MUTEMATH & all it entails

Hello!

I'm still groggy from my lack of sleep last night - we got in at 2:15 from Houston and I was up early this morning. However, I had one of the best times of my life so I won't complain anymore. Until the end.

We went and saw MUTEMATH last night at the Houston House of Blues.  We left the house around 3:45 because we wanted to make sure we didn't hit traffic so that we could be there in time before the doors opened at 6:30.  We bought VIP passes which were more expensive but you'll see some benefits of that in a bit.

So we get there and go inside the House of Blues. Oh wait, this is a restaurant...are these people going to leave?  Oh, thanks hostess for letting us know we have to go around the side to get to the venue.  These things should be in the confirmation email.

Ok so we're in line now. As I said before, we bought VIP passes so we get to be first-in-line.  We get to go in like 30 minutes before everyone else so we can get all crammed on the first row before they all come in. Cool, I'm excited.

So it's like 7 when we finally get to go inside. We run in, grab a few things and assume our positions on the  FRONT ROW.  I'm stoked. I'm also starving and thirsty. But there's no way I'm moving.  I'm in front of this platform looking thing that I hear Paul is going to be standing on.  More stoked.  Then one of the security guys comes and says that we'll have to split a few times during the show because this thing moves.  Wait...it moves? Where's he gonna go?  Eh...whatever.

Ok so first band comes on. They were weird and the lead singer dances funny.  I laughed a lot.

Intermission time and then here we go!

The set

Drumset

Darren King, the drummer beast.  What's he doing you ask? Oh, he's just duct taping his headphones to his head.  No big deal. (!!!!)

They all come on, but they're coming from the back. My camera was not prepared to take pictures behind me so I didn't really get any shots of that. Plus, I'm short. So it would have been a bunch of other people's heads.

They perform EVERY song from their Odd Soul Album, plus all the other favorites. 26 songs people. 26 songs.

He's. right. there. 

He was standing on the aforementioned platform.
In. front. of. my. face.

Todd, the guitarist.  He just joined the band October 2011.

Roy, the bass player.  He looks straight out of a Beatles promo.

I could touch him. 

So the concert was FANTASTIC! Best concert I've ever been to! Why you ask?

Oh, because WE GOT TO MEET THEM.

I cannot believe we got to meet them. They were all super great and very friendly.  Oh my gosh.  I'm also the owner of two drumsticks now.  Well, together, they probably make one drumstick. Crazy beast Darren shreds drumsticks like a wood chipper so I caught one as it flew near my face and the other I just reached out and grabbed.  Because I was that close. Oh yes.

You'd think the fun would be over here right? Hop in our car, drive home.

The parking garage where we parked our car is LOCKED. I'm panicking.  We can't get in.  We're running around the whole garage and then finally, another VIP concert-goer manages to get inside so he lets us in. We grab the car and now, we can't get out.  The gates are shut and locked.  There are now several people running around trying to figure out what to do.  They somehow stumble upon this magic button that opens the gate.  So we all line up our cars, push the magic button, and haul out of there.

Now that this isn't happening to me right now, I'm laughing about it.  But at 12:30am, it was not funny. At. All.

So, that was our adventurous night! I'm so happy I got to spend it with my husband, because I would have freaked out with anyone else.  He stepped up, stayed behind, and made sure all of the cars were able to get out of the garage before the gate shut on us.  He's such a great man.

I'm off to the hospital to see baby Branson Shaw who's making his grand entrance into the world today in a few short minutes.

Have a great weekend!
Rae :)

oops, my bad.

If you read my last post, you should have gotten a strong impression that I have no interest in private practice.  I shouldn't haven't have posted anything or written my class assignment until I completed day one in my clinic rotation.

I'm working with a private practice audiologist this semester.  Immediately after leaving her office Monday, I discovered several things:

1. She has the cutest office ever.  She proved that audiologists don't have to have boring workplaces. She even painted her sound booth to complement the color scheme of her office.  It's very professional and very welcoming, like you would be going to into her home.

2.  Private practice doesn't mean working 8-5, Monday through Friday.  Private practice means I make my own schedule.  I can have days off if I want.  It's my choice.

3.  I don't have to make a decision whether or not I want to go into private practice today.  Or tomorrow.  I can work for several years before deciding if that's a path I want to take.

My schedule isn't a normal third year schedule (all day Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday).  I go half a day Monday, all day Tuesday, half a day Wednesday, and all day Thursday.  The joys of only working half a day means I can spend the other half doing school work or house/wife work.  I also have time to be more involved in my church, which is something I've had to back off from because of my previous Houston clinic-going.

It's funny how things change in a day.  Sunday, you couldn't pay me enough to go into private practice because I thought it would take away from being a mom, something I'm born to do.  But now, I know that I can be a good mom and raise my kids, and then open/buy a private practice once my kids are in school or even a little later.  The good news is that I don't have to decide that now.  When the time comes, we'll know if it's something we want to do.

In other news, I've been enjoying the mess out of coffee. I learned the hard way on Friday not to drink an entire pot over the course of a day, but I can do a cup or two :)

Also - it's storming outside, and while I'm so thankful to have the afternoon off, my poor Carmella is snuggled with me on the couch trying to hide from the thunder.  She's not allowed on the furniture; however, she forgets the rules when she hears thunder.  She's practically sitting on top of me, which is making the task of blogging particularly difficult.

Later on folks,
Rae

When I grow up...

For my business class, I have to write a paper talking about my interest in running a private practice.  I've been thinking for a couple of days about the potential of me one day owning my own practice.  As I sit here this morning, sipping on my second cup of coffee (I've been up since 6am and couldn't go back to sleep...),  one word keeps coming into my head: children.  I'll come back to the topic of private practice later, but let me catch you up really quick.

I have been going to school since I was 6 - kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school, college, and now graduate school.  I've been married for 3 1/2 years.  I took a year off between college and graduate school because I thought I was ready to have a family.  During that time, I realized that I wasn't ready emotionally or financially to start a family.  After talking it over with my husband, I decided to go back to graduate school and get my doctorate.  Then, one year afterwards I started to feel guilty.  Then a year later, and a year later.  I kept doubting myself and the choice I made to get my degree.  My husband has supported me throughout graduate school, but I felt that I was withholding from him the joy of having children.  Even though he was behind me going to school, why did I feel so guilty?  The bible has a few things to say about this:

"Children are a heritage from the Lord" - Psalm 127:3

"Every good and perfect gift comes from above" - James 1:17

"Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God" - Mark 10:14

"Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers" - Proverbs 17:6

"Be fruitful and multiply over all the earth" - Genesis 1:28

"I have no greater joy than to hear my children are walking in truth" - 3 John 1:4

"He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children" - Psalm 113:9

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you..." - Jeremiah 1:5

Also, Sarai (Sarah) and Hannah were both barren, but were faithful to God and he opened their wombs so that they could bear children.

Okay, so you get the point.  

I've been reading a book called "Real Marriage" by Mark & Grace Driscoll.  I'm only a few chapters into the book, but one thing that has really ripped on my heart is the chapter on men.  Mark rips on men and the different personalities that men have and how it works in a marriage.  This is not what's pulling at my heart.  What is, however, is the gentleness in the way he speaks of women.  I've never heard someone speak so sweetly of women.  Sure, I've read the scriptures from Ephesians about the husband loving his wife as Christ loves the church, and so on.  But I've never had it right in front of my face in plain English.  As Christian women, we have three main responsibilities: to be a follower of Christ, to be a wife, and to be a mother.  That's it.  

So, back to private practice.  I attend a state-regulated university.  Writing my paper with the response "I don't want to go into private practice because I love Jesus and my husband and I want to honor them by having children and owning a private practice will mean working 12 hours a day and being broke for five years and I don't want someone else raising my children so that I can be a businesswoman and own my own practice and be so stressed that when I'm at home all I think about is my job and how to make money so that my business doesn't go bankrupt" will probably not get me a good grade.  That will also only take up a couple of lines of the many I have to write.  Truthfully,  the thought of someone else raising my kids scares me to death.  I'm not talking about them being in a daycare...I'm talking about me having a baby, being off for 6 weeks, and then going to work 8-5 while my mom or my mother-in-law takes care of my baby until it's old enough to go to pre-k or kindergarten.  No offense to my mom or mother-in-law, because they're both excellent mothers, but I want to be able to raise my own children like they raised their children.  I want them to know me as their mother. I want to witness their first steps, their first words, and all of the joys and pains of motherhood.  

Going into private practice is not my only option.  I can work in a clinic, a hospital, an ENT office, a school, and other places.  I've thought about working full time, part time, or contracting out my services.  All three are good options, and each one has its pros and cons.  But I still don't know if that's the right path for me. 

So what - I get my doctorate and then become a stay at home wife/mom, wasting 8 years of college?  This is where it gets fuzzy.  I have NO IDEA what I should do.  I'm basically taking it one day at a time, and I'm putting the pressure on God to give me the vision of what his will is for me.  Yes, people do have children while they're in college, but traveling to Houston for clinic while being pregnant and having to be off for 6 weeks and then make up the time wasn't something my husband and I wanted me to do. 

This is my last semester of classes.  In June, I will start my one year externship at Lamar University and I'll graduate in May 2013.  Although I've thought about backing out at least twice during grad school, I'm so happy that my husband pushed me to finish and I know that I will be so excited to walk across the stage and receive my Doctorate of Audiology in a year and a half. 

Life is good.  God is greater!

Rae