OK, I have an excuse this time for not writing more. A precious ball of cuteness surrounding razor-sharp puppy teeth has invaded our space and is the center of the universe. As of last Wed, my birthday, we are the new staff of a 9 week old Cavshon pup, a cross between a Cavalier (think Cleveland Cavaliers!!!) King Charles Spaniel and a Bichon Frise. I say staff because we are at her beck and call, and fufill every whim that enters that 2 second attention-span mind of hers. She gets me up before dawn, only to eat and relieve herself and play for 30 min and then wants to snuggle in my lap into my fuzzy robe and sleep. By then, I of course, cannot sleep, and as I type this she is back in her bed yelping since I put her back to sleep. I've decided that I will not be her mattress, no matter how nice it is to snuggle her warm little body. She needs to learn to sleep in her crate, especially when I teach, or else we will all want to cave to the pitiful cries and get nothing done.

Anyway, musically-related, which this blog is supposed to be about, we are about finished with the compositions for the festival, and there are some really good ones this year. It takes a lot of class time that I wish I had for the regular lesson plan, but they are learning much of the theory as I work with them on the compositions. We can catch up once they're mailed on anything we missed.

Everyone seems to be in a cold-induced winter brain freeze, and in Cleveland, we are all deep into hiberation mode. The students are already so fatigued from school, I almost feel bad for trying to make them think more, especially in thorny music theory concepts, and at such a young age. I found that early elementary children don't understand fractions well, making it difficult to explain notation such as dotted quarter notes and such, and also have never been introduced to Roman Numerals, making the I, IV, and V7 chords easier to explain with colors rather than the words "one, four, and five-seven". No matter, their brains are taking in large amounts of previously unknown facts, it's just that in winter, it seems the blank stares are more prevalent than the light bulb going off and the words, "Oh, I get it!" (No matter how enthusiastically something is presented!) Still, they are coming to me voluntarily, and it's my job to teach them, whether they want to or not!

One neat thing is that they have been contributing change and dollar bills for practicing time (earned from their practice and paid by their parents) to a jar for charity. We decided to use it for a local food bank that also helps with school supplies, and utility shutoff notices. We're collecting until the recital at the end of the year. They seem to like doing it, and even my private students are getting involved, with some older ones donating out of their own pockets! Good to see.

Anyway, I'll try to post a photo of Bella (Short for Isabella, like the queen that she is) and get some clothes on, as she's finally gone to sleep. In my lap. Yes, I caved.

Lori