It's been a while...

So, it's been quite a while since i updated this thing.  I was under that assumption that no one even read it. However, after emails from a few friends, it appears as though at least a few of you read this thing.  So, what have I been up to?  Allow me to run a few bullets:

• Mid August road trip with Fawn to Eugene (amazing trip!)
• Getting settled into Eugene
• Flew back to Jackson, MS to attend my grandfather's funeral
• Interviewed for a church job as Bethesda Lutheran Church
• Took the job at BLC
• Attended "Week of Welcome" meetings for Graduate Teaching Fellows (GFT)
• Began first week of classes at UO
• Had my first rehearsal with the UO Concert Choir (the group I'm conducting)
• Along the way I've met some AMAZING new friends!

Let's talk about a few of these.  My mid-August trip with Fawn was amazing.  I've already posted a few pictures from the trip, but it's worth reiterating how AWESOME it was.  I love you FERN!  We saw everything from "Cadillac Ranch" to the Grand Canyon.  We saw Yosemite, drove the Pacific Coast Highway, and even ate "Lamb Fries"  -- trust me, you don't wanna know what those are!  Once we arrived in Eugene we spent time setting up my apartment and then headed to Portland to meet some friends of Fawn's.  I then put Fawn on a plane back to Nashville and made the lonely drive back to Eugene.

I spent the next 2 weeks or so just getting settled in.  My grandfather's health had been failing this whole time and He went to be with the Lord on August 29, 2008.  I flew to Jackson, Mississippi on August 31 for his funeral the following day.  Pawpaw had told me this past Summer when I was in Mississippi for a visit that he might not see me again.  He told me he was tired and "waiting on Jesus."  I'm selfish and I didn't want to give him up, however, he was old and tired, he was ready for eternity and a body that was not failing him.  I miss him terribly and Christmas will not be the same this year, but i'm so glad that he is not suffering.

After returning from Jackson, I got down to the business of preparing for school and interview for jobs.  I'm the new music director at Bethesda Lutheran Church.  They have been wonderful to me and are a choir to direct.

I started this past Monday with classes at UO.  I LOVE IT!!!  It blows my mind that I am a PhD student.  I'm going to be Dr. Parker in the next four years.  How crazy is that!  I did always tell my parents that I was going to be a Doctor (this is not what they were thinking though i don't think!) hey, i kept my word.  I'm taking three academic classes: Choral Conducting Seminar, Research Methods in Music, and Repertoire and Analysis (Classical Form).  I'm singing in three choirs; Repertoire Singers (the lab choir for Conducting Seminar), U Singers (the University's large - 45 member - auditioned ensemble), and Chamber Choir (a highly competitive, select group of 20 singers - it's the University's top ensemble), and i'm conducting Concert Choir (the non-auditioned, y'all come, choir).  Concert Choir is SO MUCH FUN!! I absolutely love it and the students i'm working with (about 60) are awesome and we are really going to open some eyes this term as to how good a non-auditioned ensemble can be!

So, in short, that's pretty much my life right now.  I'll try to keep this thing a little more up-to-date since I am now 3000 miles from those of you I love so much.

Cheers, 

Webb