BACK in business

Long story short...Starbucks is closing in 5 minutes....

Convention is over. I survived.
Buster was broken (I thought) I fixed him.
ALL the good websites are now blocked at school.
I'll be living at Starbucks from now on.

Gotta run! Oh, and SAN FRANCISCO in 5 days! WAHOOOOO Spring Break!

Convention update

and then...the thing was done.

March is NOT my favorite month

March 2006 - my 15 year old Sheltie Mingus fell in the swimming pool and drowned.

March 2007 - While on spring break to San Fran with school, I got a call from the dog sitter that my 15 year old terrier died in her sleep.

March 2008 - While on my way to our opening convention concerts at 7 pm tonight, my neighbor called to tell me that my cat is laying dead in her front yard. It's now 1:15 AM and I'm finally headed home to deal with that.

YES, Virginia - there still is a Bing Blog

I've received some frantic e-mails and phone calls because it's been over two weeks since my last entry. The "Big Dog" convention has started and life has been a bit crazy. Pretty much every day has started off with me getting news about some snafu that results in my now-standard response: "Are you freaking KIDDING me?!" which then results in me running around picking up balls that someone else has dropped and then calling The Silver Fox's office (he's our host) to tell them "It's all good! Problem solved."

Love knows no boundaries.....

....except for the LAST loser from the MoneySucker dating service I joined awhile back. Talked to this guy around the first of the year...yada yada..."I'm really ready to be serious about finding a relationship...yada yada...Are you busy on Saturday?...yada yada..."Great! I'll call you?"...yada yada....

Three weeks later, I call HIM to ask "Hey! What's up? Hadn't heard from you? He tells me that he called MoneySucker right after talking to me. I sound like a really great person, but I live too far away (20 miles.) So much for being "serious." Oh, MS was supposed to call me and tell me that so he wouldn't have to (translation: be a man and tell me himself.) That was 6 weeks ago. Haven't heard from them.

We're in the "documentation before asking for a refund" stage. That comes right before the "uhh...would you rather give me a refund or go to small claims court stage?"

More "True Love" observations

My friend Panda told me last night that this guy hit on her at work (she works in a restaurant/bar) the other night, and the ended up exchanging phone numbers. The next day she got a sheepish call from him. Seems his FIANCEE found Panda's number in his phone filed under "Hot Chick from the Bar." He had to call (with his fiancee on speakerphone) to explain himself. Panda's take on it: "Uh....YEA! Good luck with THAT relationship!"

She's such a smart little cookie!

Observations of "True Love"

I stopped by Walgreen's last night to look for some things for the convention. Well, at least I TRIED to stop by. It was so freakin' packed with cars that I couldn't find a parking space. Then I realized that it was 9:30 PM on February 13. The day before Valentine's Day. And of course, everyone was in a frenzy to buy the "perfect, well-thought out" gift for their soulmate.

Things that make you go "hmmmmm....."

Weather discussions in class

Day: Wednesday
Time: 8th period concert band

PA announcement: "Water polo has been cancelled due to the rain."

Teacher: "Yes, because we wouldn't actually want to get WET during water polo."
Student #1: "Well, it might be because of lightening."
Teacher: "Yeah, I know. But it's still funny if you think about it."
Student #2: "Do you think lacrosse will be cancelled?"
Teacher: "Of course not! If there is LIGHTNING, we WANT you running around the field holding metal poles!"

Weather or Not

It's been a bit stormy here in South Florida this week. Tuesday night was especially so. I walked to school because it was Grandparent's Day and we aren't allowed to use the parking lot during the day. There are valets who park the visitor's cars in the lot, about 20 feet from the valet station, while the teachers have to park on a remote lot two properties away. Go figure! Anyway, as I was walking HOME that night (LATE - 10:30 PM due to convention madness) the sky opened up and it started to pour. So I hid under a very big tree, knowing it would die down soon. Until I saw lightning. Then I called Lamburrito, who lives close by. He came and got me and took me home. Of course, in the 10 minutes it took for him to get there, it had stopped raining.

Ahhhh....life in the Tropics.

Hell Week

It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have to TEACH as well. This week, interim grades were due (9 AM today) AND the jazz band performed today for Grandparents Day (also at 9 AM).

I was at school until 11:30 PM last night. Probably will be every night this week!

My "favorite" thing is when people comment "Well, at least you don't have a family to worry about."

Yeah....at least I have THAT going for me. Thanks for reminding me!

Amazing Grace

Found this link in my "inbox". You need to click on it.

Letter from an unhappy sibling

Hello Ms. Bing,

I'm sorry to inconvenience you, but could you please
speak with my brother, Thomas W, about completing
his assignments at a proper time? It's around 10:30
P.M right now, when most students should be asleep,
but this is one of several nights that I've been kept
up by his playing the tuba in attempts to complete his
homework at such a late hour.
On previous occasions I've had to put up with later
than this, but having traveled for hours by car this
weekend and competed in some very intense rowing
races.. I'm fed up. I know this is a rather personal
issue, but after speaking with my parents and seeing
that they are completely unperturbed by this problem,
I don't know what to do.
I've spoken with Thomas myself about schoolwork at
Ransom and how favouring his Wii and leaving
assignments until last minute just does not work out--
that has plainly taken no affect on him. I know you
were a good seventh grade dean- so I ask if you could
PLEASE knock some sense into him regarding his
assignments, chiefly his tuba playing. Please! He is
playing at this second a floor below me and the sound
echoes all over the place- I'm being driven MAD. He's
had an entire weekend to do this, and a time
approaching the morning of school is not the right
time.
I hope this isn't too much to ask, but please, just do
whatever it takes to get this kid out of my head!!!!

Sincerely,
Erin W, 8th Grade

---------------------------------
Erin,

I have spoken to Thomas, and although I would LIKE to beat him and draw blood, it would severely impact my ability to work at our school in the future.

Please let me know if this continues! I'm sorry for the trouble.

Ms Bing

Busy, busy, busy

WOW! I really wish I had more hours in a day, and could control every minute of them. There are way too many demands on my time, and not enought time to get it all done. I feel like one of those circus acts where the plates are balanced and spinning on sticks and the clown keeps running from stick to stick, giving each one a little attention so they keep spinning.

I think I'm going to drop a few plates this week!

ONE at a time

I keep trying to take things one day at a time, but lately they are all ganging up on me. To get through my "To Do" list this week, I have to take it one "thing" at a time. That means I pull some random task out of the "hat," act on it to completion, check it off the list and then move on to the next thing. I can't even seem to prioritize at this point; I just have to make the pile go down so I don't feel like I'm sinking.

Breathe in, breathe out. Repeat......

My sentiments exactly...

Trifecta Weekend

This weekend:

1. My kitchen cabinets were re-installed. The countertop gets measured on Wednesday, then wait 2-3 weeks for installation, some touch-up painting and then the home renovation marathon is officially DONE!

2. My mortgage went DOWN $259.60 per month. That's significant, and will allow me to pay for #1 that much faster!

3. Speaking of marathons, I ran the Miami ING Half marathon again yesterday. Didn't train as well as last season (what with home renovations and the ABA convention planning and all) so my time was a little slower than last year (about 7 minutes, I think) but I did finish and am functional today.

Hopefully this will be a sign of even BETTER things to come!

My latest match

This just in from eHarmony....

The one thing Bubba is most passionate about: the truth, when I am right and can prove it without a doubt.

Ummmmmm.....NEXT!

NOW I wish I had Cable/TiVo!

Jack has been invited to be a guest at the Ellen DeGeneres Show to talk about his Lending a Helping Hand Bill.

The episode will air on Monday, January 28.

Which mallet?

Student: Which mallet should I use to play the crotales?
Teacher: The brass ones
Student: Which ones are the brass ones?
Teacher: Hit yourself on the head with each one. The one that hurts the worst is the brass mallet.

More fabulous kids

I got this article from one of my band parents back in September. I glanced at the first paragraph, but didn't read the whole thing. I kept it in my inbox because I knew I wanted to at some point. It's about kids who are collecting art - Warhol, Rembrandt, etc. REAL major pieces of art. The parent who sent it to me is the VIP for Relations Art Basel Miami Beach - a HUGE art show, sometimes considered the most important art show in the US. I thought she was just telling me how kids are collecting art. Little did I know that her son Andrew (one of my 7th grade trombone players and a FABULOUS kid) was in the article!

ENJOY!


(By the way - Jack's mom said she's playing phone tag with Ellen Degeneres; hope he makes it up there!)