10/14/03

No weirdo bugs this morning, of course, right? Things always manage to disappear when you actually look for them, that’s just how it goes. 🙂

I so need a vacation. I’m starting to feel less guilty about leaving the kittens and stuff. They’re older and more independent now. I’ll still miss them but a break will be really nice. A break from the monotonous routine of work will be really nice too. I could not possibly hate this place any more than I do. Every day it’s the same happy-ass people doing the same happy-ass things, having the same damned happy-ass conversations. It’s like I’m stuck in the same crappy sitcom re-run that fox keeps playing over, and over, and over, and over until you vomit on your new designer shoes.

Everyone always sounds surprised that we would drive to Oklahoma. Not only is driving a hell of a lot cheaper but it’s more fun. It leaves you with more flexibility and more freedom. There is nothing so freeing as the open road. When all of a sudden you realize you have more in common with the truckers than you do the the car with the family heading to the local wal-mart, that’s freedom. When you’re in the middle of podunk stopping for lunch at that cute little mom and pop sandwich shop and don’t know a soul for miles, that’s freedom. When the only thing in the world that matters is where you are right now, that’s freedom. When you drive you get to experience so much more.

I found some old letters last night. I had been looking for maps, I found those too, but I couldn’t resist sifting through the letters. I found some letters from my friend Denise. I also found the letter my band director gave me on award day at school. I was completely shocked on award day, I won the John Philip Sousa Award:

“The John Philip Sousa Award

Since 1954 thousands of High Schools and Junior Highs have been honoring their top band students with the John Philip Sousa Award. The pinnacle of achievement in an band program, the Sousa Award recognizes outstanding dedication and superior musicianship, qualities that all directors seek to instill in students. This award has become a nationwide symbol of excellence in musical achievement. This award is limited to one per school.”

With that came a letter that kind of described why he chose me. He said my quirky sense of humor brought a lot of life to the band. I was also section leader and worked with my section to build them up into better musicians, I was close to every flute player in my section, by the end of the year we had all become close friends. He also congratulated me on my wedding and wished me luck in the coming years. The last line said to keep in touch via e-mail and visits. I was teared up by the time I finished reading the letter again. I lost touch with my old band director. I tried to stay in touch but he never responded to the last e-mail I sent. I also know he’s moved on to teach at a different school. I think he moved to Broken Arrow.

Anyway, I might try to look him up while we’re in Tulsa. It’s too bad everyone I know from high school has moved on to college and stuff. It’s hard to believe it’s been almost 5 years.

I’m probably going to start looking for another band to join here pretty soon. The whole Windham band thing didn’t work out and that was pretty dissapointing. I’ll probably look more for bands that require auditions. I’d rather go into it knowing that all the musicians are at a decent level. That it won’t be full of people who want to sit and chit-chat while the rest of the section is playing. 🙂

Anyway, I have to go print a stupid report for someone.