Another week has came and went...

So it's been more than a week since my last post, and I'm sorry for that. I'm apologizing to anyone left who might still read this, but to myself as well. I've lost a lot of self-discipline in some areas since returning. It's just difficult to sink into a routine when you're moving around every few weeks and trying to prepare for lots of different things at one time. Enough of that.

This week has been a challenge on a few different levels, one of which is too personal to write on this blog.

First of all, it was Fairy Tale ballet camp at Springfield Ballet and I got to be the assistant teacher for the week!!!! The camp was composed of nine 3-4 year old girls and focused on the ballet Cinderella. They got in every morning at nine with their cute little pink leotards and Mickey Mouse voices and sat down with Ms. Berea (my partner in crime - a 19 year old dance major at a local university) for story time where we read to them the ballet. Then we watched a scene from the Royal Ballet's performance. All the little girls oooed and awed over the shimmery tutus the ballerinas were wearing what Berea and I gawked at their flawless footwork and partnering. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. ;)

From there it was snack time - Goldfish galore! - followed by Creative Movement class. That's basically forty five minutes where we try to establish some sense of discipline in the classroom, spatial and bodily awareness, and introduce them discreetly to ballet (their bodies aren't developed enough to start working on the real thing yet. We don't want to mess them up!). It's a lot of fun, but a bit like herding cats.

Then it's off to the park (Springfield Ballet is located in Jordan Valley Park, my favorite park in Springfield) where they'd all line up on a giant rock and jump into my arms, one by one, for about twenty minutes straight. Then, finally, back inside where we'd sit down and learn about the instruments of the orchestra together. All in all, it was a very tiring but wonderful week. I love love love children and I really appreciated the entire week, which gave me another opportunity to learn how to be around them.

Other than that, the week was pretty nonchalant. I read a quote the other day by Mark Twain which said, "The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them," so I'm going to work on that again and stop watching so much television. I'm working on Anna Karenina right now, which is nice. I really enjoy turn of the century Russian literature. It's very thought provoking and I'm really enthralled with their culture, which seems to be hell-bent on being courteous and following societal rules. Seeing as I'm very fond of social structure, it really works with me.

I suppose that's all for now. Time to do something productive!