This week has been hectic! Spirit week for the middle school and the high school plus a full moon is just insanity. The high school's homecoming was last night and it was close to 11:30 when I got home. The band went on the field for the first two pieces of our show. They did an incredible job and I've never been prouder of them. I realized today when I got home from rehearsal....yes I got home at 11:30 last night, got to sleep a little after midnight and was back at the high school by 6:45 this morning. Rehearsal lasted until 11:00 for the whole band and then percussion hung around and worked until around 12:15. Back to the original thought....I realized today when I got home from rehearsal that I have literally been working 12-14 (and sometimes many more) hour days since August 16th. I have been running ragged and it finally caught up to me today. On my way home last night a headache hit me. I didn't take anything but just went to bed and slept it off. On my way home today I got another one. I ate lunch and it went away. I ended up napping on my couch while cleaning out my DVR. It was such a lazy Saturday and I felt like crap for the majority of it. I have got to get used to this schedule and make sure to relish the few days that I get off. In a month, it will be either over or almost over. Lower State is October 23rd and State is October 30th. If we make the top 7 at Lower State then we have to compete at State but if we do not make it to the top 7 then our season is over.
We were supposed to take the kids to their first competition today. We were supposed to go to Socastee High School today but Tuesday, Socastee had a school shooting and they found unexploded devices around the school. We e-mailed the principal of the high school who in turn e-mailed the superintendent and we all eventually agreed that we trusted the administration of Socastee but for our peace of mind and our band parents' peace of mind, we would just have practice instead of traveling. It worked out for the best, we put the first 12 sets of our third piece on the field this morning in a little less than 2 hours. It was great.
I'm going to share a bit of advice with all of you (whoever you are) about yourself and your job. It will still go on even if you take a day off. The school will still run. The kids will be ok. If you are sick, take the day off!!! It you start to feel run down, take some time for yourself. Whether you are a teacher, a CEO, a student, a volleyball player or a rockstar you will not perform your best if you don't feel your best. People have got to wake up and realize that the world will still spin on its axis if you decide to take a day for yourself. No one else will look out for you until you look out for yourself.
Side note: Oprah ran two shows this week on the documentary "Waiting for Superman" and I love that she is being an advocate for public education. There are many things that are wrong with our education system and she talked about those things but she also applauded things that are being done correctly. I'm a true believer in the fact that if you are going to tell me that something is wrong you need to do two other things as well. 1. Tell me two things that are right. 2. Help me fix it. Don't just tell me it's wrong. We did the homecoming parade yesterday and I heard these lines so many times. "Why aren't they playing?" Not knowing that we just finished playing about 30 seconds before and if we worked them too hard for a parade then they wouldn't be worth anything at the game. "I don't know what happened to this band but this is horrible." This is what I wanted to scream at them as we walked past them on the parade route...."If you don't like it, get off your ass and come help! Don't criticize me, my children and my career if you aren't willing to offer up some help." If people don't start getting up and helping, we will be "Waiting for Superman" for the rest of our lives. My children deserve better. Don't your's?
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