a Christian School, and leave our church, I knew Alan could not pass up this opportunity.  I will get to see my kids more often and have the honor to teach music to them and hopefully choir.

We have lived here almost two weeks and it is taking a lot of adjustment for me.  Our next door neighbors actually brought us brownies which I thought only happened in movies/TV.  Everyone in our Neighborhood KNOWS who we are and WHY we are here.  Our house sits against a cow pasture and so we see cows everyday behind our backyard.  I can't just go to a shopping center anytime I want.  I have to drive 30-60 minutes to go any place fun to shop.  Restaurants are limited.  It only takes us 10 minutes to get to school versus the 25 minutes I have been traveling back and forth everyday for five years.  Most everyone is friendly and local businesses even knows Alan and call him "Coach Weaver."   We live in one town while our school is four miles away in the next town, but many know who we are in BOTH towns. 


Our house is spacious and the kids want to live in it forever despite the blue master bath, pink guest bath and a strange green/blue kitchen, I like the features of the house. 

We started in-service this week and school officially starts the 26th.  Here is to a new Adventure.

Branson

We flew in from New York  around Midnight and Alan greeted me at the airport.  We jumped in the car and drove to McKinney to spend the night.  The next morning we headed to Branson MO to enjoy a free trip for Choir and Band directors.  We were there four days and saw many shows like ABBA, Buckets and Boards, Taylor Reed, The Hughes brothers and The Haygoods.  We went to the Titanic Museum where we met the great granddaughter of Margaret Brown (The Unsinkable Molly Brown), rode the ducks, and I drove a go cart that was four stories high.  Alan of course sped past me and ran into me at the very end.

I really enjoyed getting to know the business people in Branson and even getting to meet and talk with some of the celebrities.  The Hughes Brothers were by far my favorite because they took time after the show to sit down and talk with us.  They even showed up at the Go Carts and hung out with us.

My favorite moment was the moment when we were sitting in on a Band Group getting critiqued before the Haygood show.  I look over to my left because I noticed that someone walked into the theater.  I had one of those moments where I stopped breathing and looked at my husband with big eyes and got so excited.  It was Barry Williams!

After the stay was over, Alan and I headed for Oklahoma City and spent the night.  We we to see my old house and church and headed to downtown to see the memorial and have lunch on the River Walk.  We then headed home.  Those five days were a great get away for Alan and me.  We had not traveled at all the past year and it was great to get away.

Now where was Andrew and Anna?  While I was in New York, Alan and the kids went camping with Alan's parents in Junction and from there Andrew and Anna went home with their grandparents.  Even though its great to have a break, I was so ready to see my kids again.  I really missed them.
 Taylor Reed the Illusionist and Ziggy both from Texas
 Some of the Hughes Brothers and children
 Greg!
 The Hughes Brothers and the Oldest son with Alan and me at the Go Cart Tracks
The Hughes Brothers serenading our group on the Bus.  They sang the National Anthem and For the Longest Time.

New York! New York!

 Our choir made a return trip to New York City in June.  Several of the kids wanted to go back and I of course did not mind that at all.  We had our same tour guide and I was so glad.  She is amazing!  She makes mine and Mac's job so easy.  While we did see things we saw last time, we saw a lot of new things as well.  Again, one of my favorite moments was our first song we sang in the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.  It was a fast pace song with a loud long ending note.  I loved seeing the expressions of our students faces when I cut them off and they heard their echo for several seconds after.  I even got to sing this time.  We saw Matilda and Wicked and I did not get sick on the boat ride on the Hudson River.  I enjoyed shopping at the Lego store for Andrew, the American Girl Doll store for Anna and NBC studios for Alan.