the Last Day of September

I can't believe that tomorrow starts the lovely month of October.  Yeah, you know, the month I absolutely hate, especially the week of October 10 through 18.  I dread this month.  Maybe I can sleep through a lot of it.  One can only hope.

Anyways, today was okay.  i have a bit of a sore throat, which is kind of annoying since I just got rid of a cold.  I don't want another one.  I will take some cold medicine tonight before bed to see if I can rid of it by tomorrow.

I had 4 lessons today.  Aaiyanna was here for a make up and she did very well.  I am thinking of pairing her up with Calli for the Spring concert.  yes, I am thinking way ahead.  I would do it for the Christmas Concert except I already have Calli singing with Katie.  I have to pull the music out that I want them to sing.  The are going to sing Candle in the Window.  It is so beautiful.  I think they will really blend beautifully and both girls work so hard that this will be a good experience with both of them.  Calli and Acer both had their lessons after Aaiyanna.  Acer is learning "When the Saints Go Marching In".  He can play the melody in another key but this jazzy arrangement will be really cool for him.  He did pretty well with the fingering too.  He is really coming along with that.  Calli did very well, as usual, in her lessons.  We chose her Christmas Songs for piano today.  We picked her vocal songs a few weeks ago.  So we worked on her first Christmas Song this afternoon.  After their lessons, Emily had her lesson.  She is still having a bit of trouble with her notes, but she is trying really hard.  She is getting better but I don't think she has the confidence with them.  Emily earned her first gift certificate today.  She picked Toys R Us.

I only have 2 lessons tomorrow.  I can sleep in a bit because my first lesson is absent tomorrow.  I have Camille and Katie.  It will be a good day.  Next Saturday I will go grocery shopping with Calli.  She isn't available tomorrow as she is heading for Goalball practice in Kalamazoo so she will be gone all day.  It ends up being a good thing because I don't have the money this weekend to go grocery shopping so that means we will go next week.  Sunday I have to be at church at 7:30 am.  Yes, me then non-morning person has to be at church 7:30 in the morning.  I can do this.  I also have a lesson at 11 am and then I will probably sleep the rest of the afternoon away.  I did enjoy singing in the choir last night.  It was really nice to sing with a group again.  I am just dreading the time of being at church but I will be fine.  The first time will be the hardest.  It is just kind of funny to think that I will be up so early.  I am sure some of my friends and family will chuckle with this one.

It has been a good day so far.  I do need to go and take some cold medicine in a minute.  I do hope you had a good day too.

a very busy Thursday

I had 2 doctor appointments with a lesson thrown in between then I took a small nap before I went to choir practice.  I have joined a church choir.  Today was the first rehearsal that I have attended.  I couldn't before because I had a lesson at that time.  The student quit just this week.  I was disappointed because he was really good.  He hasn't been practicing so his mom made him quit.  I hope that maybe soon he will come back to lessons.  Also, my Benjy and Joiene haven't paid for their next set of lessons from takelesson so I am not sure if they are going to continue.  I am very disappointed.  I do hope that before their next lesson it is taken care of and they will continue.  They are so cute and Benjy is really picking it up despite the lack of practicing.  I can only hope.

The doctor appointments were really just check ups.  The Arthritis Doctor wanted to go over medicine and see how they are working.  She is still not happy about the Meloxicam but without it I can't walk by nighttime.  The tummy doctor wanted to make sure I haven't had any side effects from the Reglan.  I haven't.  I don't have to go back for 6 months.  It is kind of funny but the appointments are a day apart from each other.  At least they are NOT on the same day this time.  One is on Mom's birthday.  We shall see if I will be okay to have the appointment on that day.  It is 6 months away so I won't worry about it right now.

I am pretty tired right now.  It was a nice full day.  I had to get up early because the first doctor appointment was at 11:30 am so I got up at 11 after not sleeping most of the night.  I have to go to the bank tomorrow.  I have my regular 3 students tomorrow plus a make up for Aaiyanna.  I am happy about that.

I just added together how much I spent on fast food this month.  Yeah, it isn't pretty.  There are several bills I could have paid with that money.  I needed this wake up call.  I will do better this next month.  I am glad that I don't have any money I can spend in my bank account right now for fast food.  That is actually a good thing because it will force me to cook the food I have at home.  I, naturally, need milk and bread again.  Those things I tend to go through.  Oh, I also need cereal.  I have been eating cereal for dinner this past week.  I eat a bigger meal earlier in the day so that at night all I need is just cereal.  I am really going to work on this unlike before where I thought I could and well, didn't.

I have a little bit more of a headache than usual tonight.  I am not sure why except maybe the stress of doctor appointments.  I am always stressed about them.  I don't really know why but they stress me out.  I think I am just tired of going to the doctors.  I feel like I spend so much time at the doctors' office.  I know I go for blood tests monthly and sometimes twice a month because of my blood disorder.  I only go for the test, I don't usually see the doctor, thank goodness!  It just sometimes feels like all I do is go there though even if it is just for a blood test.  Thankfully, I am now up to 6 month check ups for both the tummy doctor and the arthritis doctor.  Until recently, it was every 3 months for both.  I am glad I moved up in the world with 6 months in between appointments.  Well, it is time to take my nighttime and get ready for bed shortly.  I will take my medicine now and read for a bit.  I am getting rather tired.

I do hope you had a good day too.  I am nervous about singing at 7:30 am on Sunday.  I won't be the only one who can't stand to sing.  There will be a stool for me to sit on.  I am so thankful for that.  I just can't stand well.

Wednesday - Back to normal, I think

I had two lessons scheduled and they actually happened so I think we are back on track.  Aaiyanna will be having her lesson on Friday so that is good.  It will be a make up from her not being here yesterday so I am glad about that.  I emailed Janice asking if she was still out of town because Aaiyanna didn't come to her lesson.  She called me this morning.  Boy was she so upset when she found out that Aaiyanna didn't come to her lesson.  I asked if she wanted to have a make up this week and she said yes.  So we agreed on Friday.  I am really happy about this.  I will have Aaiyanna, Acer, Calli, and Emily on Friday.  I have to get Emily her gift certificate too on Friday.  She earned her $10 gift certificate from Toys R Us from practicing.  On Saturday, I will have Sandra, Camille, and Katie.  I will only have Breanna tomorrow because of 2 doctor appointments.  I have an appointment with the arthritis doctor and the tummy doctor.  They are really both just check up type appointments.  I go every 3 or 6 months to each of the doctors.  I am hoping for the 6 month next appointment for both.  Now that I have Medicare, doctor appointments don't cost as much as they used to but I still owe all my doctors for previous services.  My regular primary care doctor, I owe about $1200 or so.  Yeah, I will be paying that off for the rest of my life or so it would seem to me.  I am close to paying off the tummy doctor, thank goodness for that.  I owe about $220 for the arthritis doctor so that will be paid off by the end of the year.

I was doing the made another payment on property taxes dance this week.  Last week I sent in another payment and this week I sent in another payment.  I got the receipt from the Country Treasurer and boy is it nice to see the total I owe going down.  It makes me feel good to be able to stay up to date with bills and catching up on others.

I am watching Extreme Couponing on TLC.  Every time I watch this, I think, could I use coupons too.  I DON'T want a stockpile.  That is just unnecessary for me, but would I will be able to save some money. I always forget to get a newspaper on Sundays that have the inserts.  Maybe this week I will go and get one to see what coupons I can get.  I know that they usually have soup coupons and I do need some soup.  I used all my chicken noodle soup this past week when I had a cold so it is time to get more because I have soup a lot.  What I really need to do is start looking at quick and healthy recipes and start cooking more.  I need to stop going out to eat like I do.  I really do for several reasons.  Not only for better food, but for saving money.  I can use the money I save to pay bills and the property taxes.

I am excited for November 11, 2011.  Yes, on 11-11-11, the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 will be available on DVD.  Yes, I plan to purchase it right away.  It will be the only DVD that I will buy right now until those taxes are paid and all bills are up to date.  I will not wait for any reason to purchase.  I will then have the entire set of Harry Potter movies.  That will be so awesome.  I love the last movie best I think.  I am not sure if it is because the last one or what, either way, it doesn't matter why, I love this movie!  I also want to see it in the cheap theatre too.  That way I see it on the big screen for a couple of dollars.  I also get to bring Sarah with me, the 4th Muglia girl.  The older three will go too, but Sarah will get to see it with us.  Sarah was really happy when her Mom told her that.  What changed her mind was when their mom realized that Sarah will watch it at home on the DVD player once the girls own the movie.  If she is going to watch it then, why can't she see it at the theatre?  I am excited that all of us will see it again together.  Of course, this does mean that I will have seen the movie 5 times in the movie theatre.  However, the next time I see it the movie will cost me only about $2 to see it.  The girls are checking the cheap theatre for the movie a lot so we know when we can see it together.

Kelly Lynn was here today.  I printed a whole bunch of information for her about competition.  We also talked about concerts and what to do with them.  I told her how I choose the order of my songs, but she will find her own way with time.  I remember being a new teacher.  I was lucky though because I assisted in the yearly recital at the dance studio so I had some experience helping to run a recital and how to choose who goes where and when.  I learned a lot from Karen and I am very thankful for what I was able to learn by watching and working with her.  Dance studios may do a lot a crazy things, but I did learn a lot from my dance teacher, both what to do and what not to do.  I also learned how to work with parents, another thing Kelly Lynn will learn with time.

My overall pain seems to be a bit higher than normal today.  I am not sure why.  I do hope I sleep well tonight.  I had to move Breanna's lesson from 2 to 2:15 because I have an appointment at 3:15.  This way, Breanna will finish at 3 pm so I have 15 minutes to get to the doctor's.  It should work out well.  I also have my first choir practice tomorrow night.  I am not sure if I will be able to be at church this week because I did tell Rick he could have a lesson at 11 am.  I don't know what services we sing for.  I will find out tomorrow night!

Have a great night.

is it a full moon or what?

What a day for lessons, or no lessons I should say.  My 3:30 and my 6:30 were not here.  They were no shows.  I have no idea why, but they were.  Apparently, the 6:30 did email the company to let them know they wouldn't be here, too bad no one told me.  I have called 2 times before I talked to takelessons and found out.  Then I talked to Brenda, my handsome Benjy and lovely Joiene's mom and made a mistake about what time they could switch too.  It has now been fixed so that is good.  Oh, and my Thursday, 7 pm guy, Logan, has quit.  I did talk to his Mom and she will be dropping off the books that I need back.  I am really bummed that he quit because he was really good.  Well, perhaps later this school year he will start up again.  It is hard to say.  So it has been one of those days.  Can I go back to bed and restart my day?

Tomorrow, Kelly Lynn is coming by at 3 to go over some competition stuff and concert stuff.  I need one of the books she had borrowed for Rebecca.  It is a book for Rebecca's classical category.  This is the first time she is doing the classical category.  We had a chat on Saturday about how she is going to be 11 so this is expected of her.  She will still be in the 10 year old category because she doesn't turn 11 until March, after competition but it is a big deal for the young lady.  This year she will be singing in 3 categories: Classical, Broadway, and Inspirational.  She has picked the Inspirational song already.  We are looking at different Broadway Songs and I will be looking this week for a classical song for her.  I am not sure who all is going to competition this year.  It is almost time to find out.

I was hoping to see Katie tomorrow but I haven't heard from her yet.  She is working on Thursday and out of town this weekend.  I just spoke to the lovely girl.  I will see her on Tuesday next week for lunch. We are meeting at 11 am.  I am very excited about that.  I haven't been able to spend a lot of time with her since she is so busy now.  Katie is an EMT who is about to take her Paramedic Exam.  She will be taking her Practical Exam this weekend.  I am so proud of her.  I really am.  I first met Katie when she was about 8 years old and she was in my homeschool choir.  She has a very nice voice and plays piano beautifully.  She also plays the clarinet too.  I don't know if Katie still teaches piano or not with her very busy schedule.  Katie is a wonderful teacher.  She is very kind and gentle with such an amazing spirit that totally helps her being a good teacher.  I DID get to see my lovely girl at her sister's, Jessie's wedding.  Katie looked beautiful just like her sister did.

Tonight is NCIS night.  It is a very strange case.  This girl pretends to be a high school.  She has been through high school about 4 times now.  Her most recent foster parents are planning to help her through this.  It is an interesting story, strange, but interesting.  All I know, is that I would NOT want to repeat high school for ANY reason.  I didn't like it at all and I don't think repeating it would make me like it even better the second time or a third time.  Now on to NCIS Los Angeles.  I do love these shows.  After  this one, I will go to bed or read for a while.

I am reading an interesting book by Lynn Austin.  She is a historical fiction writer.  So far the book is pretty good.  I have only just started it.  It is called Fire by Night.  It takes place at the beginning of the civil war at the first battle of bull run when the people of Washington were picnicking during the beginning of the battle and when the Union Army started to retreat, well, you can imagine what happened to all the spectators.  Quite frankly, a battle doesn't seem like a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.  The story has two main characters, Phoebe, a woman dressed as a man and joins the Union Army, and Julia who is a society lady who overhears the man she has set her sights on discuss how shallow, and selfish she and her friends are.  He also mentions that they can't seem to do anything by themselves or even for themselves.  This has caused Julia to do some major thinking about her life and her friends lives.  Thus the beginnings of two journeys in which sometime during the book, they must collide.  I know I have read this before about 6 to 7 years ago but I can't remember it at all.  I do remember that I really liked the other books by this author that I have read.  Emptying the drawer that was full of books sure was a good idea because I have found treasures that I haven't read in years.  I think because of the Fibro Fog that I get, I can't remember most of these books so it is like reading brand new books.  What a beautiful treat for me!

It seems to be a missing Mom a lot night for me.  I miss her all the time, but sometimes it is more intense than usual.  Tonight seems to be an intense night.  I would say it is because I had such a rough day with my students not showing up.  I do hope tomorrow is a better day for me.

a 3 lesson day

I only had 3 lessons for the day.  I am thankful for the 3 though.  Camille switched to Saturday and Emily switched to Friday so it isn't as if I lost lessons (thank goodness for that!).  The lessons are pretty much about the same amount each day now so that is good.  I still have room for a few more but then, that will be it.  I don't expect to get to that point right now.  I would be surprised if I did.  It is a nice feeling to be where I am with lessons.  I am glad they spread more during the week so I can rest and not overdo it.  It is so easy to overdo it without even thinking about it.

I was so excited last night.  I went and vacuumed the tile floor (dining room/kitchen/utility room).  I did the dining room and kitchen and then rested.  After about 30 minutes, I went to vacuum the utility room and the little 1/2 bathroom.  I waited another 30 minutes and then went to scrub the kitchen area.  Then I waited for the extra pain that often happens when I vacuum or scrub to arrive.  It didn't arrive!  That is right!  Absolutely no extra pain, not then, nor in the morning.  I was very tired, but I didn't get the muscle spasms that usually happen.  I think resting in between made the difference.  I usually try to do it all at once and then plan on lying down for the next few hours with muscle spasms running up and down the back of my legs.  Well, the new plan worked well.  I will be vacuuming the living room and the hallway tomorrow along with the stairs and the upstairs hallway.  I will be able to keep up with the house cleaning much better now that I have a new plan and it works!  Or at least it worked yesterday.  I am hopeful it will work again.  I am more tired today because of the housework last night, but I also expected that.  I will just go to bed a bit earlier than usual.  That won't be a problem.  There isn't much on TV tonight anyways.

Rachel had her lesson as usual.  She is now learning 3rds and how to skip notes.  She is doing really well with that.  She did super well with her flash cards.  Rachel is just so cute.  So are Benjy and Joiene, they had their lessons too.  I don't think they have practiced yet, (they have had about 4 lessons now) but Benjy knows his hand position very well, which is surprising since he doesn't practice.  I don't know what the problem is.  They have a keyboard so that would work well but I don't know.  I will do as best I can with them.  I do like them a lot.  They are so cute.  Joiene is 5 and Benjy is 6.  Monday is definitely the evening for my little ones.  I didn't have Bob, my retired guy because he fills in for the information desk at the hospital when they need him and he had to fill in today.  I think he will be filling all week long so I don't think he will have a lesson this week.  It is a bummer, but he rarely misses a lesson.  He tries to make them up instead but he doesn't think he will be able to this week since he is planning to be at the hospital all week.  Tomorrow, Brooke will not have her lesson tomorrow because of a volley ball game right after school.  I was disappointed but I will see her next week.  I also have to schedule her younger sister, Breanne.

I have a bit of a bad headache now.  I am not sure why except I get them rather easy.  It could be from the cold, the weather, or just plain Fibromyalgia.  It is hard to say with me.  I am going to take something for it shortly and then go to bed.  It also could be because I am overtired tonight.  When I went to bed last night I had an upset.  All of a sudden I started crying really hard.  I was missing Mom and it just hit me really hard at that moment.  After about a half hour I calmed down and went down to read for a bit before heading back to bed for sleep.  I just never know when it will hit me.

It has been a good day.  I do hope your day has been good too.

Sunday 9-25

I stopped procrastinating on vacuuming the tile floor.  I just finished the dining room and the kitchen.  I am completely exhausted so I will do the utility room later after I have recovered.  This is why I keep postponing doing the vacuuming but it has to be done and no one is going to do it for me.  There isn't anyone here to do it for me.  Maia used to but not anymore.  I just have to scrub the floor now.  I will do that tomorrow after lessons, I am too tired to do it now.

Not much happening today.  I vacuumed, went on Facebook, and read.  That really is about it.  The vacuuming didn't take too long really, just a little bit, but man, you would thing I was doing a marathon!  Anyways, I don't have much to do tonight except for plan for lessons which I love to do.  I am hoping I am meeting Kelly Lynn on Wednesday to discuss competition and concerts with the young lady.  We may do our concerts together depending on how many students we have total.  If she has a small amount, she can have her concert with mine unless she would rather just have her own.  Whatever works for her, works for me.  I have some information about competition to give her.  The basic info and the some of the other info she asked about.  The biggest question is repertoire.  When you are a new teacher that is always the question.  Where do you get the repertoire from and how do you pick.  I will let her rummage through my files to see what she finds so she can figure out what to give her students.  I think most of them are younger, which is actually a bit easier to choose material for.  I have to choose some material for Rebecca for competition plus the Christmas Concert.  I don't know what I will have all my students do this year but I will figure it out soon.  I am not passing out Christmas music for another week anyways so I have some time to pick the stuff.  It will be interesting this year with my advanced students.  i have several and only 1 really good advanced Christmas book.  I may have to get another although i don't want to spend a lot on Christmas music because I have to pay the taxes and that has to come first.  Maybe Kelly Lynn will have something I can borrow or Diane.  I shall see.

I am going to start working on the judges in mid-October.  I figure that is a good time to start.  I have one judge so far and then I will need 4 to 5 piano judges per day and 3 voice judges.  I will sketch out a plan in my notebook so I can see when they want to do what.  There are 5 categories for piano, 4 for voice, 3 for guitar, and 3 for drums not to mention evaluation for all instruments.  I am excited about competition this year.  I have let my student, Katie know that if her parents can't attend she can stay with me.  She is 18 and technically she is an adult, but I am just worried about a young woman staying in the hotel room all by herself.  I don't really want that to happen and fortunately, she agrees.  It isn't because I think she will have a party (I know she wouldn't), it is a safety issue.  She is young and pretty and I would worry so much about her being in the room alone without anyone else with her.  This way she is with me and I won't worry although if she would rather stay with Aggie, that would be fine too.  Aggie isn't sure what she is going to do about a hotel room this year since it is so early, but that is perfectly fine.

My friend, Donna, has been very ill.  What she thought was just a cold ended up putting her in the hospital.  boy was she mad.  I don't understand it but okay, she was super mad.  I guess she could have not gone and refused but she went.  She was there 3 days.  I talked to her yesterday for a while.  She sounds much better and she says she is feeling much better so that is good.  My cold is still lingering, but it is still just a mild one.  I don't expect it to get worse at this stage.  I expect it to stay mild.  That works for me!  I did sleep an awful lot today.  I was just so tired and I think the week caught up to me today.  I slept until the afternoon today.  I am very tired now because of the vacuuming, but that was to be expected.  That always happens when I vacuum.  I will call her again in a few days to see how she is doing.  I hope by then she will be even better than she was yesterday.

I am watching the news.  It is all about the 2012 presidential race.  I don't know.  It is just crazy at this point because it is so early in the race.  On my facebook, you can see different friends who like different candidates.  I usually refrain from commenting because one of the best things in this country is that everyone can have their own opinion and voice.  That is just so amazing when you look around the world and see how many people can't do that without getting put in jail or tortured.  what a wonderful country we live in.  I know that I am thankful everyday that my parents chose to move here when I was young.  On my facebook, you can see different friends who like different candidates.  I usually refrain from commenting because one of the best things in this country is that everyone can have their own opinion and voice.  That is just so amazing when you look around the world and see how many people can't do that without getting put in jail or tortured.  what a wonderful country we live in.  I know that I am thankful everyday that my parents chose to move here when I was young.  It makes me think about an episode of Law and Order, SVU last night.  The maid in the story (the victim in the story) was from the Sudan.  I couldn't even imagine living in Sudan.  This woman (in the story) was raped and then was charged with prostitution.  She was not a prostitute.  The soldiers raped her after they killed her husband yet, she is the one charged not the soldiers.  This may be a fictional story but this is happening around the world.  Women are being hurt and then they are blamed for the crimes.  It is just insane.  I don't understand how this can happen in the world today.  Shouldn't we have learned by now to treat each other better?  It just boggles my mind how much Hate is in this world.  Anyways, I digress.

I do hope your day is good and I hope you have a good week.  I have about 19 lessons this week so my week will be wonderful and music filled.  I am looking forward to a good week.

busy Saturday!

I am just waiting for Katie to arrive for her lesson.  That will be the 5th lesson of the day.  I haven't been this busy with lessons in months and I do like it.  I am getting hungry for dinner though.  I am going to make dinner after Katie's lesson.  I need to go to Walmart but I am going to go tomorrow.  I am just too tired to do it today after all these lessons and I have no lessons scheduled for tomorrow.

Sandra, a new student, she has had 2 lessons so far, is doing very well.  I really like her a lot.  Camille moved her lessons from Monday to Saturday because of homework schedule.  She has been getting so much homework on Mondays that trying to fit in piano lessons on that day just haven't worked at all.  She is doing very well.  She reads notes super well and is only having a bit of trouble with the new hand position today.  This is the first day she has actually struggled with a hand position.  By the time she left her lesson she seemed to have the new position down pat.  The problem was that this hand position is one note different from another so she was getting the two mixed up.  G was where F was and A was where G was and so forth so you can see how that would confuse a young lady like Miss Camille.  She is such a doll.  I simply adore all my students from the youngest of 5 to the retired gentleman.  They are all awesome and I am so glad I teach them all.  So far, the fall schedule is really shaping up well.  I may have a new student start not this week but next week on Thursday at 6 pm.  I believe it is piano.  I was notified by the online company about the potential new student.  That is pretty exciting, I think.

I am planning to go to the 25th class reunion next month.  It is on Homecoming Weekend.  There is the parade on Friday, the actual reunion on Saturday, and meeting at the Cider Mill on Sunday.  I am not going to march in the parade like a lot of the alumni are with the alumni float.  One - I could not walk that far and two - I don't know if my scooter would be able to keep up so I am just not going to do it.  I will meet some friends Friday night for dinner so that will be lots of fun.  I am actually looking forward to this reunion.  It is shocking to me because when I graduated high school, I was like, wow, I never have to see these people again and now I want to.  I think facebook has made the difference.  I am face book friends with so many of my classmates and we talk enough where I want to spend a evening with them.  It also helps that Kathy and her husband are going too.  If Kathy wasn't going, I may have decided not to go but my friend, Jennie is going too and so is Karlyn so I have several friends who are going to be there.  It shall be a good time.  Depending on my teaching schedule, I may or may not be able to make the Yates Cider Mill thing.  I will play that one by ear.  I am excited to see some people I haven't seen in well, 25 years.  I got to have lunch with my friend, Kathleen this summer and I hadn't seen her since high school.  She is married and has 4 children, the oldest is 20 and married, then 14, 3, and 1.  Yes, she started all over again!  Her children are wonderful and I really got a chance to see the littlest one, Gianna.  We had a good time, Gianna and I.  Kathleen has since moved back down to Florida so she isn't sure she will be able to come to the reunion although she has tickets.  I do hope that it works out for her so she can come.

I don't have any plans for tomorrow.  I should do the kitchen/dining room/utility room floors but I may ignore them and do them Monday although I have lots of lessons on Monday.  Hm, I better do them tomorrow.  I have been putting them off a little too long.  That is not a good idea.  Yup, I will do them tomorrow after I go to Walmart for my medicine.  I need to call in a refill for my meloxicam.  I better remember to do that tomorrow.  I also need to vacuum the stairs and hallway tomorrow.  Tomorrow would definitely be a good day for housework because then afterwards if I need to, I can lie down and rest or read in the dining room or living room.

Tomorrow also is the start of a new season of Home Make Overs or something like that on ABC.  It is a 2 hour premiere.  I like that show because the houses that these people live in are so dangerous and wow, in horrible shape.  They do all sorts of things in addition to the houses.  First they send the family on vacation, often to Disney World or some place like that, then they help with other things too.  For example, one family, the father was over in Iraq and the bank paid off his mortgage.  Another had a chronically ill child and CVS helped start a fund to pay for treatments so it is pretty cool what they do.  Tomorrow also starts the new show Pan Am, which sounds rather interesting.  I may stay awake long enough to check it out.  Tonight, I have no idea what I am going to watch.  I will probably flip channels until I find something fun to watch.

With 5 lessons, what could be better?

Friday 9-23

I met with Diane for lunch/tea this afternoon.  It was so much fun.  I have an idea of where to start for the judges for competition.  I also have one potential judge already for guitar so I am happy about that.  After leaving the restaurant and Diane, I headed to Joann's for a new table cloth.  Unfortunately, they did not have any fall tablecloths.  They had plenty of Halloween ones, which I already have one of those but none of the Thanksgiving or Fall in general ones.  I will check Walmart tomorrow when I go to pick up some more cold medicine and a few other items.  I will go after my lessons tomorrow.  I have 5 lessons tomorrow so I am very excited about that.  I think on Sunday I will make a roast.  That sounds like a good plan.

Emily had her lesson this evening.  She did very well with her lesson book song but is still struggling with her flash cards.  I do hope that in the next few months she will know them well and be comfortable with her notes.  Acer and Calli were absent this afternoon because they are on a retreat!  I do hope they are having a good time.  Heather, their Mom, is not feeling too well.  She has a sore throat.  She was able to go to the doctor and get medicine.  Fortunately, she is not contagious so she can attend the retreat with her family.  I do hope by next week she is on the mend.  I am hoping that my cold is gone by the end of next week too.  It is almost gone.  It has stayed mild so that is great.  I didn't have to cancel any lessons or anything except not attend the meeting on Sunday.  That was the only thing that I missed.  Thankfully, the meeting is only the thing I missed this week.

There isn't much on TV tonight even with the new shows.  I am watching an old episode of without a trace.  I haven't watched a lot of this in a long time.  I remember liking the show when I saw it, I just never saw it a whole lot.  I plan to go to bed a bit earlier than I usually do because I am getting up a bit early tomorrow for my lessons and I am still tired from this cold.  I find going to bed earlier has helped me a lot this week.  I have worked very hard to not read so late in the night.  I was getting to the point I was reading until about 2 or 3 in the morning.  It was just ridicules because then I wouldn't get up until 1 or 2 in the afternoon!  I am a 10 to 12 hour sleeper.  I always have been except for the time I was in college.  Somehow most of the week I could survive with 5 to 6 hours of sleep a night.  I did this for about 6 years before I just couldn't do it anymore.  That was about the time that the Fibro really started making it hard to do anything.  After college, I worked 3 mornings a week as a secretary and taught about 4 days a week.  The rest of the time I was either resting or sleeping.  My mom would wake me when she got up in the morning to help me get dressed and then I would go back to sleep until it was time to go to work or teach or start the day.  Sometimes, the pain was so bad, Mom had to rub my legs so I could get out of bed.  My mom was very supportive once the pain really took hold of me.  My brothers would joke, where is Heather?  Oh she must be in bed because I was in bed a lot.  Turns out that was the worst I could have done but I didn't know what was wrong with me.  I went to so many doctors until Mom started going with me.  We stopped after that horrible doctor said I was emotional disturbed.  After that Mom and I decided to stop going to the doctor to see what was wrong.  Mom and I figured we would just do what we can do for the pain and fatigue.  It wasn't until 2003, when I got the Vasculitis that we got the official diagnose.  What a surprise it was to find that the doctor I had been going to since 1996 knew all about Fibromyalgia and I could have been diagnosed back then!  When I switched to him, mom and I decided not to say anything about the pain and fatigue because of what had happened at the other doctors office.  Turns out that was a bad decision.  Hindsight is 20/20 though, isn't it?  I thought I was doing the right thing at the time.

So anyways, I am heading to bed soon.  I reading a really good book now called "Love Proof" by Catherine Palmer.  It is a book I have read before, but I haven't read it in so long that I can't remember anything about it.  It is one of the many books I found in my dresser drawer.  I still have about 15 books to read again.  I seriously can't remember most of those books when I looked at the titles.  I still plan to get the rest of the O'Malley series but I have other things I need to pay for first.  Eventually, I will have the entire set.  I just need 2 books for the series, number 4 and the prequel.  They are really good books.  I am really enjoying re-reading a lot of these books.  I also need to look downstairs and see what books I have down there to start re-reading when I am done with the ones in my room.

It has been a good day with fun visiting and fun phone calls.  Georgette and I talked for over 2 hours this afternoon.  I do hope your day has been fun too.

Thursday 9-22

I had 2 students this evening, Laith and Logan.  Laith is really doing well with reading his notes.  He is just jamming!  I am really pleased with the young man.  He even has notes he hasn't played yet.  Also, it is really weird, but the level B Christmas book is in a hand position they don't really learn until level C, but with his note reading ability, I am sure he will be fine unlike some of my others who aren't as strong in note reading as Laith.  Logan is doing well with his song.  We did some sight reading today too.  He is doing alright with sight reading, but not as quickly as he and I would like.  We did one hand at a time on the sight reading.  He is getting better with the ledger line notes too.  He is not confusing B, G, A in treble clef as he has been.  He also is doing better with his bass clef notes.  He flew through the flash cards.  Next week I am going to give him papers that have the ledger lines above and below the staff.  Overall, I am pleased with how my students are doing.  I really am.

Tomorrow I am meeting with Diane to discuss competition since I missed the meeting.  I just notice from reading the minutes that Georgette wasn't there.  Hm, I will have to find out why.  She wasn't home when I called.  I will try again tomorrow.  I am excited about competition this year.  I don't know who will attend outside of Becca and Katie.  It looks like Calli and Acer may attend this year.  I will be typing out the newsletter for students this weekend so that I can pass out the concert and the competition info.  I have printed the info, I just have to put it in the newsletter form.  I wish that Microsoft would make publisher for macs but they don't.  It is just not fair.  It is not fair at all.  I do use in design but it is an older version.  I have no desire to update it either since I don't use it very often.  I only use it for newsletters once in a while.  I may see what word has as far as newsletters.  They used to have something for that.  I will check into that.

I didn't do too much today as I wasn't feeling so hot this afternoon so I came down and got some medicine before heading back up to bed.  I think I slept on and off for a while more.  I then went and got my hair washed and dried so today it looks really cute with poofy bangs and it is down, not in a ponytail.  As winter is coming, I will be wearing it down more often.  In the summer I wear it up a lot because it is cooler and I don't overhead that way.  I also don't like hair sticking to my neck.  It just feels weird.

I won't have the Little Man Acer and Miss Missy Calli tomorrow for lessons.  They are going on a retreat for the weekend.  I do hope it is a good time for them.  I haven't been on a retreat in many years but I did enjoy them when I went.  In addition to Bible Studies we played volleyball and other games.  I haven't been on one in about 14 years.  Wow, that was a long time ago.  It is hard to believe that it was that long ago, but it was.  I will have Emily tomorrow though.  She has switched from Monday to Friday because it fits better for her schedule.  Saturdays are now a busy day, thankfully.  I have Sandra, Camille, this week, Rick, Katie, and then Rebecca.  Sunday is the empty day for the week for a change.  It has been that way for a few weeks now, but hey, whatever fits Rick's schedule is what works for me.  I like to be flexible when I can.  Next week I have a doctor's appointment and I am not sure I will be home in time for Laith's lesson.  Thank goodness he switched just for next week.  He started golf at school today.  He says that he thinks he is going to like it a lot.  I think that it is very cool opportunity for the young man.

Project Runway is on right now.  They are designing for a new Rock band who won this contest for the Rolling Stone Magazine.  Some of the designers have never done menswear so they are kind of freaking out.  I would be freaking out, completely as I have never made anything for a man.  The band is called Sheep Dog.  They played a bit and they were good.  I am anxious to start sewing again.  I am going to make my students their Christmas Present.  It will be the coolest ornament.  I know it will turn out well because I have done something similar about 15 years ago.  I did like they way it turned out then so I think it will be that way again.  The sad part though is that Mom and I made them together as she helped me with all my students ornaments.  Sometimes I would make her one too and she wouldn't know it.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 will be out on DVD November 11, 2011!  I am very excited about that!!!  I can't wait for it!  It will be awesome to have the entire series!  I love Harry Potter so much.  Mom loved it too.  She would fall asleep any time she started to read anything longer than a couple of pages.  I am getting ready to do my marathon of reading book 1 then watching movie 1, reading book 2 than watching movie 2, etc.  Kathy came up with this idea.  I am so glad that she did.  It is an awesome idea.  Oh, speaking of movies, Laura has decided that Sarah (Hannah, Lydia, and Natalie's little sister) can go with us when we see in at the cheap theatre.  She won't have to do the school assignment though.  She is 8.  I think she is excited about it.  I love those girls.  I just do!  I love all my students though.

Anyways, this is getting rather long and I just don't want to have any cut off.  I do hope you had a good day!

Wednesday 9-21

It is the third week of September already.  This month is going pretty fast.  I don't mind though.  Tomorrow is only 2 lessons.  Breanna is absent this week.  I am disappointed because I enjoy her lessons but she has a lot of school work to work on this week.  Then 3 on Friday with 4 on Saturday.  Friday I am meeting with Diane to talk about the judges for competition.  I think it will be fun.  I missed the meeting on Sunday because I didn't feel so good.

The cold is doing alright.  Nothing spectacular like getting healthy super fast or anything, but it isn't getting any worse so that is okay.   At least it isn't getting worse.  I just wish it would get better faster.  I have discovered that I am not a great patient these days.  I am just impatient to be over it.

Modern Family is on right now.  I don't know why I watch this sometimes because sometimes it is just dumb not funny.  Dance Moms is on tonight too.  I think it is the last episode.  I am not sure though.  It is interesting though.  The moms and the dance teacher are all crazy.  They just are.  However, it should be noted that the dancers are good dancers and not typical of their age.  Most 6 year olds and 8 year olds do not dance as well as these girls do.  I do like watching them dance.  The dance teacher does come up with good choreography and these girls do win competitions.  However, competition is only a part of education whether it is dance or music.  I think if you want to go to competition, you should work hard and do your best, but I don't think competition is the end all.  There is much more to music and dance than just competition.  I think that is why it doesn't bother me if my students go or not.  If they do, then I expect them to do well but if they don't want to go, that is fine too.

Dance Moms is a repeat.  How disappointing.

Allison did very well for her lesson today as did Natalie.  Beth is really coming along with her audition material.  Natalie got another song today so now she has 3 as did Allison.  I was a bit worried about Allison because she was late.  I was kind of nervous because I didn't know if she wasn't coming or was just caught in traffic.  She had only 1 lesson and with some of the track history with adults, however, she was just caught in traffic.  Thank goodness it was only a bit of traffic.  I am going to be starting to pull all the Christmas books out this weekend so i can plan who needs what book and what I need to copy since I have 3 students in the level B book and I only have 2 level B books.  I have to teach them 3 new notes in the next little bit so they are prepared for level B.  Acer is in level 1B and Calli is in level 3 so I don't have to copy anything for them.  They can each borrow a book without needing to share.  My 2 level A book students are siblings, so that works out even better.  I am not sure if Breanna is going to want to play the piano for the Christmas Concert.  She didn't for the summer one.  Sandra is in the level 2 books so she won't have to share that one either.  Logan, Breanne, and Brooke are the three that will have to share the most.  I will have to copy their music for them because I don't have that many books for them.  We shall see how this works out.  I am not too worried as it will work out in the end somehow.  It always does.

I think I am going to read for a bit and then head for bed.  Tomorrow I need to pay a few bills and send another payment in to the property taxes.  I have 2 bills I have to pay right away and the rest can go on the property taxes.  That will be another $200 for them so I am excited about that.  That brings this months total so far to $325.  I will only need to send in $75 more next week and the monthly total is exactly what I thought I could pay!  This is great news for me.  I am very excited about that.  I never thought I would be excited about paying property taxes.  Never.  Who knew?

It has been a good day with lessons.  My cold is doing okay.  It is slowly getting better just not fast enough for me.  I do hope your day is going well too!

Cold is still here

The cold is still a small cold, so I am a happy camper about that.  I had the trial lesson and I believe it went well.  We talked about what Brooke (the lovely young lady) wanted to play, perform and all sorts of things like that.  She would like to incorporate other styles to her repertoire, which I am totally for.  She would like to play some New Age and some Pop.  I think we will work well together.  She had a couple of technical questions such as what the trill symbol meant and the grace notes.  We went over it and she has them very well.  She has wonderful hand position and fingering.  She actually reminded me of Anne when she played the piano.  Not that the two look a lot alike outside of general coloring, it was just the musicality that she played with reminded me about Anne.

I actually got to speak with Anne tonight!!!  We talked for just over an hour before my phone was about to die.  I think the battery is not doing as well as it should but I will have to get it checked out.  I don't know if I am eligible for a free upgrade on a phone or not but I shall find out.  Anne is doing well and went to a Renaissance Festival this weekend.  I saw the pictures and she looked so cute on the camel!  She got to ride a camel, how cool is that?  I would love to ride on a camel!  My friend, Debbie got to ride on one when she was in Egypt in high school.  A man offered many goats for her hand in marriage too.  Fortunately, her mother turned him down.  It still gets a giggle from her to be teased about that.

Outside of lessons, I don't have any other plans for the week.  Tomorrow I will have a new song for Natalie.  I have to copy it for her tomorrow afternoon before the lesson.  It looks like I will be off on Sunday again.  Rick needs to have his lesson on Saturday again this week.  It works for me as would have Sunday.  I may go see a movie or watch a movie here at home.

My friend, Donna is rather ill right now.  I think she got it from her granddaughter.  She is finally going to the doctor tomorrow.  I will probably talk to her tomorrow to see how she is doing.  I was hoping to see her this Sunday, however, I will wait until she gets better.

NCIS is on right now.  It is the season premier.  I love this show so much.  It does seem weird to be watching the season premier without Mom here with me.  Another first for me, I suppose.  I am tired of firsts.  After October 18, 2011, all firsts will be over and the seconds will start.  It is hard to believe that it is almost a year since I last saw my mom alive, since I last spoke to her.  It seems unfair to be living without her here.  It just does.  I don't think it will ever seem fair not to have her here.

NCIS Los Angeles season premier will be on after the regular NCIS.  It is a good show too.  I remember when it first started, I didn't want to watch it but then Mom and I gave it a shot and we both liked it.  I fortunate that Mom liked that show until close to the end.  She didn't become afraid of this show however, when she became afraid with other shows, I did stop her from watching NCIS too.  I couldn't take the chance of it upsetting her.  It just would not be good for the little lady.

I have the cutest material for the Christmas presents for my students.  It has Christmas music printed on it with other Christmas stuff on it.  I don't know what I am going to make, but I will come up with something cute.  I also have some Snoopy Christmas Music fabrics that I may use instead.  It is hard to say.  I like both fabrics a lot.  I will see what I can come up with before I make my final decision.  I like making ornaments out of fabric for my students because it is fun.  I have pretty much made ornaments for my students almost every year for the last 20 years except for the last 2 years.  I just couldn't do it those years.  There has been the off year where i didn't make something and sometimes the students would be like, hey, you didn't make me anything this year.  They liked what I got them, but some of them like the ornaments better.  Several students still have them.  I will play around with some scraps and then see what I will come up with.  I don't have much to get for Christmas this year outside of my students.  A few friends and their children and that is about it.  I am pretty sure I know what I am getting my friend's boys but not her girls.  The boys are easy because they are at the age where I have an idea of what they like but the girls like lots of different things so they are a bit harder.  Sometimes that is how I come up with my best ideas for gifts.  I love shopping for Christmas gifts.  I plan to start shopping in October so that I will be able to get everything I want to get.  If I wait until December, I will either have the choice of paying bills or purchasing presents.  It is not a good place to be so I shop early.

I do hope you had a good day today.  So far, it has been a good week despite the lovely cold.  It is a mild one so that makes me happy.  I fully expect this little cold to be history by the end of the week!

Monday 9-19

The cold is doing somewhat better, thank goodness.  I must say that this is, so far, just a small cold.  I am hoping it stays a small cold and doesn't develop into a big cold.  This week, already, 1 of my little ones also had a cold.  I am always not sure when I have a cold whether or not I should teach.  However, I have since noticed in the last few years that if it is just a cold, the kids come so I now teach unless I am coughing really bad or have a fever.  If it is the flu, I don't teach.  I haven't had the flu in many years since I started getting the flu shot.  I will probably get it in a few weeks when I get my blood test done.  It seems strange to be the only one to get one this year.  Last year Mom and I both got them and she was not happy with me about that.  I felt so bad, but I couldn't take the chance of her getting sick.  She just didn't need to get the flu that is for sure.  She was crying after she got the shot.  Fortunately, the nurse who gave her the shot knew her very well so she sat with Mom until Mom calmed down.  I didn't know she was upset until it was over. The nurses at my doctor's office are very good.  Only one or two times did we have problem with his staff and I did complain because the office staff member yelled at mom on 2 separate occasions.  I was furious to say the least.  Fortunately, she didn't last very long at all.  Apparently, many people complained.  With many of his patients seniors, that particular woman really needed compassion and I think she totally lacked it.  After that, I took care of everything at the doctor's.  Mom was always with me so if she needed to say something she could, but I took care of everything else.

I don't have my Aaiyanna tomorrow but I do have my trial student at 2:15.  That should be fun.  I can sleep in too if I need too.  I only have 2 lessons tomorrow total.  The trial student and Charlie.  My student, Camille has changed her day for lessons to Saturday.  She is just having trouble getting her homework done and getting to bed at a decent time so her Mom called to see if she could change times.  It wasn't a problem.  Katie will have her lesson on Saturdays in the afternoon too.  The schedule is really shaping up nicely.  I am hopeful that the young lady I am meeting tomorrow at 2:15 will connect with me and then I will have 2 more lessons for the week.  That is my goal.  We shall see!

I am doing the I made a payment on the property taxes dance tonight.  I am so excited!  It is a small payment, but I figure if I wait until I have a big payment, I may not be able to pay the total amount.  Small payments add up!  That is the important thing to remember!  Small payments here, small payments there, and then add them together and they equal a big payment!  I owe a lot, but I know I can do this!  I am trying to be very diligent on this.  I really am.  It is certainly teaching me thriftiness and planning ahead.  I just wish I had learned this skill when I was younger.  Perhaps I would not have spent so much money and have some savings at this point, then again, with the issues of what happened with the store, my savings would have been gone.  Anyways!  I am pleased with myself.  I was not able to make a payment last month so that puts a big strain on every month that I have left.  I will do this.  My home is at stake.  I know I can do this.  I will also be making another payment at the end of the week when I get my online teaching company check.  I was going to wait until I got the paycheck, but I thought, no, I better not.  That would be too easy to spend somewhere for something and then I am short how much i needed to pay for the end of the month.  I have a couple of other bills that need to be paid to, but they are smaller payments so that is good.  This being in charge of everything including bills and house stuff is tough.  How did Mom do when I was young and in my 20s?  I certainly think she did so much more than I had thought!  She was definitely a super Mom with all this.  She was excellent in stretching a dollar as much as possible, she kept up on major repairs, minor repairs, and house and yard work.  I am so inadequate compared to the little lady.  Someday I hope to find my footing but right now my footing is running on a slippery surface.  I know that I am slowly getting my grip, it is just taking a long time to do this.  I will eventually get this right.

I will be heading to bed soon.  I am hoping I get a good night sleep. I hope you are having a good day too.

Sleepy Sunday

I think I must have slept most of this day thanks to this lovely cold.  It isn't a bad one, thank goodness, just enough to be annoying.  I ended up missing the MMA meeting because I just didn't feel well enough for it. I had called Diane last night about it so she wouldn't be surprised that I wasn't going to be there.  I do need to get some stuff from her about Judges.  I figure starting the first week of October would be good to start getting the judges.  I am nervous about this as I have never done this before but on the other hand, it is good to do something out of the comfort zone at times.  I called Kathy today and found that she has a cold too.  That makes both of us slightly miserable.  I asked if the kids were taking good care of her and she laughed.  I expected that answer.  She did say they had been rather good while she isn't feeling well so that is definitely a plus!  I don't remember Mom being sick a lot except with migraines.  I do remember one time Andrew and I made Momma dinner and we were going to bring it in her room.  So we carefully brought up the TV tray for her and then her dinner.  Then we told her that dinner was ready (she had asked us to let her know when it was ready - I was the cook for the day).  Momma kept saying I will eat downstairs and we kept saying no Momma you eat here, you are sick.  Eventually Andrew and I won.  Momma at her entire dinner in her room.  We kept her company and we were trying to be super quiet for her.  Then we tucked her back into bed and took the tray and empty dishes downstairs.  We then ate our dinner.  We were so proud of ourselves because we were taking care of Mommy.  Poor Momma, she got such migraines at times.  I think that is one reason when I started to get sick that she really fought for me.  She knew what it was like to be in such pain and she didn't want me to suffer like she had at times.  She was definitely a fighter.  Of course, she was in the air force and the army so I guess she really was a fighter!  I remember one time I went to a new doctor for my headache (this was before I had the great doctor I have now).  Mom came with me in the appointment because I was so out of it from the pain.  That doctor told Mom that I was emotionally disturb and that there was nothing wrong.  Oh my was she super angry at that one.  We left rather quickly and Mom wrote the AMA people in Michigan about the appointment.  Thankfully, many years later, (like sooooo many I know) I finally got the proper diagnose and am able to mostly control the pain.  I mean, at times it is out of control, but mostly I do okay and am able to at least still do what I need to do.

I think I am heading back to bed again for the night shortly.  I am so tired.  I have the music I need for my girls tomorrow so that is good.  I have to books by the front door so I can't forget them.  I have a houseful of lessons tomorrow.  It shall be nice!  I hope you are having a good weekend!

ugh, I actually have a cold

I had hope to bypass much of this lovely cold.  Yeah, that didn't happen.  It is here.  I did go and get more nighttime medicine for it because I used the last one last night.  I am trying Day Quill and NyQuil.  I have used it before and it has worked but I am still going to ask the expert (that would be Kathy as she is a Mom) what works best for her.  I already called Diane to let her know that I may possibly not be at the MMA meeting tomorrow as I am ill.  I was pretty fine for most of the day.  Sandra's lesson went super well as well as Rick's.  I am so pleased with how well both of them are doing.  Sandra is concentrating on learning the C position in bass clef as she is not as comfortable with bass clef as she is with treble clef.  This is mainly because she played the organ as a child and didn't use bass clef as much.  Rick is really coming along on the Friend Like Me Song.  We spend a lot of time on it because it is so difficult.  So far we have most of it down pat.  There is one part at the key change that we have trouble with.  We should be working on it next week.  I get so excited when I teach.  I took a bit of a nap between Rick and the Bowman-Tomlinson kids lessons.  I slept for just over an hour and boy did I need it.  Calli did so very well.  She finished her In My Own Little Corner song today.  She works very hard.  Her Ave Maria is really coming along.  We will work on the 2nd verse next week.  Calli is also singing In the Bleak Midwinter.  Acer wants to sing a veggie tale song.  I am not sure where we can get the music for it so I will have to start looking for it.  Both need to think about what piano Christmas music they would like to play.  Everyone is starting to think about what Christmas music they want for the concert.  Aggie is going to be singing Oh Holy Night and she is deciding on another piece.  She has a couple to check out. I am not sure when she is coming home again for another lesson.  She sounds like she will be home on class reunion weekend on that Sunday so I may or may not see her that day.  Whatever works for her as long it is NOT Saturday evening.

I am really liking this new schedule that I have 25 lessons.  I am so excited about that.  Natalie, Rebecca, and Katie, my every other week girls, all have lessons this coming week as well as the Muglias, my once a month girls.  I am so excited about that.  I need to pull Christmas for the Muglia girls.  Since they have once a month lessons, I need to make sure that their Christmas music is ready for the concert.  I am not going to start Sarah on her new music for Christmas as she is just starting the level B book so I need to give her some stuff in the book before we start Christmas music.   However, her sisters are definitely ready to start working on their music.  I just love all my students, from my little ones, to my older ones to my retired ones.  All of them are so awesome and so excited to learn and seem to really enjoy lessons.  I am excited about the coming season.  I have started planning ahead like I usually do.  I didn't really do a whole lot of planning starting in October but I had started planning in September.  Once I lost Mom, I just couldn't do anything.  It took a few months to even function outside of lessons.  Thank goodness I have taught so long now that I could still teach while being very sad.  I am doing much better with lessons at this time.  I am especially thankful for how many I have.  I have a trial lesson this week that I am looking forward too.  I am really hoping we will click and then I will have 2 new lessons.  Wouldn't that be nifty?  I certainly think so.

It is getting late.  I have a couple of things I need to do before I head up to the little bedroom.  I did have to send Aggie up to get a original CD because I can't find the copy.  I know I had it a couple of years ago, but now it is not here.  Aggie will make a copy of it and give back the original.  She is very good about that.  I also know that she doesn't care what my bedroom looks like so that is good too.  She is such a good student and person.

I do hope your day was fine.  Despite the yuckiness of the cold, I had a good day with all my lessons.

Friday 9-16

It is amazing how fast my schedule can change.  I don't mind.  I am flexible so that works just fine.  So tomorrow I only expected to have Sandra (a new piano student) and Aggie's lessons.  Well, I will have the new student, Sandra, Rick, Calli, and Acer's lesson along with Aggie's tomorrow.  It certainly makes my day busier!  Thank goodness because really, my day was looking rather boring.  Not now!  Now it will be full and fun.  Calli and Acer's parents are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary.  That is just so cool so they are out tonight and will have lessons tomorrow.  I also will have a new student on Tuesday to see if we are a good match.  Her piano teacher just retired so she and her sister are on the lookout.  A friend of theirs gave them my name and number and here we are on Tuesday, trying out a lesson.  I don't normally like trial lessons but in a case like this, it is a good thing.  With the students coming from another teacher that they worked very well with, it is important to try out before committing to another teacher.  I do hope it will go well so both she and her sister will have lessons!

I now have a cold.  Yup, a cold.  I was really bummed out this morning when I woke up with this cold.  I had a really bad headache most of the day because of this cold.  My nose is running but not stuffy yet.  I am hoping to be able to bypass the stuffiness with cold medicine.  I will have to get more tomorrow night because I only have enough nighttime cold medicine for tonight.  Yuck.  I am heading to bed much earlier than usual because I am very exhausted with this cold.  I also need to be up by 11:45 am tomorrow for my lessons.  I want to be fresh for them.  I haven't really taught on a Saturday regularly since spring when 2 of my teenagers quit supposedly just for the summer although I have not heard from them since and school has started.  I am hopeful that Amanda will at least start up again.

I had Beth's lesson this evening.  It has been the only one today, which was good since I was laying down a lot because of this cold.  She started 3 new songs, 2 from Jekyll and Hyde, and one from South Pacific.  She is going to audition for Jekyll and Hyde in October for her community theatre.  I do hope she gets in the chorus since that is her goal.  We have a new strategy for this audition.  She is going to try out for a part and hopefully get in the chorus.  She is a good singer and her voice is improving a lot.  Her breathing is better.  Her air placement is better too, so overall she is doing very well.  I am pleased with her progress.

Calli has been working on Ave Maria - the Schubert version, and In the Bleak Midwinter.  Both songs really show off what the young lady can do.  For piano she is working on the Village Dance out of her level 3 book.  Acer is working on something in the 1B book.  I will start them working on Christmas songs by the beginning of October.  This month the Muglia girls will be starting Christmas Music on Monday at their lessons.  I am looking forward to that.  I have to pull some Christmas Songs for them tomorrow or Sunday.  They are looking forward to starting Christmas Music.  I am hoping that after Christmas I will be able to purchase the Harry Potter 7B Music.  I also really like the 6th movie's music too.  I am focusing on Christmas and competition music at this point.

Kelly Lynn won't be able to go to the MMA meeting after all.  Her Grandfather is very ill and has entered Hospice so on Sunday they are all heading to go and see him.  I totally understand that.  She needs to be with her grandfather and family.  Chances are huge that she will see me again, she most likely won't see him again so Kelly Lynn needs to spend as much time as possible with him.  It is so hard when a life is ending or near the end.  I hope she gets the chance to see him a few times before he heads for Heaven.

It has been an okay day as far as days with a cold can go.  I hope tomorrow is better.  We shall see.  I hope your day was good too.

Thursday 9-15

I am so glad that it is Thursday because my friend, Julie came over!!!  She arrived at about 11:20.  I had gotten up at 10:30 and got dressed.  I went downstairs and sat in the living room with my feet up on the stool.  I took a wee nap while I was waiting for her.  I knew that she may be late as she was working at her office to clear up a project.  I didn't mind because it meant a bit more sleep for me.  She brought some homemade Apple spice cake and oh my, it was soooooo delicious!  I really liked it.  Julie is an excellent cook and baker.  She just is.  She has been not feeling too well these past few weeks.  She was even in the hospital but I think she is on the mend.  We just chatted about so many things!  Julie is going to help me with the family room when she is up to snuff and available.  Her youngest daughter is the famous (well to my blog she is famous!) Lily.  Lily is now 13 and in 8th grade.  I haven't seen her in a very long time as the summer was so busy for her that we just weren't able to get together.  I hope to see her a bit more now that she is in school.  I am going to get Lily another Gingerbread House for her to decorate again this year.  She had such a good time decorating it.  I had a good time with her that day.  It is strange to have Lily here without Mom.  Mom loved Lily and her sisters.  Lily could bring a smile on my mother's face really fast just like her sisters.  I have pictures of the gingerbread house Lily decorated last Christmas on my face book.  She did an awesome job.  That is all I have to say.  I will get different candies this year.  I think i will add mini M&M's.  We will  make some homemade cookies too.  Lily is just a really good baker like her Mom.

Project Runway is on.  I like this crazy show for some reason.  Their clients this week is the significant other of a bunch of men.  Most men have no idea what their women like.  I think this is the funniest one ever so far this season.  I will be heading for bed right after this show.  I have a bad headache again today.  It isn't as bad as it was earlier, but it is still worse than usual.  I ended up taking a nap before Logan's lesson because the head hurt so bad.  He is a nice student although he is slightly hard to teach as he doesn't exactly like the classical music.  There is a song he really wants to learn called Ancient Words so that is what we are working on.  I had told him that if there was something he wanted we would learn it.  We also went over some basic intervals and chords today.  He is interested in theory to help him learn his notes better.  He is doing actually much better than he thinks so.  In about 4 weeks or so we will be starting the Christmas Music.  I am excited about Christmas music.  I will be starting Christmas music for my girls on Monday since they only have lessons once a month.  I also need to make the newsletter about what is coming up for students.  We have a craft day, the Christmas Concert, and the Michigan Music Association Competition.  I have the information for Kelly Lynn to for the Competition.  We may actually have several new teachers at the meeting on Sunday.  I am very excited about that.  I also need to type out the minutes from the last minutes.  I haven't done that yet.  I will be starting on them soon.  I will have them done in time for Sunday.  Thank goodness this meeting is later in the afternoon because I have Rick's lesson before it.

Saturday, I will be going to do a bit of grocery shopping.  I only need a few things.  I don't have a lot of money so I had to cross off a few things on my list.  I have hamburger and chicken in the freezer so they are off the list.  I also have corned beef in the fridge and another one in the freezer.  I also have some pork roasts too that I can make.  I have spaghetti sauce and spaghetti too.  I have other pastas so I have the basics.  I also have the veggies too.  I do need some Kleenex, mushrooms, cheese, and a few other stuff.  I also need some light bulbs but if I don't get them, it will be okay because I have enough light right for now.  The dining room chandelier has all burned out bulbs but the other light is fine.  I have to get the light bulbs from another store than the one I am going to on Saturday.  I also will need to get a fresh milk and bread as I am almost out of bread and the milk will be out dated.

Tomorrow will be Acer's and Calli's lesson.  Beth will also have her lesson because she needed to reschedule this week.  I also get to sleep in a bit tomorrow.  That will be nice as I am so tired right now because of the headache.

It has been a decent day despite the bad headache.  I really enjoyed visiting with Julie.  We got a few things taken care of so that is nice.  We had a nice discussion with what was going on with both our families.  I enjoyed my lessons.  I do hope your day was nice too.

Wednesday 9-14

I woke up this morning with a really bad headache.  Fortunately, it is back down to the normal headache at this point.  I got up and went back to bed.  I ended up staying there until about 2:30 because it just hurt so much.  Finally, I had to get up to get ready for my only lesson tonight.  Beth will have her lesson on Friday.  The student I had this afternoon was a new student named Allison.  She is 18 and will be starting college this January.  She wants to be an actress and major in Theatre and Musical Theatre.  We started working on Caro Mio Ben and God Help the Outcasts.  She loves Disney too just like me.  Her mom came with her and she is very nice.  I am very pleased with how the lesson went.  Allison played the flute so she can read music and count.  I am going to start her on sight reading next week.  I am excited to work with her.

I do not have anything planned for the evening except relaxing.  The bad headache really exhausted me.  I may even go to bed early.  Tomorrow Julie is coming over at 11 so I will be up by 10:30.  I need to eat breakfast before she arrives.  I am so excited to see her as I haven't actually seen her in a few months.  With my teaching schedule and her schedule this summer, we just weren't able to meet.  I am very happy to be spending some time with her tomorrow.  It should be a good time.  I have Breanna, Laith, and Logan's lessons tomorrow.  Breanna has changed her time from 12:30 to 2:15.  That works fine for me.  I don't have to get up as early!

The news is on right now.  The forecast for the next week is pretty chilly.  It won't be in the high 70s until next Monday.  I don't really mind the cooler weather as it was a very hot summer.

It has been a quiet day because of the bad headache.  I am almost ready for bed now and it is only about 7:30 pm.  I will stay up a bit longer because I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night and stay awake for a long time.  That would just be bad.

I hope your day has been good.

Tuesday 9-13

I am so glad that next week will be the season premiere of NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles.  I can't wait as I love those two shows a lot.  Kathy is excited about Survivor starting up again.  I think she said that was tomorrow night?  I have never watched Survivor so I am not sure.  I am glad the new seasons are starting again.  It gives me something else to look forward to during the week.  I used to watch Law and Order SVU a lot.  I don't know if I will start watching that again or not.  I haven't seen in for the last few years because Mom was afraid of the show and then I forgot when it was on so I haven't watched it at all.  I like the show, but if I miss it, that is alright.  It is not a big deal.  NCIS, well, that is a big deal although once a month I will miss it because we have our subdivision meetings at the same time.  I can survive missing it once a month.  I had thought about getting a DVR but until those taxes are paid, nothing extra will be bought.  I have to be very serious with myself on this or I will find myself homeless and that will not be good.  That would be horrible.  So for the next 6 months, I am buckling down.  So far, it is going okay.  I have a lot of the monthly bills already paid for the month and it is only the 13th!  I have the hospital, 5 doctors, and the taxes left for the month.  I am so thankful for the new students.  The additional students have really made it much easier to pay the bills.  It is nice to be able to sit down and pay bills without wondering which ones have to stay unpaid.  I am planning to go grocery shopping with the lovely Calli this weekend.  I hate grocery shopping but I figure it was fun when Calli came with me to get groceries for the BBQ that maybe it will make it fun for regular shopping.  She loves grocery shopping.  I think taking an excited 11 year old should be an interesting trip.  We have about 2 places to go.  We also have to go to the hardware store for light bulbs.  I need some 40 watt and 60 watt regular light bulbs and then I also need some 25 watt chandelier light bulbs for the house.  I do need to go to Toys R Us sometime this week too because Emily just earned her first gift card.  With the addition of her birthday points, she has enough for a $10 gift card.

I only had 2 lessons today.  I had Aaiyanna and Charlie.  Aaiyanna had the beginnings of a cold.  The poor kid was trying to blow her nose but she had a cut in her nose that would hurt each time she went to blow.  I felt so bad for the young lady.  We talked about lifting the eyebrows while she is singing.  We couldn't work on breathing because of her cold.  We will take care of that at her next lesson.  She is such a cutie and a doll to work with.  Aaiyanna actually had 2 songs completely memorized.  Remember, she only received the music last week!  She had Castle on a Cloud and I'd Do Anything for You memorized.  She simply loves the songs.  I was really quite surprised by pleasantly so.  Charlie had an hour lesson because he had to miss last week.  I so love how he makes up lessons as opposed to skipping them all together.  We worked on some articulation, which is one of his main weaknesses, and then some other exercises that will strengthen his fingers when playing fast.  Overall, they both did really well with their lessons.  Tomorrow is just my new student, Allison.  She is 18 and wants to be a singer.  I am hopeful she likes what we will be learning.  I have to find out if she is planning to go to college for music or not. That will help shape what we will do in our lessons.  I am looking forward to the lesson.  Beth has rescheduled to Friday for this week because of a school activity tomorrow.  She is a 1st grade teacher.  I really like her a lot.  She works really hard.  Beth is interested in performing in Community Theatre.

I am tired as usual.  It is getting a bit late.  I am hoping that I will go to bed a bit early tonight since I am feeling a bit more tired than usual.  I got up a bit late too but I have been just so tired today.  The drastic change in temperature usually wipes me out.  We went from almost 100 to low 70s overnight.  Today was about 80 and tomorrow is supposed to be high 60s.  I am thankful for the cooler weather though.  I don't do as well in either really hot or really cold weather.  Yup, tomorrow will be a bit chillier than it has been.  I am thankful for the cooler weather.  I can breathe better then!

I do hope you are having a good day.

Monday 9-12

I love Mondays because I have several lessons.  Today I had 6 lessons with 5 being in a row.  That is actually my limit because I get too exhausted if I put anymore in.  Once a month I will have 4 more on a Monday but since I rest a lot the day before, it is okay.  I just go to bed much, much earlier on those Mondays.  Emily (6:30) has actually moved to Friday at 6:15 starting this week so I will only have 5 regularly scheduled lessons on Monday.  That will be okay.  Tuesdays are nice too because I have about 2 lessons with another one every other week.  My 4 pm is an hour lesson so in a way, it is 2 lessons.  Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays are also 3 lessons so things are picking up nicely.  I am pleased about that.

I haven't really done anything else today but teach.  I read a bit before and after Bob's lesson.  I am reading the Canopy by Angela Hunt.  She is a good author.  I have read her historical stuff and her contemporary stuff too.  It is very interesting.  Most of this book takes place in Peru in the Amazon Rainforest.  It is very interesting.  I finished the O'Malley books that I have.  I plan at the end of the month, if I have enough money left over from paying bills, to order book number 4 and the prequel.  That will make the collection complete.

Tonight is the Design Star Season Finale.  I never thought I would actually be interested in this type of a show, but it is good.  I am very surprised since I have very little talent to decorate.  I really don't have much.  I keep it very basic.  My cousin, Hayley, now she is the one with talent.  She can take anything and make it beautiful.  She is very, very, very talented.  I love watching her create something beautiful out of an ordinary item.  It is just really cool.  I also like watching Project Runway.  Now there is another show I NEVER thought I would like, and I do.  I like to sew but I am not a super great sewer.  I can sew pretty well, but I am not good enough to be a designer plus, I can't draw to save my life.  I can do the basics and a few fancy things, but not super fancy and I am not the tailor my mother was.  She could tailor an outfit beautifully.  She was an amazing seamstress.  When I was small, Mom made all my clothes.  I remember every year we would go to the fabric store and she would let me help pick out the dresses (I only wore dresses all through elementary school) I wanted.  I loved that she made my clothes.  I really did.  In 4th grade, I had to have store bought clothes because Mom just didn't have the time to make any clothes for me.  She was going to school 24 credit hours, working 2 part time jobs that added up to 40 hours a week plus she had to take care of me and my brothers.  I cried when she said to pick out what I liked.  I simply cried like a baby.  The saleslady just didn't know what to do so Mom and I went home.  I was still crying.  When we got home Mom asked what was wrong again (she asked in the store but I couldn't answer, I was crying too hard).  I asked her if she still loved me.  I remember the strange look she gave me.  She said yes right away.  I then said, then why aren't you making my clothes.  You always make my clothes.  Momma set me straight and explained why I needed to have some store bought clothes because of all the things she was doing.  I understood eventually and we went back to the store where I found some nice dresses.  Store bought wasn't too bad, but Momma made better clothes.  Mom still made all my Christmas outfits though all through high school.  I liked wearing long dresses or long skirts on Christmas and I liked to match her so she always made our outfits.  It was during a fitting of a long skirt that Mom discovered that I had scoliosis.  She was working on the hemline when she said I wasn't standing up straight.  My friend, Jodi was over so she called her up to see if it was just her.  Jodi said I wasn't standing up straight.  I was, but my one shoulder was 1 inch higher than the other and I had a lump in my back.  I didn't think anything about it but Mom called my doctor right away and I went to see her.  She was stunned because I had had a full check up including a check for scoliosis that previous May.  I had to go and see a specialist in Toronto.  I ended up having an operation in December of 10th grade.  That is how I got the 2 rods in my back.

I am tired tonight, but I expect it and it is a good tired because I was busy today.  I simply love all my new students.  They are wonderful and the younger ones are so adorable.  They are so cute.  The older ones are doing very well too.  I do have a new student starting Saturday at 12:30.  She is an adult and we all know how well that has gone for me but I am hopeful about this because she has played the organ and wants to play piano.  That might mean she is serious and knows how much time is required for learning piano.

I do hope you are having a good day.

Sunday 9/11

It has been a day of contradictions.  On one hand, remembering ALL those who have fallen since and including 9/11 and a day with family.  It puzzles me to no end how people can hate so easily.  I don't understand it at all.  I never have and I don't think I ever will.  How someone can hate someone for things like different religions, races, countries, etc.  I don't know.  We are all human, aren't we?  Doesn't that unite us in some small way?  I wonder if the world will ever get rid of the hatefulness that is in it.

I went and saw the Help this afternoon.  It was a good movie, pretty close to the book, surprisingly.  It was very well done and I did like it a lot.  There again, it is another example of looking at differences and treating people like they are less than human.  In the book, one of the main characters, Hilly, wants to have a law passed that every house that employs a maid have a separate bathroom for them because they are a different color.  I won't give away anymore of the plot, but this simply amazes me that people think this way.  The excuse was that we all have different diseases the two different races.  Wow, I know I was born around the time that the book and movie take place in, but my gosh, I don't understand this type of thinking.  I remember in grad school, I was working on a project with a woman in class and she asked me how many African-American students I had.  I actually had to pull out my schedule and count because I didn't know off hand.  I had students of all different races.  To me, they are all students.  I don't separate them.  I don't remember how many I had, but as one parent put it this past spring, I have a United Nations of students.  I had to think about that one too.  She was right.  I don't think like that.  I wasn't raised to think like that so I just don't understand the thinking that these people were doing.  However, it was good to see it because it shows what it was like.  I don't understand it and I guess I never will.  I am glad we are moving closer to a color blind society, but I wish we would get there much faster.

I did enjoy my day.  I saw the movie with Tillie.  I had spoke to her earlier in the week and she invited me over to go see the movie since we both wanted to see it.  She took me to lunch too.  It was a wonderful day overall visiting.  We had very nice chats and discussions.  I am glad I went.

I do hope your day was good too.

Saturday 9-10

I am so glad today is Saturday.  The end of a horrible week.  I do hope next week is better.  I would say it can't get worse, because, as bad as it is, it can get worse.  I just hope it doesn't get worse.

I slept through a lesson today.  Fortunately, they called (after calling the sister for my phone number) and I woke up.  I accidentally set the alarm for pm instead of am.  Thank goodness Becca is a patient person and waited.  We had the lesson and then Rick came for his lesson today instead of tomorrow because it worked better for his schedule.  I don't mind though.  Whatever works for him generally works for me.  Tomorrow I am going to see "the Help".  I read the book and it was good so I am looking forward to the movie.  I do need to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 again!  I really do!!!  I plan to see it when it hits the cheap theatre with my Muglia girls.  All the girls and I are so excited about the Harry Potter stuff!

Not much going on tonight.  I will just be relaxing and watching a bit of TV.  I don't know if there is anything good on or not, but there is always HGTV if there is nothing else to watch.  There is some sort of concert on NBC.  Kid Rock is singing right now.  He is also playing the piano.  I may keep it on this station for a while.  I think they said that Bon Jovi would be playing too.  I love Bon Jovi a lot.  They are my favorite band in the world.  It is the NFL kickoff.  Wow, I thought it was something for 9/11.  I know there will be programs on tomorrow on the 10th anniversary of it.  It is hard to believe it is 10 years now.  I don't think it is something most people who have seen the images will forget them.  I was sleeping when it happened.  Mom and I were going to Canada for a concert that night.  We were going to see Kate Smith, one of Mom's favorite singers.  I was looking forward to it.  When I got up, I checked the phone for messages because I did hear it ring.  I listened and didn't understand what Mom meant about us not going across the border that night for the concert so I called her back.  i quickly learned what had happened and turned the TV on that was in the kitchen.  I couldn't believe what I saw.  My student, Anne, called and wanted to come over after school.  She had seen the images in school during the day.  It was as if the world had ended and in some sense, the world did end, the world we knew.  Everything has changed since then.  So many things have changed since then, especially for the ones who lost family and friends that day.

I do hope next week much better.

9-9 Friday

It was a lovely evening.  I had Calli and Acer's lessons.  Both are doing very well.  At first Acer didn't want to play the song we were working on but he did do it a few minutes later.  Then we started a new song.  He is doing very well with it.  I just need to get him a CD of the book so he can hear the song at home if he forgets part of it.  I find this works very well with him.  I have the level 3 CD somewhere for Calli but I can't find it right now.  I hope to find it shortly.  After we had our lessons, we relaxed and visited while we waited for Heather B-T's husband, Bill with our dinner.  We were going to play games after dinner but Bill had to stay late for work so it got too late to play games.  We will play again at a later date. Calli is doing so well with her "Ave Maria" by Schubert.  She also started "In the Bleak Midwinter".  I simply love that song.  I really do.  Her piano is coming along too.  I am very pleased with her progress.  We worked on  the rest of  "Village Dance" in her lesson book.  Knowing her she will have it down pat next week.  I would be surprised if she didn't.  Over all, I think all the students are doing well.  There are a couple who don't practice on a regular basis, but they are the exception not the rule.

I have another new student from the online company.  She is an adult who wants to learn piano.  She can already read music and plays the organ.  I will pull different levels so we can find what will work with her. She signed up for 45 minute lessons.  I have 2 lessons tomorrow.  I have Rebecca at 12 noon and Rick at 1:30.  He is having his lesson tomorrow instead of Sunday because it works better for him.  I will head for Windsor on Sunday.  I am going to a movie.  I am going to see the Help.  Tillie is taking me.  I am actually rather excited to see this movie because I have read the book and it was good.  We were going to go tomorrow but Rick needed to change his lesson so that leaves Sunday free.  I will go and get some gas and head for the border.

I am tired now after an exciting evening.  I am watching 20/20 and will head for bed right after it ends.  It has been so nice and cool this week.  It is supposed to be warmer on Sunday and through the week, but it has been a really nice change.  It is also supposed to rain tomorrow and possibly on Sunday.  I don't mind the rain right now because our lawn needs it and so do my flowers.  Yesterday when I it rained all day, I moved my flower pot so the rain would water the flowers.  I tend to forget until they are wilted and the flowers are gone.  I don't remember what kind they are, but they are awfully pretty.  I got them from Rachel.  I really like them because they are hardy flowers.  I forget to water them, then I quickly go water them, and then they perk up again.

I think I am going to bed now.  I am so tired.  I do hope you had a good day.

9-8 Thursday

Well my excitement of having 2 new singers yesterday is over.  Apparently, Sarah was being forced into and so she has quit after one lesson.  Her mom is hoping that in a few weeks she will want them and then resigning up for them, but if she was determined not to have them before she met me, I doubt she will be back.  I am hoping for a few more students this fall.  So far, with the online company I have 12 students plus about 5 weekly, 2 every other week, and 4 monthly of my own without the online company so fall is shaping up nicely.

I have one student this evening, his name is Logan and he is 16.  He plays the piano and is doing pretty well.  He has difficulty in note reading, so I got him some flash cards to help with that.  I am going to make a note reading paper for him too to see if that will help because the cool books I had have been used.  I can't remember what one of them is named so I can't have Logan buy it.  It bothers me that I can't remember but with Fibro fog, what can I expect?  I just looked up what notespellers I have and went to check the 3 that we possibilities and they aren't it.  It must have a different name or something.  That is the only thing bad about having so much music is that if you can't remember what it is called, you can't find it. I will make him one then.  That will work.  I made him one using Finale.  It is a music notation program that is really neat.  I can also make accomp. CDs with it although it takes a long time to do.  A very long time to do.  I don't really like to do that anymore so I try not to have to but in this case, I was only making the sheet music.  I will find that book soon.  I am determined to.

I am very tired today.  It hasn't been the best week for me.  Family strife and all.  I thought it was better and I found out (the hard way of course) that it was worse so yeah, not my week.  I am determined that it will not affect my teaching and so far it hasn't.

I read a facebook post from 2010 today.  They randomly post what you post the year before and the year before that.  I guess Mom and I weren't doing too much of anything this day in 2010.  It is strange to read 2 posts about someone who is in Heaven.  Reading these little facebook posts are okay though, they don't upset me at all.  Some of them are rather funny.  I tried to make Mom's day a bit happier and she liked to laugh a lot.  She deserved to have her last days happy.  I tried anyway.  I will find out someday when I am in Heaven with her if I succeeded or not.

I think I am going to rest in the living room while I wait for my student.  Like I said, I am so exhausted today.  I think several days of tears and upsets are catching up to me.  Tonight will be a calm lesson with Logan and then tomorrow is Acer and Calli who are always fun to teach.

I do hope your day is good too!