Wisdomless.

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long delay since my last post; Christmas break, in some ways, has proven to be busier than school was.

I’ve really enjoyed being home with my family. I’ve spent pretty much all of my time at home hanging out in the living room with Mom and Dad (Blake only plays video games online in his room), and my cat has been hanging out with me as well. When I first got home, I was a bit jealous because Noel (my cat) seemed to be more attached to my mom than to me, but he’s warmed up to me since I’ve been back, so that’s good.

Last Friday, Dad, Blake, and I drove to the big little town (though mostly just little) of Sentinel, Oklahoma, where my grandparents (on my dad’s side) live during the winter since it’s so cold and snowy at their other home in Idaho during this time of year. My aunt (my dad’s sister) lives next door to my grandparents’ home in Oklahoma, so it was a cool little reunion for all of us, especially since the last time I had seen any of them (unless my memory has slipped) was when my Memaw attended my graduation in May of 2010; it had been even longer since I saw my Pawpaw or Aunt Shannon. At their house, I actually had my first home-cooked meal since returning home from school for the break, which was nice. Memaw fixed us a breakfast consisting of eggs and ham that morning, and we had pot roast with potatoes, carrots, and butter/bread, all of which were great (though I admittedly didn’t eat any carrots). Overall, it was just awesome getting to spend time with them after not having seen them in such a long time.

The three of us left for home Sunday afternoon. That night and the next day were particularly uneventful, but Tuesday was super exciting because I got my wisdom teeth removed! Yaaaaa- just kidding. It wasn’t that exciting. However, it wasn’t painful either, for which I’m grateful. Dad took me to the oral surgeon’s office that morning at 10; as soon as I got in the operating room, they put an IV in my arm and I was out for the count, though it seemed like I was awake in the next instant. I haven’t had any pain so far, which is awesome, but having to keep up with the meds I have to take and the task of keeping my mouth consistently clean is a bit tiring. An advantage is that I haven’t really done anything but sit around watching TV the past two days, and lots of that time was spent with my cat napping in my lap, which warms my heart. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it on here before now, but December 26th will mark 10 years since I first got Noel, so I’m glad that he’s warmed up to me so much.

As a result of my diet being mostly limited to soft foods, I’ve now had my mom’s spaghetti for dinner three nights in a row…awesome! It’s my very favorite food. Hooray!

Earlier tonight, a Back to the Future marathon came on TV. I didn’t catch it until halfway through Part II, but I watched the rest of it and then the third one, all with my parents. At the end of Part II, I had to pause the TV for a minute or two to clarify the timeline of the trilogy for Mom; she was confused as to how these characters got where and when, but I think she (mostly) understands now. I’m such a good son!

The other day, I discovered that one of my favorite childhood Saturday morning cartoons is available for viewing on Netflix Instant: Jackie Chan Adventures! Very exciting news. I’ve been watching several episodes during the past couple of days, and the more I watch, the more I’m convinced that it’s not just the nostalgia speaking: this TV show really is quality stuff. If you haven’t seen it before, I highly recommend it. It’s lots of fun, and it doesn’t dumb things down for kids. It’s action-packed and light-hearted, though it has some light moments as well. Very good!

Anyway, that’s pretty much it for now. I’ve been getting in bed a lot earlier this break, believe it or not. I’ve been going to bed not too long after midnight, though I’ll be honest: I’ll often lie in bed for an hour or so watching a TV show or listening to music before finally falling asleep, but that’s still a pretty decent bedtime as far as I’m concerned.

48 hours from now, I’ll have been at my aunt and uncle’s house in Alabama for several hours, eagerly anticipating Christmas on Sunday morning. It’s only been a few weeks since I last saw them (Thanksgiving), but I’m excited to see them as well; I usually see them maybe three or four times a year, max, so it’s always a treat to spend time with them as well.

And now it’s time for bed. That’s today’s update! I’ll update you all at least once more before Christmas…I promise! Goodnight, everyone!

Chad

P.S. – The final grades are in! Of my 11 classes this semester (I know, it’s a lot – welcome to the life of a music major!), I received 9 As and 2 Bs, bringing both my semester and combined GPAs to a bit higher than a 3.7 (though not high enough to round up a tenth). I’m very happy with these grades…this is my first semester to get an A in my music history class! Definitely an improvement.

Romping around.

Well, I’m home! It’s a great feeling.

I know I haven’t posted in a few days, so I’ll briefly review the past few days.

On Monday, I didn’t really do anything all day aside from going over to Lexi and Bekka’s house for a little movie-watching party. Neither of them had seen The Polar Express, so I brought it over, they ordered pizza, and the three of us sat and watched. They loved it! It’s always a good feeling to share a movie with someone and to have them really enjoy it. After that was over, I went back to the room and finished packing for my month-long break (woohoo!) before hitting the books…I had one last final exam to study for. I was up a bit later than I had hoped to be, but it was worth it because the exam was a bit tricky.

This last exam was at 7:30am on Tuesday morning, and it was in my COMS class. I think I passed it for sure, but it may not have been my best grade. I’m not worried about it, though; I received high grades on all of my speeches/presentations in that class, so my grade should weigh more in favor of those than to the not-as-great exam grade. I finished at about 9am, at which point I walked to my car, drove to Sneed, loaded up the remainder of my things and said goodbye to Andrew, and then finally left Lubbock! The drive was a bit dreary because it seemed that all of Texas is under a fog, but the Christmas music made it all the better. I also took another break to listen through the soundtrack to The Muppets yet again, which was fun. Such a great soundtrack!

I got home at about 3:30, which was earlier than Mom expected me; I called her an hour after I left Lubbock to tell her that I was just now leaving, ensuring that I’d be there before she was expecting me so that I could surprise her. I bought Sonic drinks for the both of us before visiting her at Beasley. She was definitely surprised! Later that night was the choir concert, which was lots of fun. Variety sang before the concert, and, though I was upset with the Variety Girls for cutting “All I Want for Christmas is You” this year, it was good to see Blake and others having so much fun. The concert itself wasn’t bad either, and it was made better at the end when the alumni joined the choir onstage for my favorite Christmas song, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, and for “Carol of the Bells”. It had been two years since I had sung either of them, but I remembered both very well; it was great to be back on that stage. Definitely home!

Yesterday, I slept until about 11:30 before eating lunch with Mom at Beasley. After we had eaten, Andrew and Johnny came over to the house, where we watched The Office and Andrew played some inFAMOUS on my PS3 (we set up a small TV so that both activities could go on at the same time in the same room). In the evening was a spaghetti dinner up at Poteet as a fundraiser for the baseball team (I think…). When we had eaten our fill, we went back home and watched bad Lifetime Christmas movies before hitting the hay.

Today, I woke up before noon again (I’m trying to avoid sleeping the day away), but with consciousness came an awful headache, so I stayed in bed for a couple of hours before Mom came home from work to take me to an appointment with an oral surgeon about my wisdom teeth…I’m getting them removed next Tuesday. Oh goody? Hopefully it won’t be too bad. We originally scheduled it to take place after the start of the new year, but we decided that it would be best if we got it over with now so that it doesn’t interfere with practicing for band auditions. It shouldn’t affect my eating habits on Christmas, at least, that’s what the dentist guy said. Here’s hoping!

After the appointment, Mom dropped me off at home before going to her work Christmas party, leaving Blake and me at home for a while before Dad got home from work to take us out to eat – Cici’s! We got home not too long after 8, at which point Mom and Blake left to deliver fundraiser items that people had purchased from him, and I left to go see The Muppets again with Andrew, Connor (who just got back in town), and Johnny…thank goodness for Johnny getting us in for free since he works there! It was nice to see the movie again with people who hadn’t seen it before (neither Johnny nor Connor had seen it before tonight) as gave Andrew and I opportunity to enjoy their reactions as we enjoyed it for the second time.

And now I’m home, ready to go to bed. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but we’ll see! Goodnight, all.

Chad

P.S. – Of the grades I know, I have 8 As and 1 B+…still waiting on my music history and COMS grades.

I am blessed.

I was in bed until 3 this afternoon. What a great sleep it was!

When I finally got up, Andrew and I started watching The Office…and that’s all we did ALL day until about 7:00, when we left to see A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley, a play directed my friend John, who directed CCBB earlier this year. It was a great show; the venue was smaller than I imagined, but it wasn’t a bad thing…it was nice to sorta be up close and personal with the story. I ended up knowing tons of people in the cast. One is Sarah, who I met last fall through Kate, and all of the others were in CCBB with me, which was cool because I hadn’t seen any of them since CCBB. Go figure. I’m glad John invited me (and provided free tickets for Andrew and me)!

We stopped by McDonald’s before coming back to the campus. In the room, Andrew wrote a short essay for his English class, and then we watched more of The Office. We’re almost all the way through season 6 now, which means we only have one more season to go before we’re caught up with all of the episodes available on Netflix! Kinda pathetic, but we don’t care.

Earlier, Mom called and we talked a bit about my Christmas list. Every year we get a “big gift” from Mom and Dad; past examples include a bike, an XBox 360, a TV, and a PS3…all of which I’ve brought to Tech and use on a regular basis. This year, I couldn’t think of anything “big” that I wanted, so I put the newest version of the Kindle (the touch-screen one, not the Fire) as my “big gift”. Mom asked me to see if I could think of anything bigger, and I’ve tried, but I honestly couldn’t think of anything bigger that I want that I don’t already have; I truly am incredibly blessed. If any of you have any ideas as to what I should ask for, let me know.

Anyway, it’s later than I anticipated it being, so it’s time for bed. I don’t want to sleep through church tomorrow! Goodnight.

Chad

Kicked today in the face.

Mostly. There was maybe 1/4 of unbruised Friday face once I was finished with it.

Starting off with yesterday, I woke up early to take my sight-singing final for aural skills, which I got a 99 on, bringing my final grade to a 96…the class average was an 80. Aural skills is by far my easiest class; thank goodness for my choral background! The rest of the day was spent practicing my horn, napping, and watching a documentary called The Pixar Story on Netflix Instant. Some of the best films out there are documentaries, and this was one of the better ones I’ve seen. I recommend it!

I hit the hay soon after 1am, knowing that I had to wake up early for my busy day: four finals. I woke at 6:15 for my first final (music theory) at 7:30, which went really well. I finished and less than an hour; I’m fairly confident I got at least a B, maybe even an 8. As long as I keep my overall A in the class, I’m happy. After turning in my final, I warmed up on my horn, practiced piano a bit, ate some yogurt for breakfast, and then took my piano final. This one also went well, not only because I practiced more for it than I ever have for a piano final but also because my teacher liked me; our class isn’t the most respectful since he’s a grad student and not an actual professor, so he thanked me for being the guy in class who always worked hard and paid attention. Woohoo! Another A? Check!

At this point, I returned to the room for a couple of hours, finishing up edits to my research paper, filling out my repertoire/judge sheets for my horn jury, and printing them all out. I wanted to take a short nap, but I figured it would be wise to study at least a little for my music history exam, which was at 1:30. I wasn’t too worried about this test since it technically wasn’t a “final”, instead acting as the third of three exams. My grades for the first two were an 86 and a 91 or 92, so it all averages out to a good grade no matter what. That being said, this test was just a bit more difficult than I had hoped it would be (a thought echoed by the many vulgar words I heard people utter after they left the test room). On the last test, a grading curve was applied, so I’d assume the same would be done to this one. Possibly another A? We’ll certainly see, but I’d be satisfied with a B.

I finished my music history exam much quicker than I had anticipated; I had worn my suit to the exam so that I wouldn’t have to go back between my exam and my jury, but I ended up having about two and a half hours of free time, during which I ate lunch and hung around before re-warming up, practicing a bit, and having a quick spot-check with my accompanist. The jury went well; it started rough, but I improved as the piece went on, so I’m hoping for at least a B on that as well. I’ll be sure to let you know!

When my jury was finished, I packed away my horn and came back to the room, hanging up my suit and crashing on my bed…it had been a long, busy day, and it was now nap time. I slept until about 7:30, staying in bed until Andrew got back from work and we started watching more of The Office. We’re done now, having just watched Season 6, episode 5; we’re almost completely through all of the episodes available on Netflix! Wow! It’s a great show…I can’t believe I hadn’t watched until now! Andrew and I are constantly cracking up while watching.

I had my first “argument” over whether or not “Linus and Lucy” is a Christmas song or not (IT’S NOT) today. Megan had posted a status on FB about how the song came up on her Christmas Pandora station and how it made her day, and then Hannah commented, wondering how long it would be until I corrected her…this is something I feel strongly about. Ha. Here was my response:

‎…it’s not. If I’m making a Christmas movie and decide that I’m going to write a song that has no relation to Christmas, and then I use that same song in the next two non-Christmas sequels, does that make it a Christmas song? Nope.

And my mind will not be changed…feel free to try!

Anyway, tomorrow I have no plans until the evening. My friend John, who was the director of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang back in February, invited me to see his latest production, A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley, offering free tickets for me and whoever else. I accepted the offer, so Andrew and I are going to go see that tomorrow. It’ll be great to see him (I haven’t seen him in months!), and I also know someone in the cast, so it’ll be lots of fun.

Until then, it’s time for sleep! I’m going to enjoy sleeping late tomorrow. Only four more days until I’m home for a month! Goodnight!

Chad

P.S. – The only other final grade I know right now is for my strings class – an A! I would have been concerned if I HADN’T gotten an A in that class.

P.P.S. – My friend Jonathan and his family are going through a rough time right now; it’d be great if you could all pray for him. For details, read his blog at THIS LINK.

Classes are finished!

It’s nice to be done with all of my classes…only finals to go now. That being said, I’ve got a final tomorrow morning (they were moved from Tuesday due to weather delay), so I’m off to bed. Maybe tomorrow will be more interesting! Goodnight, everyone.

Chad

P.S. – “A date that will live in infamy…” Remember Pearl Harbor. Today was the 70th anniversary.

Successes

It’s late, so this post won’t be super long. But there are definitely a few things worth being said!

I got to sleep a bit late this morning as mentioned in last night’s post, which was nice. I had my violin final this morning, which went pretty well. I’m expecting an A in that class in any case, so no big deal. After strings class was my section leader teaching audition. They piled all of the auditionees in a room, and when it was almost our time to go teach our sections a piece of music, we were sent to another room where we were given five minutes to look over the music. The song was “Sing, Sing, Sing”, which EVERYBODY knows (The “Chips Ahoy song”), but there are still a few tricky rhythms that I needed to work out with the other horn players. My audition went really well; I wasn’t nervous, and, though I didn’t get very far in the music (I was told none of the candidates did), the section had started sounding pretty good by the time my five minutes of teaching was up. I was feeling pretty confident.

In case you hadn’t heard, Prof. Hill, the director of Goin’ Band last year and this year, was not guaranteed the job again next year; he was technically only the temporary director until they had a proper application process for other interested candidates. Last week, the other potential director came and visited and worked with Tech students hands-on as part of the application process, and Prof. Hill was the other potential permanent director. I got a little worried because lots of people seemed to like the other guy, but I definitely preferred Prof. Hill. My worries were laid to rest, though, when we were told today that Prof. Hill is now the official Associate Director of Bands at Texas Tech! I’m SO excited for him!

When all of my classes for today were finished, I returned to the room and napped for a couple of hours before waking and meeting up with Andrew and Megan for a trip to Chili’s. Our favorite Chili’s back home caught fire and burned down early this morning, which is a lot more depressing than it would be if we were just losing a restaurant. Our senior year especially, my friends and I spent many hours at Chili’s; it was our hangout spot and our default dinner option. We went after many concerts and other school functions, and one of the last moments I spent with my late friend James Betterton (who died in a car crash back in January of this year) was with him and “the guys” at this Chili’s. I have lots of great memories at that restaurant, and it’s sad that those times have come to an end for now…I’m hoping that it’s eventually rebuilt. We’ll see.

After dinner, I dropped off Andrew and Megan and parked my car at the garage, prepared to make the walk back to the room in the cold alone (you’re welcome, Andrew!). Before I got too far, Prof. Hill sent out an email to all who had auditioned for GB Leadership positions, which is when I found out the great news: I am now a visual instructor and the band 1 horn section leader for Goin’ Band 2012! I’m so happy! The other girl who I had convinced to audition is the band 2 section leader, and her and ALL of the other horns who auditioned for visual instructor got that as well! It was a great day for our section. Additionally, all of the officer candidates who I had voted for (ALL of them EXACTLY) were elected, so that was good too. Next year is going to be a great year for GB! Thank you all for your prayers!

Anyway, I’ve been working on my theory review and editing my research paper for a while (plus watching The Office, of course), and now I need a shower before bed, so I’ll talk to you all tomorrow night…this post ended up being longer than I expected it to be! Tomorrow is the last day of classes for the semester, and I also have my voice final (a short recital) tomorrow night, so wish me luck! Goodnight!

Chad

Snows and stuffs.

Everything paled in comparison to the snow on the ground. I’ll never get used to walking to class through the snow. Ever. But it’s awesome.

Classes were boring. Nothing new. Aside from class, Andrew and I have been watching lots of the Office again…we just started season 5. Woohoo! I had a band concert at 8 that went well, so that was cool.

That’s pretty much it, though. Classes have been delayed tomorrow, so I won’t actually have anything until 11 in the morning…yay for sleeping late! Also, section leader auditions in the afternoon. Wish me luck! Prayers please!

I compiled together all of my finals: I have four on Friday and then one on Tuesday morning. How awful is that? At least I’ll be done before noon on Tuesday, so I’ll make it home before the Poteet choir concert that night! I didn’t make it last year, so it’ll be nice to be there this year.

Anyway, it’s bed time. Goodnight!

Chad