Tuesday - still sick

I again, had to cancel lessons this afternoon.  I had to yesterday too.  I haven't had to cancel lessons due to illness in about a year or so or more.  I am feeling better tonight than I have felt since Saturday afternoon when the cold seemed to arrive in full force.  I foresee being able to teach tomorrow though, so that will be good.  My nose has improved as well as the coughing.  I pretty much have slept all day and night since about Saturday afternoon when I finished teaching and came home from lunch with my cousin.  I called all my students and let them know about no lessons tonight, then I went right back to bed.  I will be heading back there rather shortly.  I am getting tired again.

The commercial for the Excelon patch was just on.  It makes me think of Mom and how much I miss her.  She was on the patch for a couple of years until about the last 8 months of her life when it wasn't doing anything for her.  There really isn't to help at the very end stages, unfortunately, at least nothing that helped Momma.  She was such a smiling mom.  She smiled a lot.  If she wasn't, I would say, where is the pretty smile?  and she would smile.  I miss her smile and laugh most of all.  I miss her hugs and kisses and giving her hugs and kisses too.  She was so easy to give a hug or a kiss to.  I told her every day how much I loved her.  Sometimes I would ask if I had told her how much I loved her today.  Sometimes she would say yes I told her and other days she would say, no I didn't.  Mom was just so cute.  I wonder if the boys miss her as much as I do.

Not much is happening tonight as I am still rather ill.  As I said, lessons were canceled.  I feel alright right now, I am a bit more tired than usual at this time of night, but that is because of the annoying cold.  I do hope you are feeling fine and have missed the cold and flues that are floating around.  Stay as healthy as you can!!!!

Some eye candy of the little lady!  I love the smiles!

Sunday - the end of the month

So far I have finally stopped coughing.  I do wish the nose would stop running, not get stuffed up, just cleared up.  It is like a faucet, it seems to never end.  It woke me up in the night too.  However, since it could have been much worse, I will take the leaky nose and all the other symptoms instead of the vasculitis.

Not much has happened today.  I missed church this morning because I just didn't feel well.  I emailed the director last night as I knew there was no way I would feel well enough to go.  I did teach one lesson this afternoon then I took a brief nap.  Wendy came over to pick up the weight bench she needs.  I had one in the indoor patio and I certainly don't need it.  After she left, I went back to bed for another nap.  I am really tired tonight and I foresee going to bed early.  I am getting up earlier than usual because of lesson tomorrow.  It is the once a month lessons for my girls.  We were supposed to go and see "Beauty and the Beast" but with me not feeling so good, I had to postpone to next week.  I hope it is still playing next week.  Star Wars is coming back into theatres too in 3D although there will be some screens for the regular movie too.  Thank goodness for that!  I am not sure about this 3D.  I am trying it with the "Beauty and the Beast" so we shall see how I do.  I have a hard time with stuff coming at my face.  I have always had this issue.  I think I should be okay with the "Beauty and the Beast" movie since I know it really well, at least I am hoping it will be okay.

Well, there is a Law and Order SVU marathon on right now.  I have seen this episode before and it is a good one.  Then again, there aren't really any bad ones that I have seen.  I enjoy watching Law and Order both the SVU one and the regular one.  I also liked the Trial by Jury one they had a few years ago.  Unfortunately, they cancelled it and that was that for it.  I did buy the DVDs for that season.  I have watched them a few times.  Mom liked them too.  Before she became afraid of TV, Mom and I watched them weekly.  Once she became afraid of TV (about April to May 2010), we didn't watch them anymore.  I haven't seen any new ones in about 2 years now.  I don't even remember when it is on TV now.  It used to be Tuesday at 10pm, but I think it is Wednesdays now but I am not really sure.  I also know that the character Eliot has left the show but Olivia is still there.  I like the actress who plays Olivia.  She is really good.

I do hope you have had a good day.  I think I have slept through most of it and plan to go to bed soon.

Yup, it is official, it is only a cold! Whew, what a relief!

I am a semi happy camper today.  I say semi because I feel like crap but I am happy that it is only a cold and not the start of vasculitis.  I always worry that the vasculitis may come back but so far, it hasn't!  Thank God for that!

Anyways, I have a cold, but it is only in my head, so that is good.  I was able to teach the 3 lessons without much trouble though so I glad about that.  I will be going to bed rather early tonight though because I am very tired.  I am actually ready for a nap right now.  Wow, this is crazy!

Lessons went well except for the brief coughing attack in the middle of Brooke's lesson.  I quickly got it under control and we went on.  Both girls are doing really well.  Camille finished her level 2 books and is ready to start level 3.  I am so pleased and proud of her.  She seems to love piano and is doing a wonderful job.  She finishes these books awfully fast, let me tell you.  I am sure she will do the same with these books too.

I hope you are having a good day.  I am going to nap now.  I am going to put my pajamas on and crawl back into my warm, comfy bed.

I want a new Nose 1-27

My little nose has been running on and off since last night.  I would literally wake up to blow my nose.  It is very annoying.  Of course the fear shoots through me, is this just a little cold or is the vasculitis back?  Ever since I had a bout of vasculitis in 2003, a runny  nose just sends fear right down my back until it turns into a cold.  I am hoping it turns into a cold.  I do have a bad headache tonight, and that could also be either  a cold or vasculitis so for now, I just wait.

I at least, feel less "off" today than I did on Wednesday.  That could be either the beginning of a cold or vasculitis.

Anyways, it has been a decent day.  I got my hair washed and dried and had some lessons.  Carolyn, my neighbor and fellow choir member, came over to go over a new song we got last night at choir practice.  It is a good one, but the last page is very hard so she and I went over a few times.  I feel a lot better about it now, I just hope I feel good about it next Thursday during practice and next Sunday when we are singing it.  I simply love being in this choir.  The music is a nice mix and the people are very nice.  It is also very nice getting to know Carolyn and her family better.  We have been neighbors for over 20 years, but it seems like in the last couple of years that I have been getting to know them much better.  They are a very nice family.  Carolyn was the young lady who would come over and stay with Mom while I went shopping or had appointments.  Mom really liked Carolyn and they got along rather well.  Barbara Jean (Carolyn's Mom) was one of the first people I called when they said Mom was dying.  She came over right away.  They are a nice family who I like a lot.  I have spent several evenings with them. Right now they have my first season of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" DVDs.  They have seen the pilot movie and the 2nd episode.  So far, I think they all like the show a lot.  I know that Mom and i spent many hours enjoying that show both when it aired on TV and watching the DVDs.  I also told Carolyn and Rachel, that they were welcome to come and borrow any DVD of mine that they wished except the few that belong to Andrew because they would not be family oriented or appropriate for them to watch.  I plan to eventually pull those from the library and donate them.  I don't watch rated R movies.    At this point, they just don't interest me.

Calli was so funny tonight.  We giggled as usual through our lessons.  She stayed a bit after until her dad came to pick her up.  I went to take a picture of her and then she wanted the camera.  She took a lot of pictures and you should see some of them!  They turned out really good.  For a child who has a smidge, a very, very, very slight smidge of vision in the upper left corner of the left eye, she took some good pictures.  I was really impressed.  I also thought it was cute because she was so excited to take pictures.  Calli just had a ball with that camera.  I will post them on face book and tag her mother and father tomorrow.  I was going to do it tonight but I am getting rather tired.  I deleted the ones that were either too close or pictures of her fingers or my hair (she took a whole bunch of the back of my head!).  She did take 2 of her, they were a little bit clipped but overall, they were good pictures.  Calli is just filled with so many surprises.  Acer did very well too.  He wanted to do a siren for a warm up before his singing lesson.  I didn't have a problem with it because they are a good warm up before singing and I have asked both kids not to sing without warming their voices up.  They always warm up before they practice singing.  They are very serious musicians and I do love teaching them.  Acer has really become more serious these last couple of months about piano lessons and working hard with proper fingering that I am so proud of the young man.  Of course, all of my students are awesome and I am proud of them all.

Well, the news is on and the weather is on right now.  We are getting more snow in the morning, afternoon, and Sunday.  For the total weekend, about 2 inches.  That isn't too bad, but yuck, snow.  Otherwise known as the white stuff.  By Tuesday, rain.  This weather patterns are very strange for this time of year but I will admit that I am totally enjoying the warmer weather that we are having.  Last weekend was the first time the snow actually stuck overnight.  Of course, that has been gone since Tuesday when it started to rain.  I don't ache as much when it is warmer out.  I am not as cold tonight as I was last night.  I am not sure if it was warmer today or not.  It is hard to say.  Anyways, if you don't like the weather in Michigan, just wait a second and it will change!  That is the saying in this state!

I do hope you had a good day.  I am going to read for a bit and then head to my very comfy bed!  I love my new blankets!  They are so warm!

I am so off for timing today 1-25

Mariela was here this afternoon.  She is a very nice woman from Argentina.  She did a nice job cleaning and vacuuming the floors.  She scrubbed the utility/kitchen/dining room floor too and vacuumed the rest of the carpeted rooms.  She clean 2 of the 3 bathrooms and boy do they look awfully nice.  I am almost afraid to use them for fear of dirtying them up, almost.  I did make some beef stew tonight for dinner.  I am not really that hungry right now so I don't really want any tonight or at least right now.  I may want some later, I don't know.

I am so off on timing tonight.  I got mixed up at the little ones lesson.  There are 3 girls who share an hour. It works well for us except for some reason I thought I was running slow, when in reality, I wasn't.  Fortunately, her mom asked me about it and it was straightened out right away.  I was able to slow down a bit and do flash cards for each of the girls and then show Aubrey her new part of the theory game.  She was so excited about that.  It is so nice to see how excited they get about this stuff.

I managed to have all the water from the stew dry up.  Yup, I don't know how you can fail at cooking beef stew in the crock-pot, but I did.  I have never had that happen before.  Wow, what can I say?  I don't know if it is even salvageable.  I sure hope so.

I am watching TCM right now and Angela Landsbury is being interviewed.  She is so awesome.  I just love her!  I have seen so many movies and TV shows including "Murder She Wrote".  I have seen EVERY single episode of that show!  I haven't seen all the movies but some of them.  I plan to get the movies DVD soon.  She is such a down to earth woman.  She gives thanks to the people who she worked with whether they are the directors or the actors.  They are talking about "Murder She Wrote" right now.  It was just wonderful.  She is such a nice lady.  I like how she doesn't really talk abut her family.  She barely mentioned that she did talk her family to Ireland when her children were having trouble but she didn't go into detail.  I like that the interviewer did not try to get her to say more either.  He stuck to talking about her career.  That was so wonderful and I just can't describe it.  Apparently, she is the actor of the month for TCM.  They are re-running a lot of her movies.  I will have to check the website for the schedule.  I am glad I stumbled upon it.  I really am.  I was just channel surfing to see what else was on and lo and behold, there it was.  It made me smile when they talked about "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" as well as the "Murder She Wrote".  It made me smile with the memories of Mom and I.  Mom and I would watch "Murder She Wrote" every week together.  I have all the TV episodes but I need her 4 movies after the show was cancelled.  I remember Mom and I racing downstairs on Sunday evenings in our pajamas with our blankets to sit together on the sofa down in the family room.  Angela was also the voice of Mrs. Potts in the "Beauty and the Beast", my favorite movie ever.  I love her singing the song "Beauty and the Beast".  It is simply Beautiful.

I do hope you had a good day!  We will have sunshine on Friday!  (finally!!!!!)  Tomorrow is rain and above 40 degrees.

another guest writer

This is one about massage and fibromyalgia by Jenna.  I hope you enjoy it!!!

T9:Massage and Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a frustrating illness. A syndrome rather than a disease, fibromyalgia causes muscle pain, twitches and even a sensation of burning in the muscles. In fact, the name fibromyalgia means “fibrous tissue muscle pain.” Up to 5% of the population suffers from fibromyalgia; as many as 6 million people in the United States have this syndrome.

Fibromyalgia causes pain in the ligaments, tendons and muscles of the body and those with this syndrome often say they feel they are aching all over. When muscles are not used, they are more likely to spasm, trapping oxygen, nutrients and waste materials inside the muscle. Your central nervous system – the brain and spinal column – is also involved in fibromyalgia and the syndrome can affect the neurotransmitters and hormones used by the central nervous system. Fibromyalgia is more common in women than men and has even appeared in a few children. It cannot be cured and the syndrome often lasts for years. Trigger points -- tender areas in soft tissue of muscles – are one of the signs of fibromyalgia. These are located in distinct areas of the body and are used to aid in diagnosis of the syndrome.

Massage therapy seems to benefit individuals with many illnesses, from headaches to mesothelioma cancer to  fibromyalgia. It can help reduce stiffness and pain and promote relaxation. Massage therapy may enhance the production of neurotransmitters and other substances that help to block pain, such as endorphins, serotonin and norepinephrine. The stroking, palpating and kneading of muscles help relieve tension and improve blood flow. Massage can also increase flexibility and range of motion, decrees stress and depression and help you sleep better.

Swedish massage, deep tissue massage and myofascial release are the massage techniques most likely to benefit people with fibromyalgia. Swedish massage is designed to increase oxygen delivery to the muscles and uses long, gliding movements, kneading, tapping and vibration. Deep tissue massage is a vigorous form of therapy that targets deep muscle layers and can help loosen areas where the muscles have become hardened or inflexible. Your muscles are covered with a thin layer of tissue called fascia that can become tight and cause pain. Myofascial release uses stretching techniques to help loosen the fascia.

Guest Writer

Hi!  Here is the article written by Julia.  I hope you enjoy it:

Gluten intolerance doesn’t mean it’s the end of your world; it doesn’t mean your bread-filled life has to be over. Gluten intolerance or Celiac disease shouldn’t prohibit someone from being able to enjoy foods that would normally have gluten in them. 

There are many companies that produce foods that are gluten free. Grains and starch from sources such as corn, potatoes, rice and tapioca are acceptable replacements for a gluten-free diet. 

Almond and gram flour are two good alternatives and can be used in the same ways that regular flour can. Different types of bean and soybean flours are also sometimes used in gluten-free products to add protein or fiber. 

There are even some gluten-free beers and alcoholic beverages starting to hit the market. These beverages are usually labeled as such, but there is still some controversy over what exactly defines a fully gluten-free alcoholic beverage. 

Gluten can be used in many different ways, so the gluten-intolerant and/or people with Celiac disease must be careful of certain unexpected products. For example, gluten can be used as a stabilizing agent or a thickener in foods like ice cream or ketchup. They should also take into consideration the ingredients of any medications, vitamins or cosmetics, which can sometimes contain traces of wheat or gluten in them.

Gluten-free diets are becoming increasingly popular as more people are becoming diagnosed with gluten intolerance or Celiac disease. There are now even things like gluten-free cake, pizza and gluten free bread makers available for these special dieters. 

There are a lot of unique possibilities with gluten-free diets, and all of these new options can help with them. Bread lovers who are gluten intolerant can finally enjoy delicious and satisfying breads and cakes from their own kitchens.

busy day tuesday 1-14

I went to the Payroll people and got the form I needed.  I would like to know why they didn't send it in 2008, but they didn't really have an answer and I had to pay $125.  I was not a happy camper about this.  That is a lot of money that I could have used for other bills.  I will be mailing it tomorrow with the letter it came with.  I will copy the papers before I mail them though.

Mariela is coming tomorrow to help clean.  I am very excited about this, finally, my house will be somewhat clean with nicely cleaned and scrubbed floors, the bathrooms in tip top shape and the kitchen too.  The family room will be vacuumed and well, everything will just be done nicely.  It is so exciting!  I am asking her to come once a month to help with a good cleaning and perhaps I will be able to keep up a bit.  It is so hard for me because of the fibro and my house doesn't look super good right now.

A couple of my students are ill this week with the flu.  There is a really nasty flu bug flying around in the schools around here.  We cancelled one little guy's lesson ahead of time because he has this horrible flu and I don't think he is going to be feeling much better tomorrow.  I don't wish to take a chance of getting this flu and passing it around to my students.  That is just not recommended at all.  I don't want it nor do I want my students to have it.

I am waiting for the last student of the night to arrive.  She is a competition only student.  I wish she would take regularly scheduled lessons, but she doesn't.  She really needs to have regularly scheduled lessons to work on technique.  Her technique is weak and we need to fix that.

Charlie has rescheduled his lesson to Thursday since he has a 1/2 day of school.  I think he has exams that day too but I am not sure.  Brooke and Brianne had theirs last week so I am not sure about Charlie's school.  They are in different districts so their schedules for school are a bit different.

My girls are home from Washington DC.  I have looked at their pictures.  It looks like they had a really good time.  I am glad.  This was the first time they went on an overnight trip without their mom or dad.  They are 16 now.  That just amazes me because I remember them at 7 and 8 years old!  I am hoping to see them this weekend sometime.  I need some help with the filing and the taking down of Christmas decorations.  I haven't even started it yet outside of taking down the garlands.  Perhaps I will take some down tonight.  I don't know.

Tonight is NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles.  It is also dance moms.  I will watch the NCIS stuff though as long as they aren't re-runs and watch dance moms on the computer.  It is kind of neat that I can watch full episodes of the TV shows on the computer.  It is quite neat what the computers are able to do now a days.  My student, Breanna likes Dance Moms too.  We both think that the dance coach and the moms are crazy.  They really are.  Even the craziest mom at my old dance studio that I went too isn't as crazy as these moms, although they are close.  Either that or time has erased how insane they actually were.  That is possible too.  Of course, the rivalry between the two dance studios is funny to watch too.  At one point they were all a part of the same studio, Abby Lee Dance Company, but the one mom, Cathy, took her daughter back to her studio.  Last week they competed against each other and Abby Lee won, but it was close.  Then there was the issue of age.  Cathy deliberately lied about the age of one of her students.  If I was that mother of that dancer, I would have been super mad at Cathy.  Competitions cost a lot of money and to deliberately lie about the dancers age means the dancer is disqualified.  Anyways, it is an interesting show regardless and I do like it.

the next post will be a guest writer.  Her name is Julia and she will write about Gluten free diets.  I do hope you will enjoy the article.

Have a great evening!

the start of a fresh musical week

Mondays usually start rather slow except for once a month when I have the Muglia girls.  Then I get up early and head straight over.  This was not the Muglia day though, so it started rather slow.  Bob has his lesson and then my little Rachel.  Isaac was sick this week, poor kid has the flu or the start of something.  Selma was here for her lesson.  We chatted for a good 30 minutes before we actually started.  Oops!  It was a good thing I didn't have a student after her tonight.  We had a good chat though.  She is a wonderful young lady and very talented.  She is also artistic so I may ask if she will design the spring concert cover.  I like to do that every so often, have a real piece of art as the cover.

Tomorrow I will, hopefully, get the last piece of paperwork for the store.  I sure hope so.  I am tired of this IRS stuff.  At least I know this will be the last of all the paperwork that was not filed.  I plan to ask why this was never filed.  I paid them to file those types of paperwork and they didn't.  I want to know why because this has caused me trouble with the IRS and they need to tell me why they didn't file any of the 3rd and end of the year paperwork.  Anyways, the end of the year stuff has been taken care of, I am working on the 3rd quarter stuff.  We lost the store in the middle of the 3rd quarter so they should have sent the paperwork.

I am very excited about my schedule now.  I was so scared last year at this time because I didn't have enough students to help pay the bills.  I was also scared because I didn't have Mom anymore.  Now I am not as scared.  It took a year or so before the fear calmed down to a more manageable level.  I am still get scared but I have good friends to speak with if I need to discuss something.  I am thankful for that.  I also have got my power of attorney for health care in order.  I just need the other power of attorney to finish.  It is good to be prepared.  This way, I won't need it.  I figure if I don't have it, I will need it, if I do, I won't.  That was always how it happened with Mom and me.  I miss her all the time but I can think about her without crying now, which is a step up from last year at the time.

I have to burn some CDs for Tracey tomorrow.  I do hope you have had a good day.

a nice Sunday 1-22

It was a lovely, restful day today.  I went to church, then came home for a lesson, took a nap, and then went to my neighbor's house for dinner and a movie.  It was lovely.  Dinner was a great, yummy soup with cheese sticks and egg rolls.  They were all really, really yummy, let me tell you!  I thoroughly enjoyed.  The movie was the Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, part 2.  Don Knots and Tim Conway are so funny.  They were such great comedians.  The movie was really good and so was the company.   I will have to have them come here for a dinner and a movie some night too.

this week I have to go to the company that used to do my payroll when I had the store.  For some reason they never filed a form that needs to now be filed.  I am just waiting for a phone call to let me know I can go and pick it up.  I had though to pick it up tomorrow but I may be going on Tuesday.  I will call tomorrow to see if the paper is ready.  I think the lady did say she would call, but I will just in case.  The form had to be printed from the archives since it was from 2008.

We are having the strangest weather this winter.  It snowed on Friday/Saturday with temperatures in the teens and tomorrow it should be about 45 degrees and thunderstorms.  However, I will take all the warmer type days I can since I am cold all the time.  I seem to ache a bit less at bedtime when it isn't so cold too, it is a small difference but every small difference helps that is for sure.

I need to buy a new rug for the doorway to the garage.  Now that my lovely little car is in the garage all the time now, I go in and out that door and with this wet weather, I don't really have anywhere to wipe my wet shoes on while I switch to my slippers.  My students are getting used to taking there shoes off on wet and snowy days.  I don't like shoes on in the house when the weather is wet or snowy or if there is salt on the ground to melt snow or ice.  I don't want the salt to wreck my carpet.  I know it is old but I like it and have no plans to replace it anytime soon, besides I can't afford it either.

The new round table is working out well.  i like it.  I also like the tablecloth I have on it.  It is cute with hearts all over it since it is a Valentine's Day one.  I have my Valentines too for my students.  I am settling into the new year.  Right now, the 2 students who are going to competition are getting ready for it.  The rest are doing well with their pieces that they are learning.  I will start working on the Spring Concert songs next month.  The girls will be coming over in a week or so to help me file the music and CDs.  We are also slated to go and see a movie!  I can't wait.  They are out of town right now at a youth rally in Washington DC.  I think it is the first one they have been to without their parents.  They are going with their church.  I can't wait to hear all about their adventures in Washington DC.

I do hope you had a great day.  I certainly did.  The movie and dinner was a perfect way to end a quiet day.

busy day 1-21

It started out with 2 little lessons.  The students did very well and the lessons were enjoyable.  Camille is really coming along in piano.  She is ready for the 3rd book already.  I know, she just finished 1B it seems like.  I really like teaching Camille because she is so excited to play.

After lessons I went to pick up Calli.  I picked her up and we went through the drive thru of McDonald's to get our drinks.  (Grocery shopping makes one thirsty even before we start)  We arrived at Walmart and began our list of items we needed.  I had a long shopping list today.  I needed so much for the month.  Calli and I giggled our way through the food section of the store.  I picked up everything I needed and we then headed to the cashiers.  Calli likes to put the food on the conveyer belt herself so I don't really help much at all.  She is very independent and I really like that about her.  The she would take the bags and put them in my scooter cart.  Before we go outside we have to transfer the bags to a regular cart as I don't like to take scooters outside at all, even if they say I can (which is on clear days, definitely not today).  It is too cold old and it will hurt the batteries.  So once Calli and I transfer the bags from one cart to the other we head for the car.  We put the bags in the car and drive back to my house.  Calli helped me bring them in and put them away.  I am running out of room in the back room for any more cans of soup or vegetables right now.  I will have to rearrange something in the future.

When we were done with that, I was going to go to get my hair washed and dried as they were closed last night.  Calli said, no, I can do it.  She did.  She helped me wash my hair and she dried it herself.  I did the bangs but that was about it.  Calli is very good at the hair.  I think she was very pleased with herself too, I know I was very pleased about the whole thing.  My hair is done and ready for church tomorrow.

We have game night tonight.  We are meeting at their church.  I have never played dungeons and dragons so this is all new to me.  I think we meet once a month and play.  Since I don't usually do a whole lot in the evening (too tired mostly from teaching or doing stuff in the house) I am looking forward to this evening.  I will probably find myself going to bed a bit early too because I am really tired after the shopping and the hair wash/dry.  I also have to get up early for church tomorrow.  I can take a nap after church before the make up lessons if I want or I can wait until after all the lessons are done.  I do have to do some laundry tomorrow too so I may be changing into jammies when I am done teaching.  I am also going to make some nice beef stew for me tomorrow.  I bought a kit of it and it sounds so yummy.  When I get up in the morning I will put it in the crock pot and let it start to simmer all day.  Yummy!  Beef stew!!!!!

The game was fun.  It was kind of confusing at first, but fun.  I didn't realize it was a story type game.  I am a cleric.  Apparently, I can doom people and heal people.  It came in handy tonight as we were journeying to a town and 6 goblins and 1 bugbear creature was attacking us.  Thankfully, there are no visuals because I can't imagine what a bugbear or a goblin looks like.  I am also half elf.  I am not sure when we are playing again, but I think it is once a month.  The church was having its own game night so that was nice.  Acer is too young to play the game so he entertained himself with his play saxophone.  You hit different buttons on it and they play different music depending on what mode it is in.  He also rolled around in a car for a while.  His grandmother was there too only I didn't see her until the end.  She was in the social hall with some of the other church members.  Heather B-T's brother James was there too.  He was explaining all the rules and my character from the game to me.  He was very helpful.  Bill and Heather were too.  Josh is a nice young man who was also playing the game.  I have a book that will explain more to me.  I plan to read it this week and perhaps take some notes.  It was fun tonight.  I have never done a role playing game before so this is all new to me, although I love playing games.  I am hoping to host a games night here at home in the next few weeks.  My friend, Mani from college, is interesting in a game night so is another friend of mine.  I have the room downstairs at the round table or here in the dining room too.  It all depends on who shows up.  I am thinking monopoly would be a good game or Trivial Pursuit.  I have 3 Trivial Pursuits: Disney, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings (the movies not the book).  I also have a game of Sorry and Uno (winnie the pooh uno no less)  It all depends on what people would like that night.

Tomorrow is church, make up lessons, and then laundry day.  It comes awfully early so I am going to read a bit and then head for bed.  I do hope you have had a good day too!

Friday 1-20

Fridays are usually quiet with a few lessons and that is about it.  I usually get my hair washed and dried on Fridays after lessons but because of the storm we are getting, they must have closed early.  It is kind of a bummer for me.  I guess I should have gone earlier when I first got up or before my first lesson, but I didn't.  I waited.  The roads were not very good when I went out.  I went right there and came right home.  My cousin is supposed to come over tomorrow to shop and pick up some packages at my house, but I am not sure I will see her.  I will find out tomorrow.  I will check facebook right away when I get up to see if she will be arriving or not.  I have 2 lessons tomorrow.  One will be a rather long one because we are actually doing 2 lessons at that time, the other will be a regular lesson.  After that, my cousin is supposed to stop by and pick up the packages then Calli and I will go grocery shopping.  Tomorrow night is game night at Heather B-T's house.  That should be fun.  Sunday will be church in the morning with 2 make up lessons in the afternoon.  It should be lots of fun.  I am looking forward to going grocery shopping with Calli.  She is such fun to go shopping with.  Calli is very independent, very.  She likes to be in charge of the scooter when we are in line.  She likes turning it off when she wants.  Calli also likes to steer the scooter.  If the part of the store we are in is not busy, I will let her help steer however, if it is busy she just holds on to the cart part of the scooter.  We have so many giggles when we are shopping.  She likes to take things off the shelf and put them in the cart.  I just direct her to the shelf that the items are on and she picks them up.  Calli is very much a big help to me, not just company, although she is very good company too!

Emily is doing better on her notes this week.  I think the computer game was really helping her but her dad got a new computer for Christmas and the new computer doesn't have the computer game on it.  Breanna has it right now so when she gives it back next week, I will give it to Emily.  The game seems to help all the students.  I have noticed that several students who were having trouble remembering their notes started improving when they started playing the computer game.  My goal is to have Emily know her notes down pat by the time she is finished with the level 1B book she is in.  I like to have all the students really well by the time they start level 2.  Usually by the end of level 1B the students know their notes really well.  Level 2 has them starting to move their hands away from the 5 finger positions that they are used to.  The songs are much more complicated too with 3 note chords instead of one note at a time in the bass clef.  I just wish the vocal music had level music books too.  The Royal Canadian Conservatory does have levels, but they don't have CDs to accompany them.  They still don't.  I do hope some day they do because there is some good music in them.

I wonder how much snow we have right now.  We are supposed to get about 4 or 5 inches overnight and into the morning.  I am so glad and grateful that my car is in the garage.  It is the first time in 15 or so years since my car has been in the garage.  I also like it because then no one knows whether or not I am at home and since I am avoiding certain people, it comes in handy.  I haven't heard from them so that is good.  I do hope they never call again.

I hope you have had a good day.  I am tired now.  I don't seem to be the extreme exhaustion that I had earlier in the week.  My tummy has actually been okay today and yesterday so maybe the episode is over.  I can only hope so.  Tomorrow I get up earlier than I do during the week because I teach earlier in the day than I do in the week.  Unlike most people, my Saturdays and Sundays are my early days while during the week I get up later.  I do hope you have a good day tomorrow!

a music filled day 1-19

The house was filled with music today.  I had a few lessons and then choir practice.  It was definitely a good day.  My students Deema and Wama are doing so well for their 2nd lesson.  I simply love the girls already.  they are so eager to learn all about piano.  Deema even went ahead.  She was on the black keys for her assignments and figured out middle C position by herself!  I mean, wow, how cool is that?  I was so pleased at her interest.  Her younger sister, Wama, is very excited too!  It is so nice to teach students who can't wait to learn.

Choir went pretty well.  We are singing a very powerful song on Sunday and not just the lyrics but the range!  As I no longer have a very top range, I often sing the second soprano notes when given a choice of super high notes.  I used to be able to pop those notes out without a problem, not anymore.  Now I can't hit them.  The highest I can now hit is the G on top of the treble staff.  Despite the limits to my high range, I love singing in the choir!  I really do.  there are some really nice people in the choir too.  One gentleman, Mark, has a granddaughter who 5 weeks ago had the same operation I had 28 years ago.  She is doing very well and went back to school this week.  His granddaughter seems to be doing really well and I am glad about that.

I am feeling a bit better tonight compared to the last few days.  Last night when I went to go to bed, I started having major tummy pains.  They lasted until about 3 to 4 am.  the last time I looked at the clock it was 4 am.  I hope for a better night tonight.  I will certainly pray for it.

Tomorrow will be a quiet type day.  I do have a few lessons so that will be good.  Acer and Calli will be here for their lessons as well as Emily.  It is also the day I go and get my hair done.  I go once a week to have someone wash and dry my hair.  I like the ladies who do my hair.  Usually, it is Monica but if she isn't there Cindy will do it.  I like them both. Well, off to do some reading before I head for bed shortly!  Hopefully I will have a much better night's sleep!  I do hope you have a good night too!

Wednesday 1-18

It has been a good day.  I had a few lessons, Rahul and the Richards' girls.  They are all so cute.  Allison did well today too.  She is working on confidence, she is getting better so I am happy with her progress.

My phone doesn't seem to be holding its charge now.  It is a concern for me.  I don't know if that means I should just get a new phone or a new battery for the phone.  I am so not good with phones.  This phone has been such a good little phone.  I have pictures of Mom on it so I need to somehow get them off of it.  I am just not sure what to do with it right now.  I have asked my friend, Ross, what to do.  He is a tech guy and good at it too.  I don't know how much a new phone even costs at this point.  I know that my contract is not up yet but when I was qualified to get a new phone, I didn't get one.  Phones are so very confusing!  I don't want of the touch type ones because I don't really like them.  I like the style of my phone even if the pictures are not super great.  I still like it a lot.  I just got an answer from Ross.  He said a new battery would be the way to go so I am going to.  I should be able to get it from Amazon.com.  The phone is charging right now so I hope it will last at least until tomorrow so I can research what type battery I need.

My old dining room table is at the end of the road right now.  So far, only the chair has been taken.  The other chairs are down in the family room.  They will get brought up and taken out soon.  I am not worried about that and they are not in the way in the family room.  It is awfully nice to have a nice library.  Whenever I finish a book, I just go down the stairs and get a new one.  I put one away and take the other up the stairs.  It is quite cool.  I am saving up for both a blue ray player and a new TV.  I am planning to get a small TV for the kitchen/dining room and take the one that is currently in the dining room back down in the family room.  The blue ray player is for the family room too.  I already have a DVD player in the family room.  I have one up in the dining room too.  The TV in the kitchen/dining room is the old style with a big back to it.  I want a slimmer one for that room.  It is still a really good TV, it just is too big for the kitchen/dining room.  Eventually I will repaint the kitchen/dining room.  First I need to put new flooring down for the entire kitchen/dining room/utility room floor.  The old floor is not a very good color anymore.  Maybe the new person who is coming to help me clean will be able to get some of the stains out of it.

My head is a bit sore more than usual this evening.  I don't have a sore throat but it seems like it is about to get sore.  It is a strange feeling.  I have felt like I am coming down with something all week.  I sure hope I am not.  I do not want or need a cold.  I have a busy day tomorrow with a few lessons and choir practice.  I am not sure what song we are singing this week in church.  I can't remember right now.  I will find out tomorrow.

Well, it is getting late and I am getting tired.  I will go to bed earlier than usual tonight because I teach a bit early tomorrow and I have to go to the bank before my evening lesson.  I owe one mom $2 because I was $2 short with change last week when she paid for books for her girls.  I hope you are having a good day.

Tuesday 1-17

It has been a rather raining, quiet day here.  My first student of the day did not show up.  I was not happy about it.  Her mom called about 45 minutes into what should have been her lesson.  Hopefully, she will make up the lesson this weekend.  My other two lessons did show up and they went pretty well.  Samuel is at the point where he is going to be learning lines and spaces.  Yeah, he is having trouble noticing the difference between a line note and a space note.  I do hope next week will be better for him.  Charlie did well as usual.  He is such a good student.

I am hoping to meet up with my friend, Jennie soon.  I went to high school with her.  She is very nice.  Face book reconnected us as well as other high school friends.  Face book is a good thing for reconnecting.  I also have reconnected with several college friends.  Anyways, I do hope to see her real soon.  I also hope to see Wendy soon too.  I haven't seen her for a few weeks.  She is having problems with her neck.  It doesn't sound too good.  I think we are all falling apart at times, physically at least.

I am going grocery shopping this Saturday with Calli then later that night will be game night.  We are playing Dungeons and Dragons, something I have never played before.  I am also hoping to have a game night here at my house to play monopoly or something like that.  I am not sure exactly what, but that is okay.  I also am going to have my aunt and uncle (and Jayson, my cousin) to come over for dinner  now that I have my nice new to me table set.  It actually makes my dining room look bigger than it really is.  I don't feel so cramped in now.

I am watching a show I have never seen before since NCIS is a re-run this evening.  I am watching "Still Standing".  It is really funny.  Now I wish I had a DVR because it is on the same time as NCIS and when it is a new NCIS, I have to watch my NCIS but this show is really funny.  It is also a Dance Moms and NCIS Los Angeles night.  *sigh* How to choose?  Pretty much every other night I am not that excited about TV and here on Tuesdays they have several good shows.  It isn't fair but I will work it out.  I can watch Dance Moms and NCIS on the computer.  This is such a good show!  It is too funny.

Dance Moms is really funny tonight.  The new Mom is just insane.  She just interrupted a dance rehearsal.  That is the worst thing to do in Abby Lee's studio.  I do think it is crazy how fast they have to not only learn, but perfect these dances.  A new one every week.  These girls are ages 7 to 13.  I will say though, they are wonderful dancers.  Absolutely wonderful.  They have great facial expressions and their technique is really good.  The next competition they are going to is "Rising Star".  I competed in Rising Star 20 years ago when I was a dancer.  I won at regionals 3rd highest score 12 and over.  I went to nationals that year too.  I got 4th place overall for solos.  I was happy with my score that is for sure.  The National Trophy is the only one I have left.  The rest were donated (without me knowing) a year and a half ago.  I was not that happy about it, but now it is okay because I can't get them back.  I am doing pretty well with letting some things go that have happened.  I am not completely there yet, but I am working on it.  I am glad that the trophy was saved.  It was in Mom's room.  Mom was really happy how I did.  I worked really hard for that.  I won first in my age group and then 4th overall.  I sang "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" from "Phantom of the Opera".  I think somewhere in this house is the video Mom bought of my performance.  That was the last time I competed because starting the next fall, I was a full fledged teacher.  I would only send my students to the competitions and not compete myself.  Sometimes I miss the life at the Dance Studio, other times, I don't.  I miss the size I was at the time.  I have gained so much weight after I quit dancing.  I learned the hard way, you don't quit dancing 4 to 6 hours a day to doing absolutely no exercise what so ever!  Yup, I learned that one the hard way.  I also quit because the pain was just too much to deal with.  I had such a hard time with floor work and jumps because my muscles hurt so much all the time.  We didn't know at the time about Fibro or that I even had it.  I don't know what else I could have done if I did know, Mom and I tried everything I could.  She would put heating pads on my hips and legs, as well as Icy Hot.  Nothing ever worked, now I know why, but I didn't then.  Mom always came to my recitals and she did come to some of the competitions, especially my last year.  She was there at the Nationals too.

I got a really neat Picture Frame for Christmas.  I haven't figured out exactly what pictures I am putting in it yet.  It has a whole bunch of picture frames in the big one.  It is really pretty.  I have another one that has room for lots of pictures in it too.  I am spending the winter going through family pictures and seeing what pictures I want in them.  I have some nice pictures of friends too that will go in.  I hope I find the one picture of Kathy and I at her wedding.  I also have a really nice picture of Mom and I at the wedding too.  the photographer was also taking pictures of the wedding party and their significant others.  Since I didn't have one, I had my picture taken with Mom.  Kathy suggested it and I am very glad that she did because it came out very nicely.  I like that picture a lot.

I do hope your day has been good.  So far, I love my new dining room set.  I do feel bad that I got rid of my old one.  I have some memories attached to it, but it was about to fall apart and I don't have the time or the skills to redo it myself.  If Mom were here, we could do it together, but at this point, I am just not going to do it.  the chair that was put out there is gone but as of tonight when I turned off the light, the table was still there getting totally rained on.  It definitely needs to be refinished now after being in the elements now.  I do really like my little round table.  The chairs are pretty comfortable too.  I no longer have to sit on the office chair.  I can take it downstairs in the office soon.  I will leave it in the living room right now, but eventually it will go down in the office.

The table has arrived!

Yes!  It is here!  The new to me table!!!!!  Here is the final look of the table:

It is a bit smaller than the old one, about 1/3 smaller, but that is okay!  Less table for me to load down.  I can comfortably fit 5 or 6 people at the table and that is what counts.  I don't have a lot of company over anyhow so that is just fine.  I will have the next subdivision meeting of the board of directors here.  It will be the first time I have had them here in a few years.  It should be a good evening and I am looking forward to it.

It has been a slightly weird type day for me.  I was so exhausted last night.  I went to bed at 10 pm (which is not like me at all!) and woke up at 2 in the afternoon.  Yes, I said 2 pm.  I did wake up every few hours as usual because of pain.  I would get up very groggy and stand up, then turn and go back into bed.  I was very light headed this afternoon when I got up.  It was all very strange.  I am feeling alright now.  I am certainly not that tired right now that is for sure.  I do hope I am fine tomorrow too.

I have had a strange thing happen every night the last week or two at night in the middle or near morning part of the night.  For no reason, I will all of a sudden feel like I am going to throw up, sometimes I will for no reason and not really any warning.  I already take some medicine for acid reflux and I don't have it that bad so this is just really strange to me.  It is annoying to me and rather upsetting.  I am wondering if I should call my tummy doctor on this one.  It has been about 2 weeks since it starting.  It used to happen every so often, but now it is more than that.

I just got back from Walmart.  I decided that I needed a Valentine's Day table cloth for the new to me table.  I wasn't going to get one, just let the glass be the top.  Then the fingerprints (mine) kept showing so I thought, you know what, I am a table cloth kind of girl, so I got a new one.  I didn't have a Valentine's Day one anyways so I was going to get a new one.

My dear friend, Julie, just called a few minutes ago.  Oh my.  I knew she had not been feeling well, but I had no idea what was really going on.  I am so glad she told me.  Julie has a heart murmur and now the valve either needs to be replaced or a balloon put in it.  She thinks that it may be done as early as next week.  She has gone to a great hospital, the University of Michigan hospital so that is great news.  I am not sure if there is a test before she gets the procedure or not.  Now her heart is enlarged.  This is because the valve is not working well.  Once the procedure is done, whether they replace the valve or put a balloon in it, the doctor said in 4 to 6 months, the heart should go back to its normal size.  I sure hope so. If you can, please add Julie to your prayer list.  I would greatly appreciate it.  I am so glad she told me.  I was wondering what was going on.  While she was working here at my house she would get out of breath super easy.  I totally understand why now.  Julie sounds very up about this whole thing too.  I told her to let me know what needs to be done.  I will re-arrange lessons and have make ups if she needs help.  She is a very good friend and has been for many years now.

The snow is now gone.  It is about 42 degrees out this evening.  Light rain was falling as I was driving to and from the store.  I also got a couple of Valentine's Day window clings.  They are very cute.  I haven't even taken down the Christmas Decorations, and I am planning Valentine's Day decorations.  I am a silly at times.  I am getting a bit tired again, not like last night where I was so exhausted beyond belief.  I do hope not to sleep as much as I did last night.  I hope for a good night's sleep with waking up at the regular time.  

I finally took picture of the family that Julie helped me (she did a lot of the work) clean up and de-clutter.

I do hope you had a good day and evening.  

Sunday Evening 1-15

I am rather cold tonight.  I had to put the temperature up this evening in the house.  It was just too cold for me tonight even with a fleece jacket on.  I hope it heats up quickly.  It usually does.

I got up early for church today.  We sang "Here I am to Worship".  It is a very neat song.  I really like it.  I have liked all the songs that the choir director has picked for us.  I am really enjoying being in the choir.  I hope Katie is able to join.  I think she would really like it a lot plus she is a good singer.  After church I had Rick's lesson.  Brianne didn't show up so I think her mother forgot about the lesson.  Rick had a good lesson.  He has 4 songs now that he is learning, one Italian, one English classical, one from Little Mermaid, and one Broadway.  The theme for the spring concert this year is movies.  The kids can dress up in costumes too if they want.  It should be a lot of fun but that won't be until spring.  Right now we are just working on regular music, not for the concert yet.  That will start at the end of May.

I am watching a marathon of Law and Order SVU.  I like this show a lot.  It is an interesting marathon.  The theme is legal loophole cases.  I have seen most of them though but they are still super good.

I am really tired today.  I did take a nap this afternoon.  I just couldn't stay awake anymore so I went up and got my pajamas on and fell asleep.  I will be heading back to bed soon.  I think I am coming down with a cold too.  My sinuses seem to be swollen.  It is hard to breath.  I have a bit of a bad headache today too.  It is more than the regular headache.  I hope it goes back to the normal headache by bedtime. I also hope I sleep better tonight since I am so tired.

Tomorrow I have a lesson at 3 pm.  Isaac is going to be absent.  His family is going skiing on the holiday.  I hope they have a good time.  I will still have Rachel though.  She is such a sweetie.  Two weeks ago she was so tired before lessons.  She climbed on the piano bench and was lying on it like a cat does.  Rachel did have a lesson but I am not sure how much she really absorbed.  Last week was a better lesson.  I hope she does well tomorrow too.  She is such a cutie.

I hope your Sunday was good too.

the first snowfall to stick to the ground

Yesterday I woke up to a winter wonderland!  There was about 2 inches of snow on the ground.  We have had brief snow falls, but they didn't stay on the ground and by the end of the day, it was totally gone.  This one stuck.  The sidewalks and the driveways are mostly cleared by now though because there really wasn't too much snow.  It looked really pretty out yesterday.  I realized today that I should have taken a picture of it.  I will the next time and since we live in Michigan, I am so sure there will be a next time.  I am thankful we haven't had the snow we had last year as we had so much snow.  I am thankful that this year things have been rather mild.  I am hoping for a rather mild winter, although just because it starts off slow doesn't mean we won't get the regular amount of snow.  If we do, I am ready, well, as ready as I can be.  My little red baby is in the garage safe from any snow falls.  That is the biggest thing I am glad for, having my car in the garage.  I won't have to scrap windows or clear off snow when I need to go somewhere.  It really is a major blessing.

It was a quiet teaching day today, just my lovely Camille.  She is in 4th grade and is doing really, really well.  Camille is just a lovely student to have!  Tomorrow is Rick and a make up for Brianne.  I will be able to take a small nap after church before Brianne arrives.  That will work out well.

My friend and former student, Kelly Lynn is coming by this evening.  She is a newly graduated teacher. She is doing pretty well.  I am so proud of her.  I had her as a child for a student.  I am face book friends with several former students.  Face book is so great to reconnect with people.  I have found some childhood friends, relatives, as well as the former students on face book.  I also found some college friends too.  That is a good thing.  Well, anyway, Kelly Lynn is coming over and we will have some fun.  I am hoping to go to bed a bit early since 6:45 comes super early in the morning!  I love singing in the choir!

My craft kits have come in!  i don't know which ones to make first?  It is a rough decision as all of them are adorable.  One is snowmen, trees, mittens, another is penguins, and the last is mittens with embroidery on them.  I also need to start taking down the Christmas stuff.  I am probably going to start that this evening after Kelly Lynn leaves.  I am leaving some of the window clings on, the winter ones and I plan to get some Valentines Day ones too to put up.  I know I have some.  They are in Mom's closet so I will look to see what I have and what I need.  I will have to get some new table cloths because I will have a round table now and not the oval ones so the table cloths I have won't fit my table.  I don't mind getting new table cloths.  i don't buy super expensive ones because I would be afraid to use them.  They might get stained or something like that.  I buy vinyl ones that have cute designs on them.  I have about 3 table cloths I haven't used yet.  They will be donated because I won't be able to use them with the new table.

Kelly Lynn should be here shortly.  I do hope you are having a good day!

fancy new table and chairs!

I have finally (and it took a lot to do this) have come to the conclusion (several of my friends have been mentioning this to me) that indeed, my lovely dining room table and chairs are, well, in need of replacement.  This breaks my heart as I love the set but it is true.  The chairs ALL need to be re-glued, the table needed to be tightened and probably needs it again, so I will have a new to me set on Monday.  The chairs are already here.  My friend, Heather B-T has bought it for me.  It is a metal table with a glass top.  The table is round and it comes with 4 chairs.  The chairs are high back (which I really like) and the seat is of a pattern that I like.  I can redo them if I want, but I don't at this time.  They are cream color so they will go with the decor of the dining room and kitchen.  I am so thankful for my friends getting me this new to me set because I do need it.  I can't use any of the chairs for the old set since they all need to be re-glued.  For me, I use my office chair in the dining room.  I have one chair from the old set at the table, but no one usual sits there.  I also had 2 folding chairs too since the other chairs can't be used.  Now, I can use dining room chairs with the new to me table and chairs set.  They are very pretty.  I have no idea what my style for furniture is but hey, I don't really need to know right now anyway.  I like the new to me set a lot.  I will have to change the style of my table cloths though since the table is round and all my table cloths are for an oval table.

My all time favorite movie is coming back out into theatres but in 3D.  I have trouble with 3D because I don't like things coming at me in my face.  I have seen some of the nature 3D movies in the IMAX and haven't had a problem with that so I am hoping that since this movie was not originally done as a 3D movie that it won't be so bad for me.  I am planning to go and see it with my Muglia girls in a few weeks.  I am not sure how long it will be in the movie theatre and if I miss it that will be okay.  I love Beauty and the Beast!  It is a great movie.  Belle is my favorite Princess and my 2nd favorite character that Disney has created.  We all know that Winnie the Pooh is my all time favorite character.  He is the best one ever.  I have several plush and beanie Winnie the Poohs.  They are in different outfits, which is why I have so many.  I have Christmas ones, Winter ones, big ones, little ones, and regular ones.  I have a Christmas Barbie Belle doll too.  Momma gave it too me at Christmas one year.  I like it a lot.  I also have a Cinderella Doll that Mom bought me too.  Cinderella is my 2nd favorite Princess.

Last night in choir we sight read a beautiful piece called, "Use Me".  It was simply lovely.  The choir accompanies 2 soloists - 1 male and 1 female.  I am really enjoying being a member of this choir.  The church service is different than what I am used to but I am enjoying the change.  I like the congregational singing part of the service.  The service goes quickly it seems.  The messages are always making me think and examine my own life and my actions.  It has really helped me a lot.

Tomorrow I am meeting a fellow teacher who happens to be a former student of mine!  She is new to teaching and has a few questions.  I don't mind and it makes me feel good that I can help her.  I did ask her to call and let me know when she is coming because the weather is supposed to be a bit iffy tomorrow.  We did set a time frame so that is why I ask for her to call first, this way I won't worry.

I am going to work on the kitchen this weekend.  I have several boxes that are now empty and need to be broken down for another use.  I also want to take down the Christmas Tree and put the decorations away.  I have a few boxes in the dining room that need to be taken care of too.  I will put the tools in the tool box and the rest of the stuff in the furnace room on the shelves.  I know there isn't much room left in the furnace room, but these will fit, I am sure.

Next Saturday, Calli and I are going grocery shopping.  That should be fun.  Calli is so fun to go grocery shopping with.  We have many good giggles while we shop.  I have quite a list this time.  I am working on eating at home more often.  I have some yummy soups that I add some chicken and vegetables too to make it more of a stew type thing.  I like stews, whether it is a beef stew or chicken stew.  I also like to add some seafood to it.  I start with a nice potato soup and then add a few things to make it yummier, if that is possible!  I have some other type soups from that same brand that are really good too.  With winter here, I don't always like to go outside each day.  I am cold most of the time and it is cold here for the next few days.  My new blankets shed.  I have brown specks from the blankets all over my pajama top.  I am not sure what to do about this.

I only have 1 lesson tomorrow and 2 lessons on Sunday.  1 of them is a make up lesson for tomorrow as Brianne has an exam to take for school.  The other Sunday lesson is Rick.  He goes back and forth between lessons on Saturday or Sunday depending on his schedule.  Either day works for me.  I come home from church and take a wee nap in the living room while I wait for him to arrive.  I am planning on being at church this Sunday.  I am really going to be working on making sure I am there every week.  It is super early for me, but I feel so much better when I start my week with church on Sunday.  Mom used to say that and I never really understood what she meant until the last few months.  My week seems to be better when I go to church every week.  I am trying to be more dedicated and make sure I go every week.

I do hope you have had a good day and have plans for a fun filled weekend.  I just want to get a few things done around the house and teach a few lessons, that will make me happy.

wednesday - 1-11

It is Wednesday!  Woohoo!

I had to go and pick up some new music for my students.  I also stopped at Barnes and Nobles to get a new planner.  I don't like the one I got so I got a new one.  It was only $5.80.  It was definitely a bargain.  I have a nice new calendar to put up.  I got it from Kathy.  It is Harry Potter!  I am sure absolutely no one is surprised about it being a Harry Potter.  I like it.

It has been a quiet day with a few lessons.  I did go and get my blood test done for my pro-time.  I was about 15 minutes late because I was so tired that I reset the alarm for 20 minutes.  I knew that being late was okay as long as I don't miss it totally.  It only took 1 poke today!  That is a great thing since I am a very hard poke.  A few times ago, I ended up having to come back a couple days later.  Since I also needed the flu shot too, it wasn't a big deal.  Fortunately, that happens very rare.

I have most of my bills in my new bill file.  I am really working on being very organized with my bills this year.  No more tossing them on the table behind my computer for this girl!  I found a few discs in books on the table for teaching.  I will burn them some time this weekend.  My Muglia girls are going to come sometime later this month to file and sort music.  I will also be putting the CDs away too.  I am thankful that they will help me.  I also have a lady coming to help me clean the house once a month.  I am thankful for that.  I hope it doesn't cost that much money.  It will be tight.  I probably should have asked her to come the week after because I would have been paid from takelessons at that point.  It will work out somehow, I know it will.  I will also be able to make a good payment on the property taxes 2011.  It starts all over again except I have more time to pay before the deadline.  Soon, I will be caught up and will just be saving for the current year's bill.  It will be a nice relief.

We haven't really had any snow this winter, which is kind of weird for Michigan.  We have had a few snowfalls, but none that stayed on the ground very long.  We are supposed to be getting some tomorrow as it gets colder this weekend.  We have had rather warm weather for January and in December too.  I haven't really minded because people drive crazy in the snow.  My car is in the garage now so I won't have to wipe any snow off.  I am very glad about that.  I need to take some time to clean my car windows.  They are not so good right now.  I always forget about them until I am driving.

Tomorrow is a filled day with choir practice and a few lessons.  I will be a bit late for choir because of a make up lesson tomorrow night.  I have let the choir director know this.  Since I am rarely late, it shouldn't be a problem.  I am not sure what we are singing this week.  I guess I will find out tomorrow night.

more progress 1-10

Today is a good day!  Today is Kathy's birthday!!!!  I made sure I called her to wish her a happy birthday.  I finally got to speak with her before my first lesson.  She is getting the Ultimate Edition of one of the Harry Potter Movies.  I am very excited to hear about that!  I can't wait to hear if it is awesome or not.  Part of me is hoping it isn't very good or worth purchasing because then I will want them.  What can I say?  I love Harry Potter!  I guess I should just add this to the list of things I want: a blue ray player, nook color, and all the Harry Potter Ultimate Movie Collections.  The list of wants.  I am working on other things first, but I still have some things I want.  Compared to things I used to want, I think the list is rather small.  I feel relived that the property taxes for 2010 have been taken care of.  I am now starting on the 2011 property taxes.

Tomorrow is my blood test, 2 weeks past due since I slept through the last appointment and forgot to make it all last week.  I will be working on this for 2012 so that I am on top of this issue.  They are important because I have to have my blood in "therapeutic range" so that I don't get another blood clot.  I really don't want another one.  They hurt an awful lot and well, you can die from them so I don't particularly want another one.  I am going to work on making sure I do what I am supposed to do such as NOT sleeping through appointments.  I have done this way too much in the last few years.  I also have another test that I have been putting off.  I will do it this week.  I go see the tummy doctor in March so I have to have it done soon.  She did ask to have it done by Christmas.  Woops, Christmas was a few weeks again and I haven't done this yet.  I also will make sure I do NOT run out of medicine like I have been.  I will no longer wait until I am almost completely out before calling in the refills.  I will call when i notice there is just one week left of medicine.  This way, if the refills are out, they have time to call the doctor and fill it.  This way, I will not run out anymore as I have a lot in the past few years.

I cleared off the dining room table and it doesn't look like I did much.  Yeah, I don't know.  I haven't touched the kitchen counter yet.  That looks rather scary too.  I think I will look at that tomorrow before lessons, after the blood test.  

Dance Moms is on and so is NCIS Los Angeles.  I will watch NCIS Los Angeles online afterwards.  It is annoying that I have 2 shows I like at the same time on.  Oh my!  I don't know what is on afterward but I am sure I will find something.  Boy, my typing isn't so good tonight.  I keep having to go back and fix words.  Dance Moms are having auditions to replace the girl who moved away.  Once again, there is trouble.  One mom doesn't like that her daughter didn't make the team so she was yelling at the director.  Well, welcome to the world of dance.  Dance is a VERY subjective art and believe me, the performing arts are filled with things like this.  It is the same type thing in music.  I work very hard to make sure I DON'T favor over another when it comes to performances and competitions as well as lessons.  Most of the music teachers I know do the same thing as me although at competition, I have seen the stage mom and the stage teacher at competition and they are such a distraction.  I will say though, these girls dance beautifully at such young ages.  They really do.

I have to remember to send in  copy of my mother's death certificate to one doctor's office.  I keep forgetting to send it to them.  They keep sending me bills.  I have called them over and over to tell them, but they keep sending me the bills 1 1/2 years later.  It is very frustrating.

I am looking for a new planner.  I am not happy with the one I bought.  I really am not.  I have to go to Office Max tomorrow after the doctor's appointment.  I hope I remember to do this!  Well, I hope your day went well and tomorrow is good too!

Monday 1-9

It is the start of another week.  I wonder what this week will bring me.  It could be almost anything.  I have been working on the getting the judges for the competition.  I have a few more names to call, so does Georgette.  I am not sure how this is going to work with both of us calling, but I am not sure.  This is not an easy job because I don't know the schedule and that makes it hard.  I don't get the schedule until next month so I have to leave them in limbo until then.  Also, I just found out one of the judges Diane doesn't really want.  Well, since we are running short on judges, we may need to keep her.  She sounds really nice too.  She gave me the names of about 3 other judges to call.  I will do that tomorrow.  It is too late to call tonight.

I am getting tired now, almost time for bed!  I do hope I sleep well tonight.  I have to remember to call Dr. Gradolph's office to make my blood test appointment.  I keep forgetting to do that.  I also have to make a payment for Doctor Grandolph.  I don't want to forget again.  Tomorrow is supposed to be warm out again.  Although it was warm outside, I was still a bit chilled during Bob's lesson.  I wonder why.  I hope tomorrow will be better.  It is supposed to be colder and snow starting on Thursday.  They say nothing will stick and I hope they are right.  I am not interested in snow on the ground right now.  We are having the strangest weather right now.  I like how it isn't super cold out right now though.  I know it is January and this won't last, but I will take it until then.

I am rather bored this evening.  TV isn't really interesting at this point.  I have HGTV on, but I am not really watching it.  I am reading a good book, but right now I don't really want to read it.  I think I am just too tired for that.  I love the new blankets on my bed along with my new pajamas.  Between the two of them, I am very comfortable at night for now anyway.

I do hope you had a good day.  I think I am going to read for a bit and then call it a day.

A quiet Sunday 1-8

Eight days into the new year!  Wow, time is flying (as usual) by.  I wasn't feeling so good this morning so I didn't go to church.  I also had to take a nap this afternoon (late afternoon) and I am still super tired today.  I think this is telling me I have enough students and any more will be too much for me.  I think it is a big reminder to pace myself better.  I don't think I paced myself very well this last week.  I will be more mindful of it this week.  I really have to be careful of Thursdays as that is a jammed packed day with lessons and choir practice.  Thank goodness Friday is a quieter day.

I have been reading a lot of Danielle Steele novels again.  I get them at the used bookstore.  I also like Bertrice Small, Catherine Coulter, and Katherine Stone.  I also have rediscovered Sidney Sheldon.  I read a bit every day, some days more than other.  I like to read.  It is all my mother's fault I like to read.  He he he!!!  It is thanks to her I can read.  Mom's hard work, and trust me, it was very, very hard for me.  I remember crying a lot during the first week saying I was too dumb to learn this.  I was just stupid.  Well, we all know that mom did not think I was stupid.  Now it is a breeze and I love it.  Mom had problem with reading in that if she sat still too long, she would fall asleep.  I took her to Les Miserables years ago and she had a rough time staying awake.  I remember bumping her leg a lot.  She said she heard everything during the show, she just didn't see everything.  This happened a lot when she sat still.  We went to a lot of shows together (both theatre and movies) and many a time i had to bump her leg to wake her up.  Poor Momma, she just couldn't stay awake a lot of the time.  Even when we would watch TV downstairs in the family room with our feet up, she would fall asleep.  I can still picture her sitting in her dressing gown with her comforter around her and her feet propped up falling asleep watching TV with her.  It makes me smile to think about her.  so anyways, I have been reading a lot these days.  I have a few new movies that were on sale at Walmart this past week.  I got Oliver and Company, Lion King, and Bambi II.  I plan to watch them sometime in the future.

I was going to take the Christmas decorations down today but I was so tired I didn't.  I will start doing that tomorrow.  I am going to ask Charlie or Bob to take down the garland in the dining room and the hallway.  I had to get a new Storage Tote for my ornaments.  I knew that I would need a new one when I pulled out the new box of Disney ornaments.  I love my Disney ornaments.  Mom and I were huge Disney Characters fans.  We love the animated movies and TV shows.  It is funny because when I was a baby (or so I had been told) I was introduced to Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck as well Minnie Mouse.  I really liked them (we had the plush toys) and wanted to play with them a lot along with my dolls.  (I loved my dolls!!)  Well, after a bit, Mom got a hold of a Winnie the Pooh stuffed toy.  She introduced me to Winnie the Pooh.  Much to her surprise, I didn't want anything to do with Mickey and friends anymore.  I ONLY wanted Winnie the Pooh!  She said she would bring out Mickey or Minnie and I would look at it and say, "Want Pooh."  She tried to get me interested in the others, but I just wasn't.  Mom only had herself to blame though, after all, she introduced me to Winnie the Pooh.  To this day, I am a Winnie the Pooh girl, through and through!  When I got really sick and we went to Disney for the first time since I had been super sick, she bought me a new Winnie the Pooh.  I thought I was ruining her vacation because I had to go and take a nap in the afternoon everyday.  I was so tired.  I had to ride in a scooter for the first time ever but Mom said she knew I would need to rest more.  That was why we had gotten a 6 day pass instead of 4 days.  Mom said I wasn't ruining anything.  She didn't mind the extra stuff we had to do.  It made me feel good.  On the first full day I took a nap, I woke up to see this Winnie the Pooh dressed in an Animal Kingdom Outfit staring at me.  It was from Mom.  We bought a few other Winnie the Pooh beanies dressed as other characters that trip.  We had a great time.  It was the 100th birthday of Disney so that was shy we had to go.  I mean, we had to celebrate Walt Disney's birthday!  Mom and I loved the same rides and the shows.  We really had a good time together when we were there.  We also went to St. Augustine, Kennedy Space Center, and Key West that trip.  It was because I knew Mom would always have a good time at Disney and remember she had a good time that we went so much near the end of her life.  Yes, we could have gone other places for vacation, but new things scared her.  I didn't think she was as scared being there because she remembered us being there when we were young.  Mom always had a smile on her face when we were at Disney.  From the moment we woke up and I told her where we were to when we went to bed.  She loved Disney.  Peter Pan was one of her favorite rides so we always had to go on that one a few times.  I LOVE it's a small world.  When I was 5, we went to Disney World.  Those days there was only the Magic Kingdom.  I remember going through it and loving it.  I had been told that I wanted to go through it several times until I knew the song by heart.  Mom took me while my brothers went with my dad to ride other things.  Momma bought me the little 45 record of It's a Small World.  I sang it's a small world the entire drive home.  All 2 days of it!  I think I drove my family crazy by singing it over and over and over.  Since I sang all the time, Momma could tune me out, but I am not sure if my brothers were so thrilled with it.  It makes me laugh now thinking about it.  As soon as Mom learned (from the Disney TV show) that Disney World was open, she made plans for us to go the next summer and we did.  Mom and I have both been to Disney World 13 times.  Out of the 13 times, 11 times we went together, some with the other parts of family and some with friends.  I would like to go again but it won't be for a few years.

Anyways, this is getting rather long and I have noticed that Blogspot cuts out parts of your post if it is too long.  I do hope you had a good day and will have a wonderful night!

Saturday Already???? 1-7

It is hard for me to believe, but it is true, it is Saturday already!!!  For some reason this week has been so exhausting for me.  I am not sure why.  It could be so many things that I can't even guess so I won't.

I made a few phone calls for judges today.  I left 2 messages and I spoke to 2 teachers who are interested in judging for us!  Yeah, now I need a few more.  Ugh.  I have most of the vocal judges at this time, I believe.  I will totally look at my chart tomorrow when my head seems a bit more clear.  I hope the 2 that I left messages for will be able to judge for us otherwise I am out of options.  I have no more options of what to do.  I have exhausted my supply of judges and where to find judges.  This is a very hard job and I will never do it again.  I just won't.  It is too stressful.  Next year, I will be doing the program though so I won't have to do the judges.  I love doing programs.  I really do.  I have a lot of fun with it.

I am not doing a whole lot this evening.  I am pretty exhausted this week for some reason, much more than usual.  I have had more issues with night sweats this week too.  I am not sure what is going on, but something is.  I hope it clears up and goes back to the regular exhaustion and not this new more exhaustion.

Katie had her lesson this afternoon.  The new student, adult male, didn't show up.  Somehow, I was not surprised.  I really wasn't.  I had a feeling he wouldn't be showing up.  I have this happen a lot with new adult students.  Either they don't show up or don't last very long.  I am thankful Rick is back and interested in his lessons.  He is coming tomorrow for his lesson.  That will be fun.  I will have to think of something new for him in his Broadway book and his Young Singer Book.  Classical is a piece of cake to come up with something new.  I know the songs so well in the book, but I haven't had much male singers that I don't know the Broadway book as well or the Young Singer book.  Camille had her lesson too.  She is doing very well.  She really is.  I think she was a bit nervous when her Dad came in because she was playing softer than usual.  He usually sits in the car and talks on the phone.  He only came in at the end of the lesson.  I really like this young lady.  She is quite a neat person.  She is quite talented too.  I am planning to move her to the Snell books at the end of the books she is in right now.  I think the Snell books would be best for her.  I really do.  I also need to pull out some movie music for her.  i need to do that for everyone.  I will work on it tomorrow when I am finished with Rick's lesson.

I ordered two Christmas Felt Ornament Kits from my favorite craft store, Mary Maxim.  They have a store in Port Huron, but I just don't have a lot of time to go and see what they have.  I also ordered another of the kit I was working on when they were donated.  I didn't think I would ever be able to finish them or see that kit again.  I am glad I looked on Amazon.  That is where I found it.

I also found on Amazon the ultimate editions of Harry Potter  Movies.  I hope to be able to purchase one a month until I have them all.  Right now there are only up to movie 6 which isn't surprising since movie 7A and 7B were just released on DVD/Blue Ray.  I expect that soon they will be available.  I am saving up for a Blue Ray player for the downstairs.  I will keep the DVD player upstairs in the dining room and watch the Blue Rays downstairs.  I have to work on clearing the table tomorrow after Rick's lessons.  I also have a pile of papers on a couple of boxes too.  I have a few boxes of tools to go through and put the tools in the new tool box.  The rest of the stuff is either good or to be thrown out.  I will put the good stuff in the furnace room with the other tools and storage stuff.  I will also take down the Christmas decorations tomorrow too if I feel up to it.  I am not feeling so good tonight.  I don't really know why.  Silly fibro, anything can happen and usually does.

I hope you are having a good day.  The weather is very warm for January.  I am not minding it at all.  I know the cold is coming but I will enjoy the warm will I can.

It's Friday! 1-6 - the 12th day of Christmas

It is the traditional 12th day of Christmas.  In the past, this was a very important day in the year.  Families would give gifts on this day not Christmas.  Christmas was for going to church and being with family.  12th night was for the gift giving and partying.  when I was small, I learned about 12th night from my mom.  I learned even more by reading about it.  We have a tradition in our house (more of Mom's tradition, rather than mine) that you start the year with a clean house, debt free, and grudge free.  It seemed that the day or two after Christmas all the Christmas decorations would be down and put away.  Mine are still up.  this is a Scottish tradition.  My Mom's side of the family came to Canada from Scotland, the Hebrides (I am not sure how to spell it).  They were tailors.  My father's side of the family were from England, immigrated from Scotland.  We think that my mother's family may have moved to Scotland from Ireland at one time.  My father's family were Merchant Mariners, otherwise known as pirates.  Yup, I am from pirate stock.  I come from tailors and pirates, a rather odd combination, but that is the way it is.  One year, in the future, I want to have a 12th night party.  If I had the house in order, I would have done this tonight, but I am not ready for entertaining on a bigger scale.  Okay, I am not ready at all right now.  Give me a few more months to get the house more in order and then we will talk.

I have a busy day tomorrow.  Julian, my temporary student, is coming for not only her regular lesson, but for a make up lesson too so she will be here for about 1 1/2 hours.  It should be fun.  My Katie is going to have her lesson tomorrow as well as Rick!  Rick has been away for 2 months and I am so glad he is getting back into singing.  I am really glad about that.  I wasn't sure if he would come back or not.  I am glad he did.  I really am.  I was going to give him a call when he called that day.  I will also be going through papers on the dining room table this weekend.  I have some photo albums that need to be put away.  Some of them will go upstairs to Mom's room.  I still think of that room as hers.  I know it is a guest room now.  I don't want to move into it, although I know I could.  I happen to really like my room a lot.  Yes, there is more room in that room, but I really like how my room is the coldest in the upstairs.  Because I have a problem with night sweats, having the colder room is best.  Mom's room gets to hot at times so I will stay in my room.  My old room, the other guest room, is actually going to become an office for me.  This will be too cool.  I will have a music storage room downstairs and a have an awesome office upstairs.  Right now there is Mom's filing cabinet and her army stuff on the table in it.  There are some boxes up there too that eventually I will need to go through.

I went and got my hair done tonight.  My shoulder hasn't been very good lately so I have had to go back to the hairdressers to wash and dry it.  I am growing my hair out again so that I can donate the hair.  I have done this before.  this will be the 3rd time I have done this.  I don't want to have super short hair so I will grow it out longer than usual so I can still put my hair up.  I like ponytails and where my hair up in one almost everyday.  I just really like it.

I am having trouble getting judges for piano for competition.  It is driving me crazy.  I know Diane and Georgette are getting very worried as competition is in 7 weeks.  Well, I am doing the best that I can do. All the entry forms are due next Tuesday.  I have 2 and possibly 3 going.  I haven't heard from the one since October so I am not sure if she is still going or not.  I am not happy that I haven't seen her since then, but there isn't anything I can do about it.  Since I haven't seen her since then, I don't know if she is going.

I am glad that it is Friday.  It was a good day.  All the students did very well and are improving.  Emily and I tried something rather new for her.  I had her learn one hand at a time instead of doing both hands at the same time.  This would make sure she knew both hands before she put them together.  Acer students did very well and are improving.  Emily and I tried something rather new for her.  I had her learn one hand at a time instead of doing both hands at the same time.  This would make sure she knew both hands before she put them together.  Acer finished one of his songs for piano.  Calli is learning 2 songs for voice.  I totally forgot she was learning the Italian one!  Yeah, that was not good but fortunately she just kind of laughed and reminded me of it.  I have not so good Brain Fog tonight.  I have a couple of relatives who joke about having Brain Fog but I don't find it amusing.  It is very real and happens a lot to me.  That they joke around about it makes me not want to be with them too much.  I don't make fun of them with their illnesses or symptoms, but they seem to think it is okay to laugh at mine.  This is another reason I don't hang out too often with many relatives.  There are only a few relatives I want to be around at this point.  Unfortunately, the ones I want to live very far away now so I don't get to see them to often but I enjoy being with them when I do see them.  Speaking of relatives, my cousin, Samantha turned 23 a couple of days ago (on the 3rd to be exact!).  I remember her from when she was small.  When I was healthier, I would take her and her older sister, Celia, camping.  I really loved being with them and now they are both grown up and in Celia's case, she has 2 children of her own.  Samantha graduated last June and is now working.  It seems like yesterday she was toddling around with me.  I have many really good memories of the two of them.

I am heading to bed soon.  I hope your day was good too.