Unexpected relaxing day

It isn't the day I anticipated, but that is okay.  It was a good day anyhow.  All of my students today are ill.  Bob, Calli, and Acer are all under the weather so I hope by next week they are fine and ready to go. I am hoping that Calli and Acer's Mom, Heather B-T doesn't get it from them.  I remember when I was in the hospital in 2008 really sick, several times, Mom stayed with me every time but one.  She wanted to stay the night, but they wouldn't let her.  I don't know if they have changed that policy, but I know they other hospitals in the area no longer have set visiting hours and people can stay the night if they want too.  I am glad about that.  The nurses thought Mom was so sweet to stay with me.  She was too.  I had people ready to stay with her at our house, but Mom preferred to be with me.  What can I say?  She was the best.

Acer likes to cuddle with his Mom when he isn't feeling very well.  Poor little guy.  I do hope they all get better rather shortly.

We are heading for the biggest snow fall of the season from what the news people say.  I am not sure if this is a good thing or not but either way, I am prepared.  I went to the store yesterday to get a few necessities so I am all set.

I am rearranging the kitchen counters tonight.  I have already started.  I decided I wanted to make some changes to make it look nicer.  I don't like how it looks right now.  It looks cluttered and unusable in places.  I moved different things around that will make them easier to use.  I also am going to make some bread tonight, unless I need eggs, because I just remembered I forgot to get eggs yesterday.  That could be a problem.  Hmm, maybe no bread until later this week.  I moved the microwave into a better place and I have the containers moving too.  I need a new bread box because I don't like bread left out on the table and I don't like it in the fridge.  I am weird that way.  I always have been.  I think I will look at walmart this weekend to see if I can find a bread box.  That would be perfect in the kitchen.

I have to pay some bills this week too.  I paid some today and I have more to do during the weekend.  I like to take the first weekend and take care of bills.  They are all lined up and ready to go.  I am slowly getting things together and organized.  I figure by spring I will be all set and ready to go.  That gives me plenty of time to get things the way I want them.  I am just starting to figure out how I want them.  I am starting with the kitchen.  I am also starting to use the pantry in the back room again.  It is a great storage place for things too.  There are baskets and shelving units in it.  It really is a good thing to use.  I just have to empty the boxes that are in front of one set of shelves.  I can't get into that set because of the boxes that are there.  I will work on that later this week.

Despite no lessons, it has been a good day.  I talked to Georgette on the phone for about 2 1/2 hours, I talked to Donna for about 1/2 hour.  My poor little phone is charging right now.  It so needs it because I talked so much on it today.

I do hope you are ready for the storm and are having a good day.

lovely day

It has been a very lovely day so far.  I met up with Peggy and her family for brunch and had a very good time.  I haven't seen Peggy in a few months so it was nice to catch up.  I haven't seen her parents for an even longer time so that was even better.  I can't believe Peggy's little guy will be 6 in March.  Wasn't he just born yesterday???  Seems that way to me.  Of course, I think the exact same thing with my niece and nephew.  It is unbelievable how quick they grow up on us.  After brunch, I went to Walmart's to pick up a few things.  I was running out of deicer for the front walk way and porch, so I needed to pick up that.  I also needed some bread as I don't care for the buns I bought.  They are very dry and I didn't care for them so I got some bread instead.  This was necessary as I now longer go up to Tim Horton's everyday because it is rather dull on my own.  If I am meeting someone, wonderful, but other than that, it just got boring.  I loved going there with Mom though, we always had a good time.  Even at the end, she had a good time going.  I do miss going with her to places a lot.  I don't particularly like being on my own all the time.  There are times when I like company, like when I go to the grocery store.  We always had fun going because I would have her pick out a treat for her like she used to do when we were small.  She always surprised that I would get her a treat.  Silly little Momma!  Her face would light up and she would take her time deciding on a treat.  It was so cute.  You would have thought she was a child, but that was really where a lot of her memory was, as a child, so there was no real surprise to me about that.  I loved going to Walmart because they always had cute clothes at a good price too and once a month we would look to see if there were anything she needed.  I looked everywhere last year for a pink hoodie and I could not find one anywhere.  This year?  They are all over the place!  It is so unfair.  She would have looked so cute in a pink hoodie.  of course, I thought she looked adorable everyday.  I always put cute clothes on her.  She had the cutest tee shirts and hoodies, many from Disney or of Disney Characters.  Momma loved her Disney stuff.

I did pick out something for me.  A package of screw drivers.  Now you may be wondering why.  Well, you see, in the Paxton house they walk away.  Whenever you need one, you can't find one.  I bought a package of them, I think there are 4 sizes of each type so I am set.  I just have to find a good place to put them so they won't disappear.  It is frustrating when you need one and they have disappeared.  I am going to get another tool box next month.  I am trying to build up my tools so that in the spring, if something needs to be fixed, I can do it.  Right now, I don't know what happened to my tool box.  It isn't anywhere.  I looked the other day when I wanted a screwdriver.  I am actually a little upset over the disappearing of tools.  Once, Mom and I had enough, now they seem to be gone.  It is as if people don't think we need them or something.  I do know how to fix stuff, just because there is a lot I need help with, doesn't mean I don't know how.  Who do people think fixed the house when it was needed?  Superman?  No, me and Mom fixed the stuff.  Fortunately, all the big stuff is done and it is only little stuff that will need to be done.  I can do the little stuff.  I will soon have the tools to do it.  I am glad I still have my saw and I think I still have a drill, I am not sure on that.  I am hoping I still have a drill.  I had two of them.  Come the spring, I will move stuff around in the garage and make room for my tools and tool box.  I don't know what happened to mom's tools either.  I think the next thing to buy will be wrenches.  All mine are gone.  I had a nice set too.  Well, I will have a nice set again.  The next month will be a set of socket wrenches, unless I find mine.  I am not sure what I have left in my set, or even if I have the set left.

I plan to do some lesson planning tonight and watching a bit of TV.  I have one student who is new this week.  He is more of a trial student.  I don't particularly like one trial lesson, but whatever, we shall see if he likes it.  I changed my profile info on the new company page.  I wrote out what books I use for voice, so they are not surprised.  I want then to know that there is classical and Broadway music that they will be learning, not pop.  It is important to realize this.  Most people are okay with it, but some do have a problem with that.  I also may have 2 new students that are not from the new company!  That is exciting too!  I am hopeful for this.

I do hope you are having a good day.  Mine has been so far.

snowy and busy day

I woke up to more white stuff this morning and once again, thankfully, a neighbor has cleared my front walk way and driveway.  I am very thankful to whoever is doing this.  I don't ever see who is doing this so I don't know at this point.  Either way, I am thankful!

I had 5 lessons today.  That is the most I have had in one day since I lost the store in August 2008.  I was so thankful for that many.  It makes me happier to teach.  I need my lessons during the week.  Next week I have 8 lessons with the new company and several of my old lessons so that is wonderful.  Pretty much everyday, except Sunday, have at least one lesson.  This will be the last week of Stephanie, as far as I know, because Saturday is her Solo and Ensemble Performance.  I will miss her as I have had her now for two weeks.  I have Amanda P for another 3 weeks before her Solo and Ensemble Performance.

All in all everything is coming together for me.  I do hope for the 7 more students (permanent ones) in the next month.  So far, I am doing alright.  I am not lightheaded anymore so I am glad about that.  I don't know what caused it, but oh well!

Friday!

It has been a pretty good day.  We have a bit more snow, but not too much.  My car is not covered.  The warmer weather melted the snow off my little car!  I simply love my little car.  It is a ford Focus and I have had very good luck with this one.  I really like it a lot.  I do hope to keep it for a long time because I don't drive very much any more.  I am thankful that I have the car for when I do need to go somewhere.  My brother, Andrew, actually picked it out for me.  The original one he picked out though had the loud mufflers on it and a couple of other extras that I didn't want so I went with a different one, same color.  I will, however, avoid getting a red car again as it is a target color for police or so I have heard.  I have only had 1 speeding ticket in it from 2006 right after I got it.  I was following Richard on our way on vacation.  Richard was going in and out of traffic and that got us both in trouble.  We both got tickets.  His children had a good chuckle at that because big brother got little sister in trouble.  They teased their Dad about that the entire trip.  We were much more careful going home.  I really try not to speed anymore.  I like taking my time to view the world around me.  I find speeding causes me to worry about getting tickets and getting caught so I just don't do it much anymore.

I have been feeling a bit better today although I didn't sleep well at all last night.  I was just so afraid until about 5 am.  I am afraid sometimes at night of break ins.  Now, I live in a relatively safe neighborhood, we have been blessed to not have a break in since I was a child but sometimes I have trouble sleeping between 2 and 5.  Once 5 am comes, I am out like a light for the rest of the morning.  I have a new plan for this if it happens again tonight.  It has been a long while since I have had this happen to me.  I have had nights I couldn't sleep very well, but those nights were due to pain not to fear.

I had one lesson today.  As of right now, it is the last lesson of Stephanie.  Her solo and ensemble performance is next week, Saturday.  She is close to being ready.  She wasn't feeling too well today because she is coming down with a cold.  I do hope I do not get it.  I don't need another one this year.  I have had 2 and they were pretty bad.

I have 5 lessons tomorrow.  I am rather excited about that.  I have lessons from 12 noon to 4 pm.  I haven't heard from Rachel and Rebecca so i don't know if they are coming at 4 or not.  If they do, great, if they don't, well that isn't too good as they haven't had lessons for a month.  Competition is next month and they are not prepared at this point.  I am getting worried.  They wanted to come about 1 but I have a student at that time so that is not possible.  I let them know that 4 pm is available so who knows.  I will just wait and see.  I have a new student starting tomorrow with piano.  It is the first new piano student since November when Alyssa started.  I do hope Alyssa will be coming back now that January is over.  The new student has a 45 minute lesson which is something I generally don't do, but with the new company, they offer it so I do it.  I find that I am able to fill the 45 minutes pretty well.  I do hope this adult stays.  Tuesdays new adult only has scheduled one lesson and I am not really happy about that as I hate trial type lessons because generally they don't stay.  I do think you have to give lessons at least a few weeks to see if it is something you would like to stick too.

All in all, it has been a pretty good day.  I slept in a lot again due to not sleeping well last night.  I am heading for bed early because I need to be up a bit early tomorrow.  I don't mind.  It is good to get up for a good reason.  Mondays and Saturdays are my best days of the week since they are the busiest.  I really like those two days a lot.

I do hope you are having a good day.

A better day

It is such a better day today, although I really slept in.  I think a week without my thyroid medicine has taken a toll on me.  Oops, I just didn't have the money until today so what could I do?  Well, when my friend, Donna found out I hadn't been taken it, she was horrified.  She told me next time to ask her to borrow the money and pay her back when I get the money.  I hoping that with the adjusting of when money comes in, this will not happen again.  I figured it was okay to miss the thyroid stuff for a brief period, but boy I am even more tired than usual.  It is crazy.  I slept until 2:30 this afternoon!  I mean, I went to bed at midnight.  Yeah, crazy.  I think I am taking too much Tylenol PM too so I am going to cut back 1 and see if that helps.

I only have my normal chronic headache today.  I have given up on trying to get help with it because nothing has worked and as the specialist said, there isn't too much they can do about these types.  What ever, I guess, nothing I can do about it.  With the slight warm up of the temperature, in the 20's instead of zero, the hips are in better shape today.  I think overall, today is a better day.  I am not in as much pain as I have been and I am not so afraid today.  Today, I am thinking more positive about stuff.  I am going to start a bible study with myself to help with the fear that I have.  My friend, Kathleen is taking it now and says it is a real eye opener on trust and other issues like that.  I think it will help me a lot.  I really do.

I didn't have Koffi for her lesson today.  She had to cancel for some reason.  I left a message with her mother and I do hope to her back from her about a makeup day.  If I don't, then I will just mark the lesson because she didn't give too much notice, about an hour before the lesson was to be started.  The company that I am working for has a strict policy and I am glad about that because it is frustrating to plan a lesson that is cancelled an hour before the lessons.  However, I would prefer that we make up the lesson rather than she pay for a skipped lesson so I am not marking it until tomorrow.  I am hoping I hear from her mom by then.

I have another new student starting Tuesday for an hour.  He is 58 and wants to learn to sing properly.  I am happy about all these new students.  I now need 6 more.  I may be getting my brother's best friend's son for a student too and that would mean I need 5 more.  Things are progressing well for me now.  I am still fearful, but today, it isn't consuming me like it did yesterday.  i thinking writing it out and admitting it out loud to my friends made a huge difference.  It also made me realize that I am not alone which is another big help.  I am so thankful and blessed to have such good friends, really I am.

Since I didn't have a lesson this afternoon, I went grocery shopping earlier than planned.  This was a good thing as the roads are getting slightly bad with the snow that is coming down.  It looks so beautiful though and the way the snow sits on the branches of the bushes is simply gorgeous, it gives me a queer ache inside because it is so beautiful.  I love looking at the snow, I just don't love driving in it nor do I love the super cold weather of the snow sometimes.  Today, the temperature is a bit warmer and with my new warm coat, I was toasty warm inside.  With my old coat, I would have been chilled, but not the new one.  It is designed for super cold weather of Michigan.  I picked up a few things for lunches now that I am not going to go to Tim Horton's everyday.  It is just not fun anymore.  I sit by myself and read.  Well, it is starting to be a bit too expensive too so I need to cut back on that expense and only go every so often.  I did go today because I had no lunch stuff yet in my house, but now I do.  I didn't really need to pick up much in the meat department because I bought some last week.  I am going to make the beef pot roast tomorrow.  That will be yummy.  I like cooking in the crock pot.  I also remembered that I have a bit more chicken in the freezer so I didn't need to buy anymore of that.  I think I am pretty well stocked up for the next few weeks.  It is a good thing, I think.  I am getting much better at cooking for one or cooking for more and splitting the meal for more than one meal.  I think this will help me lose weight as I am buying healthier food for me.

Not much happening this evening.  I am working on my plan of attack, as I call it, for organizing the house.  Next week I plan to start working on the house so that by spring, it is ready for visitors and looking simply splendid.  I do love my house.  I have such good memories here.  Yes, I used to have the bad memories too, but the nice thing about Fibro

All in all, a much better day.  Less pain, less fear, make a better day.  I do hope yours was good as well.

A realization

A blog I read, a Place called Simplicity, reminded me again today how consumed with fear I am.  I have been ever since the start of summer when Mom went downhill.  I am literally, at times, consumed by it.  I am afraid of so many things now that I am alone and on my own.  I am trying to really trust that God will take care of me, and I have much proof that He is, but still I am afraid.  I needed new students to pay my bills, I got new students (I got another new one today that will start next week), I needed a way to stay in the house, I am able to stay in the house.  I have been afraid to be alone, I now can sleep in the house comfortably alone, yet I am still consumed at times by fear.  I need to break the chains of fear.  I don't know how other than praying for that which I have done consistently for the last 3 months.  I was afraid after Momma passed away I would get sicker than I already am, I didn't get sicker.  I was so afraid that I would go into a flare or that the vasculitis that has been dormant for 7 years now, would show up again.  It didn't.  I have proof after proof that I am not alone, yet still, I am consumed by fear.  I am at a loss of how to get out of this fear.  I know that fear is not from God, but I can't get up from under it.  When I get scared, I go and take a nap because then I don't focus on it.  I sleep way to much at times.  I am glad that I am getting to teach more lessons because that brings me out of fear while I am teaching and sometimes even after I am done teaching.  I am afraid to stop missing Mom because will that mean I will forget Mom?  I don't know.  I just know I am completely, most of the time, consumed by fear.  I need help in breaking this cycle.  I have never been such a fearful person as I am right now.  I feel like I am walking in mud and fear is holding me back.  I don't like this feeling.  I want to stop being afraid of everything all the time.  I don't remember how to stop being afraid, it has been here since May when I first took Mom to the hospital and it hasn't left me yet.  What do I do?  I have been praying about it a lot.  I ask God to take the fear away every night, and it is still here.  I need to stop being afraid and start living again, right now, I am just existing.

a better day

It has been a much better day today.  No tears for the day, thank goodness!  It is just a normal missing mom day.  It seems so strange to be living here in the house while she is in Heaven but I don't want to live anywhere else.  Sometimes, I can feel her presence in the house and I like that.

I had a new student this afternoon.  I was getting kind of worried because he was 15 minutes late.  It was okay because I didn't have anyone after him, so that was fine.  He seems very interested in learning to sing properly and get back to where he thinks he was a few years ago before a horrible accident.  He has a nice sound.  We started with the usual, Caro Mio Ben and he did very well.  He has the list of books he needs to get for next week.  I didn't have him get a Broadway book because I have a couple that I really like and couldn't choose between them which ones I wanted him to get.  What can I say?  I have some great books.

I am going to go to Windsor for a couple of hours tomorrow.  I haven't been there since December.  I don't know when the Windsor people are going to come and visit me anytime soon, but that is okay.  I am mostly doing alright.  Yes, I have my bad days, as noted from yesterday, but overall, I am adjusting to this new life alright.  It isn't always easy, but it is my life now.  I am hoping that I will see Richard and family in the summer.  That is my goal.  Kathy is hopefully going to be able to come and visit in a few weeks and spend the weekend.  I can't wait for that because we will have fun.  I have book club next Saturday, which will actually be the first time we have had book club since Momma passed away in October.  In December when we were supposed to have book club, Maggie took me to lunch instead.  I had a good time.  It was nice to visit with her since I hadn't actually visited her since September.  She was at the viewing and the funeral, but that isn't a place for visiting as I was rather busy and upset at the time.  It was one of the hardest days of my life.  I don't think anything else will ever be so hard.

It has been a good day today.  I even braved the cold to go get dinner.  I just wasn't into cooking anything today so off to taco bell I went.  I haven't been out since Friday because it has been so cold.  It is finally warming up a bit, if you call in the 20s warm, compared to below zero, it is down right balmy!  I have several students this week.  I do need to get the piano books for the next new student on Saturday.  He is an adult and has always wanted to know how to play the piano so he is starting this Saturday.  I am hopeful for 7 more students with this new company.  They send email updates on your profile page once a week which is really nice because you can see how many people checked out the profile.  They do not use last names or any other identifying  information unless you sign up.  Even then, they don't know the last name.  I love teaching out of the house.  I have decided that I am not going to to change that anytime soon because it is so nice to have them come here for lessons.  It is so convenient if I need some music, I just turn on the computer and look it up then go down the stairs to pull the music out.  Very helpful if I need something right away.  I did find some other music that needs to be put away.  I will work on this during this week.  I would like to have all the music put away by the end of the weekend.  Then I plan to organize the CDs.  I found some more the other day that have been sitting next to me on the floor next to the piano for a good 8 to 9 months and didn't realize they were there.  What a lovely surprise it was to find them.  Several of them were ones I have needed recently so I was very happy to find them.  My CDsCDs will take a little bit longer but since there are some in order, I just have to put the CDs where they belong.  Then I will be up to day with the music.  Give me 2 weeks and I will be done.  The one thing I do want to get soon is an all in one printer with copier capability.  It will help not lose music.  I have several binders and I want to create some binders for each vocal student with extra songs we will be doing but I won't have to loan out the music.  I am trying not to loan out too much music as that is how it gets lost.  Binders are so much easier plus the student gets to keep a copy of the music.  As an educator, by law, I am allowed 1 copy per student for educational purposes only.  I always have the original music with me whenever there is a performance or competition.

Overall, a much better day.  I do hope tomorrow is a good day too.  It is not supposed to be very cold like it has been which is good.  I am very glad about that.

monday

It is a bad missing Momma day.  It has been since last night.  Tears and more tears.  It hurts worse than the physical fibro pain I have.  I can't seem to get a hold of myself today.  yesterday, I spent most of the day in bed as I also have a very bad headache.  I still have it.  I don't know.  It doesn't seem to get any better.  I just want my mom.  That's all.  Nothing more, just my Mom.  I know she is gone, but I still want her.

brrr, it is so cold outside

I think I slept the day away.  I am so tired and my head hurts pretty bad today.  I got up rather late and was still so tired that I had to go and lay back down.  It is just one of those type days.  I will be heading for bed early tonight too.  I am just so exhausted today.  I didn't go out at all today because it is so cold out and no reason to go out.  I decided yesterday that I wasn't going to go out today because it was going to be so cold.  Well, it is really cold out.  Around zero without the windchill.  I don't know how cold it is out with the windchill, below zero I imagine.  I am not liking the cold this year.  It didn't seem to bother me so much last year like it is this year.  I am not sure why.  Tomorrow I have 4 lessons as usual so that is good.  I have a new student on Tuesday and another new on Saturday.  Wednesday, I have to go to Windsor for a bit before teaching at 4 pm.  It will be a nice and busy week.  I like that in a week.  I dread downtime at times. It depends on what I want to do during the downtime.  Sometimes it is nice to have it.  It comes in handy when you don't feel well to.  It was good that I didn't have to teach today since my head is so sore.  I do hope it goes down to normal by tomorrow in time for teaching.  Sometimes, teaching helps the head relax a bit too.

It is a normal pain day for everything else except the head.  I am way more tired than usual for some odd reason.  it is a normal missing mom day, although with not feeling well today, it is nice to be able to rest and not worry about her.  Though, I would rather have to worry about her than have her not here.

I do hope your day was fine and everything okay.  i hope you are warm during this cold spell.

Cold outside

It is so cold outside today!  I am staying in the house for the evening.  I am not going out and I don't foresee me going out tomorrow either.  It is just so cold out.  I am toasty warm in the house today and loving every minute of it.  It is a good day around here.  I had 4 lessons this afternoon, Katie, Amanda, Kayla, and Amanda P.  All are doing very well with lessons.  Katie is getting ready for competition.  She is working on Ave Maria by Schubert for her Classical piece.  She has it almost down pat.  Her Broadway piece, I could Have Danced All Night is pretty much almost ready.  My three newer ones are doing well too.  Over all, I must say I am pleased with how the students are doing.

It is a normal missing Mom day, not a bad one, just the normal one.  I changed the wallpaper in my phone to a different picture of her.  I have several good pictures of the little lady.  On my computer are many more pictures of Mom too.  There are some with me.

I am starting to work on losing some of this weight.  I am not going to be going to the usual anymore unless it is to meet someone for tea.  I need to cut back on spending, but I also need to cut back on junk food and eat more healthy food.  I bought some pop for here at home because I do like it, although I will be cutting back how much I drink of it.  I have some nice fruit cups that I do like, I just don't think about eating them because I don't normally have them here at home.  Well, I got them now and will eat them.  i also got some bananas, which I also like.  I do like fruit.  I just don't eat enough of it.  I have bought some more meat that isn't prepackaged so that is good too.  I think I have gained a bit of weight since Mom passed away and that is not good.  I need to lose the weight, not gain it so I will be working hard on that.  That is my new goal.  I have been working on the machines downstairs a bit, but I can't do very much of them.  I have looked to see about swimming but there really isn't anywhere near by for me to go.  I will keep looking until I find something I can afford.  With more students, maybe I can afford something near by.  So far, the ones I have looked into are very expensive.  I will keep looking.

I worked a bit on the plan of the house.  I also worked on the to do list.  Some of the stuff is weekly to do, but some of it is not.  I am working on my weekly house work to figure out what day to do what so I don't over do it.  I don't want to over do it at all.

Overall, it has been a decent day.  I am relaxing now after a busy afternoon.  I like when I have busy afternoons and evenings, it makes me feel better over all.  I am going to read for a bit before I make any dinner.  I hope it has been a good day for you too!  Stay warm!  It is cold in so many places today!

paperwork friday

I turned in all the paperwork.  Well, I hope it was all the paperwork.  I couldn't turn in my pay stub  because I haven't gotten my first paycheck from takelessons.com yet.  I get it on the 5th so that is good.  I have a busy afternoon tomorrow.  I have 4 lessons so I am excited about that.  I had Stephanie's this afternoon.  She is doing pretty well for just starting the song.  She does have one piece pretty much memorized.  She has solo and ensemble in 2 weeks now.  I will see her on Wednesday next week for 90 minutes.  I was nervous about the length of the lesson, but it goes pretty quick, so I am happy about that.  I have another solo and ensemble student tomorrow.  Both these students are temporary ones, but I do hope they turn into permanent ones, but if they don't that is okay.

It is so cold here.  It is supposed to be in the single digits this weekend.  Thank goodness I have a nice new parka to help keep me warm.  I also have a nice warm scarf and hat.  My gloves aren't that warm, but I have warmer ones if needed.  I do hope where you are is warmer than it is here.  We are also supposed to get more snow.  I think this is the weekend to stay home.  Thank goodness I got groceries yesterday!  Oh, wait, I have to get some medicine tomorrow.  Ugh.  that means I have to go out tomorrow.  I need the medicine or I would wait to next week.  I do have to go to Windsor next week for the afternoon.  I am going on Wednesday.  I will be going to Tillie's for lunch.  I have some business to attend to and then lunch.  I need to be home by 4 pm for Stephanie's lesson.  I don't anticipate that being a problem.  I am planning to arrive by 10 am so that I can leave by 1:30 after lunch.  I haven't actually seen Tillie since December at the family party and she was very busy that day.  I was having a rough day that day so I left early.  It was the 2 month anniversary of Momma's passing and it just hit me pretty hard.  It occurred to me that everyone there had someone except me, whether it was children, significant other, or mom, and I had no one.  They all had a little family of their own and I don't.  My little family is gone. It just wasn't a good day for me.  I was glad Darrin left early so that I could leave before dark too.  When I am that upset, it is best to leave before dark.  I have better contacts now so that is good, I can read street signs again.  I am frightened at times about my eyes and the macular degeneration.  Sometimes when I am typing the words are blurry and no matter what I do I can't get them to clear up.  It isn't everyday, but it is often enough that it drives me crazy.  Eyes are so important.  I know it is something I need to keep an eye on.  I do see better with the new contacts.  They are a new kind that allows lots of oxygen through so I no longer have the oxygen deprivation problem in my left eye.

I don't have any plans for Sunday right now.  Phoebe is supposed to stop by tomorrow afternoon to drop off the ladder.  I am hoping to see Peggy soon, I am not sure when.  As soon as Wendy is feeling better we will be meeting for tea.  She is so nice.  I wish we were closer in high school and the years after.  Well, we are friends now and that is what counts.  She is one of the friends that came to the viewing of Mom.  I really appreciated all my friends and family who came for those two days.  They were pretty awful.  I hope to never go through anything that awful again.

It has been a productive day for a change.  I did take a nap after I went to drop the paperwork off.  I didn't want to mail them because it could get lost in the mail and I don't want to lose that stuff so I dropped it off the the drop box.  The office is rather close to my house so it was no big deal.  I copied everything and then stuffed it in the envelope.  Now my dining room table has paperwork all over it again.  I will put the bills in the bill file tomorrow.  I am too tired to do this tonight.

I hope you had a good day.  It was for me.  I feel good when I get stuff done.  I hope that next week is productive too.  There are days when I feel like my old self again.  It happens more often than it did in a while.  I still have rough days though, I miss Momma all the time, but I am slowly reconstructing my world to a world without her.  I never really thought I would, yes, I know, that is awfully naive but that is me.  It is a world that I am slowly muddling through.  Some days, I am just treading water, while others I am drowning and some I am floating.  All in all, I am finding my strength, the strength I didn't think I had.  I guess I do have some, I just don't know how much.  i know Mom would want me to be strong.  That I know for sure.  She always said she wanted me to be strong and stand on my own two feet.  Well, I need a bit of help, with the standing on my own two feet, but I am doing alright.

a better day - but more snow!

I woke up late again today.  I have got to get out of this bad habit.  I have to copy some stuff to send in.  I am planning to copy them tomorrow and then drop them off.  I only have until tomorrow to do this so I have to get this done.  I can't not do this.

I had another new student this afternoon.  She is very nice and so is her mom.  She was a few minutes late because they got lost.  They had to call the company to get directions to my house.  they were about 5 to 7 minutes late.  That was okay as I don't have anyone else today.  Besides, it was the first lesson and you have to make allowances for timing on the first one.  I am excited to work with all my new students.  I do hope that they all have their books soon.  I am running out of books to loan out.  I have to pull some solo and ensemble music tomorrow for Amanda P tomorrow for Saturday.  I have Stephanie again tomorrow.  She is singing a song in French and it is very hard for her.  We worked on it for almost the entire 90 minutes yesterday for her lesson.  We shall see how much she practiced.  I hope she practiced a lot.  Solo and ensemble is only a few weeks away.  Amanda is going to solo and ensemble too and she hasn't picked her 2nd song yet.  I have a few ideas of songs that I think she will like.  I am excited about Saturday because I have 4 students that day.  Next Saturday, I will have 5 lessons.

I am possibly going to see Peggy this weekend.  I am not sure though.  I do hope so.  It would be fun.  I have gift certificates that I can use.

I went grocery shopping today.  I forgot to bring some cash for the medicine I need to pick up so I will have to do that tomorrow.  Oh well, not a big deal.  I will get the synthroid tomorrow.  I don't really want to go all the way to Walmart again, but I don't have a choice since that is where my medicine is filled at.  It is that time of month when my medicines all need to be refilled.  A few of them are refilled every few months though so that is good.  It makes the monthly cost cheaper.

I am still so tired.  I don't feel like I have completely regained my strength from getting the cold earlier this month.  I still feel so wiped out with it.  It is really getting annoying.  I am tired of sleeping so much. I am going to go to bed earlier tonight with the hopes that I get up earlier.  I want to be up by 11:30 latest.  11:00 would be better as I have things to do.  I want to get the stuff done early so I can be ready for the lesson at 4:30.  I am just so tired.

I am watching My First Place.  It is too funny to see people go into the potential house/condo's bathroom and complain that it is outdated and it looks fine.  They do that for the kitchens too.  Makes me wonder what they would say about our house as our bathrooms have never been redone.  Our kitchen, however, was redone in the late 90's and Mom did a great job.  Hayley would like me to repaint the dining room and kitchen but that is not on the top of my list of things to do.  I like the color, actually so I am not sure I would repaint it.  There are rooms I would like to repaint, but that is not on the list for right now.  I have to save money to do any changes of the house.  I rather like the house the way it is.  I like the way our house looks.  The only changes I see I need to make are to the yard right now.  I am hoping that Addison or his dad will be able to trim the bushes in the back yard.  I need the garden in the back yard weeded and the stones put back in.  I need a new bush in the corner of the garden.  Also, in front of the house will need some bushes too.  Andrew ripped them out and never put anything back.  I would like something there.  That probably won't get done until next summer, not this one, but the next one, but that is okay.  I don't mind.  I have time to deal with this stuff.  I still need to decide where to start with the house.  I have an idea of where I want to start and what I want to do.  I will start in a couple of weeks so I need to make sure I am not as exhausted as I am right now.

Well, I am heading to bed soon.  I am just so tired.  I hope I get a good sleep and wake up nice and refreshed!  Okay, now I am dreaming!  I just hope I am not as tired as I have been all day.  That is my goal.  I do hope your day has been good too!

a slightly bummed out day

I am a bit bummed out today.  The new adult student that I thought was all excited to learn to sing better and all that, well, he quit.  Yup, after one lesson, he quit.  So, since his girlfriend paid for 3 classes I will be refunding 2 of them to her.  I didn't put the money in the bank yet, so I still have it in the piggy bank.  Also, my 2 fish are dead.  Yup, that too.  I guess I am not any good at taking care of fish.  That kind of makes me sad too.  What can I say?  it is not my day.  I do hope the new student I have this afternoon, for 90 minutes, (I am a bit worried about how long the lesson is) goes well.  She has a performance in 3 weeks.  I don't know what her worries are about or anything or why they think 90 minutes is needed 2 times a week, I just don't know yet.  I shall find out soon enough as they arrive in 25 minutes.

I plan to do some grocery shopping this week.  I need to pick up a few things.  Not too many, just a few.  I also need to go to Windsor next week.  I haven't been there in a month.

Yesterday, was the 3 month anniversary of Momma's death.  I am a bit better than I was in October, but I still miss her so much.  At times, it seems unreal that I won't see her sitting in the living room or coming down the stairs or hearing her call my name.  I just can't believe that I won't be with her everyday like I was.  I wonder how my brothers are doing, but they are always like, move forward, don't look back.  Well, I miss Momma, how can I not look back?  She wasn't a big part of their lives like she was mine.  For a couple of years at the end, she was my life.  I miss taking care of her.  I miss her all the time and I am not so sure that will ever change.  I know I can move on with my life, but that doesn't mean I don't miss her because I do.  I just miss her a lot.

I hope today improves some, because it is just not my day.  I am looking forward to the lesson I will teach.  That will be in 15 minutes.

I do hope your day is good.

Tuesday

I had 2 lessons today.  I was a bit nervous over the new lesson because you never know how adults will react to classical music.  He was all for it.  I was very excited about that.  He seemed to like the song we started with and the broadway one too so that is good.  He needs to purchase 2 books.  Since I am not wanting to limit his range (he has a nice wide one) with picking 1 Broadway book so I will just loan out what he needs.  I copied his music this afternoon and the CDs too.  I will get him a binder (I have some downstairs) and page protectors.  He is very nice.  Charlie had his lesson too and he is doing pretty well with musical interpretation etudes.  They are rather hard, but he is doing alright with them.

Tomorrow I have a new student that is a temporary student.  She has a performance on February 5 and wants some help with her music.  She is actually coming Wednesday and Friday for 90 minutes.  I am not sure the 90 minutes is necessary, but I will find out.  Usually, an hour is the most that people have for lessons so this is new for me.  We shall see where she is with the music that she is performing.

I also need to pull some music tomorrow for my new one on Thursday.  The newest one on Saturday is going to solo and ensemble for school and needs one more song that is off the list.  I will pull the alto books that are on the list or the ones I think are on the list.  I figure by the end of the lesson we will have a song for her.  I also have another new student next Saturday for piano.  He is an adult.  I spoke to him today.  I will get the books for him and he will pay me back.  It will be easier to pick up the books and then I know he will get the right ones.

This week I have students every day except on Sunday.  It is the first time in a long time that I have lessons every day.  I do know that the Wednesday and Friday student is just temporary, although it would be nice if she switched after the performance to a weekly student.  I can only hope.

I had to turn the heat back up again.  I just couldn't help it.  I was so cold even with the little heater, I was still so cold.  Now that I am on the special program that protects against getting the heat shut off.  I pay the same amount every month for 18 months and then they look at how much heat I use and then make the adjustments for the next 18 months.  I called them for information on the budget plan.  They usually do the budget plans in May not January so that plan was out for me, but I am happy with what I have now.  My electric bill is almost the same every month so I not worried about that.  This new development really helps the budget a lot.  I am glad about that.

I am tired a bit tonight.  I was very tired earlier but then I perked up.  I am almost over this cold.  I think tonight I am not going to take the cold nighttime medicine because I think that is why I am so tired these last few weeks.  We shall see if this helps.  I sure hope so.  I am tired of being even more tired than I always am.  I need more energy to get through the day.

Tomorrow I hope to move all the violins so that I can take pictures of the shuffleboard for my cousin, Darrin's friend.  I have to measure it too.  I hope to have it gone by the end of the month.  That would be nice.  It would be nice too if he wanted the bar stools too but that is too much to hope for.  I don't want them as they are in the way.  I do want the round table and the chairs that go with it.  It will be good for sewing.  I have a couple of other tables for sewing too.  I hope to have a nice sewing room by summer.  The other half of the room will have a sofa and a chair with a TV and exercise equipment.  I want to use it for exercising.  I am keeping two of the exercising machines and the rest can go.  I will put shelves along 2 walls so that we will have storage for sewing stuff and other things.  I do need to eventually get another book shelf for the family room too.  I like having one on each side of the sliding door and one of them went into the living room.  I am going to move the DVDs and all my books back downstairs to the book shelves.  It will be better for them as I like to watch DVDs while I exercise.  The family room will be awesome when I finish with it.  First thing, is getting rid of the shuffleboard.  It is in the way right now.  Of course, nothing will be done until after tax season except for moving the shuffleboard out of the room.

All in all, it has a good day.  I hope your day was good too.  I am excited that I have a good week planned.

Monday - busy lesson day

I had 3 lessons today.  Little man, Acer, has a fever so he didn't come for his lesson.  I do hope he is going to be back to normal shortly.  Bob and Calli had their lessons and both are doing very well.  Bob has a 2 part invention by JS Bach and a Sonata by Mozart while Calli is learning Red River Valley on the piano.  She is singing Country Gardens and Rainbow Connection.  She is almost done with level 2 and almost ready to begin level 3.  I am excited with how well she is doing.  Bob did very well through the rough spots today.  He is happy with his progress too.  Basically it was a very nice musical day.

Tomorrow is one of my new students.  He is an adult male who will be taking voice lessons.  I have the books to copy for him.  I also will have the usual lesson with Charlie.  He is doing very well with his tenor saxophone too.  I must say at this time I am pleased with each of them.  All my students are working very hard at their music and work hard during lessons.  I love teaching.  For me, it is the best job in the world.  I really like it.

It has been a very good day today.  I am going to go and make some dinner now.  I think I feel like having some soup.  I really like soup.  It is one of the best foods ever.  I am rereading the Anne of Green Gables books.  I am on the 2nd book.  I love these books so much.  Mom originally bought them for me when I was a child and I just love them.  Hannah Muglia is also reading them too.  I think she will like them a lot.

I do hope your day is good too!  Have a great weekend!

A quiet Sunday

It started out as a bad day for me.  I got up late, again and I wanted to get up earlier because I don't like this new habit of sleeping in very late.  I have got to stop it.  Tomorrow I have a few things I want to do before teaching.  I need to decide what songs to copy for Ed and make a CD for him.  I also need to make some copies of music for my new one on Thursday too.  I want to get on top of this so that I have the music ready.  I don't have too many copies of the books left so I need to copy the music.  I should have done that for Amanda and Kayla, but I didn't.  I need to for the other Amanda and Koffi.  I have two adult male students that are starting and I only have 1 copy of guy songs so I have to copy them for the guys.

I emailed Richard when I was upset and crying.  He emailed me back right away.  He was reminding me to keep busy and not think about it too much.  To look forward, not backward, which is very Richard.  I called Kathy after I emailed Richard and by the time we were done, I was feeling much better.  I should have just called her.  She always makes me feel better.

I am feeling better now.  I think that I need to get busier and not sit around thinking too much.  I spend a lot of time on the computer because I don't have a lot to do.  I need to get off my butt and start working on the plan for the house.  January is 1/2 over and I haven't even started.  I only have a bit left of the month to make my plans.  I don't want to still be thinking about it in February.  I want to start working on my plan in February.  I want to have this house the way I want by summer.  Kathy and Tony are going to help me clear out the storage unit when the weather warms up in the spring.  I am thankful for that.  That is an expense I don't need plus I don't really need a storage unit.  I have a house that has lots of room.  We got it because we were going to move to Rochester near the store.  I shouldn't have ever got it, but I did and now I am sorry but I will get it closed soon.  Most of the stuff will be donated.  I am keeping a few things for myself and the rest is going.  I want the keyboard that in there and the pictures in the boxes.  There are few other boxes I need to keep from the store and a couple of other boxes but the rest is going.  A lot of the boxes, a good majority of them, are old reference books and stuff I don't need.  I am glad that I will be getting this gone and taken care of.

Tomorrow I am going to go in the family room and find the craft bags.  I am going to pick a kit out to make and start working on it tomorrow night.  I am going to stop playing around on the computer all night and do something productive.  I want to be more productive like I am used to.  I used to be busy all the time and I am want to do that again.  I did get my notebook out and it is on the counter.  I have everything ready to start my planning.  By the end of the month, I will know what I want done and where I want to start.  I want the house in order so that if Richard can come with the family for a visit I will have room for them.  I am hoping to see them this summer.  I haven't seen the family in 2 1/2 years and I miss the kids a lot.  They are growing up so fast.  I do hope to be able to see them more often soon.  We shall see if that is able to happen.  I am hoping by summer to be able to put a bit of money away for the plane fare to see them at least once a year if not twice.  I feel so far away from them.

Next week is shaping up to be a good week.  I have 4 lessons tomorrow plus I will have the music copied and put in the binder.  Tuesday, I have 2 lessons.  I have a new lesson on Thursday.  On Saturday, I have 4 lessons and I am going to see Peggy this weekend so all in all it is shaping up to be a good week.  I also have some house work I plan to get done too.  I think I have a plan to do some where it won't cause extra pain.  My goal is to get the vacuuming the carpets and the floor in the utility room, kitchen, and dining room.  I will be putting the paints away and cleaning up the corner that they were in since before Christmas.  I also need to completely clear the kitchen counter off.  I did most of the dining room table last week and I have mostly kept it up.  I want to go to Joann's and get a new Valentine themed table cloth too.  I like having table cloths that go with the season.  I think I am ready for that again.  I had table cloths that matched every season but they were donated.  I will change the table cloth and then put it in the closet upstairs for next fall.  I didn't need to buy Christmas ones because I have 2 that are very nice.  I just didn't put them out.  I never got to it.



With how things are turning out, I do feel like Momma is watching out for me.  Things have really come together for me since she passed away.  I needed new students to pay the bills and I got them.  I need some more and I am sure that I will get them.  So far, the new company is happy with me.  I have marked all my lessons in a timely manner and so far everything has gone very well.  I am not anticipating any problems.  Kayla will have her music by this weekend and I hope that Amanda will have hers ordered.  The other Amanda needs solo and ensemble choices so I will have them ready for her on Saturday.  She is an alto.  I am hoping I know where my young singer alto book is.  It can't be too far.  Fortunately, almost all of my music has been put away so I will find it easily.

Well, it is almost time for bed.  I am rather tired tonight.  Crying makes me very tired.  I hope tomorrow I will be less tired.  The cold is almost gone, thank goodness.  I have just a bit of it left.  I figure by the end of the week it will be completely gone.  I do hope you are doing well and are not sick at all.

fun Saturday

I had 2 lessons today!  Yes, 1 was new and a friend of the other student I had today.  I am excited about that.  Both girls did very well at their lessons.  They are 12 years old and are starting with the Italian Song, "Caro Mio Ben".  It is a nice introduction to classical music.  A beautiful piece of music.  They each also have a Broadway piece to learn too.  It was nice to have music through the house for a couple of hours.  Starting next Saturday, I will have 3 lessons each Saturday.  Every other Saturday, I will have 4, those are the weeks that Aggie is home.  I am so happy with how lessons are shaping up.  I still need some more lessons, but I am getting there, slowly.  God is working in my life and I can see it.  I am hopeful that I will have enough students to be okay by summer.  So far, so good.  I am glad about that.  I am busier now than I was and that is good.

After the lessons, I went to my usual, Tim Horton's and got my sandwich.  I was tired after the lesson, so I took a nap.  I am so tired all the time right now, more than usual.  The fatigue is sometimes really bad.  I think I have napped more in this last two weeks than I have for a long time.  I am just so tired all the time.  I don't know if the change of pain medicine has made a difference or not.  It's hard to say.  My cold is almost over.  I hope it leaves rather quick, like tomorrow!  Two weeks of this is more than enough, I think.  I hope the rest of my family is getting better too.  I know that Maia's family and Tillie are all ill too.  Michelle is sick again this week.  She had it last weekend too, but she has it again.  I am hoping that Maia is healthy enough to go to a movie this week.  If I don't seen the Narnia in the movie theatre that is okay, I will get it on DVD.  I also want to see the Harry Potter movie again while it is in the theatres, but there again, if I don't, that is okay.  I was very sad when I saw Harry Potter so I can't really say I enjoyed it as I usually would.  It is hard to like things when you are sad, but how else can I be right now?  I am sad most of the time.  I am a bit better when I am with people or teaching so I think I am doing pretty good right now.

I am not sure if I am meeting Donna tomorrow or not.  I have to give her a call to find out.  It will be a quiet day tomorrow if I don't.  I don't mind.  My quiet days are getting less and less which is exactly what I want.  I would like to be busy during the week and then rest on Sundays.  That is my goal.  I now have lessons on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  In February, I will have lessons again on Wednesday as well.  Basically, my weeks are shaping up nicely.  I like teaching at home.  I find it much more relaxing than going to people's houses.  i was always nervous about being on time or late, did I bring the music I need?  Stuff like that.  Here, I have the music I need and I am always on time because I am already home.  I love how the living room is set up for teaching.  I will have everything ready for the week tomorrow.

It has been a good day despite being so exhausted.  I hope this extra exhaustion goes away soon.  I hope your day was as good as mine.  I love my new students and my old students.  They are all super awesome!

Friday

I talked to the two new students today.  I like to call right away so I can introduce myself to them.  This way I can let the moms know that the students need to bring a blank notebook and that there will be a few books to purchase.  I am excited about any new students I get.

I got a letter from the social services.  I have to send some info to them by next week.  It won't be a problem.  I will copy the stuff this weekend and put it in the drop box.  I will have some help.  I hope by summer I won't need the extra help and that I will be standing on my own two feet.  That is what I pray for every night.  So far, it is okay.  I am doing okay.  I did do something brainless this week.  I have been meaning to pay the phone bill for a week now.  I kept putting it off and so today I go to make a call only to discover the phone has been cut off temporarily.  So I went and paid the bill.   I am annoyed at myself because there is a $15 fee to reconnect the phone.  Wasted money because I procrastinated on paying the phone bill.  I am very annoyed over this.  I can't afford to do things like this.  Every dime counts just like it does for so many people that I know.  The one thing that is comforting to me is that so many of my friends are in the same position that I am in.  That is a big comfort to me.  I know that I am not alone and so much of the time I feel alone now.  I can't really say I feel lonely, because I don't think I am.  I have many times during the week where I see people.  I am lonely for Mom.  I miss her and her constant companionship.  I am getting used to being by myself.  It isn't so bad anymore.  I still miss her, but I think I always will.  I don't think that will change.  From what my friends say who have lost their moms, they still miss them so I think I always will.  Anne says it just gets a bit more bearable.  Somedays, it is bearable and other days it is not.

My cold is still lingering on.  From what I have heard, most of my family is ill with flues and colds.  My Uncle Ken has pneumonia and is slowly getting better.  Audrey was taking care of him and became ill herself.  My Uncle John and his family all had the flu.  Maia and her family have the flu and colds, so it is all over our family.  I do hope that Maia and Tillie are feeling better for next week and come for a visit.  I haven't had company since Thanksgiving and I am ready for some.  We aren't planning any work to do, just a visit.  I am not doing anything this month but making plans for what needs to be done.  I ordered another welcome mat last night.  I need one more because they aren't as big as the old ones we had.  With this one, it will cover much of the tile and then the tile will be protected which is my goal.  I don't want the tile to be messed up by salt or snow.  It is in really good shape and I want it to stay that way.  I am sorry that the rugs got donated and not put away for this year.  A little late now.  Eventually I will need mats for the other two doors too.  If I can, I will get some rugs in the spring from Target.  Right now they are very expensive so it is on the want list not the need list.  Maybe I will get lucky and find some at the thrift store.  Hard to say.  I haven't gone in to see if they have any yet because it just isn't a necessary right now.

I have to go and pull some music for Amanda tomorrow.  I have the Broadway book in the living room ready, I just need to pull the Italian book for her.  Kayla should be returning hers tomorrow because her books should have come in this week.  Thank goodness I have 5 copies of the Italian book.  I will need to make more copies of the CD though.  That isn't a problem as I have plenty of blank CDs available.  I am glad I have teaching stuff I need to do.  It keeps me busy and productive.  I am happier when I teach although I am still rather sad most of the time.  I figure it will be a long time before I am happy all the time again.

Lily won the spelling bee in her school today!  I am so proud of her.  She is an amazing young lady and very smart.

I do hope you have had a good day too.  So far it has been alright.  Nothing to exciting other than paying the phone bill.  I do feel good when I pay a bill for some reason.  It makes me feel good when I can pay a bill.

Thursday brrrr

It is kind of cold today.  Not as cold as it got last month, but still too cold for me.  I had to turn the heat down a couple of degrees because I got the bill and freaked.  Yeah, more than twice what it was in December.  I will use the little heater more because I am cold in here with the heat turned down a bit.  I am toasty warm with the space heater near me.

I had planned on clearing the dining room table today.  I now have to do it because the other info I got from the other 2 bills did come in.  I am glad about that.  Now, time to find the other bills.  I will scan these tonight and email them to Chelsea.  This is almost done!  Yeah, the last of the paperwork!

I checked my website for the new teaching company and I may another 2 new students.  They aren't for sure yet, but possibilities right now.  I am hopeful that they turn into confirmed students.  I will keep you posted on this.  So far, I am thrilled with the new company and how they stay in contact with me.

It has been a quiet day.  I expected to meet a friend for lunch, but she wasn't able to meet me after all.  I was disappointed but we are going to try again soon.  I was so tired this afternoon, that I took a nap (that was instead of clearing off the table).  I still have a cold.  It is lingering and I am not liking this.  It seems our family on both sides of the border are ill.  They seem to be going through the flu.  I am glad I only got a cold not the flu.  I don't deal well with the flu.  I deal much better with a cold although I don't know why it is still here.  It should be gone by now.

I plan on getting the music together tomorrow for my new student on Saturday.  She is taking voice lessons too just like my new one last week.  As soon as she was booked, I called.  The company wants us to call and introduce ourselves to the new students right away.  I guess some people were emailing them?  Yeah, that doesn't sound right to me.  As soon as I get the email from the company, I call right away.  I also will be getting my other new student's music together tomorrow too.  He starts on Tuesday after Charlie's lesson.  I am so happy about these new students.  It eases my mind a bit about finances.  Things are starting to come together which makes me glad.

I going to work on the table now.  I have to find a paper that is needed for the bankruptcy.  I need to scan it along with the other papers.  I hope you have a good evening too.

a snowy day!n

It snowed last night.  Not as much as I was expecting, but enough.  I had the neighbor boys come and do our driveway, and they did half.  Yeah, wasn't really happy about them only doing half.  I need the whole thing done so that my students don't have to go and walk in the snow.  I don't like the snow brought in my house on boots.  I know the carpets are old and need to be changed, but hey, I don't have the money to do that so lets keep them in as good as condition as possible.  Just because they are old doesn't mean they have to look worse.  I plan to deep clean them this spring.  I have a steam cleaner.  Thank goodness that didn't get tossed out or donated because I need it.  It is in the garage right now.  i don't like it in there but there is no room in the back room yet.  I will fix that this spring too.  It is only January and already I am planning spring cleaning.  I need to plan ahead so that I won't wear myself out and cause extra pain.  I have been doing okay with the weekly vacuuming.  I am pleased that I am able to take care of this.

I don't have any lessons tonight.  Alyssa will be absent for the rest of the month since her Mom won't be getting home in time to bring her.  I am sad about that because I enjoy her lessons, but I do understand.  A mom can't be in two places at once.  I look forward to February when she comes back.  I am thankful for the new one starting on Saturday.  I will be busier on Saturdays now with 2 lessons.  When Aggie is in town, I will have 3.  I am excited about that.  I think Aggie is coming home either this weekend or next.  I am not sure which week.  I will be finding out before Saturday.

Overall, it has been a semi productive day.  I cleaned up the kitchen a bit.  I emptied the dishwasher and refilled it.  I will be running it shortly.  I have to figure out where to put the stuff on the counter.  I have a new cake plate and cover.  That can go in the back room.  I really like it.  I haven't used it yet, but plan to soon.  I have no reason to make a cake right now.  Lily's birthday is coming up so I may make her one.  Depends on the busy young lady's schedule.  It is hard to believe that she will be 13 this year.  Time seems to fly when I look at her.  I hope to have her over again soon to play games.  She and I had a good time before Christmas playing games.  I also hope to play Uno with Calli again soon.  We had a great time New Year's Eve playing games.  I also would like to learn the game Munchkin again.  It was fun but I only learned to play a bit of it.  I love board games.  I am glad I have friends who also like board games.  It makes for a fun evening.  I love those evenings a lot.  When Kathy comes for the weekend, I imagine we will play some games too.

I talked to Tillie this afternoon.  She doesn't drive in snow so she is stuck at home right now.  Maia has finally found a new apartment so they are moving on the 1st.  Lia is moving I think this week.  I am so glad I am not moving!  What a mess that would be.  I am very happy to be staying here.  I am working on how to declutter the house and put it back to the way it should be looking.  I have a notebook for that.  I figure by the end of the month I will have my plan ready to go.  It has been at least a year since I have done fall or spring cleaning so that will be a big project that will definitely take some time.  I have decided that I will start with the utility room.  There are two boxes that need to be emptied and the boxes recycled.  I will wash the pantry cabinets so that they will be ready for stuff to go back into them.  Right now, they are pretty empty.  Most of them were washed this past spring so it will be time to do it again.  Some of Mom's clothes are still on the dryer and hanging up on the rack.  They will be packed and donated.  Then I will move to the kitchen and wash the cabinets and appliances.  I do need to get some more cleaner for the glass top stove, I don't know what happened to the cleaner.  Then I will move into the dining room.  I just have to organize the china cabinet again, and clean the computer equipment that is on the desk.  I do have to clear the table this week though as I need some of the paperwork that is on it.  I also want to mail the patterns to my friend, Angela by the early part of next week.  I wanted to do that before Christmas but I just didn't get to it.

I feeling much better now that I have a plan.  I still have rough days but they aren't as bad as they were most of the time.  I am slowly starting to find my footing in a world without my Momma.  It is tough, but I have to do it.

I hope your day was as nice as mine.  It was a nice, quiet day.  I am almost done with Harry Potter number 7.  I did start Anne of Green Gables last night because Harry is so heavy (it is a hard cover).  I will get more into Anne's books when I finish Harry.

tuesday

It has been a quiet day.  I had my blood test this morning.  Yuck.  At least this time, it only took one poke.  I was glad about that.  I just wasn't up for more than one poke today so I am thankful there was only one poke.  After that, I went to Tim Horton's for brunch.  Rosemary, my neighbor was there, so we had a nice visit.  Once I got home, I realized I was really tired so I took a nap.  I slept for a couple of hours.  I had Charlie's lesson tonight.  He was late because it is snowing pretty hard right now.  I am so glad I am not going out in this weather.  I am not even sure I am going out tomorrow.  I may just stay home.  We shall see.  I know kids are hoping for a snow day, but I don't think we are going to get that much snow this time.  I do hope my nice neighbor, who ever it is, will shovel again tomorrow.  I don't know who is doing it, but I am one thankful girl.  There is really now way I can do it.  It is just beyond me.  It isn't too cold out right now either, not like it was at the end of last month that we had with wind chills below zero temperatures.  I just hope we don't get a bunch more than the few inches they are predicting.  My poor little car is already covered with snow.  She looks so nice and white with bits of red showing through.  I will have to go and uncover her tomorrow though when it stops snowing.  It is times like this I really miss Momma too because she was the snow shoveler until a couple of years ago.  She loved doing it.  I don't know why, but she would be out there shoveling snow.  She always looked so cute bundled up.  I always had a pair of her little gloves on underneath my warm mittens so her hands would stay warm.

Today was just a quiet day.  I have one lesson tomorrow.  I do plan to organize the table tomorrow because I have to find an important piece of paper for the bankruptcy.  I have to send a copy to Chelsea, on of the lawyers at the firm along with the paper I am waiting for in the mail.  These will be the last two papers that are needed for the bankruptcy, I hope.  It has been a long road since august 2008 and I am glad the end is near.

Not much going on right now.  NCIS should be starting soon.  I am almost done rereading the entire Harry Potter series again.  I simply love those books.  When I am done with this one, I plan to start rereading the Anne of Green Gables series.  Both calm me down and remind me of Mom.  She loved those books too.  When I was in the hospital with my blood clot in 2005, Mom would come and visit everyday.  She brought the first Harry Potter book and would read it out loud to me.  It was so cute.  Anyways, my roommate left for home before I did and had to ask Mom what the name of the book was and who wrote it.  She was so caught up in the story, she wanted to read it herself.  I thought that was pretty cool.  Several of my students came to visit me too while I was stuck in the hospital for a week.  I honestly thought that as soon as I went home I would go to work like normal the next day.  Boy was I wrong!  It took a week to recover at home from being in the hospital for a week.  I was so surprised at that.  I did get over it and got better and been having bi-monthly blood tests ever since.

Anyways, it has been rather quiet today and I am not expecting it to get any noisier, so I hope you are having a great evening too.

lots of lessons monday

I still don't have all the paperwork I need for the bankruptcy.  I now need 1 more thing or at least I think it is 1 more thing.  What the lawyer wants though is going to be difficult to get because they send coupon books, not statements so I don't know how much I owe.  I don't know if I can get one either.  I am so over this.

Today is Kathy's birthday.  She is now ?? years old.  I won't post it because in 4 months I will be there too and it is a scary number right now.  I can't believe we are this old already.  I feel, spirit wise, not physically, around 30 and physically around 90, but I am neither of those numbers.

It is cold in here today.  I don't know why, but it is.  I have the little heater on right now because I am so cold.  I shouldn't be, but I am.  I hope I don't freeze during lessons.  If necessary, I will go and get a hoodie.  They are so warm but a bit bulky over top a sweatshirt but they do warm me up nicely.

I have had 3 lessons already.  I have 4 more for the day.  Yeah!  I have Bob, Calli, and Acer.  Calli takes 2 lessons, voice and piano.  They are all doing very well.  The Muglia's are currently working on a Sonatina by Clementi and a Mozart piece.  Right now, the 3 are playing the same music.  I try to rotate their music so they don't all play the same, but since it is a new book, it is a bit difficult to do.  Once we get further in the book we will be able to do that.  Bob is playing a Mozart piece too, he is playing the Sonata that is pretty popular.  Many people recognize it.  He is also playing a 2 part invention by Bach.  I love the inventions.  They are so neat.  Acer is doing pretty good with his fingering.  He is trying to do proper fingering, but it is so hard for the young man.  Calli is finishing up her level 2 book and will be starting level 3 in the next month or so.  She is singing a song called "In an English Country Garden".  It is a really cool song.  She and her brother are going to sing "Rainbow Connection" together in the Spring Concert.  They sound very nicely together on this particular piece.

I am tired today but I am not sure why.  I had plenty of sleep.  I did get up a bit early, but not to much.  I have to get up a bit early tomorrow too since I have a blood test at 11:30.  I am not looking forward to that because they just hurt so much.  I know they are supposed too, but they do.  When you have fibro, any tightness around any body part really hurts.  The tourniquet on the blood test really hurts.  The needle hurts too and it they miss the vein, which happens frequently, that hurts too.  All in all, a painful few minutes.  I hope to not have to have another one for another month.  I know I have to have at least one a month.  Usually, I get the every other week.  I am hoping for longer in between tests.

I had hoped I would have the Christmas stuff down and ready to put away yesterday, but I took a nap instead and just didn't do it.  It isn't that I had other more important stuff to do, no, that isn't it.  I just didn't do it.  I did bring the boxes up that the stuff goes in though, so I have step 1 finished.  I plan to do step 2 and 3 (taking the stuff down and putting the boxes away) either tomorrow or Wednesday.  This is the longest I have ever left my Christmas stuff up.  I was sad to put it up because Momma wasn't here to see it and I am sad to put it away, because the season is over.  Either way, I am just sad over Christmas this year.  I am trying to get used to being alone most of the time.  I think I am doing pretty well, although, I really miss company all the time.  I knew when she was here what a good thing it was, and boy was I right.  I am glad it isn't a case of I didn't know what I had until it was gone, because I did know.  But it is hard, nevertheless without her.  I wonder how my brothers are doing, but she wasn't a big part of their day to day lives like she was with me.  There are many times when I am running errands I wish she were with me because we had such fun doing things together and it is lonely to run errands by yourself.  I miss her all the time but I think I am getting better at it.  I think it would be better if I had something to occupy a lot of my time with.  This week, I will be working on plans to get some projects done around here.  For example, the family room has become the catch all room.  It is stacked with boxes and bags of stuff that need to find a place for it.  I am not sure if I am going to start downstairs or upstairs, but I want the house looking less like a clutter bug and more like a house.  That is my goal for the winter.  To get some stuff decluttered.  My room needs to be done too, but that isn't a major priority right now, there are other rooms that need my attention first.

Well, Bob should be here at any moment now.  I do hope you are having a great day!

a quiet day

Not much going on this afternoon here in the Paxton residence.  I am going to go and get the two boxes that the decorations need to go into.  I finally am feeling well enough to do that.  I am sad to see the stuff go away for another year, but also glad because it has been a rather sad season for me.  I am thankful for my family and friends who helped me get through it especially Kathy, as I was lucky enough to be included in her Christmas Eve and Day with her family.  It was so fun.  I really loved watching the kids be all excited about what they got.  The older ones, the younger ones, it doesn't matter, it is very exciting.  I loved what I got too.  Kathy will be coming soon and she and I will be spending some of those beautiful gift cards!

I have a busier week coming up now that I have 2 new students, 1 from this past Saturday and another new 1 this Saturday.  I also have my Muglia girls tomorrow so that is just awesome.  Ooh, I just remembered I need to put their stuff at the front door so I don't forget it.  Be right back.  There, now in order to get out the front door, I need to move that stuff.  With brain fog, I have to be creative at times because I am not the most awake first thing in the morning.  I am excited to see them as they haven't had a lesson since November.  I did see them at the Christmas Concert and they played very well, but it isn't the same as the one on one time I get with them at a lesson.  I can't wait to see what they got for Christmas.  They got me a wonderful Harry Potter Ornament, Hermione.  I just love harry potter.  I am hoping to see the movie again sometime soon as I was very sad when I first saw it and can't really remember too much of what happened.  I am anxious for the next one to come out though.  We have so long to wait for it.  I also have the newest twilight movie to watch.  I had been waiting to watch it with Kathy, but she has already seen it.  I may still wait and watch it with her, it depends on my mood on when I want to watch it.  I find I don't watch a lot of TV or movies anymore now that Momma isn't here.  I don't know if it is because I am just not interested in a lot of things, or I am liking the peace and quiet I have.  Hard to say and depends on the day.  I used to prefer peace and quiet when I taught all afternoon and evening because I had so much noise while I was teaching.  I also like the soothing sound of the fish tank.  That soothes my mind and my soul so maybe that is it.

I am looking forward to the week too because I will be meeting with a friend on Thursday at Tim Horton's at lunch time.  I haven't seen Maria in a while.  It will be nice to speak with her.  I am going to be emailing my lawyer the rest of the pages today too so that will keep me busy.  I like busy days.  I am still rather tired from the cold, but I am feeling much better now than I was a few days ago.  it is almost gone.  Thank goodness.  These things sure wipe a person out.  Thankfully, I didn't get a flare up with it.  I was afraid I would, but i didn't this time.  I must have rested enough to miss it.  The new pain medicine doesn't seem to work as well as the darvocet did, but since I can't take vicodin, I am rather stuck with it.  It works okay, not great, but okay.  I am stiffer at night and I find if I take the medicine about 1/2 hour to 1 hour before I go to bed it helps me sleep a lot better than taking it and heading right into bed.

I have a package of music to put together this week for the newest student.  I am going to copy some stuff for her and make a CD because she is really just trying out the lessons to see if she will like them and practice.  I am hoping she will stay.  Kayla was worried about what would happen at the end of the month, and was relieved to find that her time will stay her time, there is no time limit.  A happy girl that one is.  So nice to work with a happy girl.

Anyways, this week shall be good, i think.  I am getting over the cold.  I am off to undecorate the living room now.  I hope you have a good rest of the day!

Saturday

I had 2 students today!  One was the new student, Kayla, a very nice young lady, and the other was Aggie, who is also a very nice young lady only I have had her for several years now.  Kayla did very well with her first introduction to voice lessons and classical music.  She learned the first phrase to Caro Mio Ben and did quite well with it.  I was very pleased with that.  She has one classical piece and one Broadway piece.  I have another new student next Saturday!  I am very excited about these new students and hope to get a few more.  God is definitely moving around here!  So far, all my needs are being met and the bills are being paid.  That is the important thing.

I finished filling out the entries for competition and I mailed the checks away for the competition.  I just have to make my reservations for the hotel.  I am looking forward to competition as it is always a good weekend away. although it will be hard this year without Momma with me.  I am getting used to doing things on my own now and it isn't so bad anymore.  I still miss her all the time, but I am getting around by myself just fine now.  I think my students are used to her not being around now too as she would listen to each lesson.  Mom loved listening to the progress of the students during lessons.  She would talk to the young students when we had the store too.  They all just loved her.  Some of them would run to her when they arrived to talk about their week and then talk to her after their lessons and tell Momma all about it.  It was so cute to see.  I really miss the store for that otherwise, I don't seem to miss it as much.  I miss being busy all the time like I was when I had the store, but I don't miss the problems I had.  That I don't miss at all.  If I knew then what I know now, I would never have bought it.  I would have just kept teaching and doing the bookkeeping instead.  Oh, well, what can I say?  I gave it a good go and we failed but I did try my hardest.

I think tomorrow I will finally take down the Christmas ornaments off the tree and take down the decorations off of the piano.  I should be healthy enough for that.  My cold is almost gone, although tonight I seem to be coughing for some reason.  That had better go away because I do not need this to linger.  Not one bit.  I think a week of a cold is enough, and now it can go away.  If only we could wave away these things!  That would be nice.

I spoke to my Uncle John's girlfriend, Michelle, and both she and my uncle have the flu.  Apparently, Jayson, their son, had it yesterday.  Ugh, I feel so bad for them.  That is just not good.  I do hope they feel better soon.  Maia is sick with a head cold too and it seems Tillie is getting one too.  That time of year I suppose.  I hope mine is gone by the end of this coming week and I hope not to get another one this year.  Two this year has been bad enough.

I don't know who has been doing this, but some nice neighbor has shoveled my driveway and front walkway now twice.  Isn't that nice?  Both times it has snowed a lot I have come home to a cleared driveway and front walkway.  I am very thankful for this.  I don't know who is doing it, but I am grateful for it.  I just can't do it myself as I can't stand long enough to do it nor can I walk well enough either so this has been wonderful.  I figure at the end of the season I will put a notice in our little subdivision newsletter publicly thanking them.  We have some very nice neighbors around here.  We really do.  It is one reason I want to stay in the house as long as possible because I really do like where I live.  This house has everything I need in it, a place to relax, a place to teach, guest rooms for company, and what more could I want?  I don't think anything.  I really love this house.  I know when I was younger I didn't, but the last few years this house was filled with such good times and moments that I just am happy to be here.  It is a happy house and I am a happy girl living here.  Plus, this is where my memories of Mom are too.  I want to put up some pictures and some shadow boxes filled with all the thimbles Momma and I have collected over the years.  We have a few duplicates.  I think Lily might like the duplicates we have. I will check with her.  We have several that we bought that are the same before we realized how silly it was to buy the same ones so we each could have our own.  Now that I have all of Momma's plus all of mine, I need to sort and remove the duplicates away.  This way, Lily can have something that was Mom's.  I think Mom would really like that.

busy friday!

I had lunch with Robin and Zachary today!  it was lots of fun.  Unfortunately, it made me late for the lawyer's appointment.  I called to tell them I was running late.  It was no problem.  Boy, am I glad I just didn't drop off the stuff because as it turns out, I have a couple more papers to turn it.  I have them now.  I also went and had them shrunk to regular size paper so that I can scan them and send them by email to the lawyer and her assistant.  I am thankful I wanted to see the lawyer.  Basically, everything is ready to go now.

My cold is almost gone.  I am pretty tired today because I got up early.  I have to get up a bit early again tomorrow for my new student.  I am excited about this new student.  Of course, I get excited about every student, whether they are new or not.  I just love teaching.  I have 2 students tomorrow.  Kayla, the new student, and Aggie, an old student.  So basically, it will be a good day.

I plan to take down the Christmas ornaments off the tree tomorrow and put the Christmas stuff away off of the pianos too.  I am leaving the snowmen because it is winter and they make me smile.  I will put up the angels that I got from Aggie.  I got another ornament from Anne that was an angel too.  She said it was to remind me that Mom is always watching.  I almost cried when she gave it to me.  I now have 3 angels that will go on the pianos.  I will leave the tree up right now because on Monday Heather B-T is going to put the lights on for next year.  After that I will take the tree down stairs.

I need to remember to take pictures of the shuffleboard as I am selling it.  My cousin has a friend who would like it.  Hey, works for me because I don't plan to use it and I don't want it.  I want that half of the family room to become my sewing room.  The other half is going to be for TV and exercise.  I won't be working on it for a while because my friend who will be helping is a tax expert and well, it is tax season.  But once tax season is over, we will get it done.  I figure by end of summer the house will be in order.  It will probably take that long to go through everything that I have.  I have boxes and boxes of stuff that I just don't know what to do with them yet.  I plan to go through the boxes very carefully to figure out what to do with the stuff.  I am keeping most of the sewing supplies because I plan to get back into sewing.  I want to do some craft projects and participate in some of the blogs craft projects.  It should be fun.  I love sewing and it makes me think of Mom since she taught me how to sew when I was younger.

I am doing better I think with the missing of Momma.  I still miss her all the time, but I don't seem to be as upset over it as I was or at least this week.  It is hard to imagine that it will be a long time before I see her again, but it is something I am getting used to it.  I am used to being by myself most of the time now. I have applied for some jobs so I am hopeful that I will get something soon.

All in all a decent day with getting stuff done.  I hope it is a good weekend.  Next week I am supposed to have company, so that will hopefully be fun.  Maia and I are supposed to go and see Narnia next week sometime.  I want to see that movie really bad.  It looks very good.  I loved the first two, so I am hopeful that this one is just as good.  I love gift certificates!

sleeping day

I think I have slept the day away again.  I am just so exhausted with this cold.  I did pick up my new contacts to try and more Kleenex as well as some pop at Walmart.  I didn't really need the pop but I wanted some.  I don't keep very much in the house anymore since I have cut back.  I am feeling better with the cold, I am just so tired with it.  I don't get it.  I don't feel that bad, just so tired.  I got up late and took a later nap too.  I will be heading back to bed shortly for the night.  I will be getting up early tomorrow to meet with the bankruptcy lawyer.  Thank goodness this is almost over.  I just have to copy my bank statement on my way there tomorrow.  I think I have everything else the list says.  I am not sure though.  I will check tonight before I go to bed.  I just can't wait for this to be over.  It will be soon.

I just have the appointment tomorrow and then I am going to apply for a job when i get back.  I do hope to get the job.  It would be something simple, I have done this type of work before.  I just need to do something with my time and make a bit of money to pay the bills.  That is much needed.

I think I am meeting Zachary early tomorrow before the lawyer meeting for lunch to get the music back.  I need it by Saturday so that I can plan the first lesson of my new adult male vocal student.  I am meeting him and his Mom at Olga's at 11 before I meet with the lawyer.  I am excited.  I haven't seen either of them since Mom died and actually I haven't seen Zachary since he went to college in the fall.  It should be a fun time to see them.

I am glad I have fun plans tomorrow.  I just fixed the insurance problem, that is taken care of right now.  I don't know why I didn't call to say I didn't have the paperwork earlier last week.  I did call once, but I still haven't received the proper paperwork.  They are sending the paperwork in the mail now.  Ugh, paperwork will be the death of me!

I have to clean off the table by next week when Tillie arrives.  There is just no place for anyone to sit right now except me and I have to move my computer to eat.  Kind of silly, but hey, that is me.

Pain levels have been okay despite the cold.  Even my head hasn't been too bad.  I do hope the rest of the cold will be gone by the weekend, it is on the mend now.  I am getting tired again.  I think I will head for bed soon.  Have a good evening!

A calm Wednesday

I have no students tonight after all.  Alyssa's mom isn't feeling too well.  I hope she feels much better soon. She had oral surgery on Monday and it has thrown her for a loop.  I do hope by next week she is doing fine.

My cold is going okay.  I am not as tired as I was yesterday, boy, was I exhausted!  I think I slept about 22 hours yesterday.  I had Charlie's lesson and then went to bed rather shortly after that.  I woke up at 1 pm this afternoon.  I tried to take a nap today but couldn't sleep so I must be doing better.

I took the course for the bankruptcy and will be turning in paper work on Friday at 1 pm.  I will also be talking to my attorney when I do this.  I am very excited in some ways that this long journey is almost over.  I am hopeful for new things that is for sure.

I can't believe I am going to say this, but here goes, it is a good thing Momma is in Heaven right now because I wouldn't want her to get this cold and be this cold.  This winter has been colder than the last couple and she was always freezing.  Keeping her warm was a full time job, believe me.  I would just layer her and layer her and she was still cold.  Even I have had trouble staying warm some days.  It isn't so bad at night as I have new winter pajamas and lots of blankets, but during the day when the sun goes down it is a bit cold.  I turn the space heater on a lot to try to stay warm.  It is just ridicules if you ask me.  Warm weather, when will you come back?  I have dug all my cute sweatshirts out to wear and just have to wash the Christmas ones and put them away.  I am so glad I have new hoodies to wear.  they are very warm and cute.  They are all Disney designs.  One has Tinkerbell, another has Grumpy, and the last has Mickey.  Mom would have loved them too, but they weren't in her size, only mine!  The pink one I wanted didn't have any left in my size so I got white instead.  I was bummed but hey, I got three!  I simply have been wearing them a lot to keep warm.  My new coat is definitely helping me stay warm too.  It is so nice to have a coat that keeps a person warm.  I absolutely love it.  Was definitely the best gift of the year.

I am hoping to meet Donna up at our usual this weekend.  I am aiming for Sunday depending on how I am feeling.  Tomorrow I am going to get the music together for Kayla, my new student.  I am excited about her lesson!  Then I have Aggie right after, so all in all, Saturday is shaping up to be a great day.  Tillie is planning to come for a visit next week.  I am not sure which day and it all depends on how I feel.  If I still have a cold she won't be coming, however, I anticipate by then to be back at 100% (well, as close to 100% as I get) and then we will visit.  I do plan next week to go see Narnia in the movie theatres.  I want to see that movie and I have heard that it is really good.  I loved the first two, so I am hopeful that this will be as good as the others.  If I don't see it then, I will most likely buy it on DVD when it comes out.

A pretty productive day for a change.  I finished what I needed to finish for the bankruptcy, and now I am going to rest after I have more chicken soup.  The cold is slowly going away.  i can breathe out of my nose so that is an improvement and I hope to be over this by the weekend.  I do hope your day is good too.