New Job

I haven't talked about it much here, but I've been working part-time at a restaurant since we moved down to Florida. It's worked out pretty well, because it allowed me to make a liveable wage and still gave me flexibility to pursue gigs and other opportunities as they became available to me. Over the past few weeks though, my schedule kept getting cut back further and further, so I had to start looking for a new job. After looking for about a week and finding that there were no music jobs that didn't require me to have a childcare license I was starting to give up on finding a music job. Then I found a listing for a keyboard instructor. I called on a Tuesday, had my interview on Wednesday, and started training on Thursday!
My first official day was Saturday, and I am loving this job. It's an after school program, and they only offer piano/keyboard, guitar, and drum lessons. I only teach private lessons, and while most of my students are under 10, I have a couple who are 15-18. So far they're all good kids and we're having a great time! My coworkers are all very friendly and helpful, and I don't have to deal with any of the scheduling, they have a two people on staff who handle all of that for the teachers.
All students use the same book system for their basics - the Alfred Basic Piano Library. There are around eight levels I think, and each one has a theory book, technic book, lesson book, and recital book. I'm really glad that these kids are getting exposed to good basics, especially in the realm of theory. Maybe my perception is a little screwy because I didn't start taking lessons until my senior year of high school and no music theory until college for me. If a student starts getting bored with their books, we can bring in outside music like their favorite song from the radio to keep them engaged and learning.
I've never taught piano before, and I haven't taught students this young before. It's very humbling to think that for some of these kids I am at the beginning of their exposure to music as an engaging activity. While it's easy to get lost in their antsy-ness and all the stickers we hand out, it's quite a responsibility to think that what I do and say might have a major influence on whether a child might continue on with music for a lifetime.
Over the last few days I've been cleaning/reorganizing my little room. Hopefully today I'll remember to post some pictures, be sure to check my twitter to see them: @balancedflutist
I'm so incredibly thankful for this job, and I can certainly say that having this job relieves so much stress. Happy Wednesday, everyone!

One Week Vegan

I'm so glad to say that I survived this first week of eating entirely vegan! 

*One thing that I do want to clarify from my last post is that I absolutely do not regret watching documentaries on veganism. I'm so very glad that I did. It's really helped to give me the push to change my diet in a way that I've been wanting to for a long time, and that's something that I'm very grateful for!*

There were a couple factors that played into my ability to follow through with this goal. First of all, I watched a lot of relevant YouTube videos. I watched mostly presentations or discussions about why the vegan diet is more effective and healthier, plus some videos by vegan YouTubers about what they eat, some of their favorite recipes, and tips on how to successfully transition. The biggest tip that I saw was that if you switch to lots of whole fruits and veggies, then yes you will consume a much higher volume of food. Knowing that helped me to know that it's okay to load up on food at meals, and getting hungry between meals doesn't necessarily mean I'm doing it incorrectly.
Another helpful thing, which was sort of incidental, was that I found good, filling breakfast ideas that weren't fruit smoothies. It's a veggie smoothie! I've had fruit smoothies, and I like them, but I just wasn't able to get nearly as much variation as I wanted, plus they turn brown and start tasting funny very quickly, so making them in advance wasn't really an option. The veggie smoothie recipe that I tried was this:

1 medium carrot
2 celery stalks
one big handful of spinach
1 pear (or apple)
coconut milk (or other vegan milk)

It's very tasty! The pear/apple adds a little sweetness without going overboard. I've also been adding two kale leaves and half an avocado to mine which makes it more filling and creamier. Another thing I tried which worked well was I put in about a quarter or less of bell pepper. That spiced it up and changed the flavor profile in a very positive way. I'm going to add/subtract ingredients so that I can slowly increase my options and increase variety further. Usually I would drink half of the smoothie, saving the other half for the next day/later that same day, and eat a bowl of corn flakes to get some carbs too.

While I did everything I wanted to with my diet, I still didn't get as much exercise or as much practice time in as I wanted to. Now that I have feel like I have my diet in a good place that I can maintain, I'm really going to focus on the other two.
To that end, I'm going to go switch the laundry over and then hit the stack of recital music that is currently staring me down. November 24th, here I come!

31 days of Change

Last night I made the mistake of watching a lecture on veganism, and it's safe to say that I'm pretty skeeved out by animal products now. Besides that little adventure, I have been eating in a pretty unbalanced way and I need to get myself heading in the direction I've been wanting to for a while.

I'm going to try to make it 31 days eating strictly vegan.

Yes, I said "try." I know that it takes commitment to make these things happen, but if I just say that I will do this and then mess up, it's all going to be over. So, in an attempt to keep myself on the path that I want to take, I'm going to say "try."

I have a few other goals for this month, but I'm going to put them a little lower on the totem pole so I don't overwhelm myself. The first goal is to practice every day. Every. Day. I'm getting ready for a recital in November, and the spring and summer will be taken up by the Latin Flute Affair, so I want to get some quality practice in now, and stock up on some solid technique as well as assuage some body use issues before the pressure hits.

Besides regular, quality practice time, I need some exercise. My yoga practice has fallen by the wayside since we moved. Mostly, it's because getting to my old studio would require me to drive in fairly heavy traffic, and I haven't found a new one in my area yet. Plus, I just haven't made it a priority lately. Mostly it's that. I'm also hoping to go walking/jogging more.

So far today I've been a good vegan and a good flutist, let's keep it that way!