Away we go!

Attend Liam's final show of the year on Wednesday, check
Take my leave from FIU, check
Attend Livya's final show of the year today, check
Signed the lease for Atala, check
Put down our deposit for Atala, check
Paid the architect for Atala, check

To do list:
Send out registration forms tonight!

I feel like I just won the lottery. So we're going to Disney this weekend to hang out with all the Star Wars geeks at Disney Studios and the Princesses at the Magic Kingdom!

Spread your wings!

Enough about you, now let's talk about me

So those of you who know me know I'm just being funny with the title of today's entry. But since today is my last full day of work at FIU, I thought I'd take this minute to write a little bit about where I'm coming from in my decision to leave the well-protected nest of academia and take the long leap off the cliff into the vast unknown.

Over the next few days there will be a lot of closure in my life. Skip ahead if you get bored--I won't be offended (nor will I even know  :)  ).

I was born in Kentucky, raised in Indiana, and lived in Illinois...oh wait, that was Lincoln, not me... Seriously, I was born in NJ, but lived in Southwestern Ohio (West Chester specifically) my whole childhood. I started on piano in second grade, and was a band geek (flute) by 5th grade. All things musical were of interest--marching band, the pit orchestra of the spring musical, band, choir (although I'm a terrible singer), etc. Graduated from high school and went to Miami University (that's not the U for those of you in South Florida), which was only an hour away from my parents' house. 

At that point in time I really wanted to be a high school marching band director, but the trouble was, there weren't any female marching band directors in the area at that time. So I figured I'd go to graduate school to make myself my marketable. I was offered a full ride to the University of Denver to study music theory (my favorite subject as an undergrad) and composition (which was frankly a little scary for me at that time). One day into graduate school and I decided to never look back. It was awesome--I experimenting with creating music, getting to teach undergrad students, and having a ball. After the master's degree, I headed to FSU for one year. It was a diseaster--I couldn't stand the city. I looked for a school where I could learn about computers and music, still a relatively unknown course of study in 1990. I wound up on full scholarship at Ball State University (IN). Had a great time there, learned a lot, and graduated in 1994.

Before graduating, I was hired at my first full-time professor gig at the Oberlin Conservatory (OH). Stayed there three years before I left to go teach at Dartmouth College (NH) for a one-year visiting line. That's where I met Colby, who was a graduate student in the computer music program at the time. No, he wasn't a student! That's always the first question everyone asks. Rather, he was a graduate student who had forgotten to eat for three days (and yes, I also cannot believe that anyone in their right mind could actually forget to eat for three days, but that's his story...). He was one of three pathetic graduate students who didn't really know how to cook. So every Sunday night I would send them a grocery list, they would buy everything, bring it to my house, I'd cook for them, and we'd all watch X-Files and the Simpsons. It was a great time! And over the course of a few months we all got to be very good friends. 

I was then offered a visiting position at FIU to teach computer music and composition. 

My son Liam was born in 2001, and we were extremely fortunate that the University of Miami happened to have a position open in Music Engineering that spring. my husband applied, happened to land an interview, and was then offered the job. It's seriously crazy to think that we were able to both have full-time professorships in the same city. Many of our friends in similar areas either work in different states, 1 works while the spouse doesn't, 1 works while the spouse has a part-time gig, etc. So we know how incredibly blessed we are to have both found positions within a short commute.

In 2002 we moved to Homestead. As you can probably guess, I have moved around a lot--8 moves in 13 years. So now that we've been in Homestead for the past 8 years, we have really put down roots. Our daughter Livya was born in 2005. Our current house is the only one she's known, and I hope it's the only one she ever knows for a very long time. Liam also was so young, that this is really the only home he remembers. 

There are obviously a lot of details I've left out, and sometime over a glass of wine, I'll be happy to tell you about things like why we own so many crazy animals, my bio dad, my parents and brother, my wicked cool MG that Colby promises me I can drive to work everyday in my new job, etc. But for now, I'll leave my story at this.

My family, friends, home, and community mean everything to me. So when I started to see the strife and stress going on in our lives, I felt I need to do something to help. I tried running to a new position at some other college in some other state. But the more Colby and I tried to convince ourselves that a move like that would be positive, the more we realized that we really do love our lives. So why not stay and make things better? It doesn't take any thought to run to another place, but I believe strongly in taking a stand and fixing what is perceived as being broken. And that's what I am doing.

This is not the end, but rather a beautiful beginning to what I hope is a very long story.

Spread your wings!

Moving Day!

I moved out all my boxes at FIU. We've got them temporarily stored in the garage until I figure out what's staying in my home office, what's moving to Atala, and what's possibly going to UM. Everything fit nice and neatly into our awesomely-wicked-cool minivan, and I use those terms in gest--as you get to know me, you'll find out how much I hate that vehicle. So my office is looking pretty antiseptic these days. Just the things that belong to FIU remain. I'm sure those will be divided up among the survivors after I leave.  :)

Tomorrow we sign the lease and write the check for the down payment! It's a lot of money between the space and the architect who has to renovate it. I think I'm going to need a tall glass of Mad Housewife wine tomorrow night!

Great things coming on the horizon, so stay tuned. And all you lurkers out there should stop snooping in on me and sign up as followers.

Spread your wings!

Lights, camera, action!

We're shooting a couple of quick, homemade movies tomorrow in an attempt to win $175 that we can apply to our library purchases. As soon as they're done, I'll post them on Vimeo or Youtube so you can all see them. 

Also working on a proposal for $2500 for a "green" project for Atala. Once that's submitted, I'll post here and on Facebook. This one involves the "audience" choosing the winner. So we'll need everyone we know to go vote for our proposal. It's due June 7. I'll keep you all posted!

Had a great day yesterday at the first of two going away parties. This one was with all my friends. The next one is general and open to the whole college. We had about 10 people gather at Bahama Breeze for drinks and food. It was awesome! There are some really special people with whom I'm going to have to make sure I stay in contact. There's a certain amount of emotion surrounding leaving FIU. But I guess I've been thinking about it for long enough that I'm super excited to move forward. Fortunately I've got a fabulous future planned in Homestead with a great group of women all working for a single purpose: to make a difference in the lives of children in our community.

Spread your wings! 

Hold your breath!

Signing the lease today! Need to order t-shirts, professional cards, registration forms, flyers, in addition to getting the spaces as quickly as possible. 

We just had all our desks and a group of drawer systems that can be used to store lessons for the elementary classrooms donated by the University of Miami Music Engineering. We have another donation coming next week--office furniture, book cases, storage units, etc.--from Homestead Transfer and Storage in Homestead (plus they're storing our stuff for free!). Once we hit the flooring and landscaping, we have offers to help with the labor and installation, as well as donations of coontie plants! 

We are so very grateful to everyone associated with Atala Montessori for their help and *trust* these past few months. 

Spread your wings!

Atala in Action

Keep your eyes pealed for news about "Atala in Action." You'll love, guaranteed. Coming June 1st on a website near you.

Spread your wings!

Lots of ideas

Finalized the lease requests and the lawyer will submit them tomorrow. Yeah! Big relief.

Cool news of the day: I attended Boldly Go! at the Arsht Center in downtown Miami today. It was a workshop on fundraising in the arts. So many great ideas! I'm going to put them to use immediately. First project will be a very special contest over the summer for all students (and their parents) enrolling in Atala. I'll post the rules on the Atala website as soon as we have signed the lease agreement. Trust me, you're going to love this one! More soon, I promise.

Spread your wings!