"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

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

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

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

Father's Day 2011

The Perfect Gift!

So, it is official, I have an amazing wife!!  Not that I didn't already know that, but for my first Father's day, she and Carter made me a personalized poster!  As you can see in the picture above, it is just something simple made with a poster board and some thoughtful finger painting.  I am such a fan of simple gifts that don't cost much.  This poster will certainly be framed soon and kept forever.  :)  Blythe, Thank you for my perfect gift!  This poster will always be how I remember my first Father's Day!

For Dad

To celebrate my dad on this Father's Day, we all went to Landry's Restaurant in Kemah, TX.  As I posted in my last blog, this was a very exciting weekend because of my cousin's wedding, and also because I got to spend time with both of my brothers.  These times that we can all be together have become very rare for us over the last several years with getting older and going to college.  Now, with all three of us married, getting together on a consistent basis has become very difficult. 

Although, as exciting as it is for us brothers just to get to spend time together, the real excitement of the day was centered around celebrating our "paterfamilias."  (To quote the movie, Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?)

There is, absolutely, no chance that my brothers and I could be the men that we are without the example that we were able to grow up following.  As boys, we had the opportunity to watch dad and how he handled almost every situation.  Dad has always worked hard as a doctor to provide for our family, even beyond what we needed.  We got to spend quite a bit of time with dad while doing anything involved with baseball.  Whether it was a lazy day during the summer that dad just wanted to take us to hit some balls around our little league field, playing catch in our front yard, or taking us to see the Houston Astros play at the Astrodome or, what is now, Minute Maid Park, these opportunities always provided us with the opportunity to spend time with dad.  There are so many life lessons that my brothers and I learned on or around a baseball field.

I consider myself especially thankful to have a dad that has always been supportive and encouraged me to always do my best at everything I do.  The only thing my dad every let me give up on was basketball. . .and that is because I was terrible!!  I remember talking to my dad when I was 10, saying that I wanted to quit baseball.  My feelings were hurt because I did not make the little league all-star team.  My dad found a way to use it as motivation for me to get better to try to make the team the next year.  Sure enough, I ended up making the team when I was 11.  Then, in high school, the same thing happened with the high school baseball team.  When I didn't make the team my sophomore year, my dad gave me the same speech about using it as motivation to work harder and get better so that I could make the team for my junior year.  I ended up making the team the next year!  

However, the best example of my dad's constant support for me (and really my mother, too) is displayed in what I do for a living.  I started playing the piano when I was 11 years old.  As I started to learn easy songs on the piano, my dad would come home from work and ask me to play a new song for him.  He never asked in a way that I felt like I had to play, but rather, he asked me in a way that always encouraged me to be able to play a new song for him every day when he got home.  I never realized that this would help me in my future career choice.  I am convinced that doing this because of my dad's kind words helped me practice my sight reading skills on the piano when I didn't even realize it which ended up being a skill that I will use my entire life.   Every day after school, all I could think was that I couldn't wait to get home and learn a new song for dad.  I'll never forget the day that he opened a book to the song How are Things in Glocca Mora and said, "If you learn to play this song, I'll be your dad forever."  Of course he was kidding. But dad,  I now how to play How are Things in Glocca Mora.  :)   Every night I spend in rehearsals, or playing a performance, I know how lucky I am because I have two parents that have never discouraged me from doing what I do.  In this business, I have so many close friends that tell stories of their parents telling them that they needed to "Do something that had more earning potential for a career."  My mom and dad have never been anything but supportive by telling me that if I want to be a pianist and music director, I should always try to be the best pianist and music director that I can be.  For that, I will always be thankful.

So, although this may be a few days late, I hope you can all understand that I am so thankful for my dad and the example that he has been for me through my entire life.  I've always told my wife, Blythe, that, "If I can end up being HALF the man my dad is, I'd say that I've done very well, and better than most." 

Dad, I love you, and will forever be proud to call you "My Dad." 

A Whirlwind Weekend in San Antonio

Well, Blythe and I are finally back close to home, and have a moment to settle down after our whirlwind trip to San Antonio for the TMEA Convention.  It was nice to not be teaching these last two days, but I think we'd both say that we are more worn out from the several sessions we went to, all the concerts that we saw, and all the "rubbing elbows" and small talk with other music teachers from Texas.   It has been a while since I've been to the convention, and it was the first time that I've been as a teacher.   The two times I had gone before, I was there as a student at Sam Houston.   It really was a joy, and an experience that I won't forget.

A couple of quick notes about some of the things we were able to see, hear, and do in San Antonio:

The first session we went to after getting to the convention and signing in, was a talk back session with an a cappella group called the Swingle Singers.  This is a group of 8 singers from around the world that write their own arrangements of a cappella music.  They sang a concert on Wednesday night, but we didn't get in to town until lunch time on Thursday, so I had heard so much about this group that we made it a point to at least see this talk session.  They talked about their audition process, their rehearsal techniques, and how they work so well as an ensemble. 

The rest of that day, we spent most of our time walking around with two of our very best friends, Skip and Darcy McLinden.  I have been friends with Skip since my freshmen year of college.  I'll never forget my first day in the Sam Houston choir rehearsal, he was so kind to come up and introduce himself, and ask me how my first days of school were going.  He have had so many great memories since that day.  When he and Darcy got married, Blythe and I both wasted no time in getting to know her, and now when the four of us go out, you never know WHAT is going to happen!!

On Friday, Blythe and I set a schedule for ourselves that allowed us to be in a new session every hour and a half.   We saw a great session by composer Roger Emerson on improving your junior high choirs, a very helpful sight singing session by a friend of mine named Heather Orr, and an UNBELIEVABLE session by the American Boy Choir.   This session was directed towards effectively warming up a choir.  Some of the warm-ups were specific to boys, but in general the routine of their warm-ups can be used by boys or girls.  These singers were incredible singers that were all between fifth and eighth grades.  To start their singing warm-ups the director would simply say, "Let's sing this exercise in D Major.  Some one please give me a 'D'"."  When he said that several boys who could hear the pitch in their head would raise their hand to volunteer to sing the 'D' for the choir to sing and start their warm-up.  This is crazy impressive as it shows that most of these boys have what is called 'perfect pitch' and can pick these notes out of thin air.  Very cool to see!

Through our couple of days, we also saw a couple of great choir concerts.   Including:  Midway Junior High and High School, Knox Junior High, and Cy-Woods High School.  These concerts were all great motivation for what I can aim for through my career as a choir director.  

Anyways. . .  Well, Blythe and I had a great weekend.  We certainly missed Carter like crazy, but we know that he was in good hands with his Nana and Papaw.   Things are still looking pretty busy for us both through the next month and a half or so with UIL choir contest, Blythe's One Act Play contest, and I start rehearsals for another show a week from Tuesday. 

That's all for now.   As we get closer to baseball season, I'll be putting my thoughts together about the Astros and give you my best prediction on how things will turn out.  (Let's hope this prediction turns out better than my Super Bowl prediction.)

Peace Out,
Luke

Added Pages

So, instead of getting on my blog today and trying to swallow my pride and apologize for my incorrect prediction of the Super Bowl, I thought I'd get on and just add some "meat" to my blog.  I added two new pages that you can see the links to directly above this post.  I've added an "Upcoming Performances" page so that I can keep you all in-the-know with the various gigs that I've got going on, and I've added a simple "Contact Info" page just in case someone ends up coming on to my blog that may be interested in adding something to that "Upcoming Performances" page for me.  ;)    I do intend to put the URL to my blog in my bio's for the shows that I have coming up, so you never know who may end up checking this stuff out!

Speaking of things that are coming up for, I will update the page over the next couple of days with a couple of productions that I have booked.  Namely, another production of "Smokey Joe's Cafe" ,  a benefit performance with a young lady named Meredith Clark who was the stand-by for Elphaba on the national tour of "Wicked", and I will also be trying to work a production of "Assassins" into my schedule for April. 

This next semester at school looks like it will keep me fairly busy, so adding many more shows between now and June will probably be pretty difficult. 

That's it for now.  This week, I'll be trying to post a blog or two from the TMEA Convention in San Antonio, and I'll also be getting more and more excited about baseball season as Spring Training quickly approaches!  Let me know what you think about the two new pages, and let me know if you have some ideas for any other pages that need to make it on to my blog.

Peace Out,
Luke

A Beginning. Why?

Well, I've jumped into the world of blogging. Why? I'm glad you asked! Let me explain:

It's been one heck of year, to say the least, that came to a front in one week that I will never forget. Back in August, I could see it all coming. I was getting ready to graduate college (finally, after 8 years), I was getting ready to start a new career, and at any moment, I could be a new dad. Well, it all happened. . . within about 8 days of each other.

On August 8, 2010, I finally got my BA in Music from Sam Houston State University in the grand ol' city of Huntsville, TX. Mixed with putting about 55 musicals on my resume, getting married, and doing everything I can to put a little money in the bank, the bachelor's degree took a solid 8 years. I don't regret a thing about it. By playing for up to 25 voice lessons a week for the music theatre majors, I made some great friendships that will surely last me a life time, not to mention meeting beautiful blond, sometimes red-head, sometime brunette, Blythe Herring (now 'Kirkwood' of course!).

Two days later, on August 10, 2010, Blythe and I welcomed our son, Carter Alan Kirkwood, to this crazy world. Blythe was in labor for what seemed like an eternity. We went to the hospital about 4:30 in the morning and ended up not getting to see our little boy's face until about 8 o'clock that night. . . LONG DAY! Carter is now 5 & 1/2 months old and makes me smile more and more every day.

Finally, on August 16, 2010, I reported to Goodson Middle School in the Cy-Fair school district for the first day of my new career as an assistant choir director! Believe it or not, this is what I've always pictured myself doing. Over the last 10 years, I've played the piano and/or music directed over 60 shows, but I always wanted to be a choir director. I am intensely passionate about teaching music to people of all ages. In the theatre, I get to work with professional musicians and professional singers who have studied music for a long time and get the same joy that I do out of performing for an audience. But, everyday in school, I get to try to find some way to inspire 300 junior high students to pursue something that they can be passionate about. Whether that 'something' is music or not doesn't matter to me. I want all of my students to find something positive to live for, and if a deeper appreciation for music can inspire them to be a greater person, then I've met my goal. (Wow, that sounds uber-dramatic) :)

"So, Luke. . . . Why do a blog? No one cares!"

Why not? Obviously, since you've read this far, you are somewhat interested in what I have to say! Ever since I was young, I've enjoyed writing my own thoughts down. There's something fun about writing something and wondering who, if anybody, will ever read it. This last summer in college, I would just free-write in my note book while I was supposed to be taking notes in my Kinesiology class. The thing about this free-writing is that it really became an everyday thing that for 30 minutes or so, I would just write everything that came into my head. Things like; "Why are you still talking?" "Why would you say that?" "I have to pass tomorrow's test!" "I wish I were at home right now!" I took up half of my binder with stuff like this. But the fun of it came at the end of the summer, after the class was over, I went back and read all of this rambling, and had a pretty good laugh at it as these words on a page would make me remember specific thoughts that I'd had.

I get this same sort of enjoyment out of reading my old Facebook status updates sometimes. When is the last time you read all of the silly status updates that you posted about a year ago? Try it! You'll be surprised at how much you smile!

So . . . finally down the short answer of the "why" question. I've always used my status updates on Facebook like a very short, daily blog, but I've always wanted to put more. Two problems with wanting to put more. 1)Facebook status updates can only be about 200 characters, and 2)If someone really wants to hear more of my thoughts and ramblings, I shouldn't slam it in their face every time they check their Facebook friend's updates. Instead, give them somewhere else to find it!

With that said, Welcome to my blog, "Life: A Bit of Everything"! I will posts things as often as I can. These posts may be very short, or very long. Who knows! The topics of my posts will be pretty random, but in general you can think of them as extended status updates, since Facebook is where I will be trying to recruit followers. This means that I will be covering the big things in my life: Blythe, Carter, the day job, shows, sports, and occasional dorky video game stuff.

Again, I will be writing like I am the only one who will be reading, but I hope you will occasionally read too. Feel free to comment anytime, and "follow" if you dare!!

I'll need a more creative sign off, but for now I'll simply say: Peace Out!

Luke