Bringin' Home the Bacon! (and other family activities)

Well, it has been a while since my last blog. This is prime time crazy time right now(as I'm sure it is for a lot of people)! I will attempt to recap since the last time I wrote...
Thanksgiving
I had a great Thanksgiving! It involved a lot of family, a lot of food, and a lot of wine! I unfortunately didn't get to see any of my mom's side of the family this holiday since someone in my family drank too much wine and slept through Thanksgiving, but we had fun anyway. As many of you probably know(since the only people I know that read this are family members!), my dad's side have a somewhat unique Thanksgiving tradition. There's the big meal, the visiting...and then after dinner they butcher pigs. A little disturbing, but tradition nontheless! (Don't worry, they are dead when we get them.) I'm not a big meat eater, but if you're going to eat it, at least there's a comfort in knowing where it came from, that the animals were treated well and they weren't pumped full of a bunch of chemicals ya don't need. Another tradition is the taste-testing the sausage, bacon, etc.which is always fun. This holiday revolves around eating, maybe even more than Christmas...close anyway! It's hard to resist delicious home-cooked meals! It was great being in a five-bedroom house that was so packed that even the living room was completely covered with air mattresses and blankets for people to sleep. It was overwhelming in the best possible way. My heart was so happy being surrounded by so many people that I love! Eventually people started to trickle home, my three cousins and I the last to leave. It was hard to leave but I am grateful for the wonderful memories...and my full belly. :)
ArtVenture
ArtVenture is the after-school program I've been doing once a week for the past month or so. The kids have been really great, K-5th graders. They love drumming which is another thing that makes my heart happy! They learned a song that I wrote for them that's called "Everybody Is A Star" which we put some sign language to. I forget how smart kids are! They pick up things so fast (oh, to be young again!). They also love to draw! They are always so eager to get that color on paper. I love hearing the stories they come up with about their drawings too. :) We've also been doing some things with movement and theater, which is Karen's forte (the friend I'm working with to do this). It has been a great experience so far, I have definitely been learning a lot! Tomorrow is our last one at this school which will be concluded with a little performance for the parents-I hope it goes well!
Music
The semester at school is wrapping up too, this is the last week of normal classes and next week is finals week. I'm lucky, I don't have any finals! :) I am a little nervous about next semester though when I will be a full-time student! I feel like it has been a long time since I've been in school. Luckily, I have met some really great people so far and I'm sure I will meet more. I'm also a little nervous about how I am going to survive. School as a music major is going to be very demanding, not only with all the homework but also finding time to practice and observe other directors and concerts-ah! I'm not sure how or where I will be able to work, all I know is where there's a will, there's a way!