Hits and Misses (August 4-10)

A lot has happened this week, so let's get right down to business.

HITS

• There's only one new recipe that was a success this week: Crescent Lasagna Pie. We liked the flavor a lot and think that the only change we want to make next time is to use biscuits instead. 
• Summer reality TV is reaching its climax. I will admit that I'm addicted. I love watching Big Brother, The Bachelorette, and Project Runway. (Be nice.....don't judge me!) What's the draw? All of the drama and stupid people. This way I can laugh at people without having to do so behind their backs.
• Every month, Dad has a meeting somewhere around the state on a Thursday evening. I always look forward to these days because I get to spend some quality time with Mom without anyone else around. Things were really relaxed with a quick trip to Colton's for dinner with great conversation and lots of laughter.
• I finally finished Winter of the World this week. I'm finding that I really enjoy Ken Follett's writing style and his story development. I'll probably check out some more of his works, but not right away. After a 940 page saga, I need something a little lighter. 
• A lot of my life as a musician has been tied up with productions of American musicals. I'm sad to say that I don't know a lot of the stories of the shows that I haven't done though. This week, I finally sat down and watched South Pacific on DVD. The scenery was amazing, the cast brought the characters to life, and the story of racism and war is still relevant. The singing left something to be desired though.

MISSES

• The kitchen was an absolute mess on Sunday afternoon as Mom and I tried out a new recipe for Iced Lemon Cookies. They were a lot of work and very involved. They were not very tasty and ended up in the trash shortly after we finished. That's right......they were so bad that we were embarrassed to give them away!
• I am naturally a planner, but I hate putting together a course syllabus. These documents get longer every year. The new material isn't included because I'm adding course content. No......I'm clarifying expectations so students don't have loopholes and I don't have to spend valuable time with administrators explaining situations. I just want to teach! My greatest hope is that one day I will experience a class that truly wants to learn something rather than just get by.
• Going to the dentist sucks! There's no better way to say it. I guess I hate it so much because I've had so many traumatic experiences in the chair. That means I generally don't go unless there's a problem. I've finally found a dentist that I do like and his staff is kind and gentle. This week, I needed to have some deep cleaning done. I wasn't looking forward to it at all, but knew it was necessary. Even though I hated going and having the work done, I have to admit that it wasn't as bad as I expected; there was only one deep pocket that was really painful. Thank Heaven for topical anesthetics that numb the whole mouth!
• What's more painful than the dentist? Meetings that don't apply to me! Over the course of the week, I have sat in 5 hours of meetings. Only one hour of those actually involved new information that was pertinent to me.....even though I won't be using it for 3 months. What do you bet I'll have to sit through another meeting then to explain what I need to know? Ugh!

That's my week in review. Next week should be interesting as I continue my prep for the upcoming semester and make some decisions about possible gigs. Stay tuned!