Happy 6th Birthday Moki

Ah yes, another pet owner obnoxious moment on my blog. My friends tell me I need to either get a hobby or have a kid because they are sick of the BEST IN SHOW. This video doesn't capture the best prehistoric Moki sounds when the bike comes out of the garage, but it's still very cute. He LOVES bike rides. 

This Saturday June 21st is Moki's SIXTH birthday. I can't believe that if Moki had been a real boy and not a dog, I would have a first grader on my hands! That is how fast time goes by! Digital cameras were ground breaking new technology back then, so we have very few puppy pictures. But here are a few great ones of our little polar bear cub. Moki is an old soul. He has always been such a good boy. He never had a bad puppy phase, was born potty trained, loves children, walks and runs without a leash.......he is such a special dog. I call him Saint Moki.

My Lucky Cricket

I have been teaching music lessons for ten years. And in those ten years, students have come and gone, graduated and left for college, moved away. And half way through those ten years I moved from Seattle to Hawaii, leaving sixty students in Washington. And while I deeply care about each and every student and love teaching, I have never cried when a student left my studio. Not until Cricket. She has been the absolute highlight in my teaching week. The best teaching experience of my life. Cricket (in the red shirt) is blind. And while I have never taught piano to a blind student before, I was incredibly excited for this unique opportunity as a teacher. To explore uncharted territory. A technique not covered in my Elementary Music Education degree from Western. And yet somehow, Cricket and I discovered how to master the piano working together. In just a few months, she went through leaps and bounds and is now playing at a 3-4 year piano level. And in just a few months, I absolutely fell in love with her. 

But rather than sit here and feel sad that she is moving to the mainland, I remind myself that I need to be happy. Because my own personal teaching philosophy shines clearly in students like Cricket. And it is all I can ask for as a teacher. 

(cut and pasted from my studio policy) "My philosophy of music education stems from my experiences as a student in wonderful music programs. Incredible music mentors of my past, including my musician parents and my K-12 school music teacher, have instilled in me the need to excel by having a respected and well established program. I want to give to students now what was given to me by my teachers in the past: a positive life experience. I hope to create a safe and welcome environment for anyone who wants to learn music. I want to provide a class where students can express themselves through music. Each student is different, and I cater my teaching methods to accommodate each student's unique learning process. I believe music should be fun and interesting and I encourage students to explore their genre of choice, whether it is classical, blues, popular, or rock. I simply love music and I want to share my passion for music with others. I hope to leave a positive experience about music that my students will carry with them throughout their life".

I watch Cricket absorb music with voracious speed and excitement, eager to perfect each piece and anticipating next weeks masterpiece. The only explanation of how she has accelerated with such great speed is her love and discovery for music. I know she will be leaving my studio with a newfound love for piano that she will carry with her wherever she goes. And THAT is biggest accomplishment as a teacher I can think of. I believe that wherever Cricket goes in life, she will turn everything to gold for the people around her. I don't think anyone can meet Cricket just once and feel unaffected. I will never forget Cricket. She will always be my all time favorite teaching experience. And I hope down the road she calls me from time to time, to play me her current repertoire.  

To play or not to play...

OK, on a scale of 1-10 (1 being pleasant and entertaining and 10 being obnoxious and distracting), how do folks like my blog music? To turn it off to watch the blog videos, simply push the pause button in the bottom right hand corner of the black blog music screen. I tried to pick out funny upbeat tunes. Friends are having a hard time posting comments, so just e-mail me your vote!

It's Dingo weekend again for the Woodbury clan. Alex is again in all his glory pushing earth around and hauling trees. I was tasked to organize the garage. There is a reason Alex's last name is WOOD- BURY. He is buried in wood wherever we go. For the normal family, a garage is the place a car is stored. But at our house, the garage has never seen the likes of rubber tire clad cars. It is the housing unit for stacks and piles and mounds and shelves of wood. Alex is single handedly cutting down the eucalyptus trees on the lot. So now we could build a log cabin from all the log accumulation. Yes he has an allegorical last name. If only my parents had named me Melody....It's funny when Alex tells me to throw out the "garbage" in the garage. I pick up a bolt that is rusty and old and I say "Is this garbage?" and he says "NO! That is THE most important unit to my chainsaw". And this process repeats itself until I stomp off frustrated at my lack of ability to distinguish junk and garbage from important necessary tools. I explain to Alex that his task for me would be like if I told him to go up into my music room and sort through my pile of music; making 4 piles for Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern music. I think we should all just stick to what we know!

And now before I sign off, a quick Moki story:

Even from the "sawing logs snoring dead a sleep" state, Moki can manage to leap out of bed with perked ears when he hears the backing up beeps of a UPS or Fed Ex truck miles and miles away. A few years ago, I was horrified to see a UPS truck backing down my driveway. And when the driver got to the bottom, I see Moki happily trotting down the steps from INSIDE the truck (meaning he RODE in the van down the driveway since UPS trucks don't have any doors). I yelled at Moki for what he did and the driver said "He does this everytime I come! He meets me at the top of the driveway, climbs aboard, and rides down with me". The reason for Moki's adoration for UPS and Fed ex drivers? They carry dog treats with them. It has caused a Pavlovian reaction in Moki: He hears UPS beeps, he immediately salivates and creates droolcicles. Well yesterday, the UPS man wasn't coming to OUR house. He was going to a house down the street. And Moki heard those glorious truck beeps and goes tearing out of my music room, out the open door, and galloping down the private road after the truck. I could see the driver walking up the steps to my neighbors house down the road and from the corner of his eye saw a salivating galloping dog. Before he screamed, I yelled "DON'T WORRY! HE LOVES THE UPS GUYS!" And of course, he gave him a treat from within his pocket and Moki came slinking back into my house ears down and guilty, but he cracked a smile because it was SO worth it!

Fiddlin' Around

Ah this is a music filled Mother's Day weekend. Several of my students made CD's as special gifts. After a busy day of teaching today, I zoom down to Hilo to play with the symphony from 7-10pm. Eeks! That is WAY past my bedtime. We are performing A night at the Opera concert on Saturday. I believe we even have opera singers performing as well. 

I cannot believe how fast this school year has flown by. I am going on my sixth year at Hualalai Academy. I have officially watched my original first grade class graduate to middle school! Is time really that fleeting? Last night Alex and I were talking the days of yore in Bellingham. He mentioned a certain memory of having friends over for dinner, and I looked at him blankly, not remembering that event. I told him that the days of Bellingham and college feel like a dream. A lifetime ago. And how fleeting those special times were. Time simply bogles me. Why are we moving so fast? What's the rush? I even have moments where I feel the day is moving about 15 minutes faster than I am moving. So this summer, savor each warm evening breeze. Stand still for just a moment and open your eyes. And like my grandma always told me "Don't hurry, don't worry, and don't forget to smell the roses". 

Tiny Dancer

Here is a video clip of the best dancer at my birthday party. Can you tell she's the daughter of a dance teacher?! She was just a hoot. I joked with her mother that maybe 28 is the year.....

I have to admit, seeing that I had 27 friends at my party, it reminded me of a middle school dance at times. People looking at the ground shuffling feet reluctant to get onto the dance floor. Most guests located themselves in the kitchen for chatting and food. I felt that if I stopped dancing, then NOBODY would dance. So I danced for 4 hours straight. Hence, I could barely walk the next day. But I have to say, my 28th birthday was by far my most favorite birthday in the history of Jessica. Should I make 28 year resolutions? To exercise more, eat healthy more, enjoy life in Hawaii (I.E. stop and smell the lehua blossoms), and have friends and relatives visit me as often as possible! Thanks to all for making my birthday a special one!

Salerno Strings Recital

While I am the music teacher to 65 private students, I can truly say it is my STUDENTS who have taught me what it means to love music. I am so proud of my 35 students who performed today. We covered everything from piano, voice, steel drum, and violin as well as classical, blues, popular hits, and rock and roll music. Including a Mick Jagger cover! I was amazed at the amount of talent in my music studio today. I am so moved by the amount of enthusiasm and love for music each of my students portray.  

Shave and a Hair Cut...2 Bits!

My subject title is the little tune they play at the end of cartoons. (As a musician I feel the need to explain my humor)

Today the hair came off. You would never guess I had it cut because once my hair is long enough, it automatically gets pulled into the daily pony tail. But I've come to the conclusion that I am a shorter haired type of person. And I envy all you long haired beauties.

So here's a riddle for you to solve. I come home yesterday after a VERY windy day. I walk up to our master bathroom and find the window open. During the day, the strong gusts of wind knocked over a vase of flowers and water in the bathroom. Yet strangely enough, there was not a drop of water to be found, just the flowers. I looked on the counter, I looked on the floor, but there was NO water. How did that happen? The only things on the counter were my toothbrush, my hair brush, an extra roll of toilet paper, and make up. But no pool of water. 

Give up? Or was it obvious to you and not me at the time? 

Later that night I decided to clean off the counter. I reached out to put the extra toilet paper roll under the counter and it was SOAKED. It had neatly and unassumingly soaked up that mystery puddle I couldn't find. And maintained the perfect shape of a toilet paper roll.   

Mystery solved. And no, I am not an artificial brunette.