Monday, September 28, 2009

My new "violin"

(The extended story of my FB post)

As you know, I've been talking about taking violin lessons for the last month or so. As I said, I just really feel like a new hobby that will keep me busy and give me something positive to focus on. So today, I finally went to the music store in town to rent my new violin and sign up for lessons.

We (April went with me; she didn't want to miss this) went in and I introduced myself to Dave, the music guru. I told him I was interested in the violin but, as we were talking, I was kind of wandering around the store, looking at everything else. We kind of talked about the pros and cons of everything from violin to drums to the sax.

And THEN we started talking about my personality and personal tastes. He asked if I liked classical music (I listen to it OCCASIONALLY and I play it sometimes while the kids are working, but I don't tune in regularly or anything) or fiddling (um, no, unless it's The Devil Went Down to Georgia). He quizzically asked why, then I wanted to play the violin. "I dunno," I said. "I used to play it in fifth grade...and I want to start music lessons, so that seemed like a good place to start."

"What kind of music DO you listen to?" he asked. "You know, when you're just out driving around."

"80s stuff," I answered immediately. "Rock. Classic rock. Stuff like that. I love me some Bon Jovi."

"...And you don't want to play the guitar WHY?" he answered.

And seriously, that had never occured to me. Never mind the fact that they were hanging ALL OVER THE WALLS and that my dad has played, like, forever.

He took me over to one of the walls and said "Is there one that's catching--"

"That blue one," I told him. (It's SWEET.) I'd already started bouncing around giddily. Seriously, as soon as he mentioned the guitar it just FELT right. My face totally lit up like a little kid on Christmas.

"Well, we have to make sure it fits you," he said, sitting me down. "Don't get your heart set on this particular one yet. It depends on your arm length and--okay yeah, actually, this one is a perfect fit."






My new guitar, as modeled by April. (Now I just need a cool name for it, like BB King and Lucille. Post any suggestions you may have.)









And I knew: not only was the guitar right for me, THIS guitar was right for me. This was MY guitar.

Now the only problem is that--of COURSE--there are no monthly rental plans for guitars; you have to buy those outright. HOWEVER, we have a bonus coming up in October (hopefully, if I qualified for that one) or November (definitely; all returning teachers are receiving this one), and this guitar will only be a small portion of that. So I put it on 60-day layaway (only a $40 deposit, I don't have to make any more payments, and that bitch is now officially MINE). I bought 2 guitar picks and the strap to tide me over.

I AM SO EXCITED.

So...yeah. As par for the course with Jen, I went in for a violin and walked out (metaphorically speaking) with a guitar.

And I couldn't be happier.

Side note: Build a Bear never called me back (WTF? I know they loved me) but I'm putting in an application at Total Wine tomorrow (which, let's face it, is the second most perfect place for me to work, LOL).

12 comments:

Jen said...

How about the Blue Bitch?

Renee said...

OOOHHHH!!!! I LOVE The Blue Bitch!

LOL. I'm excited for you. I think I mentioned before, Santa is quite possibly bringing Brent a guitar for Christmas, so I'm curious to see how you like it. A music guru at my local guitar center told me the guitar is the hardest instrument to learn because your hands are doing different things at the same time. Hmmmmm.

April looks hot, especially with the Blue Bitch in hand :-)

anna said...

Guitars are SO much Cooler than violins. Good choice :) I have to admit, I wondered about the violin thing but figured, hey, why not. I'm more excited about the guitar and I Love the gorgeous blue of Your guitar!

As for its name, I liked Sadie, as suggested by someone at your blog. You know the Beatles song Sexy Sadie? Or I like Baby. Baby Blue. As a tribute to the late, great Patrick Swayzee: Nobody puts Baby in the corner!

That's weird about Build A Bear. Did you call them to ask what the deal is? Wine sounds better to me but I just wonderwhat happened to the Bear.

Renee said...

I think someone on FB also suggested Sadie Blue, which I think sounds sultry and sexy. Blue Bitch sounds more badass. I like them both.

I forgot to comment on the BaB thing. WTF? I'm truly shocked that they never called you. The wine place sounds MUCH more fun and relaxing, though. Would you really want to go work at BaB with a bunch of crazy kids after being at school all day with a bunch of crazy kids? ;-)

Speaking of jobs, I finally have my state and NCLB (whatever the hell that is) Approved Parapro certificate, so now I'm going to apply to be a substitute assistant for the district Brent's school is in. There aren't any full-time openings, but I think I might rather start out subbing anyway and ease my way into it. Plus I can dictate my schedule that way and decide whether I want to go in or not :-)

Renee said...

I say that as if I'm already hired. I haven't even filled out an application for it, let alone had an interview :-)

anna said...

That's great Renee! I'm so excited for you! You're gonna be great and the kids you'll work with will be so lucky to have you!

Kishelle said...
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Kishelle said...
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Kishelle said...

nee - yay you! you will be great with kids!

Jen said...

Renee, that is FABULOUS!!! Welcome to the world of education. Frankly, I don't know how parents also work in the field, because although I LOVE my job, having to come and STILL deal with kids would drive me crazy (insert obvious joke here)...and yeah, "it's different when they're you're own," blah blah blah...but anyway, congrats.

That was a very long sentence.

Jen said...

PS==I found out that the wine place's idea of "part time" is like 30-35 hours a week, so obviously THAT won't work.

Kishelle said...
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