I almost forgot about my blood test this morning. Fortunately, I remembered in time to get there without being too late. I was only 5 minutes past the appointment time. I hate blood tests, but I have to get them all the time because of my blood disorder. Stupid blood disorder. I got the results, they are really quick, I get them in the afternoon when I get tested in the morning. I have to increase a day by 2.5 so now I have 4 days at 7.5 and 3 days at 5. It changes all the time which is why I have to be tested so much. If I don't take the medicine I will end up with another blood clot and I don't want to go there. I didn't enjoy it the first time, don't think I would like it again.

It has been a quiet day other than the blood test. Mom's physical therapist, Lori, didn't come yesterday so she came today. Mom was really tired so she ended up leaving early because Mom just couldn't do the exercises. She is coming again tomorrow but earlier in the day. That is good because between 2 and 4 is Mom's nap time and she is exhausted right now. She tires so easily now. I have to go and get a 3 pound weight so that when Lori is done next week I can continue the exercises with Mom so she won't lose her muscle that she gained. We just can't have that. I need Mom nice and strong, well, as strong as she can get. She even climbed up the two front steps to inside the house on her own today. I was surprised. I told her to wait a minute while I took stuff in, and in she came all by her little self. Rather shocking, truth be told. I was like, wow, you can do that. She was like, yeah, of course I can. Now we all know that normally she needs help because she has balance issues but not today. We won't be trying it out on anything else today, that is for sure. And when we come home again, she will get help unless she pushes me away, which she doesn't do.

So far, we have had an okay type day. In a few minutes, Zachary will be here for his lesson and then we are heading to my friend's house for knitting. I am letting Mom nap as long as possible because we will be leaving about 3:30. It will be a short session with Heather B-T, but still fun and we will have a good time. I wonder if they have heard from Calli yet, she is at camp, hopefully having a great time. I will hear all about it in 2 weeks, because next week the entire B-T family will be camping up north. That will be fun for them.

We don't have anymore vacation plans for the summer. I plan a nice and quiet August with lessons, knitting, sewing, and watching TV. We will be going to my uncle's again in a few weeks. Andrew is planning to be there. I hope with Angie, his really really nice girlfriend. I really liked her. I think Mom and I will plan a short jaunt to go and visit Andrew one day next month. Kathy will be here for one weekend at the end of the month so that is something I am really looking forward too. It shouldn't be so hot next month. Richard will be coming sometime in the future. Yes, I still wish we lived near him so I could see them more often, but we don't always get what we want. I do have plans for us when he is here for a visit. I don't think the entire family is coming. The last time the entire family was here was summer 2007 and that was 3 years ago when they lived in North Carolina. I do miss them living there as I didn't appreciate how close that was until they moved to Seattle. Now I appreciate it. Too little, too late, as the saying goes.

I do plan on working on more writing in August. I think with it being (supposedly) cooler, my head may not hurt so bad and maybe I can concentrate better and be able to work on a new story. I don't have any ideas in mind yet, but that is because I haven't even started. I have the time to write and I would like to have something solid started so that by Christmas I have a good handle on the story. I also am going to go to the storage unit and get some of our stuff in order. I need help with that so I plan to ask Katie or Aggie to help. Both are really nice and I think, if they have the time, they will do it. They are the generous type like that. Katie is also going to organize my music and put it away by the end of summer. I have some new stuff because Heather' mom, Pat, had a client who was a teacher and she gave Pat some of the music and Pat passed it along to me. Wasn't that really sweet of her? I just need to catalogue it and then it can get put away too. I have 3 filing cabinets filled with music for my students. 1 is for voice, and the other two for clarinet and piano. The clarinet music only fills 1 drawer while the rest is for piano. It makes it nice for choices for my students. I can't believe I am going to have to think of Christmas music soon. We start Christmas music October 1 every year. That way it gives all the students time to practice for the concert. Our concerts are so short now, compared to what they were. It sure does make a difference having 10 students instead of 50. I miss those days, but then, if I had that many students I wouldn't be able to take care of Mom like I do. I would need a sitter for her during the afternoon and evening hours. This way, she just sits through the lessons and listens quietly. Well, mostly quietly. She was rather talkative at first during Charlie's lesson Tuesday, but then she fell asleep and was quiet. I am hoping she sleeps through Zachary's lesson. She needs the rest before we leave for Heather B-T's. house.

Well, it is so beautiful out today, not too hot, not too humid. A perfect summer day. A gift from God. I just love life on days like this, despite the problems and illnesses we all face. Life is just good on a day like today. I hope yours is too!