"Leaving on a Jet Plane"

Tomorrow morning, Blythe and I will be headed to New York City!!!  We are taking some of her high school students on a trip to see a couple of shows, take an acting master class, and tour a couple of theatres and tourist sites.   We are really looking forward to the trip because we do not get enough opportunities to take vacations.  Even though there is quite a bit going on, it will still be very relaxing. . .  we hope.   This is our first experience with taking any of our students on our students on an over night trip, and certainly a trip on a plane and out of state.  

This last year, my head director and I took our choir students from Smith Middle School to San Antonio and Fiesta Texas for a day, but we made a single day trip out of it.  This trip will keep us in New York until Saturday afternoon.  

We will be seeing performances of Sister Act and Mary Poppins.  Not necessarily two shows that I would have chosen to see, but any time you can see a Broadway show, it is worth getting exciting about.  On Wednesday, I will be going to the new Yankee Stadium to see a baseball game!!  You have no idea how excited I am about that!!!  And, I think it is Friday that we are getting to take a tour of the NBC studios!  This ought to be fun because Blythe and I have become HUGE fans of Jimmy Fallon over the last few weeks.   Lastly, I am excited about possibly seeing a good friend of mine, Adam Wolfe, play the drums for a Broadway show!!  Right now, he is the substitute drummer for the Broadway productions of Evita and Rent which means that he doesn't get to play every night, but when the resident drummer takes a night off, or can't be at the show for some reason, Adam gets the call to play!!  A VERY sweet gig!!   With everything that we got going on, I don't know if I'll actually get to see a performance, but either way, it will be great to see a good friend!!

Well, you know pictures and blog posts will be coming!!  I hate that I missed the last two days, especially with how amazing the last few days were with finding out about our little boy, and having family down to stay with us for a few days.  Melissa got some really great pictures, and I can't wait to share some of them.

Next time you hear from me will be from New York!!

Pray for safe travels!

Luke

Baseball, Wrestling, and Rodeo!

As I told Blythe after our doctors appointment on Thursday, I now see twice as much baseball, wrestling in the living room, and "rodeo" in our future!  On Thursday, we found out that we will be having another baby boy this October!  I am probably a bit more excited about another boy than Blythe is, but she's coming around.  :)

The afternoon was crazy!  I was able to take off from work just a bit earlier than I had anticipated, which allowed me to be able to get home in time for us all (Me, Blythe, and Melissa) to ride to the doctor's office together.  That wasn't a huge deal on the way TO the doctor, but coming home, it was nice to be able to be together as we called our family members and told them the news.  It was also nice to be together so we could start throwing around possible baby names!  Okay, to be honest, we were talking about different baby names all day, but at least on the way home, we could finally narrow it down for certain that we were thinking of BOY names.

Once we got to the office, we had to wait until about twenty minutes after our appointment time to finally see someone, and then once we got to our first room for the basic checkup, we waited about another twenty minutes before we finally got to go into the ultrasound room.   So, we were totally ready to see our little baby and find out if it was a boy or a girl.

Everything about the boy looked good, according to the doctor.  She said all of his his heart rate was good, and his size was good.   The doctor also said that he apparently has big feet.   He was moving around a lot!!  That was pretty fun to watch!  We are so thankful that my mother-in-law, Melissa was there.  Like last time, when we found out about Carter, she brought her camera and took several pictures of the afternoon.  I'll try to get those and post them in another blog sometime this week.

We've gotten to spend the spend the last two days with Melissa, Brynne, and Gracie.  It has been a ton of fun, and Carter has just had a blast getting to play with his cousin, Gracie.  Melissa takes such great pictures, and I will be sure to get as many of them as possible on an upcoming blog, along with the pictures from the ultrasound.

Now, I have to admit, that I think Blythe and I have agreed on a name for our little boy, but I want to be able to ask my parents what they think first.  We are going to dinner with them tomorrow night, so if mom and dad approve, I'll post our little boy's name here tomorrow!!!

Peace Out,
Luke

P.S.  -  As I was writing this and watching Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, he just did his "Thank You Card" segment.  Tonight, this was one of his thank you cards:

"Thank you sonograms, for being baby spoiler alerts." 

I thought that was funny. . . and well-timed tonight.

Christmas Eve. . . In June

Tomorrow is a huge day for Blythe and I!!  I know for myself, I am so excited that it feels like I'm eight years old and it is Christmas Eve.  As today has gone by, I have found myself getting more and more excited to the point that I can't even imagine laying down and trying to go to sleep.  (It is 11:40pm right now, and I just got off work about at 11pm tonight)  Our lives won't necessarily "change" tomorrow, but the way we picture our future will be much clearer after tomorrow.  After about 3:30pm to be more exact!

The reason tomorrow (Thursday) is such a big day, as many of you probably know, is because Blythe and I are going to the doctor to find out if our second baby will be a little boy or a little girl!  We are both extremely excited to get a better idea of what the rest of our lives will be like!

For the past several weeks, everybody has been asking me which I would prefer, a boy or a girl.  That's a tough one for me.  Blythe has said that she would really like to have a girl, so I want her to have that.  My mother said today that she would love to have a girl.  From what I can tell, most of Blythe's family wants a girl!  So, for everyone else's sake, I'd like to have a girl.  I'd love to have a girl that I can watch grow up and take care of.  I'd love to walk a daughter down the wedding isle.  I'd love to do all the daddy/daughter dances.  I'd love to see a girl become the woman that her mother is.

On the other hand, I come from a family of boys.  I have two older brothers and no sisters.  So, watching two more Kirkwood boys grow up would be a lot of fun.  Carter has just been so much fun for this first two years of his life, and he has probably spoiled us.  Thankfully, he has been healthy, he has not had trouble sleeping through the night, he hasn't had any trouble playing with other kids, and he is just such a great kid that makes life so much better!  With two boys, I'd look forward to a lot more baseball and football in the backyard, significantly more interesting wrestling matches in the living room, teaching them all the silly little games that my dad taught my brothers and I, and of course the possibility of coaching a little league team with both boys in the dugout with me!  I'll never forget the game that I played my freshmen year of high school where my dad was my coach, my brother, Danny, was on the opposing team, and my oldest brother, Toby, was one of the umpires in the game!   That was a great time, and I could only imagine how great it would be to have Carter and his little brother on a field with me.   

By the way, we really don't have any solid names picked out like we did last time.   When we went to the doctor to find out about our first baby being a boy or a girl, we had names already picked out either way.  This time, I can't say that at all!   So, tomorrow also may represent the start of 19 weeks of debating baby names!!

So, that's what tomorrow will be for the Kirkwoods!  I'm sure it will be tough to sleep tonight wondering what tomorrow will be like.  I will certainly have something to write about tomorrow, that's for sure.  Blythe's mother will be coming to the doctor's office with us to take pictures of the day, so I will try to post those here tomorrow too.

I hope you'll read!!   Be thinking about us, and praying for a healthy baby around 3:30 tomorrow.

Peace Out,
Luke

Why So "Busy"?

Yesterday, I posted on Facebook, that I wouldn't be able to publish a blog post because it was such a busy day.  And it really was an incredibly busy day. 

Yesterday was the first day of TUTS summer camp for the year, and also our final day of callback auditions for their teenage production of Legally Blonde. 

This is my fourth year to do the TUTS summer camp, and I've really enjoyed every minute of it!  I originally got the gig as the summer music director when I was asked to leave HITS Theatre in May of 2009.  It was kind of funny to me that day, because I walked out of a meeting with the Executive Director and the President of the Board at HITS where they tried to tell me that no one else in town pays the rate that they were paying me, and I made a phone call to Shay Rogers, the education coordinator at TUTS to see if they needed a pianist for the summer that year.  By time I'd walked from the office to my car, I'd lined up a full summer of work at TUTS making significantly more than I was at HITS!!  Thankfully, that one summer has now turned into four summers worth of work, not to mention the "in" it got me to playing shows at TUTS like the national tours of Legally Blonde, Happy Days, Wicked, and West Side Story, and the local productions of Cabaret, and Miss Saigon.   I very likely would not have gotten to play those shows if it were not for me parting ways with HITS.  What a blessing in disguise!

Like I mentioned above, the other big task yesterday was to finally get our production of Legally Blonde cast.  That feels like it has been a terribly long process!  I think we had three days of open auditions, and three days of callbacks.  That doesn't sound terribly long, but it has been over a span of a month and a half.  At least after all of that, it feels like we have a very good cast of Houston teenagers in this show.  The talent of these young men and women just absolutely amazes me every year.  This will be the third year in a row that I've been involved with the fall musical for the Humphrey's School of Musical Theatre.  Two years ago, we the The Who's Tommy, and last year, we did a show written by a native of Houston, Steven Jamail, called Vote!  Although the casts for both of these shows were made up entirely of teenagers, I'd put both of these productions in my top ten of personal experiences!!  That's why I am so thrilled to get the opportunity this year to be the musical director and conductor!  I can't wait to get into rehearsals, and you can be certain that there will be pictures, videos, and blog posts through out that experience!!

Peace Out,
Luke

One of My Favorite Nights of the Year - The Tony Awards!

Over the last couple of years, I've gotten increasingly excited about a Sunday night in early June every year that celebrates the past year's best actors, actresses, plays, musicals, and everything that is great about theatre!

I've been a fan of theatre for as long as I can remember.  Growing up, my mom would always take me and my brothers, along with some of our cousins, to see children's shows at the University of Houston.  After the shows, I got such a kick out of being able to go up and meet the cast members of the show, still in costume.  Of course, as a kid, those performers seemed like giants to me!  Now, after working in the theatre on over 65 different productions, I now know how miserable these actors must have been greeting the audience in the lobby after the show.   I guess I am jaded now.   :)  

Looking back, I still remember the first professional musical I saw.  My parents took me to see Cats at Jones Hall in Houston.  I remember exactly where we sat, and I remember looking at the set before the show (they kept the curtain on), and thinking I saw actual cats walking around on the stage before the show.  I clearly had no idea what was about to happen on the stage.  As much as everyone talks about how trippy that show is to watch, and how "terrible" they think the music is, I have always loved the music.  Granted, I really have no desire to see any production of Cats now.  I'd rather just listen to the soundtrack.  Yes, I just admitted that I might sometimes listen of Cats.

Still looking back, one of my favorite memories based around music theatre is all of the soundtracks that I grew to love while riding around with my parents on our way to school, church, or baseball practice.  Two of my clearest memories are listening to the RENT soundtrack with my dad after a baseball game that I had hit my first homerun.  I don't know why, but I remember getting in the car after this game and having a conversation about the song "One Song, Glory" on our way home.  My other memory of listening to soundtracks growing up was while we were driving around as an entire family looking at houses in this crazy fancy neighborhood, and my dad turned on the The Who's Tommy soundtrack which is still one of my all-time favorite musicals.  I still listen to this same soundtrack on a regular basis.  Of course, it doesn't hurt that I finally got a chance to do the show two years ago!

Well, I don't know why my last few blogs have been so sappy and sentimental.  I'll try to snap out of that routine.    :)     I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that as Blythe and I get ready to welcome baby number two to the world, I find myself appreciating my parents more and more everyday.   Of all the things I have thanked them for, I always need to thank them for showing me the world of musical theatre and not only ALLOWING me to pursue that passion of mine, but ENCOURAGING it!!  They are so supportive, and still come to at least one performance of everything I do. . . Sometimes, several performances!!

Peace Out,
Luke

A First Time for Everything

Today I started something that I've never done before.  I played golf.   Okay, today was not the first time I've played golf, but it is the first time that I've played with idea of trying to prepare for a golf tournament!!

Every July, my dad goes to a golf tournament in Tyler, Texas called the GPGA.  That's the Gospel Preacher's Golf Association tournament.  My dad is a great golf player and always has a chance to win this tournament.  Over the last few years, my dad has started asking my brothers and I to go to the tournament with him, but none of us have ever been able to go.  Well, this year, I decided that I would adjust my summer work schedule so that I would be able to go with dad.  This event has always been a huge mystery where I have only been able to imagine what the week is like.  My dad has always left Sunday morning after church with some other men, including some of my uncles, to drive to Tyler, and then he'd call and tell us how he's doing, then we'd see him again on Thursday night.  From what I understand there is a TON of golf, a church service on Wednesday night, and a talent show.   Other than that, I have no idea what the week is like.

I am really excited about finally getting the chance to go to this tournament for countless reasons, but there are a couple of reasons that I can name.  First of all, I am excited to have some time with just me and my dad.  I always look forward to time with my dad so we just have the opportunity to talk and hang out.  My dad is the smartest man I know, and I love to just pick his brain about everything under the sun.  Secondly, I'm looking forward to the tournament because I've never played in a golf tournament.  Trust me, I am NOT a good golfer.  I'm actually pretty terrible.  With my dad being such a good golfer, and always having a chance to win this tournament, he has "encouraged" me to get out to the golf course between now and then to get my golf game ready.  I've got a long way to go!!   Lastly, and my dad will probably get upset with me for saying this, but I'm excited to get the chance to spend a birthday with my dad.  This tournament has always been the week of my birthday, so it has actually be pretty rare through my 27 birthdays that I've actually been able to be with my dad.  This year, the first day of the tournament is on my birthday, and I can't wait to spend it on the golf course with my dad.

I had a great time golfing today with one of my best friends, Joe Beam.  We had a fantastic time, and not that the score really mattered, but he totally dominated!!  I think Joe ended up beating me by 21 strokes, and once again, he had one of the best golf shots I've ever seen in person.  From about 150 yards out, he put a ball about 1 foot from the cup, and tapped in for birdie!!  Nicely played, Joe!!   I meant to get some pictures and a video or two, but it slipped my mind while we were playing.

Thanks for reading!!

Peace Out,
Luke

Another Season in Books

Tonight, I am playing for the opening night party for the TUTS production of Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.  This marks the end of the second season of me playing these events.   It is always a thrill for me to play anywhere downtown because it's my little taste of what playing in New York must be like!

Houston's Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) produces six musicals every year, and every opening night, they host a party at a restaurant that is attached to the theatre and invite their VIP patrons and the cast to come have appetizers and drinks.  For this event, they also hire a couple of local singers to come by and sing a song or two with me at the piano with the hopes off it turning into an "open mic" type of feel.  It rarely turns into a true open mic, but many times, it turns into a free-for-all with the cast of the shows.  It's a ton of fun, and you never really know what's going to happen.  However, it is fun for me to try and predict what the night is going to be like based on what show is opening.   For example, the opening night party for La Cage was a VERY different experience than the opening night party for White Christmas. 

I have met a lot of very cool people, and gotten to also keep my sight reading skills fresh by sight reading several songs each of these nights.  Believe it or not, there's a lot of pressure in sight reading songs for singers who are singing for music theatre patrons and other performers.  

Tonight ends my second season worth of playing these parties, and I've already been asked to play for a third season.  So thankful to be able to play the piano for a living.  I never thought that I would ever be paid for doing something that I always did for fun growing up anyways.   When we were growing, my brother and I would sit at a piano for hours some nights playing and singing through music theatre books, and I never had any idea how that was preparing me for what I get paid to do now.  I will always be thankful for those nights!!

Peace Out,
Luke

Getting Ready for the 2012 Football Season!!

As many of you know, I am total video game nerd.  I play far more video games than a 27 year old guy probably ought to.  With that said, I spent quite a bit of time yesterday watching coverage of the E3 Expo that is going on in L.A. this week.  One of the big events of the day was a key note speech by the people at EA Sports who produce the NCAA Football series and the famous, Madden NFL series.  Believe it or not, I get so excited about the release of these games that if feels like Christmas when I put these games in the XBox for the first time every year!

As I watched the speech yesterday on tv where the designers of both of these games talked about all the new features of this years games, I realized how close we are to football starting back up already.  I know it doesn't feel like it, but before you know it, the summer will be ending, and we'll be watching preseason NFL games!!  All of the sudden, I also got really excited about making my picks again this year!! 

If you followed my blog through last football season, I went through every NFL game each week and tried to pick who I thought would win based purely on a "feeling". (I have to admit I missed the first game of the season, so that is the only game I didn't pick)  I did my best not to pay attention to any Vegas odds and/or expert analysis. Now, that may sound a bit crazy, but making picks based on how I felt about the teams that were competing all the way through the Super Bowl, my overall record ended up being 180 wins to 86 losses!  I was pretty proud of that!!

Now, looking at the NFL season ahead and the response that I got from several of my friends who are football fans, I'd really like to change the way I did things and get some of my friends involved!!  I had so much fun talking with my friends every week who had read my picks and disagreed.  But those conversations always ended with me asking my friends to join me and make picks with me.  Well, this is your opportunity to challenge me with your own picks!!!   I'd love to get some sort of prize for whoever ends with the best win/loss record, but to do that, I feel like we'd need to do a "buy-in", and that can get kind of scary with money being involved and having to deal with all that.  But, if I get enough people involved and committed to submitting their picks every week, I would be up for buying a gift card to Best Buy or something small for the winner.  I'd be willing to do that if I got maybe 8 to 10 people making picks with me. 

If you'd like to see the format that I had last year, check out my week 2 picks from last year.  My week 1 was more of my general excitement for the start of the season as opposed to just making picks.  If I get some people making picks with me this year, I would publish everyone's picks before the first game of the week each week so everyone would know where they stand.  Also, I'd keep track of everyone's wins and losses.  I know this sounds like a ton of work for something that I just started doing for fun last year, but I think it would really be a blast to get other "pickers" involved!!!  

Here's what it might look like for each game:

Houston Texans @ Tennessee Titans

Picks:  Luke - Texans,     Bob - Texans,    Jim - Titans,    Mel - Titans,     Tim - Texans

So, I'd really love to get some of you guys involved and committed to submitting picks for every game with me!!  This may feel very early to start thing about this, but, I am wanting to get the general layout for every week of NFL picks set up this summer while I've got a little time to do that.    

Now it is on you.   Let me know if you'd like to make picks with me this year, and I'll go ahead and put you into the layout of my blog for the NFL season.  Remember, if I get 8-10 pickers, I'll commit to buying a Best Buy gift card or something at the end of the season for the winner!!!  If this really goes nuts and we get more than 12 pickers or so, we'll do like a $5 "donation" for me putting the time in to run all of this, and for the gift card at the end.   

Send me a Facebook message, comment on this blog, or e-mail me at LRKirkwood06@aol.com to let me know if you'd like to go for it, and you'll be in!!  

Peace Out,

Luke

It Has Been Too Long!

A while back, maybe a year ago now, Blythe and I went grocery shopping at Wal-Mart and I made a comment that I missed grocery shopping with my mother.  Not that I wasn't looking forward to shopping with Blythe, but we saw a little boy walking in with a woman (I assume it was mom, but you never know), and all the sudden I remembered that feeling of grocery shopping with my mom.  There's something special about walking into a grocery store where everything feels so big, and you have to hold mom's hand because you know if you let go and she rounds that one corner without you. . . you're done!!  I can't tell you how many times I got lost in a grocery store or a department store while shopping with my mom when I was growing up.  Well, thank God, we all grow up.

But, today, I got to go grocery shopping with my mother again.  Circumstances are obviously VERY different than the last time we shopped together.  I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that I think the last time my mother and I did this together had to be fifteen years ago.  At least!  I can assume that in that experience fifteen years ago, it was probably after and she had just picked me up from school or baseball practice, or we were possibly on the way from school to baseball practice, and I was probably being a weird Emo teenager who was tired of being in junior high.   It is probably also safe to assume that I was being a huge brat to mom about why I had to go with her.   Junior high was rough for me.   (I think junior high is probably rough for all of us?!)

Today was a very different experience.  At least, I HOPE that I wasn't being a brat.  :)  Like I've mentioned in my other posts this month, Blythe still has work until Thursday of this week.  While she is out, I am trying so hard to be Super-Dad, and Super-Husband and do everything I can around the house.  I've been fairly successful, I think.  I felt good about my abilities as a dad and husband until yesterday when she mentioned that I should take Carter out with me and we should go do our family grocery shopping.  Over the last few years,  I have grown to HATE grocery shopping!!!!  I really do hate it!!!!  It is one of my least favorite things to do in this world.  Especially when I go on my own.  I have no idea where anything is, and then I just get frustrated because I have to keep walking around along with the other interesting people that inhabit Wal-Mart.  (You know the "interesting people" that I'm talking about!)  Although, as Carter has gotten older, he's gotten more pleasant at the grocery store.  Last time Blythe and I went, we got this picture:

How could anyone be too upset when they see this face?!

Well, yesterday I mentioned to my mother that I'd love to get together with her to go to lunch and hear about her and my dad's recent trip to Ireland.  (Dad, thanks for the hat!!)  After lunch I mentioned that I didn't get to do my grocery shopping this morning, and my amazing mother just mentioned that she didn't mind going with me and helping.  Actually, she also offered to go home with Carter and let me go and shop on my own.  Well when she offered to go with me, that conversation with Blythe from a while back popped into my head, and I realized that I HAD to take her up on the offer of going with me!!!  As crazy as this is, the three of us actually had a great time grocery shopping today!   Carter was very pleasant and didn't act like the brat that his daddy probably was at his age, and we were able to get in and out pretty quickly thanks to the detailed, and well-arranged list that Blythe put together.     (I can't believe I am this excited about a productive day of grocery shopping!)

As we were pulling into the Wal-Mart parking lot, I told my mom about me telling Blythe a while back that I said that I had missed grocery shopping with mom.  She said she didn't believe me, but that I would probably miss it because "Everyone likes being taken care of."   All I can say to that is:  Mom, thanks for taking care of me today!!

Peace Out,
Luke


 

First Pictures of Summer 2012!!

Well, chasing Carter around the house for the first three days of summer has really kept me on my toes and always moving!!  We've had a ton of fun, and I've gotten a couple of fun pictures. I don't have much to write about today, so I thought I'd just post a couple of pictures so that I can give you all an idea of what's been going on around here. I know it has been a while since some of you have seen the little boy, so I also wanted to show you how big he is, and how much fun we've been having.  Enjoy!!

A couple of weeks ago, Carter and I were coming home after I'd picked him up from daycare and it was EXTREMELY hot outside.  I kept thinking how bad I wish we could've just gone and jumped in a pool.  As we were walking to the front door, I saw our sprinkler sitting in the front yard, so I decided that I would turn it on and see if I could convince the little boy to run through the water.  He didn't need much convincing.  He loved it!!!  Now, it is hard for us to make it through a day without him bringing us his water shoes (which have Elmo on them) and saying "Water?"   Of course this means that it is time to take him outside, turn on the sprinkler, and just let him run wild through the water in the front yard!  So much fun for all of us!

I have to admit, these first two pictures were actually taken about two or three weeks ago when Carter was still just getting used to the water.  Notice how is sort of staying back from the water in this picture. . . That doesn't happen anymore!

This picture was taken today.  I had just gotten him dressed to go and take lunch to his mommy and thought this was a cute picture opportunity. It looks like I was going all "fancy" and combing his hair and everything.  Actually, I had just finished washed dried Fruit Loops and Pop Tart crumbs out of his hair after breakfast!!  I think this picture is kind of funny because he looks like he's standing beside the coffee table.  But, notice his toes to the left.  He's really almost reclining between the couch and the coffee table like a hammock.

I also took this picture today, just kind of playing with the camera on my phone.  I found a new effect that focuses more on the center of the picture and gets fuzzy as you go closer to the edges.  Kind of cool.  Again, I wasn't really trying to comb his hair, so don't judge!!  :)

 

This picture was also taken a few weeks ago (notice the overgrown trees in the background), but I wanted to give you and idea of another way we pass quite a bit of time through our day.  He loves to swing his baseball bat.  I can't really say that he loves to play tee-ball, because really, he swings the bat at ANYTHING!!!  He's like a real life Bam Bam from the Flinstones!  He does have a pretty good left-handed swing though!!  

Well, there are a few pictures to help give you and idea of what the Kirkwood house is like these days while it's just Carter and his daddy at home.  We're having a lot of fun, but we both wish that his mommy could be here with us!

Peace Out,

Luke

 

New Year, New School. . . Again.

Well, on day two of my month where I am intending to write a blog everyday, I feel like my body is shutting down knowing that I am done with another school year.  I am sure that there are several other teachers who's bodies do the same thing.  We've been working so hard to get our job done, then our bodies just know that the first two days of summer would be a great time to stop working correctly!  Not to mention that Blythe has still been at work yesterday and today (yes, on a Saturday) and I have been in charge of keeping Carter happy, fed, and safe.  Being with my little boy is a blast, and I am so thankful for the time we are getting together, but it is a TON of work!!!

Speaking of the school year. . .  What a GREAT year it was!!!  This year, I worked as the assistant choir director at Smith Middle School with Megan Weinel who is the head director there.  Our choirs did an amazing job.   Through all of our contests this year, we were given the highest possible rating by every judge who heard us sing.  From our formal UIL competition, to a competition is San Antonio for our Varsity Treble Choir, and to the Cy-Fair Sixth Grade Festival.   Twenty-four judges, twenty-four "Superior" ratings and several trophies!!  I was mainly in charge of the Tenor-Bass Choir, and I am so proud of how far the progressed within one school year.  I started with a group of boys, and ended up with a group of very talented, young men!

However, I will not be back at Smith next year.   It really does hurt to leave, but I was offered a job that I felt was too good to pass up.  Next year, I will be working at Cy-Fair High School as one of two assistant choir directors under the head director, Jed Ragsdale.  I met Jed when I accompanied the Tenor-Bass Region Clinic back in November.  He was the clinician and conductor for the choir that weekend.  We worked very well together, and we totally got along, so I believe that connection is the reason why he called me in for an interview when that new position opened up.   I am very, very excited about this new challenge, but right now, it does feel a bit daunting.  I will be in charge of leading the Concert Men's Choir, which is mostly freshmen and sophomores boys, as well as teaching AP Music Theory.  That sounds kind of scary, but the rest of my day, I will be assisting Mr. Ragsdale and the other assistant, Hallie Reed.   This is a fantastic team who has been running a high quality choir program over the last several years.

It is very exciting, and hopefully, this will be my last move for a while.   There was definitely some tossing at turning at night, and some headaches during the day before finally making the decision to make this move, especially when there was another job in the mix in a district that I have ALWAYS wanted to teach in.  I will let you all know the details of that job in another post after everything with that job has been finalized, and they have found someone else for the position.  It hurt just as much to turn that job down, but I strongly believe that I will be happy at Cy-Fair HS.

Come back and read tomorrow!!

Peace Out,
Luke

I'm Back!!!

Well, summer 2012 is finally here!!  It has been an exciting year, and there are some great things coming up over the next several months!  Today is my first day of summer, and I realized that I had not posted a new blog since the Super Bowl.  That's ridiculous!  That was four months ago!  So much has happened since then, I haven't had the opportunity to tell most of my friends about some the awesome things that have gone on.

I won't lay everything out in this blog, because I have decided that I am going to commit to posting one blog each day through the month of June in an effort to make up for the four months that I've not posted anything.  Some days will probably be very short posts about something totally random, while others may be legit posts about some the exciting things that have happened, or are about to happen in my life.   I will post something on Facebook every time I post something that I really think is worth reading, but feel free to check back everyday just to see what random thoughts I'm writing about that day!!

To start the month off, I thought I'd just give you a quick run-down of things you'll be seeing full posts about later.   Here's a list of topics:

• Beehive, a summer musical at Texas Repertory Theatre
• TUTS Summer Camps start next week
• Cast for Legally Blonde at TUTS will be final in the next two weeks
• Summer adventures with Carter! With pictures, of course!
• We find out whether Kirkwood baby #2 is a boy or a girl in two weeks
• 2011-12 School year at Smith Middle School
• 2012-13 School year. . . Somewhere else.
• Blythe and I are going to New York City June 19-23
• I will be going to a Yankees game while in NYC!
• I'll be starting a new business this month with the help of a friend of mine in Chicago
• And I have some "Summer Resolutions" that I'll let you know about soon

So, there you go!!  That is what you can look forward to reading about from me for the next month!  Like I said, I'm sure there will be a few of those totally dorky posts that I just want to tell you a funny story, so check back every day to see what's new!!  Feel free to leave a comment to suggest topics if you like. (Funny or serious. . .  I don't care)

I'm really looking forward to my first full month of posting!  I hope you'll read!!

Peace Out,
Luke

NFL 2011 Super Bowl Pick

2011 Super Bowl Pick

Last Week's Record: (2-0)

Regular Season Record: (179-86)

     Well, here it is.  The "Big Game" that ends the most entertaining football season I can remember.  I am sure that may not be true for everyone, but this really has been the most interesting and exciting football season I've ever been lucky enough to watch.  And I am not just talking about the NFL!!  This year was a great year for the three teams that I ever have any interest in.  

     Starting from the bottom up, the Sam Houston State Bearkats had an undefeated regular season and made it all the way the FCS National Championship game!  I didn't get the opportunity to watch many of their games simply because I was too busy to make it up to Huntsville on any of the game days, and only two of their games were broadcast on tv.  But, it was very cool to see my school get some national love on ESPN.  It was also great to hear from some of my friends who are still in Huntsville that it actually started to feel like a "football school" by the end of the season!

   Secondly, this was such an amazing football season because the other college team that I ever have any real interest in, the University of Houston Cougars, also had an undefeated regular season led by QB Case Keenum.  Some of you probably have no clue why I follow UofH, but my dad is a UofH alum and has had season tickets for as long as I can remember.  I remember going to UofH games in the Astrodome when I was growing up and watching the games there.  This fun because we'd usually sit in the upper deck and have an entire section to pick from where we wanted to sit. . . Or play around if I got bored.    

     As a side story for you. . . I'll never forget the moment I realized how passionate my dad was about UofH football.  My dad had taken me and my cousin, Tyler, to a game at the Astrodome.  Tyler and I were about 8 or 9 and we noticed that there were tv cameras in our area.  We thought that if we screamed loud enough, we would get heard by the tv audience and be "famous" for about 5 seconds.  The only problem is that we decided it would be more fun to root for the opponent of the Cougars in that game, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.  We screamed all game long and then my dad was done hearing from us.  So, he said, "Okay, you guys can screaming as loud as you want for the Tar Heels if you can tell me what the mascot of UNC is."  Well, all we knew was the Tar Heel, so, that was our answer.  He then pointed out that the mascot was actually a ram, and that we clearly didn't know anything about UNC, so therefore we had no right to be cheering for them.  Tyler and I were not allowed to say another word about UNC for the rest of the game.  Now, as I go to games with my dad and continue to see his passion for his Coogs, I almost want to warn any fans of the opposing team in our area that they might not want to be too vocal in support of their team!!  :)   Love you, dad!

 

 Back to this season.  Although the Cougars also went undefeated through their regular season and climbed all the way up to #7 in the BCS polls, they ended up losing to a much lower ranked Southern Miss in the Conference Championship game.  Because of the loss, they ended up facing Penn State in the TicketCity Bowl in Dallas on January 2nd.  On a selfish level, this ended up being a great thing because my dad and I were able to make the trip up to Dallas to see the game before I had to be back at work after the Christmas break.   My dad and I have been to so many amazing sporting events together, but I would have to say that this was definitely one of my favorites.  There is always something awesome about packing a suitcase, getting in the car, and going on a long road trip to see a sporting event.  And the game did NOT disappoint.  The weather was perfect, the seats were great, and the Cougars won.  It was such a great two days that I will always be so thankful for!

 

  Well, the most obvious reason why this season was so exciting has to be the Houston Texans.  The Texans have been an average team (at best) since their inaugural season in 2002.  But with several great draft picks over the last several years, especially on the defensive side of the ball, and the addition of a defensive coordinator who knows what they are doing, the Texans finally became a good football team.  They made it to the playoffs for the first time, and were able to beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card round before getting beat by the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional Round.  The Texans ended up finishing the regular season with a (10-6) record, which in one game worse than I had predicted after the four preseason games.  But, with all the injuries they had to endure by losing Matt Schaub, Matt Leinart, Mario Williams, and Andre Johnson for significant portions of the season, you have to feel that their regular season record and playoff win is a HUGE accomplishment!!  Things look good for the "Boys on Kirby" next year!

 

  And the last reason I have had such a great time watching football this year is the fact that you are reading this post.  After failing to sign up for a fantasy football league, I knew I would need some way to get my football fix beyond just watching the games on tv and playing Madden on my XBox.  I could have never predicted that my winning percentage would have ended up being as high as it is, and I will definitely have my work cut out for me as I try to outdo myself next year.  Speaking of next year, I hope that I can get some of you to join me in making some picks every week.  I'm trying to think of some sort of prize I can get for the person who ends up with the best winning percentage after an entire season of making picks if I can get five or six people involved.  Getting more than six people making picks every week would be awesome, but let's start small.    :)   Thank you for following my picks as I try to live out my alter-ego as a sports writer.

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Super Bowl Prediction

     Finally!  I'll make this short and sweet.  I think the Giants are on fire right now, and I think the Patriots have not played their best football over the last few weeks.  The defense of the New York Giants has just been on going crazy and hasn't been letting opposing offenses get anything going.  I think it is amazing that they had to win in Week 16 against the Dallas Cowboys to clinch their playoff spot, and now they have a chance to win the Super Bowl.  To me, the two offenses seem to be about even.  Eli Manning is playing great right now which pulls him even to Tom Brady in my mind.  The Patriots have been an elite offense over the last few years, but I just don't see that this year.  Hoping to do better with my Super Bowl pick than I did last year,  I think the Giants win again.  I don't like picking scores, but let's say Giants win 24-20.  

New York Giants @ New England Patriots

Giants - W

      And just for fun. . . A few prop bets that I will likely not be able to keep up with the results on.  Bets copied from Yahoo Sports.  I'll put my picks in Green just to make it easy to read.  If I can follow some of these, I'll come back and edit my wins and losses.

How long will it take Kelly Clarkson to sign the National Anthem?

Over 1:34

Less than 1:34

Will Kelly Clarkson forget or omit a word during the National Anthem?

Yes

No

Will Kelly Clarkson's bare belly be showing when she sings the National Anthem?

Yes

No

How many times will Peyton Manning be shown on TV during the game?

Over 3 1/2

Under 3 1/2

How many times will Gisele Bundchen be shown on TV during the game?

Over 1/2

Under 1/2

What color will the Gatorade (or liquid) be that is dumped on the Head Coach of the winning team?

Clear/Water

Orange

Yellow

Red

Green

Blue

What will happen with the Dow Jones the day after the game?

Up

Down

Who will the Super Bowl MVP thank first?

Teammates

Coach

Family

God

Owner

Does not thank anyone

God's Perfect Timing

     Today is a day that I will NEVER forget.   I gave up my lunch break to talk to one of my students who had a rough weekend.  For the sake of the story and respecting this student's privacy, we'll call him "Sean."   I currently don't have a "Sean" in any of my classes, so that's the best random name I can think of right now.

     Half way through my Tenor-Bass choir rehearsal today, I had noticed that one of my students either looked very sick, or very depressed.  Not being able to tell, and hoping to keep class moving, I asked him quietly, if he needed to go to the nurse, the counselor, or the restroom.  He didn't say much, but jumped at the opportunity to go to the restroom, but it was clear to me that he was upset, not sick.  Several minutes passed after he left the room, and I realized right before the end-of-class bell rang that he'd been gone for about 15 minutes.  But, given how upset he was, I trusted that Sean had gone to the counselor because he needed to talk to someone immediately.

     Well, after the bell rang and as the rest of the choir was leaving the room, I noticed that Sean was trying to squeeze back in to the choir room like a fish swimming upstream.  As soon as he made it back into the choir room, he just lost it!  He started screaming something, and was just sobbing on all fours.  I asked him what was wrong and if I could help, and he was finally able to get it out that someone had died over the weekend, but I still couldn't really understand him.  So, I asked him to come into one of our extra practice rooms for a minute to talk.  This was the start of my lunch break, and I've spent enough time talking with this student to know that this was the start of his lunch break too, so we weren't concerned about the time.

     We got into the practice room and I quickly learned that his dog had gotten out of his backyard on Saturday and was hit by a car.  He also told me that he had not slept or been able to concentrate on anything since the accident.  Sean, not knowing what it is like to drive a car and accidentally hit an animal, was angry because he assumed that this person was driving the car far too fast and made it a point to hit the dog on purpose.  Sean said that he and his family realized that later in the evening that this dog had not come back in from outside with the other dogs, so they went out looking for him.  He found the dog in the middle of the road.   Sean was extremely angry, and really struggled to grasp the idea, that these things just happen sometimes, and that you can't blame the person.  I asked him, "What if the car had swerved to miss the dog and ended up in an accident that had killed someone in the car?"  He started to calm down and admitted that he was happy that did not happen.

     The next few moments of our conversation is what will stick with me for the rest of my life.  His thoughts turned towards God.  Sean started saying and asking things like, "Why does this happen?"  "Why did God punish me?"  "Is this just some kind of horrible fate that God planned?"  "What could I have done to keep this from happening?"   Several things stirred up inside of me.  We went down those various thought processes, and I explained that in my mind God puts us through difficult things to teach us lessons that He thinks we need to learn.   I also explained that there is nothing you can do to go back and change what happened, and the only thing you can do is find someway to move on and grow from this experience.

     Sean then continued with explaining that one thing that was so hard going through his school day was that everybody around him seems to be in this "Fantasy World" where everything is perfect, and nothing can ever go wrong.  He started saying things like "Life sucks," "People are evil," and "God hates me."   He then looked at me and asked, "Mr. Kirkwood, have you ever lost someone that you cared about?" Wow.

     Like I wrote earlier, Sean and I have spent quite a bit of time talking through our lunch breaks this year, so I felt comfortable letting him into this little part of who I am.

     Six years ago, today, my uncle Mike passed away. It completely caught the family off guard, and none of us could have ever expected the horrible day that was January 23rd, 2006.  Over the last six years, I have been angry about losing Uncle Mike.  I have been sad.  I have questioned EVERYTHING.  I have blamed people.  I have blamed God.  I have wondered why things had to happen the way they did.  I have wondered "Why did this happen?"  I have wondered "Why did God punish our family?"  I have wondered "Is this some kind of horrible fate that God planned?"  I have wondered "What could I, and my family, done to keep this from happening?"  I had been so shocked to hear Sean asking these same questions that I have battled with for so long.

     So, after giving Sean an explanation of the loss that I've experienced, I realized what was happening. I finally realized that talking to Sean was a chance for me to finally talk through some of the things I had battled with, which finally led me to a small break through towards some of the questions I had asked for the past six years. By trying to help Sean find answers to his questions, I was finding the answers for my own questions. All I could think to do was look at him and say, "Sean, I've asked all of those same questions for myself over the last six years, and after talking to you, it is extremely clear to me why I had to go through that experience."  

     Terrible things happen, and we can spend our entire lives asking ourselves all these different questions.  Maybe someday, I'll have all my questions answered about what my family went through six years ago  and why those things happened.  But in the mean time, I am content to have learned the lesson, by helping my friend Sean, that sometimes God gives us wounds for the purpose of teaching us how to heal the wounds of others.

     For me, as a twenty-two year old college student, my wound was losing my uncle Mike.  For Sean, his wound was finding his dog in the middle of the road after being run over by a car.  He will likely spend the next several weeks, and months still asking those questions that he asked me today.  But, by sending Sean to ask me those questions today, God led me to at least one answer that I've been looking for for six years.   God has his own timing.

Thank you, God, for Uncle Mike

New Year's Eve at the Park

   
If your looking for my NFL Week 17 picks, click here.



     On Saturday, Blythe and I took full advantage of our final holiday of our 2011 Christmas Break.  The weather was amazing, so we took our little boy to a local park.  I don't consider myself to be a great photographer, especially since I insist on using the camera on my phone as opposed to buying a legit camera.   However, regardless of the camera I was using, I still caught some pretty priceless pictures of my little boy, and my lovely wife.  Here are some of my favorites with some very brief descriptions of what I caught.  I hope you like what you see!!

     Momma Blythe getting Carter used to the slide.  Eventually, Carter was going down the slide by himself with a big ol' smile!!

     Enjoying the swing.  Carter is far to little right now to be on the swing by himself, but with mom's help, we got a couple of smiles from him.

      Just a random boy with a dog that Carter HAD to check out!!  We were on the other side of the playground, but once Carter caught a glimpse of the dog, that was all he wanted.   He kept yelling "Bobby" and running that direction every chance that he got.   "Bobby" is the name of my parents yellow lab, but Carter has gotten to where he calls every four-legged animal "Bobby."  Kind of cute.  

     Not that there could ever be any doubt, but this picture is final proof that he is his mother's son!  He's got his tongue going to town, which means he is really focused on what he is doing. . . Just like his mommy!

     The fun part of the afternoon was to chase down this big red ball.  When we got it, we would throw it or kick it in any random direction and then when we caught up to the ball, we'd do it again.  This was great for Carter, because the wind would just take this ball all over the soccer field which gave him the chance to just run all over the place trying to catch it.

     Just caught him looking at the camera for a second.  He kept running up and down this little walkway behind him.  He likes to walk or climb up and down things, and once he figures it out, he likes to do it over and over again!

     

     I don't know what he was looking at, but I thought this was kind of a neat picture.

     We were all walking together, and I just held the camera down by my waist, pointed it in his general direction, and this is what I caught.  I like this one a lot.

     Sorry for the poor quality, but this is Carter running up and down that little walkway.  I love this because at the last second, you hear him say "Go!" right as he rounds the corner.  As he kept running back and forth, he kept saying "Go!" and then running.  So, I think he's ALMOST grasped the concept of what that word means.  ;)

     Well, that was our fun day at the park on New Year's Eve.  I truly hope that all of my New Year's Eves can be filled with this much fun and happiness!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!   

Peace Out,

Luke

Where Has the Summer Gone?!

August has come FAR too quickly!! It's already the first week of August and I'm starting to get ready for another school year!  Let me give you a quick run down of the important things that have happened this summer, and the important things that will be coming up. I am very sorry if this post is a bit disorganized, but I feel like I have SO many great things to tell you all about!

Smokey Joe's Cafe

My summer nights were completely consumed with rehearsals and performances of one of my favorite shows.  Blythe and I were given the opportunity to do the musical, Smokey Joe's Cafe at Texas Repertory Theatre.  The show went very well, and we got some great reviews!  Not that there are too many bad reviews given to Houston shows, but its always nice to get some good publicity out about what we are doing.  We really had a great time doing this show, and I was lucky to have one of the best bands that I've ever put together playing with me.  I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to play this show again, and finally music direct it on my own!  Plus, the "Shimmy Girl" was SMOKIN' HOT!!!

TUTS Summer Camp

The summer "day job."  For the third summer in a row, I was asked to play the piano and be the music teacher for the TUTS music theatre summer camp.  It is a lot of fun, but I certainly would've loved a little bit more sleep this summer than I ended up getting.  Each week we've done a different short musical with a mostly different group of kids.  Having taught this last year in public school, I feel like I've gotten much better at this job than I was for either of the last two summers.  My public school job has made a HUGE difference in how this summer has gone for me.  Managing 35 kids at a music theatre camp is SO much easier than managing 60 choir kids! 

Vote!

For the second year in a row, my time playing for the TUTS summer camp has led to me playing for the TUTS teenager musical that will perform in Zilka Hall at the Hobby Center.  Last year, we did a rockin' production of The Who's Tommy, which has always been one of my favorite scores, and this year we are doing a brand new musical called Vote!. This production will actually be the premiere of this show which was written by a Houston native who went to the same high school that I did.   Kind of cool!!  For this year, I actually got a little bit of a promotion to being the Assistant Music Director.  Last year, I mainly just served as the rehearsal pianist, although I did teach a little bit of the music.  So, although my responsibilities haven't changed much for this year, it is nice to be able to put a new assistant music director credit on my resume.  This is one of those rare shows that I am SO happy to be the assistant music director because I am the assistsant to one of the most talented men I've ever met!  His name is Dr. John Cornelius, and he is the interim head of the music department at Prairie View A&M.  I love working with him, because I feel like I finally get to sit and watch someone music direct a show who knows what they are doing!!


This is the first promo video that is going out from TUTS to get some buzz going for this show.  Sounds pretty good for only two rehearsals!!!

The 2011-12 School Year

Things will be very different for Blythe and I both for this coming school year.  We'll both be at different schools, and Blythe will be teaching an entirely different age group!  Let me explain:

Last year, I was working at Goodson Middle School in the Cy-Fair School District.  Things went very well there, and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to work with Casey Okabayashi, the head choir director, for the one year.  Well, with so much construction of new homes in the district, there has been a new junior high added which forced several of the other schools to rezone their borders.  This took a huge number of the students from Goodson.  But, the district has taken care of me and simply moved me to another middle school not too far from where I was last year.  Next year, I will be working as the assistant choir director at Smith Middle School, working with Megan Weinel.  I am very much looking forward to getting to work with another director who definately knows what she is doing, and getting to meet a whole new group of kids.  Also, even though I only had one year at Goodson, I think I'm excited about having the opportunity to 'start over' with a new slate.  There were some rough times last year that I don't think I handled in the best way because of my inexperience with teaching in a public school.  It is nice to know that none of my new students will have any idea about those things, and this year I will know how better to handle the same situations if they do come up.

Now, for the REAL exciting news about next year. . . Blythe has gotten away from Bailey Middle School, and was offered the head theatre director job at Spring High School!!!!!  This is HUGE!  This position at Spring HS is the job that she always talked about every time we talked about getting teaching jobs, and for her to get the job in only her second year of teaching is such a blessing!!  There were a few roadblocks that some people tried to put up to keep Blythe from getting this job, but as of yesterday, all those roadblocks are gone, and she has made it back to her old stompin' grounds as the new head theatre director!  After all the crappy jobs Blythe has had, this promotion is VERY WELL DESERVED!!!

Upcoming Shows

My personal 2011-12 "Season" is booked!!  I have been lucky enough over the last few weeks to be able to book my music directing calendar all the way through next August!!!  Between TUTS, Texas Repertory Theatre, and a brand new company called Aeon Theatrix, I haved successfully booked an entire year of shows.  I will list these shows on my Upcoming Performances page, and I hope that you will all make arrangements to come out and see some of them.  I do realize how lucky I am to be able to book these jobs so far in advance, and I am so very thankful for the opportunities that the people in charge of these theatres continue to give me by trusting their musicals to me. 

A Birthday Blog Coming Soon

I know that it has been a while since my last blog, but my next one will be coming very soon.  My little boy, Carter, will be one year old next week and I'm trying to put together a blog to try to sum up my first year with him.   It has been such an amazing year that I don't really think my words will be able to adequately describe, but I have to try.  He is my little hero, and I just want to share some stories with you, re-share some of my favorite pictures, and tell you about his Mickey-Mouse-themed birthday party which will happen this Saturday!  I hope you'll read it!

Peace Out,
Luke