I've been excited about this post so my mom can be proud of me as I show her some of what's been going on here at home and work. And i apologize ahead of time, my wit isn't quite as sharp as normal so this post may be a bit dry- not much i can do, it's just an "off" night.

First things first, I know the setup of this background is kind of obnoxious, i do plan on centering things and fixing it up but for now I just apologize for how unprofessional it looks- at some point i'll make blogging a priority but i can't promise it will be anytime in the next 15 years.

Spring is the absolutely the busiest time for any music program, with concerts and fundraisers and spring trips and festivals, it gets to be a lot of work but also a lot of fun. The end of February we held a "sing-a-thon," a day that's supposed to be devoted to getting pledges and having the kids at school for 10 hours on a Saturday singing. For every hour, they get paid X amount from people they know, which money then goes toward their trip. Needless to say I had to come up with some creative things so they wouldn't go horse rehearsing all Saturday. So no, we're not a show choir but as shown I made them do some really hilarious warm-ups, mostly for my own personal need to laugh... and then i took pictures... They made up songs, I had friends from the ward come in and help move boxes with custodians and clean up the school, ect. Whatever we could think of to get them singing and moving and staying at school.









THIS week we had the Chorale from Randolph College come visit. Through a series of events we (I) got a venue set up during their tour of the area and permission for them to sing at the DC Temple Visitor's Center on Wednesday night. I'll be real honest, it turned out to be a lot more work than i had bargained for originally. There was a meal and housing to plan for when they were down here in Kensington, and then a side-by-side and concert up at Arundel to plan for the next day.


The meal we planned at the Stake Center ended up being a riot; I arrived to find that there was no functional stove or oven or cutting knives... in a KITCHEN. I had no cups or really anything necessary for a civilized meal. I had some girls come from the ward to help out, Heather came which i am grateful for beyond belief, Ryan came and brought working utensils and cups, I had sisters and missionaries running back and forth from the Visitor's Center with pans of brownie batter to cook it in their ovens, all while trying to tell a 25 person choir how to get around and change and eat Hawaiian haystacks, ect. It was quite an event but I think for the most part they viewed it as going along seamlessly, which is the point of it all, right?

In a way I find myself getting a real rise out of "plan B" situations. What i mean by that is I love the feeling of bringing satisfaction to people and I also kind of thrive on, every once in a while, in that moment of utter chaos when circumstances beyond your control warrant a change of plans, coming up with something spontaneously because there's no other option but to do it. I was telling Staci earlier this week about multiple experiences I've had like that, and there have been more than there should be, and I sort of pride myself in being able to keep my cool and just roll with it. It's hilarious looking back on it and realizing most people had no idea what just happened behind the scenes. There's some sort of satisfaction I find in that.



Everyone got sent off with their host families after a concert that unfortunately was competing with everyone's ward temple night so attendance wasn't what we would have like it to be. But good things happened, people had fun, everyone had a roof over their heads, there were no casualties reported and only one pillow left so we'll count that as a successful evening. Thank heaven for helpful roommates and a finished basement- we had 5 girls down there and their accompanist in my bed thanks to a last minute cancellation of host family. All great things though, i never get to have sleepovers and pillow talk with my roommates so it was a great excuse.



THURSDAY they came up to Arundel to talk to my kids about college life and the choir and advice they needed. We sang for one another- my students are so funny. They all freak out and drag their feet to get up on the risers and sing cuz they're scared, but then once they've sung one all i hear is, "Ms. Clark, let's do this one next!" Such little drama kings/queens.



"Ms. Clark and Dr. Speer"- side-by-side with Randolph College and Arundel High School