Update

There is a lot going on in my life. This has been a very interesting and productive year to say the least. Here's a rundown of a few things that I've not really been into here at the blog, but has become a major point in my life over the past year.

First, and most obviously, Amanda and I had a daughter, Olivia. She is now 7 months old and is a beautiful, happy and energetic little thing. She's, of course, loved beyond measure and everyone who meets her is charmed and smitten. This might sound like typical parental doting, and I'd be lying if there wasn't partly some of that going on, but look at this picture. She's beautiful. If she wasn't I'd probably say she was anyway, but luckily, I'm pretty confident that this isn't simply daddy-goggles. She's gorgeous and I love being with her. If you are wondering if this happy picture of Olivia is a rare gem of a photo op, where the camera, lighting and her mood all synced at the perfect time in an aligning of planets, you would be wrong. She's pretty happy most of the time. She gets cranky around 9pm, but other than that she stays fairly content. Amanda and I are extremely lucky and blessed and Olivia brings us more and more joy everyday. I could get very long winded and sappy if I continue on this course, so I'll move on.

With the addition of our little darling came an understandably interesting year at school for both Amanda and I. In an attempt to dedicate more time to the family I delegated the job of directing the yearly musical to my new assistant at school, which meant that for the first time in three years I was not directing a show while school was in session. It was pretty nice, however I still dealt with the responsibilities of the budget, and part of the technical stuff. So I was busy, but not nearly as busy. So, that made my school year different. Amanda had about 10 weeks of maternity leave so she also had a very different school year, missing that time smack in the middle of the year.

This summer I have a summer job. This isn't the first summer job I've had during my time as a teacher, but it is certainly the first to actually work out. I'm working with an Audio and Visual company in Houston, helping set up and run Trade Shows, conventions, concerts and things like that in the Houston and Galveston area. It's a lot of fun and gives me an opportunity to learn a little about the newer technical stuff going on in the lighting and sound world. Plus, I'm making a little money which is nice, too.

Finally, I've started my master's degree. I'm working on my Masters of Education Administration at Lamar University. It's an online program which means that it requires a lot of reading, writing and self-paced work. The online discussion certainly doesn't replace the classroom setting adequately, in my opinion, but it's a program that will allow me to finish fairly quickly. Navigating the online program is a little confusing and stressful at times, but I just finished my first class with an A, so I guess I'm off to a decent start. I'm not sure what I will do once I'm finished with the Masters. If nothing else it will give me options of things I can do in the future. I definitely want to stick around in my current position, for now, but I also want to be able to move into another position if the opportunity arises. I could see myself as a district Fine Arts Director, someday, so maybe that's a possibility.

Anyway, I suppose that about it. I'm having a good summer and just taking life as it comes. If only the Astros were not completely depressing, life would be just about perfect. Oh, Astros...