It's June!

It's June!  It is hard to believe that it is, but it is.  Today is beautiful out with a nice cool breeze unlike the really hot day we had yesterday.  This is nice springy type weather that I love.  The sun is out and the temperature is beautiful.  I do hope the A/C on but it isn't running right now since the house is now cool enough.

As usual, I am exhausted today and I haven't done anything yet except eat lunch!  I am waiting for Bob to call to tell me he is on his way.  He is waiting for a repair person to come and fix something in the house.  It is looking like we may be having his lesson tomorrow instead which will work for me if it works for him.  Either way works for me.  I don't have Breanna tomorrow again as she is trying very hard to finish up the school year.  She is homeschooled and does a lot of schooling online.  It is pretty neat because when she finishes she will also have college credit too.  That is pretty neat, I think.

Other than lessons not too much going on here.  I was recently reading a year ago's posts.  Boy it is hard to believe what was going on a year ago.  Mom was still here (wish she still was) but she was in the nursing home for rehab.  That, clearly, was a mistake on my part.  No, I don't think it would have ultimately changed her future, but she may have been lesson scared and upset for 2 1/2 weeks and that is something.  She may have been able to be more with it for the summer.  I remember taking care of her with almost everything.  At that point she had slid into stage 6 of Alzheimer's.  We would go to my Uncle's so he could see her and so could my brother.  Most of the time she did well, only near the end was it hard on the little lady.  It hurts at times to think back of how her last summer was.  I know at times I was not patient, and a little upset at things, but I did try to take good care of her.  I really did try.  My one brother wants me to only look forward and not look back at all.  How can I do that when looking ahead means living without Momma?  I do try but sometimes it is overwhelming to think I have a life without her.  I can't even begin to imagine my world where she is not there.  I don't get as upset as I did. I often wonder how my friends do this.  How do you look forward to a world with out the person you love?  Mothers are so important and I do get upset at how some people don't take good care of their moms.  I wonder if they realize that someday that mom will not be there and then what will they do?  I miss mine all the time.  I have friends who miss their moms all the time too and it has been years.  how do they do it?  Is it easier if you have a family of your own?  I don't know.  I don't have a family of my own.  My extended family gets upset with me because I miss her so much at times.  My brothers get upset too but none of these people lived with her and were her caregiver.  Is it harder because I was the caregiver?  I loved taking care of Mom.  I know when I was younger and even a few years ago declared that if she needed 24/7 care then she would have to go into a home.  Well, we all know that when she needed the care she stayed with me and I did it.  It didn't bother me like I imagined it would  I can't imagine not taking care of her.  We still had good chuckles last summer even though her memory was practically gone.  Most of the time she knew me although the few times she didn't it broke my heart.  She called out for Richard and Andrew and sometimes I was able to have them call her.  Even the day we brought to the hospital for the last time she was asking where my brothers were.  The hospice nurse and I just told her they had to go home.  She seemed fine with that.  Today is just a sad day for me, I think in general.  I miss my old life and want to go back to it.  I had to call yet another doctor who just sent me his bill for Mom to tell him Mom is gone.  I think that is what brings it all back.  The reality of having to tell people she is gone.  It makes me sad and cry.  I want my mom back.

Hot weather with storms

It is so hot and humid today that I broke down and turned on the a/c.  It is 79.5 degrees in the house, it is nice and cool in the house.  I did briefly go out this afternoon, but it was only for a short time.  I need to get gas but I can't until I get my disability on Friday.  When Carson has his lesson tomorrow I may be able to get some gas then too so that is good.  I am glad to see June as May brought many storms and much storm damage to many people.  I was lucky, I didn't have any storm damage so for this stormy season.  I hope that there isn't anymore storms that will damage houses.  It has just been such a horrible season and it has only just begun.

Charlie had his lesson this evening.  He called to let me know that he will be late because traffic was just horrible.  I used to have a student right after him, but now I leave the 1/2 hour after him empty because I know what traffic is like at that time of day.  My next student will start at 6:30 and she begins next week.  She is an adult and will be taking singing.  I will be getting the music ready for her this week.

I have a lovely blood test tomorrow at 11:10 am.  Yuck, that is what I think.  I am not looking forward to it because my arms have been so sore lately and I don't have any regular pain pills right now.  My arms have been so sore and weak for a couple of weeks now.  It keeps me up more at night than the regular pain that I have.

I am hoping the doctor will refill the prescription by tomorrow.  I was able to sleep a lot last night but that might be because I didn't sleep at all Sunday night.  I slept until about 2:30 this afternoon.  I know, that is insane but I was so tired and dizzy.  I have had a problem with dizziness lately.  I don't know what that really means.  I do have anemia so I researched a bit with that and apparently, dizziness is a symptom of anemia.  I try to take iron pills but they make me sick to my tummy so what can I do?  I have to learn what foods have high iron as I also can't take a general vitamin because of the coumiden I take.  General vitamins have vitamin K in them and that is a natural blood clotter something I don't need help with that. Sometimes I just feel so lost in the mist of all these syndromes, vitamin deficiencies, and other symptoms.  At least, that is how I feel today.  I am just at my wits ends trying to figure out what to do with some of these things.  It is just so overwhelming at times.

My friend, Deb, wrote an excellent post today about fibro and Chronic Fatigue.  It is wonderful.  If you get a change, please go and read it.  It makes you really think about these illnesses and how they impact your life.  Here is the web address: http://debsfibromyalgiablog.blogspot.com   It is the post called "Have you ever?"  It is an excellent post.  I was nodding my head at almost everything.  Yes, I have asked loved ones not to hug me as I was so sore, yes, I have a headache all the time, yes, I have been so tired I couldn't even take a shower, and on and on it went.  Definitely, an excellent read and really shows what this illness so many of us have is all about.

I am hoping that tomorrow I will clear the dining room table and change the table cloth for the summer.  The summer one is underneath the Easter one.  I was so exhausted the day I changed the tablecloth, I just put it on top of the other.  It is long enough that you can't really tell that there is another one underneath.

I do hope that this finds you doing well and having a great day!  Please don't forget to read my friend, Deb's post from today!

Memorial Day

I did not sleep at all last night.  I think I drank too much Diet Coke.  I went out to eat yesterday and I shouldn't have had so much pop.  I also was having problems with my arms.  They were weak, uncomfortable, and they hurt no matter how I tried to sleep.  I finally got up at about 5:30 and went downstairs to read.  I finished the Secret Second Life of Bree Tanner and started the Illustrated Guide of Twilight.  I read until about 8:30 am and then went back to bed for a few hours.  I still had a bit of trouble sleeping, but I was able to sleep a bit.  I read some more this afternoon before taking a couple of hours nap before Emily's lesson.  She did very well.  She is just learning how to read notes so flash cards are a bit hard for her but she did it very well.  I am hoping to sleep better tonight.  It is so hard when the arms aren't very comfortable and they hurt.  They still hurt a bit, but I don't know why and it is driving me crazy.  I hope it is better tonight.

The Bachelorette is on right now.  It is insane show but I don't think there is anything else on.  It is a holiday and the usual shows are over now with most of my shows having their season finale last week or the week before.  I am hoping that I will be getting very sleepy soon so that I will go back to bed and hopefully sleep tonight.

I have a slightly busier week than usual as I have a blood test (the usual one, not a special one) on Wednesday.  I have to be there at 11:10 and I don't really like being up that early but I can always go to bed early if necessary.  I have 3 lessons that afternoon that I am excited about.  Tomorrow is Charlie's lesson.  He is collecting returnable cans and bottles for the relay for life that he and his girlfriend are participating in next weekend.  I have some more for him.  I meant to give it to him last week, but I forgot before he left.  I will hopefully remember before he leaves from his lesson.  He is the only lesson I have tomorrow so all the plans I had for the weekend (that I didn't do) I will do tomorrow.  The only thing I managed to do was to get the Little Women books out of the garage.  There are so many boxes in the garage right now that need to find a better home in there.  I will work on that later this month.  The inside of the house is my first priority.  I do hope by the heat of the summer my car will be in the garage now that the door is fixed.

It is finally warmer out, only we skipped the nice spring weather and jumped right into super hot and humid summer weather.  We are supposed get storms again tomorrow and then, possibly, 5 days in a row of no rain!  Can you just imagine?  It has rained so much these last few months that I forgot was sunny day after sunny day was like.  We had snow at the end of April and then pretty much tons of rain in May so I wonder what June will be like.  I am hoping that the summer will be filled with nice weather but not super hot.  I don't do very well with super hot but I will take that over super cold because at least I have air conditioning.  Thankful for that!

I am going to read a bit now.  I am re-reading Little Women.  I haven't read that book in many years.  My Mom bought me this edition in 1994 when the latest movie came out.  I have seen the other two, but the Elizabeth Taylor one was an exact remake of the Katherine Hepburn one and neither movie was exactly like the book, but the Winona Ryder one was closer.  Mom and I saw it together and I mentioned I would love to read the book again because I gave my old copy to a neighbor when I was 16.  At the time I was getting rid of all my "children" books because I was almost grown up and too old for these books.  Yeah, right.  Well Mom and I went to the book store a few days later and she bought me the book along with the Little Men and Jo's Boys books.  I was so pleased to discover last weekend that it did NOT get donated with the boxes of other books I had donated to the Rummage Sale 3 years ago.  This find really made my day last Saturday even better.  It just added to the excitement of closing the unit and having Kathy here for the weekend.  It was all around good.

I do hope this week is good.  Outside of the blood test, there isn't anything special or exciting just lots of wonderful lessons.  In 2 weeks I will go to the Arthritis Doctor for my test results.  I wish it was sooner, but it isn't.  Oh well, I can somewhat be patient.  i just hope my arms let me sleep tonight!

I hope your day was wonderful and spent with family and friends!

stormy evening

Well, we have warmer weather and the late afternoon/early evening thunderstorm.  The tornado alarm a few miles away from me was going off when I was coming home from Walmart.  I can hear the thunder where I am sitting.  There is no hail though.  I have the news on right now.  It is moving towards Ontario now and apparently it is an awful one.  It is very loud here at home when the thunder rolls.  We are again, expecting a lot of heavy rain.  Nothing new for this spring.  It has rained more than usual this spring.  It seems every other day it is storming bad.

I had lunch with Donna this afternoon.  When I woke up I decided I didn't want to do anything downstairs today and I didn't want to be home alone all day so I called her to see what she was doing.  She wasn't doing anything, so I said I am coming to get you and I did.  It was a very enjoyable afternoon.  She bought us lunch.  I had enough money for us, but she insisted.  I no longer argue as she is difficult to argue with, there basically is no point in arguing so I didn't.  I just said thank you and went to get our drinks.  Donna wheeled herself to the table.  She is confined to a wheelchair most of the time now.  Her spine is just a mess.  She, herself is an amazing woman.  How she had survived what she has survived is amazing.  About 16 or so years ago, she was on the top floor of the school she taught in and slipped on some water that wasn't marked wet floor and went down 3 floors through the atrium area.  I can't even imagine how she survived that, but she did.  Her spine is now has 2 rods in it.  Unfortunately, she was in a car accident a few months ago and I think the hardware in her back loosened.  The specialist thinks so too so she is in a lot of pain most of the time.  We were at the restaurant for about 3 hours and enjoyed ourselves.  I just didn't want to be home today.  It was one of those days.  It was a year ago today that Mom went into the nursing home, which is the time when she started going downhill.  I just couldn't deal with staying home all day alone, I needed company.  After lunch I came home and then I remembered I needed some milk and a few items.  I bought some dinner stuff so that I could have my own little BBQ here at home.  I have one lesson tomorrow so I will have the little BBQ earlier in the evening since the lesson in evening.  I am very glad that I have the lesson.

I have almost finished all the books I got this week from the Doubleday book club.  Boy, that is not good.  I need more to read.  Good thing I brought home from the storage unit.  I have already brought some in, but we just brought some home last weekend so I will get them this week.  I have already read them, but it has been years since I have read them.  I know that Little Women is one of them along with a few others by Louisa May Alcott.  I really like that book.  Mom first bought it for me when I was in elementary school.  When I hit high school, I took all my children's books and gave them to a neighbor.  I have since re-bought a few of those because I still like them.  The Anne of Green Gables is another series that has had to be bought again.  The Emily of New Moon books are another set that I have re-bought.  The amount of money I could have saved!  But I have the books now, so I am happy.  I had thought those books were donated to a rummage sale, but I was so happy to discover, they weren't!  Now that the unit is closed, I have the books in the garage.  Eventually they will go back downstairs on the book shelves.  I love books!  I am going to read some more this afternoon.  I am tired now.  It isn't quite bedtime yet, but it will be soon.

I have been a bit lightheaded again today.  I have been having that problem lately.  I am not sure why.  I also get weak super easy at times too.  I don't know why for that either.  I have a lot of questions about the new symptoms I have had.  I have read about anemia, which I do have.  I am wondering if it is getting worse.  I can't take a multivitamin because there is vitamin K in it, and that would work against the blood medicine, and iron pills make me throw up, literally.  They make me so sick to my stomach that I just can't take them.  I don't know what to do about this.  I will find out more on June 13 when I go back to the doctor and get my test results.  i suppose there hasn't been anything too bad because I haven't heard from them and I think that I would if there was something horrible.  I don't know.

I think I am going to read for a while now.  It is almost time to take my nighttime medicine.

Saturday

Not too exciting of a day here.  I had Rick's lesson, which was exciting as all lessons are to me.  I get excited and look forward to pretty much every single lesson I teach.  I was simply born to teach music.  Anyways, he had a very good lesson and he does seem to work pretty hard on the music theatre songs.  I love music theatre.  It is by far my absolute favorite genre.  I could listen and sing it all day and night and still not get tired of it.  Mom introduced me to music theatre when I was quite small.  We would listen to the records she had and I would learn a new song to sing all week long.  It drove my brothers absolutely crazy because I literally sang day and night.  One time, when we were coming home from Disney World (this was in 1973) I sang "It's a Small World" all the way home and we were driving!  Needless to say both brothers and my dad were rather annoyed at me by the time we arrived home.  To make matters worse, Mom had bought me the little record with the song on it!  I played that record over and over all the time.  I don't remember the drive home as I was 5 at the time, I just remember being told I did this by Mom.  It still makes me smile to think of driving my brothers crazy with that song.  Mom always encouraged music for us.  When Richard wanted to play the saxophone, she rented one for him and he joined the band.  He was quite good.  Unfortunately, he did quit due to other interests, but he was very good.  The Andrew wanted to play the violin, she got one for him.  That lasted a year then he switched to Saxophone and then to the Trumpet.  He played through junior high and then quit.  We still have (I hope) somewhere, the saxophone and the cornet.  I played the flute for my first year of band and then switched to the clarinet.  I still have both of mine and simply love them.  Mom also encouraged me to sing.  i remember I wanted to try out for a special choir in 4th grade.  Mom helped me practice my audition piece.  One of the things I loved to do was sing with certain singers and try to imitate them.  Mom reminded me that morning to sing like me and not anyone else and I would be just fine.  I got in the choir.  It was so much fun but I was sad because Kathy was not in it.  She didn't try out for it so we were apart for recess on Choir practice days.  I think that was probably one of the first times we did something separate on recess.  Fortunately, she was in band with me.  She played the clarinet too.  We used to practice a lot together as I loved practicing.  I would take my dolls and stuffed animals and set them in an audience style seating to play for them.  Mom also listen to me practice too.  Every so often I would hear, do that one again, it didn't sound quite right or she would come in to help if I had trouble with something.  Mom was very involved in my music and when I started dance at 16, she became pretty involved in that too.  She was never a stage mother, (thank goodness!) she just encouraged me to do my best.  She was thrilled when I started teaching.  In fact, Mom was the one who taught me how to write out lesson plans.  I had no idea as I was only 18 when I started teaching.  My dance teacher told me that she had signed up 2 young people for voice lessons and I was the teacher.  It was a shock let me tell you as I never had any intention to teach at that point.  Thank goodness she did that!  It certainly turned out well for me!

I have been reading an awful lot lately.  I just finished Shania Twain's autobiography.  It was good, at first I was unsure but as it went on it became very good.  I am going to start reading the Kristen Hannah book tonight.  I love Kristen Hannah.  She writes such good books.  I loaned Kathy a whole bunch of her books and so far Kathy has read 3 of them and she only got them last Saturday!  Kathy loves her writing as much as I do.  It is so nice to have a friend who has the same taste in books as I do.  That way we each can buy a different book and then switch them to read.  Saves money.

Tomorrow I am going to do some work downstairs in the family room.  I don't have any lessons tomorrow at all.  I usually don't on Sunday, but next Sunday and the following Sunday I will have lessons in the afternoon.  Makeups for Rick as he can't attend his normally scheduled lessons on Saturday for the next two weeks.  I also have to go and get a few important groceries tomorrow so that is on my list too.  I am out of a few staples that I must get.  I will do a good grocery shopping next week at the end of the week but I need a few things so that I will have enough until next week's grocery shopping trip.  It is just going to be a low key holiday for me, I think.  I am not really up to having extra company right now with being so extra tired lately.  I did wake up a bit earlier than usual this morning with somewhat energy so the three days in a row I have had better sleep has really helped.  of course, by this time of night, I am exhausted again.

another rainy and cold day

Last week at this time it was about 85 degrees with lots of humidity.  Today?  it is cold and rainy.  I am not sure what the temperature is exactly, but it can't be super high because I have been cold all day.

I had a semi decent sleep last night!  I was so excited when I woke up and realized I slept for 5 hours straight!  That doesn't happen too often with me.  this is also the second night in a row for this!  How cool is that?  I am praying for a 3rd night in a row!  I can only hope!

I have reread the Twilight series this week in preparation for reading the Short second life of Bree Tanner and the illustrated guide to Twilight.  They arrived yesterday.  I have already flipped through the Illustrated Guide and boy it is so cool.  I also ordered a couple of other books too.  I now belong to the Doubleday Book Club.  Dangerous I know, but the beginning orders are only $1 so how could I turn it down.  Then I will just buy 4 more books in the next 2 years.  I can do that.  There is bound to be at least 4 books that I want in the next 2 years not to mention there are birthdays and Christmas to buy for.

Calli and Acer had their lessons tonight.  They were a bit late but that is okay because I didn't have anyone after them.  Acer left his Fur Elise Music at home but he pretty much has it memorized.  He even does the parts that he learned last week playing both hands at the same time.  I couldn't show him the next two hand parts because, well, we didn't have the music and I don't have it memorized.  Calli started a new vocal song and it is one of my favorites.  She is doing well with her piano piece.  She counts very well.  I think we will be starting a bit more classical for her voice lessons this summer.  Not too much, just a bit.  I usually wait until they are about 12 close to 13 or 13 close to 14, but her voice is rather mature now and I think she could handle it.  All in all, both kids are doing very well and I am happy with their progress.  Acer is working on Candle on the Water for his vocal song.  It is so cute because he wants to learn whatever his sister learns.  She just finished Candle on the Water so it is his turn.  I wonder what he will do with the classical Italian music.  That will be interesting to see.  I look forward to hearing a 6 year old singing in Italian, because he generally knows his sister's music as well as his own.  They, like the rest of the kids, are such fun to teach.  I really like it a lot.

I don't have too many plans for the holiday weekend.  I was going to invite some people over, but I changed my mind.  I don't have the house the way i want it right now and I just am not up to being a hostess plus I don't have the money after all to pay for what I would want to serve.  I will wait and maybe have people over for July the 4th.  I will see.  I have one hour lesson tomorrow with Rick, one of my adults, and then Emily on Monday but nothing on Sunday.  I am pretty tired now, I wasn't earlier, but now I am.  I am just going to spend the holiday quietly and resting.  Soon, I will be starting to work in the family room.  I do plan, this weekend, to put all the VHS tapes in a bag ready for the thrift store.  When Kathy and I were there last week, I noticed they sell them so I am going to take them there.  Then I plan to put all the books that will fit back on the one set of shelves that is downstairs.  That will get rid of many boxes in the one side of the family room.  That is my goal for the weekend.  I think I can do that this weekend.

I do hope you are having a good day too.

more rain

Yup, more rain today.  no storms so far, but there are some expected tonight.  I went briefly out in the rain for a few minutes and then came right home.  I don't expect to be out in it tomorrow at all as it is expected to storm some more tomorrow.  Three days of storms is not a good thing for many people's basement.  Fortunately, flooding in my sub is rare and we don't have a basement so it would be the furnace room, the family room, and my office.  Boy, that would be bad.  But, like I said, it doesn't happen here too much in our little sub.  I also live 1/2 way up a hill so that helps too.  Thank God for huge favors like that.  I have watched so much flooding on the news that it breaks my heart.  And the tornadoes!  They scare me to death!  I can't imagine how those people do it, rebuilding their lives, but they are strong and they do it.  We had a tornado near our home last year, a couple miles a way, but we were alright.  It was the first time in many years that I saw so much hail.  It did frighten me and I had to close the drapes so Mom couldn't see it because she would have been a nervous wreck shaking and everything.  She was so terribly frightened of storms at that point.  If a storm happened at night I would always get up and see if she was awake.  Only 1 time was she awake and she was crying and shaking like crazy.  I just went and laid down next to her and held her until she fell asleep.  Then I covered her up nicely and went back to my bed.  Poor little Mom, it was so hard on her.  She was only afraid of storms the last couple years, before that they didn't frighten her at all.  Of course, she was so scared in general the last 2 years.  I can't even imagine what it must be like to lose your memory like she was.  It must be super scary.  At least, I would think it is.  Sometimes she would shake for no apparent reason and I would ask what is wrong.  She would just say I am scared.  I always gave her big hugs and held her at when it happened.  usually she would calm down and be okay, but boy, I just can't even imagine.

Today was the last day of my Amanda's voice lessons until fall.  I do hope she comes back.  She is such a nice young lady.  She practices a lot and works really hard so that is wonderful.  Amanda did a great job at the concert as did everyone else.  Acer did steal the show with trying so hard to reach that microphone during his and Calli's duet.  You just can't beat that picture.  You just can't.  Tomorrow is Calli and Acer's lessons and then I have one on Saturday.  Rick has moved from Tuesday to Saturday so that is good.  I don't have any plans for Sunday so I don't know what I will do.  Monday I have Emily's lessons but no plans for the holiday.  Without Mom here, there really isn't anyone to spend the holiday with.  I will enjoy the sleep in I get and then probably read a bit.  I may possibly do some housework.  I find if I do a bit everyday, it gets done and then the house is reasonably clean.

Lily will be out of school this coming week.  I bet she is excited.  I know I would be.  She is going to be an eighth grader in the fall.  Where has the time gone?  It seems like yesterday she was starting 1st grade and piano lessons.  Now look at her, she is growing up and a teenager now.  She is almost as tall as I am.  I expect soon she will be taller.  Both her sisters are, not by much, but they are taller.  Of course, I am only 5ft and a 1/2 inch tall so being taller than me isn't that big of a problem.  I only have had 1 student who didn't get taller than me.  She was only about 4ft 10 inches at 16 years old.  I think she has been the only one in 25 years.

The Muglia's newest little guy arrived on Monday.  Thomas Joachim was 7 pounds and 11 ounces.  He is adorable!  I have seen the pictures of him.  I will see him live and in person the first Monday in June when I see my girls for their lessons.  Wow, number 9 in the Muglia family.  I bet there is never a dull moment in that house with that many kids!  I have told the older girls that if they need peace and quiet they can always come here.  I have peace and quiet almost all the time!  A little noise would be nice during the day with them.

It has been an exhausting day.  I had to take a nap because I was so tired.  It is getting pretty bad again.  The exhaustion is overwhelming me at times.  I am going to go and make some dinner now.  I do hope you are having a good day!

Rainy Day

It has been raining all day.  Yup, ALL day!  With lovely thunder and lightening with it.  So lovely!  I woke up to thunder and lightening and I will probably go to bed to thunder and lightening.  The rain itself isn't so bad, it is needed usually, but it has been raining so much this season.  There is a lot of flooding in people's houses.  Fortunately, where I am, we haven't had that problem, and I hope we never do.  I am cold today too because the temperature has dropped a bit.  You would think that at 73 degrees in the house I would be warm enough.  NOT!  I have my Tinkerbell Fleece jacket.  I am just so cold today.  I get cold so easy.  It seems the older I get the easier it is for me to get cold.  I carry a jacket with me in the summer because I am often cold in the air conditioning.  Mom used to do the same thing and now so do I.  It is kind of funny now.  I have never been so cold until these last few winters.  The doctor says it is because of the blood thinners I have to take.  Before that I was hot all the time.  It is because I have such thin blood now or so I am told.  I believe it.  After the blood clot, I began being cold easily.  Anyways, i have adorable fleeces and hoodies to wear so I am fine.

I realized this afternoon that I spend an awful lot of money going out to eat.  I will be cutting way back on that.  I could have paid a few bills with the money I spend.  I know at times I have to leave the house because I am going stir crazy, but those days are not as often as they used to be.  Since summer is traditionally lower income because of students who stop for the summer and many vacations, I have to tighten the belt a bit more.  This is the way to do it.  I feel really good about this decision.  I will be able to get through financially speaking, to fall where lessons traditionally pick up.  September and January are when new students start.  yes, there are the students who start other times, but the bulk of new students happen then.

My little guy, Carson, had the stomach flu today so he had to cancel lessons.  Poor guy, that is just no fun.  Beth had her lesson though.  She was about 15 minutes late because of the weather.  I actually expected it because of the weather.  We lost power a few times for a few minutes each time, but that was about it.  I am hoping that we won't lose power anymore with the storms that are supposed to be here tonight, all day and night tomorrow, and during the day of Friday.  I think I will be hiding inside from the storms these next few days.  I did go out this afternoon in between storms for lunch and then I realized, I have lunch ingredients in the house.  I have good buns, yogurt, cereal, soups, why did I feel the need to go and Burger King?  Really?  What was I thinking.  I wasn't, that's what.  i just went out of habit.  It is a bad habit that I will be working on.  I have really good soup here at home.  I also have yummy yogurt that I love but still, I went out for junk.  I will work on this.

Anyways, Beth is getting ready for her audition for the Music Man on June 12.  She is doing very well.  She knows the songs pretty well and is really working hard.  I am so pleased on this.  Tomorrow is Breanna's and Amanda's lessons.  I am looking forward to them.  Bre takes both piano and voice and Amanda takes voice.  Amanda is stopping for the summer but I think Breanna is continuing except for when she is on vacation.  I think so anyways.

Richard will not be coming for Andrew's graduation.  I am disappointed but there isn't I can do about it.  Maybe I should have waited to ask him.  I am not even sure that the graduation is on that day.  Andrew hasn't given me the exact details.

quiet evening

I had Charlie's lesson and then I decided to go to Chipotle's for dinner.  I was feeling a bit Mexican and since I don't cook Mexican food, that I needed to go and buy some.  Tomorrow I have 2 one hour lessons that I am looking forward too.  Charlie did well at his lesson.  His Tenor Saxophone reed was a bit squeaky for the first part of the lesson so he switched.  He was fine then and the rest of his lesson went well.  He finished a few exercises and started a few more.  We are working on Articulation and that is one of his weak points however, with as many exercises we have done, he is doing much better.  I am a stickler for Articulation.  There are teachers who are not, I don't know why, a slur should be slurred, a staccato should be staccato.  It drives me nuts when musicians ignore articulation.  I mean, if the composer didn't want a specific articulation, then they would not have written it that way.  I always had teachers who were very particular on that.  I did have some teachers who worked for me who blew it off for beginners.  Unfortunately, I had a few of them for students after the other teachers and found it very difficult for them to learn a new habit after blowing it off for the first few years.  It is part of the reason I don't play with the student during their lesson.  Every teacher I know who doesn't focus on articulation plays with their student.  My theory is they can't hear what the student is exactly doing because they have to focus on what they are doing instead of just on their students.  I don't play with my students because I never had a teacher who played their instrument with me.  I need to focus on my student and what they are doing.  This is just my OPINION but I am not sure I am giving my full attention if I must also focus on what I am doing.  Like I said, this is just my opinion.

I am watching, as usual, NCIS!  Yes!  It is Tuesday!  That means it is time for NCIS.  I won't be, however, watching NCIS Los Angeles because the finale for Dancing with the Stars will be on and it is the day we find out who wins the mirrored ball trophy.  I don't know who is going to win.  This time, it isn't clear on who will win.  They are all good and I like them all.  That is the hard part, I want them all to win.

I met with Rosemary today for lunch.  I went up to Tim Horton's and she was already there.  I was pleased to see her.  I have been wondering how she is doing.  It has been a few weeks since Irv passed away and right now she is so busy with paperwork that she is doing okay.  She did say it is hard getting used to stay in the house at night by herself.  I know what that is like.  She is working on her garden which I am sure is therapeutic.  My mom said that working on her garden was soothing for her.  I wish I could garden and be soothed but I don't have a green thumb.  Mom had that and I did NOT inherit it.  My brothers were better at yards and gardens than I am.

I have also realized that even though I want to go and see Richard, even if he sends for me, I can't really afford to go.  I need all my lessons to pay the bills and with summer comes more absences.  It would be best for me to go at Christmas when I save more money to pay the bills when I am missing lessons.  However, I don't expect Richard to send for me.  He is so busy right now that I just don't expect him to have time.  I am hoping that he will come and see Andrew's graduation next month.  We shall see.  I miss my brother.  maybe I will get lucky and he and his family will come to town this summer.  That would be the best plan.  They could stay here.  I have enough room now.  Between my room and the guest rooms, there is plenty of room for the family.  I would really like to see Jennifer and the kids.  I haven't seen them in 3 years.  I need to see my niece and nephew more than every three years.  They are now 10 and almost 12.  It is crazy how fast they grow up.  I do want to see them again before they are 18 and in college.  That would be nice.

It has been an okay day.  Weather wise it has been simply wonderful!  It is so beautiful out.  Perfect temperature.  Pain wise, it is okay, nothing too different than usual.  the headache is the same as usual, nothing worse than normal.  Only the fatigue is higher than usual, which has been the usual for the last few weeks.  Only a few more weeks until is see the arthritis doctor and hopefully a few answers.

I do hope today has been good for you!

ahhhh

I had 2 lessons today, Bob and Emily.  Both were doing very well.  Bob has started a new Sonatina.  I told him to go home last week and try each movement, then decide which movement he wanted to start with.  He chose the 1st movement.  It is simply wonderful.  I loooooove Clementi.  i would have to say he is my favorite composer.  His sonatinas are simply delicious and I could go on and on about them.  I made a comment last week about Clementi being my favorite and Bob chuckled.  He said I figured that out a long time ago as we visit his music quite frequently!  Silly me!!!  I guess I should know I am transparent when it comes to loving certain songs.  Every student when they get to a certain level learns Clementi's Sonatinas.  The Muglia girls just learned their first one.  I think they really enjoyed it.  Emily is learning skipping notes.  She just started learning how to read music a few weeks ago, so she is doing very well with it.  I think I may copy some music for her to really make sure she understands note reading.  She is in 2nd grade and simply adorable!  She is such a cutie and so interested in learning piano.  She seems to really love music.  It is fun watching a young one learn music.

I am still feeling some weakness in my arms.  I mentioned it to my rheumatologist.  She didn't really say anything about it.  I will mention it again when I see her in a few weeks for the results of the X-ray and the blood tests.  I am a bit nervous about it.  The fatigue is really getting to me.  I mean, I slept most of yesterday away.  I could have done that again today.  I am tired of being tired, I really am.  It is worse than some of the pain at this point.  At least with the pain, I can take some pain medicine, but with the fatigue, there isn't anything to be done about it.  Sometimes, I am so tired I go to lie down and when I am lying down I am more awake than when I am sitting up.  It makes me wonder should I just do things while I am lying down?  I just don't know anymore.  I really don't.  I am hoping for some answers from the doctor on the 13th.  That is the day!  I can only hope that there are answers.  I am tired of not having any, we all know what that is like!  It gets frustrating when you don't get any answers.  I also have had my hands going numb again, that is fun, NOT!  I also mentioned this to the doctor too.  If necessary, I will mention it again.  My left hand is going numb as I write.  I had to move my hand to wake it up again.

The newest Pirate Movie came out this weekend.  I plan to see it someday, just not this weekend.  Maybe Lily would like to see it.  It is possible.  She is out of school next week.  I saw the other 3 with Mom and it makes me sad to plan to see the newest one without my movie buddy.  At least if I see it with Lily, it will be good.  Lily and I have seen a few movies together.  We were supposed to go a few weeks ago, but we couldn't because of the funeral and viewing of my friend and neighbor.

Harry Potter comes out in July.  It is supposed to be in 3D.  I do know they will show it in 2D too so that is the one I plan to see it.  Pirates is also in 3D but I will see it in 2D.  I just don't like 3D.  I can't stand stuff flying at my face.  It really bothers me.  I have never liked it.  The only time it didn't really bother me was when mom and I went to Henry Ford Museum IMAX theatre and we saw an ocean movie.  It was really good and they didn't have things flying towards your face so I totally loved it.  The ones in Disney World aren't too bad either, not too much flying in your face.  However, I think that Pirates and HP will having things flying at you so I won't take that risk.  It seems weird that I go to see movies without Mom, but unless I never want to see another movie again (ooh, that would be awful - I love movies) I have to learn to go without her.  I have seen movies by myself before.  When the Return of the King came out, I was there opening day all by myself.  My brother, Andrew couldn't believe I went alone, but I did.  i was enthralled by that movie!  I looooove the Lord of the Rings Movies.  They were and are so wonderful.  I loaned them to the Muglia's this past summer so the girls can see them.  They loved them too.

Pain wise the day was normal.  However, fatigue wise, it was pretty bad.  I will be heading for bed very shortly because I am so tired.  As far as numbness, that hasn't been too good either today.  All around, not a great day except for the lessons.  They were great.  I do hope your day was better than mine!

summer weather has arrived

Okay, I guess weather is just going to do what it wants despite what I want.  Yesterday was simply wonderful!  Quite beautiful and perfect temperature!!!  I really loved it!  However, today is a bit too humid.  Without the humidity, it would be beautiful, but it is a bit too humid for me.  I do have my shorts and t-shirts ready for the warm weather though!  I have them clean and ready to put on should I need them tomorrow.  (which I probably will because it is supposed to be hot and humid again before a cool down).  Yesterday was simply the best day to clear out the storage unit.  Why I am so tired today is a mystery to me.  It isn't like I actually did much of the work.  I mean really, the whole reason I had to have help was because I couldn't do it myself.  Tony did most of the work as Kathy and I watched.  We (Kathy and I) did help a bit, we just let Tony do all the big boxes.  I am just relieved that it is so over.

I am completely exhausted today.  I got up and about an hour or so later, I was back taking a nap for about 3 hours.  I could go back to bed now and stay there all night, but I am going to stay away a bit longer so that I will sleep all night through.  I find on Sundays I am often sleeping an awful lot.  I think it just all catches up on me and I crash.  Last Sunday I was in bed by 7 pm because I was so tired.  Tomorrow begins another good week of teaching!  I don't have any real plans for the holiday weekend next week.  I don't really know what I will do.  I have no lessons on Saturday and Sunday.  I am not sure if I will have Emily for her lesson on the Monday or not.  I do hope so because that would leave me 3 days in a row of no lessons and I am not used to that anymore.  I am hopeful she will have her lesson on Monday night.  I will find out next week.  I have (as of today anyways) 11 lessons this week.  5 of them are one hour lessons.  I love my one hour lessons because often it means the student is taking both voice and piano although 2 of them are just one hour lessons of voice.  They are adults and have interest in community theatre.  I am thinking that maybe I will get involved in community theatre in making of costumes.  We shall see.  I have plenty of time, but I am also hoping to get involved in writing again.  So far, I haven't written any fiction yet.  Who knows?  I don't know what summer will bring this year.  It is hard to believe last summer the little lady was here with me.  It has only been just over 7 months since she left me.  I just miss her a lot all the time.  My goal this summer is to finish the family room off.  Other than that, I don't plan to do anything else to the house.

I have the first step done for the house, now on to step two.  That will happen in June once the kids are out of school.  Julie will be coming over to help me with it.  I am very glad about that.  By fall, the house will be sparkling and every space will be functional.  That excites me.  I just wish Mom was here to enjoy it with me.  I am sure she is watching from Heaven.

Despite the amount of sleep I have had today, it has been an alright day.  I do hope your day was good too!