Thursday, August 02, 2007

Scheduling

I'm a "list" person. At any given time, you can look into my purse (well, please don't actually look into my purse, that would be rude), and you will see many folded up pieces of paper with various lists jotted down. I do have a palm pilot, and the memo feature is great, but there is something about actually scribbling down notes to myself on physical paper that helps me stay on track. I keep a pen and paper on my bedside table because every night my mind races with things to do the next day or week. I cannot shut off my brain until everything is down on paper. Last night's note was particularly lengthy. Call massage, call chiro, call piano tuner, write thank you card to ____ (could get myself into trouble with that one...if you don't receive a thank you card and are expecting one, my bad!), call all students to confirm lesson times, call Karen to confirm November-December lessons will be covered!

I do love schedules. Not sticking to them or being super-organized, but again, the physical schedule itself. It gives me great satisfaction to see everything written down in front of me. That is the most organized I get. (Oh, and I do keep a reed and practice journal...more writing stuff down that keeps me happy.) Whether I actually stick to the schedule is another matter. My student piano lessons are resuming next week, and everybody's schedules have shifted. This is fun for me, believe it or not. It means writing out a new teaching schedule. I'm a little sad to realize I only have seven piano students and one oboe student this fall. (Although I like all of these kids! How often does THAT happen?) At least that will make it easier for one local teacher to take them on for six or seven weeks in November-December. I'm not starting any new students this fall, as it's important, especially with little ones, to have consistency in their learning.

I'm planning on teaching until November 1, which is 12 days before my due date. That's relatively safe, don't you think? Besides, with a small studio and a small city like Indianola (yes, it's a city, not a town), it wouldn't be the end of the world to leave a note on my door that says, "sorry--lessons cancelled today--went into labour." (Except I might call it "labor", as not to confuse my American students...that would be all of them.)

I'm looking ahead to January, when I'm planning on returning to the symphony (I'll only miss two concert sets in November/December) and to teaching out of my home. Some have said this (specifically the teaching) is unrealistic. It has worked for some of my teacher friends. In fact, I even babysat in exchange for oboe lessons when I was in junior high and high school. That's the tentative plan. I have a student who seems to be in more financial need than others, and I think that would be the perfect solution. We'll see. Dave might be able to arrange his schedule to be home on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons when I teach. Or our mothers could just take turns staying with us...you think? (I don't think so--no offense, Moms.)

Updates: I finished Harry Potter! Too bad Voldemort took over the world. Oops--did I just spoil it for everybody? I'm a pretty bad over-the-shoulder reader, and I'm resisting asking Dave (reading it now) "what's happening now?", "where are you?", and "who's died so far?!"

For my reader interested in the new toilet seats (haha), they're fine! The best part is not sitting down worrying you will be pinched by the broken seat. :)

Zucchini update: I have not yet made bread or cake or zucchini parmesan. It's been too hot to turn on my oven. There are currently 6 or 7 giant zucchini taking over my fridge. I should take a picture actually. There's really no space for anything else. A friend of ours told us an Indianola joke (insert any town/city name that produces good produce)...you know it's the end of summer when people start leaving zucchini in any car that's unlocked or has its windows rolled down. Now I see why.

I have been organizing for the baby. Some might call it nesting. As my friend Rachel put it, there came a point when she realized that the baby doesn't just need its own room. It's not like getting a cat, it's an actual new member of the family that may in fact spill over into other areas of your house besides the nursery! Inspired by Rachel, I cleaned out an entire drawer in the kitchen for things like bottles, nipples, and bibs. (This took me a while...only because I have too much stuff in the kitchen, and everything that was in that drawer needed a new place to live.) Hmm, this isn't my belly blog. I'll write about more nesting things I've done over there.

Today's to-do list: practice Paganini for Dave's recital. Go through more of Cooper's reeds. Call everyone listed above (check!), go to above appointments. Have a shower sometime before noon...oops, it's 11:45am...I'd better go if I want to get that one done!

5 comments:

Thumbing Luxury said...

HA ha ha!!
We are SO on the same wave length today!! I am just in the process of organizing/ writing down schedules for all of my students this fall!!

I totally know what you mean about the satisfaction that comes with looking at a completed schedule!

I'm hoping to have my private school schedule pretty much done by the time I leave for Calgary on Tuesday..... keep you fingers crossed!

bluemoon said...

I love organizing schedules. Daytimes are my favourite all-time books in the world. I ditched my PDA after only a few weeks to get back to the pen on paper feel.

On another note - I hope you don't think I was telling you CAN'T go back to teaching or that it's unrealistic to do so as soon as you are planning... I just wanted to encourage you to be prepared for the unexpected :) You never know what will happen (baby wants to feed mid-lesson, baby won't take bottle, baby gets colic, baby screams and cries anytime anyone other than mama pics him up...) of course, it could work perfectly for ya (here's hoping!). i just remember how perfectly devestated i was (LOVE those hormones, they didn't stop until i stopped nursing) when things didn't work out as perfectly as I'd hoped when it came to returning to teaching. didn't work with cohen, worked great with lili, you never know.

the best news is - whatever works best IS what's best. you'll make it work for you, whatever your scenario ends up being. just be prepared for the unexpected (aka motherhood all together LOL).

love always,
m

bluemoon said...

daytimers. not daytimes. lol.

Jillian Camwell said...

I knew you weren't saying I couldn't do it, Mary. I've just heard so many nay-sayers' opinions. It's not just about this either--breastfeeding, sleeping situation, labour choices... I just don't want people to tell me "that won't work." Of course I'm going into it with an open mind and willingness to try different things. :) Why go into anything with a negative or narrow-minded attitude?

Patty said...

You never know what will or won't work until ... well ... until it does or doesn't work! And of course every child is different and every mother and father reacts differently too. I went back to playing 3 weeks after our first was born. I wasn't teaching back then, because that just didn't work for ME. (Yes, the baby was difficult to work around, but I also just didn't enjoy teaching back then. Now I love it.)

It doesn't sound as if you are easily swayed ... I'm betting you'll do what you need/want/have to do and that's that! :-)

(I sure don't want to sound as if I'm telling you what is best ... if I ever come across that way it's probably the very annoying MOM in me!)

I love reading about the whole baby thing and all ... oh how I wish we had this when I was busy "building babies"!