This past week, I've really had nothing planned, and it's been glorious. I had grand plans of laying out my first unit of the year for Alg 1, Alg 2, and Trig. Yeah... That most certainly didn't happen. I did open the Algebra 1 book. And, I flipped through a couple of trig textbooks. Like usual, I probably won't get any new resources created and planned out until August...
I read Carol Dweck's book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
. That gave me a ton to think about! I want to re-examine how I start the year to see how I can include some lessons on mindset for my students. I think this has the potential of being a big game changer in my classroom! I've been enjoying this little bit of downtime, though. Sleeping in late. Afternoon naps. Mowing my lawn. Okay - that's not necessarily a fun thing. I tend to put it off until I start visualizing my neighbors giving me dirty looks when they drive by my house or look out their windows. I got a Fitbit
a few weeks ago, so I do get a little more satisfaction out of mowing now - steps!Thanks to my ever-generous landlord, I got a chance to go and see Wicked last week! It was my first ever theatre experience, and I'm not sure any subsequent experiences will ever be able to live up to it. Kay called me at 3 pm to ask if I wanted to go see Wicked. It was her treat, and she would be picking me up at 4 pm. Short notice, but I didn't mind. I don't exactly have a happening social life... After agreeing to go, I had to do a quick google search to see exactly what I'd gotten myself into. Hmmm... A musical based off of the Wizard of Oz. Sounded interesting. Musicals aren't normally my favorite, but I'm willing to try anything once!
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| Wicked - Look how close we were! |
After dinner at Olive Garden in Utica Square, we headed to downtown Tulsa to the Performing Arts Center. Another place I'd never been before. We waited outside for the doors to the theater to open, and we used this as an opportunity to do a little people watching. What I didn't know when Kay invited me was that she has season tickets to the Broadway shows that come to the PAC. Really, really, really good season tickets. We entered through the orchestra seating doors and kept walking down and down and down and down. Our seats were in the SECOND ROW. Dead center in front of the stage. I'm having trouble finding words to describe how phenomenal these seats were!
Like I said, I'm not sure any experience will be able to top this one. From my seat, I could see the top of the conductor's head in the orchestra pit. When Elphaba would move her arms, I could see tiny wrinkles forming in her green body suit. When they shot out confetti, it landed in my lap. Yes, they were awesome seats. And, it was an amazing performance. I'm pretty sure I sat there with a grin on my face the entire time. I just couldn't stop smiling. Whenever I've watched a musical before on tv or dvd, I've tended to sort of tune out the songs. But, not this time! I loved watching the actors and actresses tell a story through the music. It was cool to watch a story that I know so well play out in a way that I never expected. I laughed a lot.
I'm pretty sure I listened to the Wicked soundtrack
in its entirety at least five times in the first two days following my first theatre experience! I've fallen in love with these songs in a way that I didn't think was possible. This one experience may have just made a musical lover out of me. So, that's just a little of what I've been up to. Expect less posts/no posts this week as I spend this week with my family.
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