music, therapy, and me

Six days left before I go back to work for the last six months of my school contract year. I am getting ready to send my boxes back to my house and pack up all of my things so I can travel across the country to the world of cold. This is always the hardest part about visiting - leaving again. I love this part of the country, and it is always a wrench to have to leave it. I also love where I live because it is different from here.  Yesterday, my family members took me to one of my favorite places in the world - the La Brea Tar Pits. This is a park complex in the middle of Los Angeles where fossils were found in the 1870s while people were excavating the area for oil and gas. There are tons of animal remains contained within the tar, and excavations continue. The animals in the tar pits come from the last 60,000 years and includes the end of the Pleistocene era and all of our current time which is known as the Holocene (Thanks to A Field Guide to La Brea Tar Pits  and the articl...

It is halfway through this season of festivities and stuff, and I am tired of it all. I went to do some laundry (because my room is currently 60 degrees and not getting warmer during the day so kids are bundling up in the blankets that I had my facility buy since they are not fixing the HVAC system AT ALL), and the COTAs were painting applesauce and cinnamon ornaments with students and they put on Christmas music. Now, I do not listen to much Christmas music during this season because it is everywhere and I get tired of it all. So, I was hanging out in the laundry area listening to this music and watching my students either protest or become so enthralled that they were not doing anything they were asked to do. I have three more holiday obligations to go before my holiday can start and I can flood myself with Christmas music. I will be able to listen without thinking about all the things that I need to do in the next 10 days because those 10 days will be OVER! I enjoy Christmas music, ...

Hint: So much to celebrate next week!! I get to surround myself in a movie franchise that I have loved since I was seven years old!! Do you know what I am referring to? Not Teacher Appreciation week. Not May Day, but May the Fourth!! If you have no idea what this is, you may want to skip the rest of this post. If you haven't ever watched this franchise, then I'm not sure we can be friends (just kidding, but I may try to convince you to dive into the stories...I'm just saying...) I have arranged to take over music therapy sessions from my interns next week so I can share my love with my clients. I have identified the t-shirts that I will be wearing. I have to get batteries for my robot prop this weekend - my favorite character, by the way. I may have to prepare by watching all the movies this weekend...I wonder if I have enough hours from this evening through Sunday evening to get through everything! Am I vague enough for you? This tends to be the week that my music therapy ...