Monday

Well, it is official, the student who was supposed to start last Wednesday at 2 pm, who got lost, has quit.  She is so frazzled from the directions the GPS gave her that she is quitting.  I tried to tell her that I have better directions, but it didn't work.  She is afraid of the M-59 highway.  Makes me wonder how often she really drives and how far.  I am bummed.  i was looking forward to the student's lesson.  She is 11 and was going to take singing.  Well, thankfully, I have 3 new ones this summer that help make up for the 2 who quit for the summer.  I just wish I had a few more.  I am starting to stress on bills again.  I hope this next month is better.

Emily had her lesson.  She is doing quite well.  She is jamming at flash cards.  We added a few new notes that she will need in a few weeks.  Next week, I will add the rest of the new notes she will need for her new hand position.  I am very pleased with her progress.  Tomorrow, I have my 3 little ones and Charlie so that will be an awesome day.  Emily has rescheduled her lesson next week from Monday to Tuesday since Monday is July the 4th.  I know Bob will be changing his lesson day too, probably to Wednesday, so I already wrote him down for Wednesday.  If he needs to change it, I will.  I prefer to reschedule a lesson as oppose to miss a lesson.  It is best for the student as they don't miss as much.  I love how Charlie more often than not, reschedules lessons rather than cancels them.  Bob does the same thing.  I really like that about them.

I am watching My Yard Goes Disney.  It is such a neat show.  They take backyards and make them into a Disney theme.  This week is a Pirate themed backyard.  Boy, we would have totally loved that as children.  Any of the Disney themes would have worked for us.

Speaking of Disney, Kathy and crew had a good time in Disney World last week.  The girls got to meet all the princesses and ate in Cinderella's Castle, a place I have never eaten in.  I have eaten with Cinderella but it was at the 1900 Park Place in the Grand Floridian Hotel off of the Magic Kingdom.  It was lots of fun.  Jacqueline, Aggie, Mom, and I ate there for our special night out.  We were all celebrating our birthdays.  I had no idea it was the last trip for Mom.  I sure miss her a lot today.  I missed her a lot when I was at Andrew's graduation too.  It is hard to celebrate things without her here to be with us.

I haven't done a whole lot today.  I am very tired as usual it seems.  This new exhaustion seems to be the new norm for me.  I don't know why or have any idea what is causing it, it is just there.  I have had this extra exhaustion for about 3 months now.  I meant to get a thermometer to check my temperature because some days I think I have a low grade fever, but I need to monitor this.  Today seems to be okay, but one day last week I felt a bit warm.  I will have to go out later this week to get a new one.

I do hope you are having a good day.

sleepy day

I am so sleepy today.  I don't know why, I am just super duper tired today.  I think the being so busy last week has got up to me, like it always does.  I am glad I chose not to plan anything today as I figured I would be exhausted.  It isn't always the pain of fibro that gets me, it is the exhaustion of fibro that gets me.  Sometimes, when I am this tired, I am in a lot more pain, but this time it is just a bit of extra pain so that is good.

I have my usual busy week, not super busy like last week.  Tuesday and Wednesday are my busiest days.  I look forward to that.  The other days I have only one lesson but I am thankful for the lessons that I do have.  They allow me to stay in the house and live here.  Without it, I don't know where I would be.  I don't want to think about that.  I love this house.  I have always lived here and I don't ever want to move.  i just don't.  I have it set up perfectly for entertainment and for teaching.  It just needs some tweaking that will get done this summer.

I am watching a TLC show about the Irish Gypsies.  It is fascinating, simply fascinating.  The girls are raised very strict.  You never live with the person before marriage.  Most are strict Catholics.  The wedding dresses are amazing.  They are huge ball gowns.  Many of them still live in RVs although more and more are living in houses and apartments.  I find shows that are about another culture very interesting.  I like glimpses into how other cultures live.  Friday is the end of the series at this point.  That wasn't enough weeks.  That is one of the downsides to the TLC shows, they aren't very long.  I hope they show new ones soon.  It was a very fascinating look into their culture and how they fit in the world today.  Although, it is sad to hear how they are discriminated against.  You would think that in the year 2011, discrimination would be gone but it isn't.  i have a good friend who, unfortunately, is very prejudice.  She doesn't think she is, but she really is.  I tend to steer the conversation away from that subject when it comes up.  It is crazy especially since she is Native American and has had been discriminated against so you would think she would be more open to different people, but she isn't.  She is older too, so you would think that would make a difference, but it doesn't.  In my family, I often get the weird looks at times because I am more traditional than others, not all the family, just a few.  It isn't fair because I am supposed to accept them but they look weird at me and insult me.  I don't particularly like that.  I have learned not to answer certain questions or talk about certain things.  It is just better this way.  I am an outcast at times in part of my own family.  I just do my own thing and not let it bother me too much.  I have gotten used to it so most of the time doesn't bother me.

I hope this is a fun week.  Last week was fun, busy, but fun.  I enjoyed my brother's graduation.  I just wish Momma were here to enjoy it with me.  She would have been beside herself with excitement and joy.  Her biggest wish was that all of us would be educated.  Education was so important to her, it really was.  She wanted all of us to go to college so we would be prepared to have good jobs to support ourselves.  Andrew was the last one to go and graduate.  I am so glad he has.  From what he has said, he picked a good career choice and will be able to get a job right away.  I am very happy for him.  It was nice to spend some good time with him and some of the family for a joyous occasion.

I do hope your day is good too.

Saturday

It has been quiet day.  I had one lesson, Rick, he takes an hour lesson of voice.  It is a good time.  He started a new Italian Song.  We started 2 new musical theatre songs last week.  I was so exhausted at about 4:30 today that I had to lie back down for a while.  I was just that tired.  I think I am still exhausted from Thursday with the 4 hour drives.  Driving that long much wears me out completely.  I don't know why, it just does.

I don't have any plans for tomorrow.  I am not sure what I am going to do tomorrow.  I am just going to play it by ear.  Maybe I will go to a movie or go and see Donna, maybe dropping Emily's gift off, who knows?  I shall see how I feel tomorrow and then I will decide what to do.  I may stay home too, I just don't know right now.

It has been a good day so far.  I don't mind having quiet days.  I do wish Mom was here with me everyday.  That hasn't changed at all in the last 8 months.  I think I will always think that.

Andrew hasn't posted his pictures we took of his graduation yet, neither has his friend, Terra.  I am hoping they will do it next week sometime.  I want to show off the picture of the grad all dressed up looking sharp.  He really looked nice.  Andrew cleans up well when he wants to.  It was nice to see him again as I don't see him very much since he lives a couple of hours away.  He doesn't have a car right now so he can't meet me 1/2 way in Sarnia.  That would be the coolest, but I will have to wait until he has a car.  It was also nice to see my Uncle and his family.  I don't see them very often anymore either.  There is a family BBQ at Tillie's in July.  I am not sure if I can attend.  It all depends on my teaching schedule for the day.  I will know more when it gets closer.  Hayley isn't sure that she is going either.  I don't know about Audrey or Kenny either.  Right now I am not sure who will be attending.

A rerun of NCIS is on USA right now.  It is from this past season.  I know I have seen it recently, but with NCIS, I can watch these over and over.  There really isn't much else on right now.  TV is kind of boring on a Saturday night.  Sunday is a bit better at night, but not by much.

I am now reading Jo's Boy, the 3rd of the Little Women trilogy.  I finished all the Anne of Green Gables books last week.  Once I finish this book, sometime probably tomorrow or Monday, I will have to find something to read again.

I do hope you are having a good day too.

He is a College Graduate!

It is true, my younger brother, Andrew is now a college graduate!  I was there, I witnessed it!  We left about 2 pm yesterday and came home about 12:30 am last night.  I am very tired today though!  That was 2 hours there and 2 hours home.  Tillie came over to ride with me.  I thought she would spend the night, but she went home.  She swims every morning in the YMCA pool so she didn't want to miss a day.  I didn't really fall asleep until after about 5 am.  I was not happy with that so I am hoping I fall asleep a lot earlier tonight.  I have one lesson tomorrow in the afternoon so that is good.  I don't have any plans for Sunday at this point, I am just not sure what I am going to do yet.  I really don't know right now.  I may go and see Donna or I may go to a movie.  I do want to see the Pirates movie.  I just don't know right now.  I am not sure either.  I do want to stop by Emily's house and give her the graduation present that I got for her.  I hope she likes it.  I do know I need to do laundry this weekend.  I have some clothes to pack away for donation, the last of the little lady's, and I have some of my clothes to put away too.  I may work on that tomorrow or Sunday, I just don't know which one yet.  I have some vacuuming to do too, I am not sure what day I will do that either, maybe split it and do a little each day.

Next week I need to remember to take my grill in to get a new part that for some reason didn't come with it.  I love this grill as it is an indoor one with the taste of outside grilling.  We wore the one out we used when I was a kid.  It finally went a few years ago.  Fortunately, my Mom bought one for my younger brother and he left it at our house and he said I can keep it.  Thank goodness because now I have one.

This past week was super busy for me but I was glad for it.  I like being busy and sometimes I am not busy enough.  Next week will be a regular busy week.  I have the 13 regular lessons so I am pleased about that.  I can't wait until July 11 when I see my Muglia girls.  I haven't seen them since May due to all the health issues that their mother has had.  I have 2 sewing machines for the girls plus another how to sew book.  I just love that family so much.  The kids are wonderful.  There are 9 total now.  The older 4 girls take piano.  Sarah, the 4th girl and child number 6, just started a few months ago.  It is a bit hard to have once a month lessons with a beginner like her, but she practices all the time just like I asked so it is working for us.  The older 3 girls are at a point in their music that it does take a good month to learn their pieces so once a month really works well.  It is not something I would recommend for most students, that is for sure, but with their circumstances, we (the girls and me) have made it work.  Bob is having his lesson on Wednesday because of his work schedule this week.  That leaves just one lesson on Monday with my Emily.  What a doll.  She really is.  She is 8 and really doing very well.  I have 4 on Tuesday, 3 maybe 4 on Wednesday, 1 on Thursday, and 3 on Friday.

Breanna had her lesson for the first time in a month.  She had so much school work to finish that she just couldn't fit it in.  I was so happy to see her and I think she was happy to see me.  She came after Acer and Calli.  Calli is doing very well with her Caro Mio Ben.  Her dad taught her how to roll her tongue so now we need to work on it in the song.  We are almost done with Can You Feel the Love Tonight so we started Feed the Birds.  Feed the Birds was Walt Disney's favorite song.  He wanted to hear it all the time.  It just spoke to him.  It is amazing how some music speaks to us.  I have certain songs that just hit me a special way.  I have Mom to thank for my love of music because she shared her passion for music while I grew up.  That is what I try to pass along to my students.  Whether they stay with lessons or go on to something else, I hope that they always love music.

It has been a quiet day with a few lessons.  It has been a good day.  I am glad I went to the graduation yesterday despite how tiring it was.  I just wish Mom had been there with me.  She would have been so excited about him graduating, she really would have been.

another busy day

I had 3 lessons today.  I should have had 4 but the first one got lost and instead of calling me to find out how to get to me, she went home then called me.  I don't expect to see them ever from the sounds of it.  I did try to tell her that if she used the GPS to get here she might get lost, but she wouldn't let me give directions.  I have been through this a few times.  I was a bit frustrated as I had everything ready for her.  I had a new CD copied for her and the music was copied too.  Oh well, the rest of the lessons made up for it.  Carson came early for his lesson.  Hey, I don't mind.  Bob had his lesson next and while he was playing his Mozart Sonata the thunder was accompanying him!  We have weird weather today.  Beth just finished her lesson.  She started a new song today to work on air flow.  She did quite well with it.  We taped two songs so that she could practice with us singing on it.  That will help her a lot.

Tomorrow is Andrew's graduation.  I am meeting him at a park.  Weird, I know, but that is where he wants to meet us so that is where we are going to meet.  The ceremony starts at 6:30 pm.  After that we are going to a restaurant for dinner.  I have to stop at the bank tomorrow to get some money to pay for my dinner and the bridge tolls.  I am looking forward to seeing him tomorrow.

I am a bit tired tonight now, I am planning to go to bed early because I am getting up earlier than usual.  I do hope you are having a good day.

busy day

I had 5 lessons this afternoon.  I was very happy about that.  Rachel had her 3rd lesson, Elizabeth and Laith had their first lessons.  Katie had her first lesson in a month while Charlie had his usual lesson.  Both Elizabeth and Laith did very well with their lessons.  I should probably have gotten them the regular books instead of the ones for young beginners but I didn't.  You just never know with that age, you really don't.  i have 8 year olds who really could have used the young beginners books so it is hard to know.  The day was just really nice.  I have to copy some music tonight and a CD for my new vocal student tomorrow.  I am going to start with Castle on a Cloud and I'd Do Anything.  They are very good beginning songs.  I hope she likes them.  I only have 3 lessons tomorrow although Beth is an hour lesson so it is almost like 4 lessons.  Thursday is my brother, Andrew's graduation.  Apparently, he graduates at 6:30 now.  I didn't know the time in the first place, so hey, this works just fine.  I also have absolutely any idea where I am going.  I am to meet him at a park, not his apartment, a park.  Seems rather strange to me but whatever.  I plan on leaving about 2 pm since it is a 2 hour drive and I don't know how the bridge will be.  I am hoping for a quick crossing.  We shall see how this goes.  I am happy to be going to see him graduate from college.  He actually finished a couple of months ago, but this is the ceremony.  I don't know if he has found a full-time job yet either.  I shall find all this out on Thursday too.

Oh my, I am exhausted today.  I really am.  It is good exhaustion in a way because I was very busy.  After Charlie's lesson I went to get a few groceries and gas because the way the lessons are spread out tomorrow, I won't have time to do that so I did today plus I was out of milk and cereal.  I did need them for tomorrow's brunch.  I also got some fruits too since I am out of them too.

NCIS is on right now.  Of course, being summer it is a re-run, still it is a good show.  I am ready to fall completely asleep right now though so I am considering going to bed early tonight.  Tomorrow I need to clear the table for Thursday.  I don't know if I will last through NCIS Los Angeles.  I really am not sure.

It has been a great day for me.  I hope your day has been good too.  Tomorrow should be awesome too.  I am just so excited about new students this week.

hmmmm,

It has been a quiet day.  I have a lesson in 2 hours.  I am so very exhausted this afternoon.  I don't really know why I am extra exhausted today, but I am.  I tried to nap but I am so tired I can't sleep.  I got up late because I just couldn't get up any earlier.  It is supposed to rain for the next few days.  It is nothing unusual for the month of June.  We have had a lot of rain this spring.  It just started to downpour hard.

I am so hoping Kathy is having a good time in Disney World.  Today is the first day for her and the family.  I really hope it is going well.  I know she loves Disney World but when it is too hot she doesn't feel very well and it is June so it is probably hot.  I warned her about how it rains a bit everyday in June in Disney.  I found that out in 2008 when we were there.  August was nice in 2007 when Mom, Phoebe, and I were there for the Pirate and Princess party.  It was beautiful weather and even Mom did well with the weather.  I do hope Kathy does okay with the heat.  I know the kids won't be a problem as they never are, but I do worry how Kathy will do with the heat.  She and the girls are going to have either breakfast or lunch at Cinderella's Castle.  How awesome is that.  The girls will have their Princess dresses on for the meal.  I can't wait to see pictures of the twins with Cinderella and friends.  That is just so cool.  The Cinderella Castle is the one place I never got to eat with Mom when we were doing the character meals.  I just never remembered to call early enough to get in.  We DID eat with Cinderella with Jacqueline and Aggie at the restaurant in the Grand Floridian Hotel.  We, of course, got lots of pictures.  I still have the pictures for 2007 trip to develop.  I keep forgetting about them.  I will take care of that this summer.  I asked Kathy to make sure she took a lot of pictures of the family having a good time.  I just hope she is focusing on having a good time with not only her family but the extended family that is also at Disney.  Tony's siblings and their families, along with his parents are all at Disney right now.  I do hope she has fun.  I will be praying for her to have a good time.

The rain is over now.  I have the drapes open in the Dining room where I am sitting.  I haven't see the back yard in a while and wow, the weeds have taken over my patio and my gardens.  The carpet roses are doing well and looking beautiful though even though the rest of the backyard is not.  I am not too worried about it though.  Next year I will worry about the backyard.  Right now the important thing is saving an emergency fund.  That is my main goal for the summer.

Emily is having her lesson tonight.  She is so cute and doing very well.  She just started learning her notes for the C position.  So far, she is remembering them really well.  I am pleased with her progress.  I have little Rachel tomorrow and 2 new little ones.  I have all the books and flashcards ready for the new students.  On Wednesday, I have a new 11 year old for voice lessons.  I am so happy about the new students as I really need both the students and the money from the students.  So far, summer is looking pretty good.  I hope it is going to stay looking good.

I just saw a movie trailer for the newest Harry Potter movie.  Boy, it looks good.  I can't wait!  I am excited about it.  When the last movie came out, I was excited but not as excited as I would normally have been.  I love Harry Potter a lot.  The movies are really good.  I have seen all but the last one with Mom and with students.  When the 3rd movie came out in the IMAX I asked students and their parents if they wanted to go, so we did.  Mom, me, and about 25 students and parents.  We loved it.  Over the years I have gone to musicals, movies, Disney World, and out to eat with students and their families.  I plan to see the new Harry Potter with the 3 older Muglia girls.  They are going at midnight the day it comes out, however, I will not be.  I am just not going to see the night it opens.  I have been to an opening day of Harry, number 5 and the seats my friends and students picked were too close to the screen for me and I had trouble during the movie and so did Mom.  I can't sit too close to the screen or I get dizzy and ill, same with Mom.  I found that out the hard way one time and i won't do it again.

I hope your day is going well.  It is okay for me.  I will enjoy Emily's lesson and then I will relax the rest of the evening.  I may clear off the dining room table as I am supposed to have company before I leave for Andrew's graduation this week.

Here are some pictures of Mom and I in Disney in June of 2008

So Tired Today

I think on the days I don't teach and have anything I must do, i am more warn out.  I did go and get the Tylenol PM I needed and the new students piano books, but other than that, I have nothing I have to do.  I do have things I should do but I am so tired and achy today that it just isn't going to get done.  I really feel like I could go back to bed.  This happens a lot on non teaching days.  I got up early on Friday and Saturday and by today, I am wiped.  It is weird how this happens.  I am feeling a bit weak today.  Perhaps a rest may help it.  I will try shortly.

I called my brother to wish him Happy Father's Day, as I expected I had to leave a message.  He rarely, if ever, answers the phone unless he absolutely has too.  I remember being shocked when i called and told him about mom dying.  I think he answered the phone because it was early for him and I never call him early as I am not usually up.  I think about that day every so often, it isn't as often as it used to be.  This would be the day Mom would get her tools and things like that for Father's Day as she was both mother and father by the time I was 9.  I remember at school near the end of the year we were doing a project for father's day.  I came home and cried because my dad had left us so I said I didn't want to do the project.  Mom said to make it for her because she was doing both jobs now.  That made me smile and from then on, I celebrated both Mother's Day and Father's Day with mom.  My brother is a good Dad.  He does everything with his kids that he wishes Dad had done for us.  I love watching him play with his kids.  They are so cute too.  Abigail is almost 12 and William is 10.  I miss them a lot since they live very far away from me.

Next week will be a good week as far as teaching is concerned.  I have rescheduled Breanna for Thursday since it is my other brother's graduation.  I am going now that I have most of the information I need including his new phone number.  I anticipate being very busy most of the week, but that is okay.  I don't mind!  I love being busy!  I am almost done with the Anne of Green Gables books again.  I am on number 6, Anne of Ingleside.  I love these books so much.  i am so glad Mom introduced me to them.  Mom really knew how to pick books that I would like!  She was such a great Mom.  I miss her a lot.

I do hope this finds you doing well and enjoying the Father's Day.

Saturday

I did okay yesterday and today.  Yesterday I knew that I would have fast food because I was going to pick up my friend, Donna and we were heading to lunch.  Because I can't have ice berg lettuce, I couldn't get a salad, which is what i would have preferred.  We went to McDonald's this time instead of Burger King.  I got a quarter pounder with cheese and a drink.  She did get fries and I did eat a few but I did not get any for me so I didn't have as many as I did a week ago.  Today I had Chipotle for dinner.  I love the fresh veggies you get with the burrito bowls.  It is very yummy.  Tomorrow I don't have any lessons so I will do some housework that needs to be done and plan my meals for the week.  I will make the plans and then put the menu on the fridge.  I am working on planning ahead.  I am working on this new plan.  So far I think I have done pretty well.  I am also going to look at the family room so I can plan out where my elliptical machine will go when the room is finished.

I have decided that I am not going to be weighing myself a lot.  Because I want it to be a lifestyle not a diet.  I have been on every diet that exists, I think.  I am not going to be on another diet because, for me, they don't work and I feel deprived even if I am not.  I do use the foodmover from Richard Simmons because it makes sure that I have the correct amount of each food group.  I have a tendency not to do that.  I often eat more protein than recommended and sometimes more bread.  I have worked on not eating so much bread.  I love bread, especially fresh baked bread.  I don't need butter or anything on it to eat.  I have planned a trip a week to get fresh bagels from Tim Horton's.  I won't buy more than what I will eat that day.  That would defeat my plan.  So far, I have been somewhat on my plan.  I figure it will take a few weeks for the new plan to set in since I do have some very bad habits.  I have gotten in the habit of getting fast food for brunch everyday.  That has stopped.  One, I can't really afford it and two, well I am positive it has added to my weight gain.  I have much to lose.  So far the first week has been pretty good.  I look forward to the next week with my new menu.

I hope you are having a good day too.


Heather

8 long months

It has been 8 long months since Momma passed away.  Sometimes, it seems like yesterday that she was here with me, sitting next to me, smiling for me, but others is seems like forever.  This last year has been a pretty bad year, with Momma slowly going away from me to her going to Heaven without me.  I am thankful that I am living in our house though and I have lots of pictures to look at and they make me smile. I also have fun memories that I wish my brothers had.  They didn't see her too much the last 10 years of her life, really especially the last 5 but I did.  I have the day to day memories that they don't have too.  Yet, I would do almost anything to have her still with me, even with the Alzheimer's.  Not a day goes by that I don't think about her either.  My favorite month of the year was October, but now I hate it since that is the month she passed away.  I didn't know it was possible to miss someone so much!  I feel like I miss her twice over, once for the mother she was before Alzheimer's and the other for the mother she became with Alzheimer's.  I miss them both.

Today is the type of day that we would go for a scooter.  Mom would walk beside me and I would ride my little scooter.  We would go for a couple of miles then come home.  She loved the sunshine!  If the sun was shining, so was she.  She loved to work in the garden.  When I was younger she made these homemade knee pads to work in the garden.  I have a funny picture of her wearing them.  I used to tease her so much about them that she threatened to make me a pair.  I just laughed.  Momma knew I did not like working in the garden, especially weeding.  That was my punishment when I was small besides sitting on a chair and thinking about whatever I did wrong.  Momma would say do you want to do some weeding?  That usually straightened me right up!  I think Mom and I had a lot in common.  We both liked musicals, sewing, the same movies, the same cartoons, the same love for almost anything Disney (although she loved Donald best and I love Winnie the Pooh best).  We just had a lot in common.  I remember when she would ask who wanted to go with her to the store (like we really had a choice, but it felt so nice to think we did!) and my brothers and I would come running with I do, I do's!  You never knew what going out would bring.  Sometimes it was just a trip to the store but other times it would be a surprise to a movie or a park or something fun.  With Momma, you just never knew.  That was the kind of mom I would have liked to be.  I am that way being an aunt though and that is good enough now.  Mom loved to take us camping too, in a tent.  Yes, it is hard to imagine but the I hate to get dirty girl (me!) loved camping.  I loved helping to put up a tent and to make the campfire.  I just loved camping with Mom.  One time we took my cousins Samantha and Justice camping with my friend Laura too.  It was just so much fun.  I had a beautiful big 12 X 9 cabin type tent that was perfect for us.  One summer we even lived in a tent, well 2, one for sleeping and one for the kitchen while Mom worked at the summer camp.  It was a good time.  Mom never let us know how hard that summer was for her.  She made it fun for us so we wouldn't miss our Dad who decided he no longer wanted to be a husband or a dad.  She made the transition to one parent for us easy.  Momma would talk to us about it and we became a team.  That was her word for it, we were a team and teams stick together.  Now I think about how I made Mom and I become a team when she started to get sick and needed more help.  I just did what she did.  I helped her but I truly hope that I made her feel important.  I still spoke to her with important things, I knew she wouldn't remember, but I wanted to include her.  She still had opinions even until the very end.  She may not remember from one minute to the other, but underneath she was still Momma.

Here are some pictures:

The top one is of Momma, Andrew, and I in Algonquin park in Ontario in 1974.  I was 6 and Andrew was 5.  The bottom one is from Kathy's Wedding in November 1996.  I was one of the maid of honors.  One of the best days for Momma and me.  Kathy getting married.  I was so excited about that.

I do hope this finds you doing well and in less pain if you have any!  Despite it being a sad day, I am doing okay.  The pain isn't too bad for a change (at least so far!) and I have a lesson to look forward to in about 20 minutes!

A Wonderful Evening!

It was game night at the Bowman-Tomlinson house tonight after dinner and lessons!  I had a ball, it was simply wonderful!  We had lessons at their place instead of here because Heather B-T's van was in the shop and she had no way to bring them over.  It was not a problem at all.  It really wasn't.  It is an 8 minute drive to her house from here so it isn't a long drive at all.  Calli started her very first Italian Song.  She did quite well for the first time.  I was very pleased.  Acer is doing well with his Fur Elise (arranged for his little hands) too.  He really is so cute and so musical.  He is gifted beyond belief, he just really is.  Calli is gifted with a beautiful range, over 3 octaves, she is ONLY 11, can you just imagine what she will have when her voice matures more?  She has a more mature voice than a usual 11 year old which is why we started today.  She and I chatted about it last week and a few weeks ago and we both came to the conclusion that she is ready.  The only obstacle we have come across is the rolled R.  Because Calli's first language is Chinese and there is no R much less a rolled one she does have a problem with that.  I talked her dad to see if he had a better way to explain it to her than me, so maybe that will help her.  I don't know how to tell her how to roll the R.  But I am confident that eventually Calli will get it, we will keep working on it together.  She also grew a bit again.  She is now up to 1/2 way in my forehead.  Only a few more inches and I will be looking up at her!  Acer was so excited when he won the game.  I love the look on his face, it just shined and glowed.  It was just so fun to spend the evening with their family, it really was.

I also had a really good afternoon.  I went and picked up Donna for lunch.  She treated me.  I just love her.  She is such a good friend.  I can tell her anything, simply anything.  i often ask her opinion if I need an opinion of something.  Because she is older than me (okay, her kids are only a year younger than me) I look to her experience to help me if I need it.  We went to the bank and paid the house payment on time thanks to her.  I will pay her back this coming week when my take lessons money comes in.  What a life saver.  I have a new plan, well a new order of paying bills so this will hopefully not happen again.  Anyways, it has been paid so I am glad about that.  So after that we went to lunch and had a lovely chat. her daughter is going through so issues right now so we talked about that.  When things calm down then her granddaughter will take piano from me.  Her grandchildren are so sweet.  Emily is 6 and Santiago is 2, the oldest, Samantha is 18.  She just graduated from high school.  We also discussed my plans for the house and for the summer.  They live near her so she gets to see them quite often.  I am glad they moved closer to Donna.  I know how she dotes on the grandchildren.

Tomorrow will be a little busy with Katie's lesson at 12 noon and Rick at 2 pm.  I am looking forward to the lessons.  Afterwards I am planning to go and get Elizabeth, the newest young student starting next week, her books and flash cards.  I have Laith's books already.

All in all, I would say this has been one of the best days in the last year.  I really enjoyed it.  I could relive this one again.  Many days in the past year I couldn't but this one I could.  It was as fun as the days Momma and I used to have together.  The only slight downer, is that the pain is a bit higher tonight than usual, but I have since taken some pain pills so that is good.  I do hope your day went well too!